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Trump Appears On CBS 60 Minutes After Correspondents' Dinner Shooting; Investigation Underway After Shots Fired At White House Correspondents' Dinner; Shooting Renews DHS Funding Debate; FBI Searching Home In California Tied To Suspected Gunman; Suspected Correspondents' Dinner Gunman To Be Arraigned Tomorrow; Buckingham Palace Confirms King Charles' U.S. State Visit Will Go Ahead. Aired 6- 7p ET

Aired April 26, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:01:14]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt.

Thank you very much for joining CNN's breaking news coverage of the aftermath of the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last evening.

This hour a source telling CNN that the suspected gunman who charged a security checkpoint, you can see it here, outside the correspondents' dinner last night, shared a manifesto with family members just minutes before the incident. The manifesto made clear the suspect wanted to target Trump administration officials.

According to sources, authorities have identified the alleged gunman as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California. A CNN team reported seeing FBI agents going door to door in the suspect's Southern California neighborhood, looking for ring cameras, presumably to try and track down footage for additional evidence.

We are covering this story, as we have been since it unfolded from all angles. Joining us now, CNN's senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes and CNN senior correspondent Josh Campbell.

Kristen, what are we hearing? We've got some new sound coming in from the president since he spoke to "60 Minutes" today about what happened. What are we hearing?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kasie. He's detailing what it was like for him sitting there. It is interesting he is clearly praising Secret Service. It appears as though there might have been a question or he is answering because there have been questions that we have seen, we have heard, as to why he didn't move as quickly as, for example, Vice President J.D. Vance, who was just dragged off the stage.

This is what he told Norah O'Donnell in this interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What happened is it was a little bit me. I wanted to see what was happening and I wasn't making it that easy for him. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem. Different kind of a problem, bad one, and different than what would be normal noise from a ballroom, which you hear all the time.

And I was surrounded by great people, and I probably made them act a little bit more slowly. I said, wait a minute, wait a minute, let me see. Wait a minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And then he describes kind of coming off the stage there, saying that they told him to drop to the ground. Of course, we've seen the video of him falling to the ground. He says that the First Lady Melania Trump also fell to the ground at that time. It was obviously a chaotic scene unfolding.

And I will tell you, Kasie, you know, I have obtained a copy of this so-called manifesto and not to go into it in any great detail as to glorify it, but it does give some kind of a look into what this suspect was there to do. In particular, I'm going to read you this line. It says, "Administration officials are targets prioritized from highest ranking to lowest."

And then he goes through the various security that he knows is going to be there. Secret Service, hotel security, Capitol Police, essentially saying that none of them are targets. But he does note that if any of them stand in his way, he will take action. And of course, as we know, he did exchange fire and did hit a Secret Service agent. But luckily that agent had on the protective gear and will be fine.

HUNT: All right, so, Josh Campbell, as somebody who has worked in law enforcement as well, I mean, how would you assess what we're learning from this manifesto and what does it mean for what law enforcement are going to be looking for next?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there's always a question about motive whenever we see an incident like this. And sometimes it is very difficult to try to ascertain what a motivation might be with great uncertainty. You take, for example, the attempted assassination on the president last year in Pennsylvania.

[18:05:02]

There are still big questions about that motivation. Very mysterious. This does not appear to be that. Everything that we're learning about this individual, his alleged writings here, leads in that direction. He had animus, invective toward the president and senior administration officials, which if that manifesto is found to have been tied to him, that is the textbook definition of political violence. And so it appears again, as I said, the more and more we're learning

about him, the more clear that motive is actually becoming. Nevertheless, the investigation continues at this hour. I want to update you on some new information that I just got from a law enforcement source about what went down as the apprehension actually took place inside the hotel. There's been a question about how did he get to that terrorist level floor.

We know that he was staying in the hotel as a guest. I'm told from a source that authorities, based on their preliminary investigation, they believe that he went from his room down to that terrorist level using a stairwell. He had a bag with him that had some of those weapons that were inside. Of course, then you see what happens once he gets to the terrorists there on your screen. He then rushes very quickly and bolts past that security checkpoint where he is then later engaged.

