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Iran's Foreign Minister Meeting with Putin as U.S. Talks Stall; Arraignment Today for Suspect Accused of Opening Fire at Press Gala; Interview with Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN): Iran Offers U.S. Deal to Reopen Strait, Postpone Nuclear Talks; Millions Brace for Severe Weather as Heavy Storms Head to Midwest. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired April 27, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:00]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: ... details, of course, but he blamed the United States for the for the reason for the setbacks, but he said we continue to review the situation. What has emerged through this weekend where the Iranian foreign minister has had meetings here in Pakistan, flown to Muscat and Oman for meetings, which we think may well have involved other regional leaders, particularly on the intelligence side in Muscat. He flew back here from Oman to Pakistan for meetings here late last night, then obviously flew on to Russia.

So there is some work going on behind the scenes. But what's emerging as a narrative here through Iran's state aligned media -- those aligned to the hardline IRGC -- is breaking this down into a three part process. The first phase, absolutely categorical end of war statement by the United States, then some kind of realignment legal procedures around the Strait of Hormuz, whereby Iran potentially has the right to charge tolls.

And only then, if that's agreed, Iran saying it'll get on to the other issues.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Nic Robertson, standing by. Whatever talks may occur. I really appreciate it, Nic. Thank you so very much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are standing by for the first federal court appearance of the suspect accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents Dinner. We're getting new details about what exactly we might learn this morning.

And today, King Charles comes to mark the 250th anniversary of his ancestors losing the United States. The plans for his state visit.

And an almost impossible record broken, one that many thought would never fall. And now it was just shattered. A human being just ran a marathon in under two hours.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. BOLDUAN: All right, continue to follow the breaking news this morning. The man suspected of opening fire at the White House Correspondents Dinner is set to make a first court appearance as authorities are combing through the writings that they say he sent family minutes before the attack. This was the moment we're showing you here that the Secret Service whisked President Trump off stage after shots were heard outside the ballroom.

Inside that ballroom, some of the powerful officials in the world. Six of the seven top officials in the presidential line of succession were in there. Video shows and the Justice Department says the suspect charged at security checkpoint and he exchanged gunfire with law enforcement before being subdued.

One agent was struck in his bulletproof vest. He is expected to be OK. Now that suspect, 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen, he was detained moments later.

CNN obtained his writings, which included rants and rhetoric against the Trump administration. The president says that he's also seen the writings himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I read a manifesto. He's radicalized. He was a Christian believer and then he became an anti- Christian and he had a lot of change.

He's been going through a lot based on what he wrote. His brother complained about him and I think reported him to the police and his sister likewise complained about him. His family was very concerned.

He was probably a pretty sick guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me now is Republican Congressman Marlin Stutzman of Indiana. He was among the guests at the dinner. Congressman, thanks for coming in.

As I'd mentioned, the presidential line of succession, most of it was in that ballroom along with you. Do you have security questions about having so many people, so many people of power and influence, official Washington in one time now?

REP. MARLIN STUTZMAN (R-IN), FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE: Actually, I don't, Kate. My concern is actually the way security was going into the ballroom. The fact that this man was able to breach security the way that he did, that's my bigger concern and my questions.

And so, the fact that we didn't have to go through metal detectors until just outside of the ballroom is, I think, not what it should have been. If you go to an event at the White House, you have to check in with a person. You make sure your name is on the list.

All we showed to get into the dinner was just our card. They gave us a card that we flashed. I mean, anybody could have known what that card looked like.

You could have made duplicates. I even heard some people inside the ballroom say that the purses never were even checked. So my concern is actually more outside of the ballroom than inside of the ballroom.

You know, we have to always make sure whoever's in the room, it's not just about the President and the First Lady, the Vice President, the Cabinet. We need to make sure that everybody in that room is safe.

[08:05:00]

And I think there are some questions that need to be asked. And also, those shots that rang out that I was only like 50 feet from where I was sitting. How did that not hit the man that was trying to breach security?

I don't know if those were non-lethal bullets that were fired or if they were lethal bullets, but the fact that that man is alive is really remarkable.

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you on Iran as we were talking about the very latest just moments ago. Axios is now reporting, Congressman, that Iran gave the U.S. a new proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the blockade, and essentially end the war, but in doing so, postponing nuclear negotiations for a later stage. Do you think that is a deal that the administration should take?

STUTZMAN: We'll definitely let President Trump handle that, but if this does not eliminate their nuclear operations or any sort of nuclear plans that they have, I don't see how it does. Either two things have to happen. Either the nuclear program is completely gone or there's a regime change there.

