SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Plenty of questions still remain about last Saturday's assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. One of the biggest is - how did the shooter get a direct line of fire to the former president? And what went wrong with the Secret Service security that day? These are questions now being launched by members of Congress, including Michigan Senator Gary Peters, Democrat and chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, who's launched a bipartisan investigation into this assassination attempt. Senator Peters, thanks for joining us.
GARY PETERS: Good to be with you, Scott.
DETROW: A growing number of Republicans say the head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, needs to step down. What's your take?
PETERS: Well, certainly, we are going to do a thorough investigation through my committee. I chair Homeland Security, and I'm working with my ranking member, Senator Paul, to get answers to a whole lot of questions. Clearly, it was a failure to have that kind of shot against a former president and, unfortunately, citizens who were there just exercising their political right to be at a rally and yet were hit by this gunman, which is simply unacceptable. But we want to get answers those questions. But I think, you know, bottom line, there needs to be accountability, and we will then move to accountability after doing an investigation.
DETROW: So right now, you're not saying she needs to go. You're saying, we need to learn more.
PETERS: We're going to learn more, but we're going to do it as quickly as possible.
DETROW: Obviously, we're talking about an investigation that's just getting underway, but at this moment in time, there's a lot of political events. Do you currently have confidence in the Secret Service to keep the president, the former president and other protectees safe?
PETERS: Well, certainly, they have had a strong track record in the past to do that. I know the men and women who serve with distinction and honor at the Secret Service often go above and beyond the call of duty to protect key individuals, and I expect them to do that in the days and weeks ahead.
DETROW: We're hearing a lot of reports now that the shooter was on law enforcement's radar at the rally, that they spotted him. There was conversation. There was concerns about how he was acting. Then they lost sight of him. Is that your understanding?
PETERS: That's my understanding, that they did lose sight for some time, which, of course, is very troubling when somebody is acting suspicious. They should not have lost sight. We're going to find out, how could that happen?
DETROW: Have you gotten an answer as to why given that, given the active search for the suspicious man, why Trump was allowed to take the stage?
PETERS: No, I don't have a definitive answer on that. Those are part of the questions that we will ask. And certainly, the main question in everybody's mind is, how could the shooter get on top of a roof with a direct line of fire. Certainly, if you're just talking about Defense 101, a bad guy should never have the high ground and certainly a direct line. That facility should have been secured to a much greater extent. The fact that it wasn't raises significant questions and really questions regarding protocols and procedures that were used on that day. And If those shortfalls occurred that day, have they occurred in the past? And if so, we need to make some changes.
DETROW: 'Cause there are questions about who was guarding and looking at that building. There were questions about how broad the perimeter should have been. Should it have included that building? There were questions about who was talking to who between local police and Secret Service. What are your biggest questions right now? What is top of mind for you as this investigation gets underway?
PETERS: Well, certainly top of mind is why that building was not secured to a greater extent given the fact that it was high ground with a direct line. The perimeter did not include that building, and a perimeter is normally established around the magnetometers and people who are in close proximity to the former president or president or whoever the Secret Service is protecting. But clearly, some - a building with the potential to allow a shooter to get on top and have a clean shot should have had a heightened level of security. And certainly, there's talk about local law enforcement. That was in their area of responsibility. You know, in my mind, given the critical aspect of that building, I would have expected the Secret Service themselves to be guarding that building.
DETROW: We've all seen these really scary videos of people yelling, there's a man with a gun, there's a man with a gun, pointing onto the roof. Have you gotten a clear answer yet of how long before the shots were fired Secret Service and police knew there was a man on the roof with a gun?
PETERS: It it was a period of time that they should have been able to react. There's some question as to what that is, but there should have been time to react. And...
DETROW: Talking more than a minute?
PETERS: Yes, I believe so. So we want to be able to figure out that line of communication. You know, the investigation that I'm doing through my committee is similar to what I did after January 6. We did an investigation into the breaches of the Capitol to find out where the breakdowns were, and what we found out, among many findings - many of them have been acted on in terms of our recommendations - but we found that communications presented a problem. You had different agencies not necessarily communicating with each other in an efficient way. That may well be what happened here, and that is unacceptable, if that's what happened.
DETROW: Senator, I do want to just take a moment to ask about politics right now because you represent Michigan, and Joe Biden certainly cannot return to the White House if he doesn't win Michigan. At this moment in time, do you think Joe Biden can win Michigan?
PETERS: I do. I mean, Michigan is going to be, without question, a battleground state, and that means, by definition, it's going to be a very close race. We're going to have a close race here. That's traditional here in our state. It's the same. So it's going to be a hard-fought battle, and certainly all eyes are going to be on Michigan this fall.
DETROW: So are you not joining calls for the president to reconsider staying on the ticket? Do you think he's the best person for your party right now?
PETERS: I support the president. Clearly, it's the president's decision as to whether or not he wants to continue to be the nominee or step aside, but that is the president's decision.
DETROW: Lastly, what's the time line on this report? When can we see some findings, do you think?
PETERS: Well, we're hoping to have a hearing as soon as possible. The Congress goes home and does work back in our states at the beginning of August. We want to make sure we're getting all this done in a timely way and before we leave Washington.
DETROW: And would you expect Kimberly Cheatle to be one of the people who testifies at that hearing?
PETERS: I would expect that she will, and we're working to make that happen.
DETROW: That is Senator Gary Peters. Senator, thank you so much for joining us.
PETERS: Good to be with you. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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