My colleague Jamie Gangel, and we've been hearing from sources about how critical authorities believe that the CCTV footage, security camera footage inside that hotel might be to try to piece all of this together. Now, there was also a question about we know based on what authorities have said that he opened fire and shot one Secret Service officer that thankfully, that round went into the ballistic vest of that officer, it was not fatal.

But I'm also learning that there was a Secret Service officer who did engage the suspect with gunfire. What authorities are doing now, they're trying to determine how many rounds may have been fired in total. And again, this is the preliminary investigation so far. They believe that the suspect fired one to two rounds, followed by the Secret Service officer firing three to four rounds. That's based on witnesses that they're talking to.

They're also analyzing video. Those two types of weapon systems, a shotgun that the suspect had and the service pistol that the officer had make different sounds. The shotgun obviously a more concussive blast. And so again, they're trying to piece this all together.

Final point I'll note is that authorities say that they do continue to work with the suspect's family. They have interviewed them. They say that they are being cooperative right now as investigation continues. But they're also bringing in profilers from the FBI. They're now part of this investigation as well to get to a final conclusion on the motive as this investigation continues, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Kristen Holmes, Josh Campbell, thank you both very much for getting us started this hour.

Joining us now, retired FBI supervisory agent, special agent, Richard Kolko. Our panel is also back with us, Democratic strategist Meghan Hays and CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, Bloomberg White House correspondent and a former president of the White House Correspondents' Association, Jeff Mason.

Richard, let me start with you as we set the scene here. I mean, obviously, this was in many ways, I mean, the president has said this as somebody who was in the ballroom, the response to this. It worked. They kept everybody safe. The ballroom, the president was kept safe. Nobody was hurt, of course, except for the Secret Service agent who thankfully was protected by his gear. And, you know, our thoughts are with him.

But considering what we're learning and Josh Campbell just reported that this man came down a stairwell, he was a guest at the hotel. I mean, I've done -- I've covered this dinner long enough so I think pretty sure I know which stairwell he's talking about. And yes, it would have been entirely possible to come down that stairwell without anybody really knowing if you were coming from a hotel room. I mean, what does that say about how we ended up here?

RICHARD KOLKO, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, there's going to be an assessment, obviously an after-action report here. We've all heard the heard the line about Secret Service agents having to guard stairwells during events. So perhaps this one was missed or not on the list of things that they needed to do. But they'll have to reevaluate exactly how this happened. Based on what we're hearing right now, it's just a little almost bizarre.

HUNT: Richard, the president wants to host this event again in the next 30 days. In your expert opinion, is that wise?

KOLKO: Absolutely. I don't see a problem with that at all. They've had this event at this hotel for decades. The security has been airtight in the past. It's all been practiced. Secret Service, Metro PD, FBI, all the other law enforcement agencies. Not a problem. They work well together. They train well together. Having an event there, not a problem.

The thing that's troublesome, and we saw that two years ago was Butler. Those pop-up sites where you have to throw Secret Service into an area at the last minute. They're working with law enforcement, they don't work with on a daily basis. Come up with a security plan. Those are the ones that are difficult. Those are the ones that are more high risk. But having an event at the Hilton here in Washington, D.C., which hosts high level events all year long, I don't see this as a problem.

Secret Service will reevaluate exactly how they carry out their security. They'll make some tweaks, but I don't see a problem having it within the next 30 days.

[18:10:05]

HUNT: So basically, you think that they can fix where they set? They can make -- they can figure out a way to make this venue secure is what you think?

KOLKO: I think so. First of all, I don't think it's broken. Certainly there was a problem. This never should have happened. But based on intelligence, you know, hopefully should have been able to pick something up outside. Farther out. We talk about perimeter. There's a perimeter around the president. There's a perimeter around the ballroom. There's a perimeter out to the magnetometer, out to the front door, out to the street.