This regime that has been there for the last 40 years just cannot be trusted. Obviously, there is a fight inside the IRGC for power and who's going to be the person to take over the mantle. You know if the son, Khomeini, is alive, then he would likely be the successor, but we don't know how much power he actually has right now.

So I think that those two things have to be addressed and we'll wait and see, but I don't think this is a good deal if there's any sort of nuclear program involved.

BOLDUAN: You know, at the same time, Iran's Deputy Parliamentary Speaker is now making clear that they believe the state of the Strait of Hormuz has fundamentally shifted from here on out. Here's a statement that came in overnight.

"We will, under no circumstances return the Strait of Hormuz to its previous state." Also saying, "One of the divine blessings of the war that we realized if we place our foot on the throat of the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, 25 percent of the world's economy would be affected."

Iran had not done any of this before the war. Iran coming to this realization now, was the U.S. operation, rather than continue diplomatic negotiations, then worth it?

STUTZMAN: I think the end result, now that we know how Iran will behave by even shooting missiles at their neighbors like Qatar and Saudi Arabia and even into Europe, I think that what that tells all of us as an international community, that Iran can't have complete control over the Strait of Hormuz. There should be an international coalition, you know, whether it's the other Gulf states. They should be part of the security of the Strait.

They should also have China and others at the table, European countries. So I think that shows us that we need a broader coalition in charge of the Strait.

BOLDUAN: I want to change directions really quick. Former Republican Senator Ben Sasse, he is dying of pancreatic cancer. And he has said and made clear he's already on borrowed time.

He sat down with 60 Minutes, the interview released last night, and it was poignant. And he had quite the commentary just on politics today, and both parties right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ended your Republican pantheon with Ronald Reagan. And I wonder, when you look at the Trump administration today, what do you see?

BEN SASSE, (R) FORMER U.S. SENATOR: It's no secret that the current president and I wrestled on lots and lots of issues. But I don't spend much time commenting on our current politics, because I don't really think our current politics are driving what's happening.

I think it's mostly an echo of what's happening. I think we have a really thin, shallow community right now. And unless people know the thickness of their local community, it's hard to make sense of what national politics are for.

I think our national political dysfunction is an echo of larger problems. We got a lot of people who serve in government who really do think the highest and greatest thing you can ever do is have the title senator or congressman (BLEEP). The best thing you can do is be called dad or mom, lover, neighbor, friend.

Governor, senator, House member, it's a great way to serve. It should be your 11th calling or maybe sixth, but never top.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Quite a reflection from a man who says, you know, he can only tell truth now with what he is facing, his imminent death. What do you think of that?

STUTZMAN: Yes, you know what? I don't disagree with anything that he said. I think Ben, he has served our country honorably.

But I think, as he said, it's more important to be a father, a husband for me, to be a Christian, to be a person that is of my community and involved.

[08:10:00]

I think one of the things that's happened, Kate, is social media has disconnected people in a lot of ways from reality. You know, whatever happens on Facebook is not real life. And we always put our best life on Facebook or social media.

And in reality, that's not always the case. I think that that's one of the pieces that needs to happen is we need to get back to civil dialogue. And I think that will help the politics of today as well.

BOLDUAN: Civil dialogue, much needed, much missing right now. Congressman, thank you for coming in -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you so much, Kate. Up ahead, Iran sends a new proposal to the White House with a list of red lines where negotiations stand today on the war with Iran.

And U.S. forces launch a new round of deadly strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats, this time in the Pacific.

Plus, 40 million people facing potential violent storms, including tornadoes. New forecasts on where dangerous weather is now moving.

All those stories and more ahead.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, today, the man suspected in Saturday's shooting at the White House Correspondence Center is set to make his first court appearance. Authorities say 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen traveled from California, checked into the Washington Hilton, the hotel hosting the dinner.

Investigators say Allen charged through a security checkpoint. We've all seen it on the video -- but never reached the ballroom. According to the White House, Allen clearly stated he was targeting and administrating officials.

With us now, CNN National Security Analyst, Juliette Kayyem. And Juliette, you know, there is a discussion. I've heard from, we've heard from two Republican members of Congress, one who said he thought the security definitely worked, and the other who said he's got questions about the level of security there.

I think it's reasonable to ask questions, but what do you think the reality is here? Or once they ask those questions, what do you think the answers will be?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think that the question -- it depends on which question you ask. So we don't really talk in my field about things being safe. We talk about them being safer. And that distinction is important because anytime you have a big event, think about a big party like this or a concert or a sporting event, what you're trying to do is minimize the risks as the Secret Service thought they were doing by having a very secure perimeter, but obviously too open outside other elements of the hotel. And then you also make sure that you're able to respond quickly. I think the fact that no one was harmed is a good sign, but the Secret Service and Congress will likely evaluate what the response time is.