There's law enforcement out there using license plate readers looking for suspicious activity. Each one of those is a tighter and tighter perimeter. Yes, this person got through, but they didn't make it all the way. They were able to interact with him, stop him from getting through the next secure perimeter. The president, the principal, was safe. At the end of the day I think it worked.

You watch the video and you see him zoom across that lobby, you know, at full speed. Yes, maybe they'll put a serpentine in there, you know, like they do at an amusement park. So you can't move so fast, like in an airport. Something to slow somebody down from trying to do exactly that in the video that you're showing now. But Secret Service is going to figure it out. They're experts at this, and they'll do everything they can to make sure it doesn't happen again.

HUNT: All right. Jeff Mason, as somebody who, you know, for people who maybe don't understand, I mean, the White House Correspondents' Association president, I mean, this is the -- like a central piece of the job, right? You spend a lot of time and energy. You would be having to think about this as well, right? How do you make your guests feel comfortable attending something like this, considering what has happened?

What's your view of whether you think you could create a security perimeter in an environment where people would feel comfortable going? Because I will say, I mean, I walked into that ballroom last night with a friend and colleague. We looked up, you're underground. You're kind of -- you cannot move. It is packed. If something happens, there's very few ways out. It doesn't feel terribly safe and certainly less safe after tonight.

JEFF MASON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS' ASSOCIATION: Yes. I mean, I think and I don't speak for the board. I'm not on the board now.

HUNT: Of course not.

MASON: But I suspect that they are discussing it and probably also taking their cues from the White House. Certainly the fact that the president wants to do the event again is a motivation to try and make it work there. Also, the fact that they put a lot of work into last night and didn't get to have it come to fruition. I'm sure they --

HUNT: And a hat tip to Weijia Jiang, this year's president.

MASON: Absolutely.

HUNT: Who conducted herself with the utmost composure in a very difficult situation. Sorry. Continue.

MASON: I couldn't agree more. Lots of scholarship winners were there who were supposed to, you know, be recognized, award winners who were going to be recognized. So I would think that they would want to find a way to make it happen. I think the question is, do you do it in the same place? Do you do it in the same way? Do you do it as black tie? Do you do it in a more slimmed down version, or are you -- do you go all out again with the White House's participation and with a different security apparatus at that hotel or somewhere else?

There are logistical questions, of course, too. I mean, I think I said before that hotel ballroom gets booked out a year in advance, so you'd have to -- if you wanted to go back to the Hilton, you would have to make sure that it's available and figure out a way to make that happen as well. And of course, do you get guests to come again and how many? So there's lots and lots of logistical things that would have to be answered.

But in general, the fact that the president wants to do it and clearly wanted to engage last night and have a back and forth with the press, that's a shift in the relationship between this president and the White House Press Corps. And I suspect that the Correspondents' Association will want to make it happen.

HUNT: Weijia Jiang last night called it meaningful that he had attended, which seemed like an appropriate word.

Meghan Hays, we were talking earlier. There is a special designation for security events in the nation's capital and elsewhere of a special national security. I think you have the correct, please correct my misnaming of the special national security event, but it is a special designation that allows for special security for instances when, I mean, the vast majority of the American government, right, the people who make the decisions.

I mean, you saw the pictures of Mike Johnson being raced out of the room, right? He -- the president, the vice president were on stage. Mike Johnson is very close to them in the crowd. He's being rushed out. The vice president is being grabbed by the coat collar taken out. The president is being taken out. I mean, that is the very top of the government, right? Something actually happens there's a lot at stake there.

What is that kind of designation? And why would an event like the Correspondents' Dinner happen without it?

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Well, I think conventions have NSC designation. The things like the Olympics will have that. Like, I think the Pope's visit had an NSC designation.

HUNT: The inauguration does.

HAYS: Yes. Correct. There is designation of funds, I believe, from Congress that also go towards these. And I think it would be a hard justification for the White House Correspondents' Association to make a case to Congress that they need taxpayers to pay for an event that celebrates press and if the president goes or not goes.

[18:15:02]

So I think that that's probably there's some optics there. I'm not saying it's not warranted. I'm just saying I think that there are some optics there. HUNT: Right.

HAYS: I also think that we could pick a different location, and it would be a more secure event. Because there are many different entrances to that hotel that were not secured by Secret Service. Like I've said before, they did their job in stopping someone from getting to the president in that ballroom. So they did a fantastic job. But there are other ways around that. And I just think it's a lot to ask taxpayers to pay for something to have a black tie event. That does not bode well to the American people when they can't afford groceries, gas and health care.

HUNT: Yes, I guess, I'm -- perhaps I'm wondering if you could rewrite it so that if you just simply reach a threshold, right, X number of people in the line of succession are going to be present at the same event at the same time --

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's triggered.

HUNT: It automatically --

JENNINGS: No matter what people are wearing. Yes. Yes.

HAYS: Right. But I also think these people don't need to go to this event, right? Like they don't need like CNN doesn't need to have members of the Cabinet there. It's an honor for the president to go, obviously, to celebrate the First Amendment. But it's part of this is bringing government and press together. And I just think that people would be hard pressed to have that sort of funding.

JENNINGS: Yes. I was alarmed last night, of course, while this was going on, because I think only Senator Grassley was not there, who was part of the line of succession.

HUNT: President pro tem of the Senate. Right.

JENNINGS: Right. And so when you think -- and this was a gunman, and what if somebody had rolled up with, you know, something larger than that? And so it does make you think about that. I know nothing, I'm just throwing this out as food for thought. The good vibes that the president was having with Weijia last night and the press after this, it would be a much smaller event. But you could think about throwing a tent up on the South Lawn of the White House and inviting the president, saying, you know what?

HUNT: He didn't like the tent on the South Lawn, remember? It was too small.

JENNINGS: I know but --

(CROSSTALK)

JENNINGS: I know. But here's the thing. But, A, it's a gesture of goodwill. And B, it's also a good chance to remind Washington why we absolutely need that East Wing ballroom built as a place to hold events just like this. HUNT: John Fetterman was on just last hour or two hours ago, arguing

for that very thing so.

JENNINGS: There you go.

HUNT: All right. Richard Kolko, thank you very much for your expertise, sir. I really appreciate it.

Coming up next, last night's shooting, renewing calls for Congress to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which, remember, is still not funded. Could this be what finally brings the partial government shutdown to an end? We'll dig in, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:21:42]

HUNT: All right, welcome back. We are continuing with our breaking news coverage of last night's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Congress is back in town tomorrow. Republican Congressman Michael McCaul told CNN that last night's incident shows why the House needs to move to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which, you may remember, is currently unfunded.

CNN senior reporter Annie Grayer joins the panel.

Annie, hi. I know you're up on Capitol Hill every day, and this has been something that we should remind people Democrats have been holding up this funding because they want changes to the way policy is made around immigration, ICE enforcement especially.

What is your sense of whether what we saw happen last night is going to change the politics of this, to the point where this funding stalemate is going to break?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, there are certainly lots of conversations happening right now at the leadership level across the bipartisan spectrum, across the spectrum. I think there are moderates who are hoping that there will be some bipartisan momentum for a path forward here, but the reality is that the sticking points that have defined this entire funding fight still very much remain.

And it's, as you mentioned, Democrats will not vote for the DHS funding bill as long as it includes that ICE and Border Patrol funding. And then you have specifically conservative Republicans who will not vote for DHS without that funding. So right now on Capitol Hill, Republicans in both the House and Senate are launching on this path to use a process called reconciliation to just rely on Republican votes to pass the Border Patrol and ICE funding portions.

And then once that is passed, address the rest of DHS funding. The problem there is that is a very complicated process. Takes a lot of time. The House is going to start that process this week. But that, you know, the moderates on both sides of the aisle who want to see a broader DHS funding deal get done, that is not going to satisfy those concerns. Going to take much longer than that.