So if you ask me, was this safe, the answer is absolutely not, right? This happened. But the question is, how could you make it safer given that it's at a hotel that didn't close, that you have protesters outside?

So in some ways, you know, both Congress people were correct.

BERMAN: Right. And people are going to keep reading things that, again, are 100 percent accurate in what they say, but can be interpreted in different ways. The Washington Post reporting the event was not at the highest level of national security.

Things like the inauguration, right, or presidential addresses. They said, "The Trump administration provided a lower level of security for the White House Correspondent Dinner than it has for other gatherings of high-ranking officials, even though the president and many cabinet members were in attendance." I will say, the White House Correspondent Center has never, as far as I know, had that highest level of designation there.

KAYYEM: No. No. It would be inappropriate.

I thought that story -- I mean, that story is legitimate in the sense, of course, but you're really comparing apples and oranges. We give, the government gives an NSSE to an event in which you are, you have massive amounts of people flowing around trying to move and with the constitutional line of succession. This, you know, the only thing that made this different is that reporters are there in many ways in the sense of the president is going to galas with his cabinet all the time.

I mean, that would mean that you would make Mar-a-Lago an NSSE every single day. And so it's just sort of comparing two different security apparatuses. You know, when I look at this, you know, my question isn't, should you have the White House Correspondent Dinner?

That's the choice of the organization. The question is, you know, do you want it at a convention center where you're not going to have, you know, people, people just, you know, in their hotel rooms or breaches of security in the soft areas of the facility?

BERMAN: Very quickly, Juliette, we have the writings now, or authorities have the writings from the suspect. From a national security standpoint and for projecting forward rather than looking backward, what do you do with those writings now?

KAYYEM: So it's good. It gives us, obviously, a sense of motive that he was getting more interested in left wing causes, began to hate Donald Trump and the administration, I think for purposes of radicalization and political violence. What we want to know or what's scary about this is the sort of what we call the short runway of radicalization, which is essentially these things are happening so fast now.

His family says he's not really engaging. He doesn't have a criminal record. And then, oh, very quickly, he becomes the person who tries to assassinate the president.

That's a challenge for law enforcement. And it means families, as we probably as we might have seen this family do, must take it very seriously and try to intervene.

BERMAN: Juliette Kayyem, always great to speak with you. Thank you so much for being with us this morning -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Just ahead. New video of a rare twin tornado in Oklahoma as a severe and deadly storm slammed the central part of the United States.

[08:20:00]

Where are these storms headed? Because they are going to be affecting about 40 million people.

Plus, today, a royal visit from King Charles and Queen Camilla to Washington will go on as planned, despite the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

What to expect ahead of their arrival at the White House? Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Millions of Americans are bracing for severe weather from tornadoes and strong storms to wildfires in Texas. Two people were killed over the weekend due to storms.

CNN meteorologist Chris Warren is joining me now with the very latest. Look, these are severe and they're dangerous and they have turned deadly. Where are they headed?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, right now the thunderstorms that we're seeing do have the potential for being dangerous. We've watched the storms with some flooding go through Kansas City, St. Louis in the zone.

[08:25:00]

These are severe thunderstorm watches, the yellow shaded area. So conditions are favorable for the development of some of the stronger storms and even a tornado warning already.

So even this early here on Monday, there is that threat and ongoing imminent threat for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, which does include very large hail, possibly baseball size hail. Once again, damaging winds outside of the tornado threat, but also a tornado threat, which does include some stronger tornadoes. And that's when this area is right here. And that does include St. Louis.

Here's how the radar could look like through time. A reasonable expectation of what the atmosphere could deliver us by 8 o'clock this evening, there's going to be some of these individual storms out ahead of a main line. These storms have the potential for producing some of those tornadoes, some of the stronger storms and stronger tornadoes as well as they have like all the ingredients kind of themselves. And then the line will come through.

So for some a one two punch, possibly tornadoes, large hail and then another round of potentially damaging winds and even some flooding rain. The threat continues again tomorrow. Large hail, more damaging winds and even some strong tornadoes and then a lingering threat on Wednesday in terms of any potential rain for the several wildfires that are burning in the drought stricken portion of the southeast.

Not a whole lot. And Sara looks like that's not going to be coming until mid and later in the week.

SIDNER: It is a whole mess, but people need to be very prepared for the potential of tornadoes. And then you also have fires burning at the same time. It really is remarkable.

Thank you so much for reporting there for us, Chris. Appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: We are standing by for the arraignment of the man suspected of attempting that attack at the White House Correspondents Dinner. What we could learn in this first court appearance. Got more details on that ahead.

And a world record shattered. One runner at this year's London Marathon, crossing the finish line in under two hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END