And just take a listen to Republican Congressman Mike McCaul, who used to be the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is a member of that committee, about how he frames how last night fits into the larger funding debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): I think shutdowns, I've never been a big fan of those. And typically my party gets blamed for them. I don't think they're productive. And in this case, I predicted that something bad is going to happen and somebody is going to have blood on their hands. And it's very irresponsible. I think we need to pass that as soon as possible. I know the speaker is working with, you know, Senator Thune on a reconciliation package. I would hope this is a wake-up call to get it done as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: So there's his call to get something done as soon as possible. But there's also a lot on the House calendar this week, as we mentioned. The king is going to be up on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. There's Congress is trying to pass a national security bill that is expiring by the end of this week. There's also a war powers vote potentially on the calendar. So lawmakers have a very tight calendar this week.

But there are a lot of conversations. And I think people on both sides of the aisle acknowledge that time is running out. DHS funding is about to run out, as Secretary Mullin is saying, and here we are with this huge issue coming out of last night and still not a clear path on how to fund this.

[18:25:09]

HUNT: Well, and one of the biggest things here, you know, is the -- is payments, right, to the people, right? Because who are we talking about in the aftermath of what happened last night, right? The people who saved the president's life and the lives of anyone who was in line, the line of that shooter. And there are a number, I mean, yes, they did a sort of stopgap fix for the TSA agents because the lines were getting too long.

But there are so many employees who are facing, I mean, I think Markwayne Mullin was out there saying what they have to like the end of May to do payroll here. But the reality is, like the American people, this is -- a shutdown used to be something that was huge front page news that everybody kind of knew was happening. And this is in many ways silent.

JENNINGS: Well, it wasn't silent when the TSA breakdown happened at the airports and people were, you know, and then the administration, the president, the executive order stepped in to fix that. But that's temporary.

HUNT: Right. JENNINGS: That's not forever. Also, this has been going on for over 70

days, but this fiscal year, this department has been shut down along with other chunks of the government for 140 days. I mean, it's crazy. The name of it is the Department of Homeland Security.

HUNT: Meghan, do you --

JENNINGS: It's one of the most important agencies we have, and it has so much tucked underneath it. And this fight over policy, now we're putting national security and domestic security in jeopardy? I don't agree with the congressman, but I don't think Republicans are getting blamed for this because it's the Democrats who don't want to fund it.

HUNT: Well, Meghan, I mean, do you think that Democrats should try to move forward on this to find a way forward on this, or should they hold the line?

HAYS: Yes, but I also think that there are some real concerns with ICE funding that are really important, not only to Democrats, but to the American people. The polling is showing that it's important and what they're hearing from their constituents is that it's important. So this is where I think that we need to figure out a way to work together. And Democrats and Republicans have to come together. There is no reason that the DHS should not be funded full stop.

HUNT: All right. Still ahead here, the FBI going door to door in the suspect's California neighborhood, searching for evidence in last night's shooting. What are they looking for? We'll take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:31:16]

HUNT: All right, we're back with the breaking news coverage of the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Right now, FBI agents are at a Los Angeles area home that is linked to the alleged gunman. And CNN's Kyung Lah has found her way there.

Kyung, what are you learning at this hour about the suspect?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we can tell you is what the FBI is trying to do is to learn more about that very suspect. We caught these two FBI agents going door to door. We heard one of them say that what they were trying to do was to gather some ring video, presumably to put together some sort of timeline of movement. We -- and these are not the only agents who are in the neighborhood. There have been other people coming past saying that there were agents further down a few blocks away. So they are canvasing this area, trying to learn more.

So who are we talking about here? 31-year-old Cole Allen. You know, this is a nice community, a middle class community that doesn't have a lot of activity. A lot of families live here. The family was well known, friendly. The father, at least. They didn't see much of Cole. But, you know, neighbors didn't -- said that there really weren't any problems here. He went to a good university, Caltech. He got a degree in engineering, then got a masters at another university.

Somehow, though, this was brewing underneath. Federal records do show that he had purchased a weapon on October 6th, 2023. It was a pistol. Two years later, this shotgun. This is a shotgun purchased in 2025 that was found on him at the Hilton. He was also found with that -- with the handgun as well as multiple knives. The guns were stored here, according to White House sources. This being this Torrance home.

He does face some serious charges as of now, the using of a firearm during a crime of violence, as well as assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. And earlier you were talking about this manifesto, which really sort of gets into his thinking. There was some -- it does appear he was engaging in some more leftist political activity thinking, according to his sister, who spoke to authorities, that he had been practicing with the weapons at a firing range, and that in this manifesto he said that he wanted to target members of the Trump administration.

What that trigger was to get him to purchase the train ticket and travel to D.C. that's part of the impetus of the federal investigation that's happening right now here in Torrance -- Kasie.

HUNT: All right, Kyung Lah, reporting for us near Los Angeles, Torrance, California, where those FBI agents have been searching.

Kyung, thank you very much.

All right. Coming up next, the alleged gunman will go before a judge tomorrow. What should we expect? Our senior legal analyst, Elie Honig, joins our panel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:38:34]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back.

The alleged gunman accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner is expected to be arraigned in court tomorrow. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia says that he's going to face two federal charges, using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

Our panel is back. We're also joined by CNN's senior legal analyst, Elie Honig, who is, of course, the former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, including to being -- including being one of our own legal analysts.

Elie, thanks for being here. It's good to see you. Can you walk us through what this man is charged with now? Is this going to be the extent of the charges? And what do you expect to see going forward?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Kasie, I firmly expect there to be more charges and more serious charges added very quickly, possibly as soon as tomorrow. So he's already charged with using a firearm in a crime of violence. It's a very serious charge. Under the federal rules, it can be punished by up to life in prison. By the way, it does not matter if he obtained the gun legally. If you use it in the course of a crime of violence, that is going to be a federal crime.

He's also currently charged with assault on a federal officer relating to the Secret Service agent. I would expect that to be upgraded to attempted murder of a federal officer. And then finally, I would expect there to be eventually attempted assassination charges added to this case, because, of course, it is a federal crime to attempt to kill the president or his Cabinet members.

[18:40:11]

Now, there's probably further evidentiary development that needs to go into that. But based on what we've heard the reporting about this individual's writings, it seems very likely that attempted assassination charges will eventually be added to this case.

HUNT: Yes. Can I -- that's actually what I wanted to ask you about. There's this manifesto that we have been reporting about this afternoon. I mean, it says he wanted to target Trump officials. How does that play into all of this?

HONIG: So it's crucial evidence for prosecutors on a couple of levels. First of all, it shows intentionality. It shows that he pre-planned all of this, and it goes to his motives. And specifically, first of all, you have to show in order for there to be an assassination or attempted assassination charge, that there was this plan and intent to kill the president or a Cabinet member. Also, there's been reporting that there were anti-Christian statements in some of these writings.

If that is true, and if that could be proved to be a motive for this, then there's the possibility of adding federal hate crime charges. So it's not a hate crime to target someone for political reasons. It is a hate crime to target someone for religious views. So I promise you, investigators are going through every word that this individual has written about this.

HUNT: Elie, we, of course, have talked since this happened quite a bit about the other attempts on President Trump's life, notably, especially the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, and, I mean, it was the details that came out about the shooter in that incident, considerably murkier than what this manifesto seems to show, right? I mean, this is a lengthy political statement.

I mean, what is -- what do you think that says? And I guess, what does it mean legally? I mean, how is it different when you have someone who is saying all of these explicitly political things versus someone who's background is a lot more opaque?

HONIG: Yes, there's a lot more specific information here because of the extent of this individual's writings. And that is very helpful for prosecutors, very helpful for the FBI, because you can piece together the exact why of it.

And, Kasie, it's important to know, though, you don't have to show motive. I know that may sound strange to people. You don't necessarily have to show a jury why a person committed a violent act like this. If you can prove that the person did commit the violent act and they did it intentionally, that's enough. But you always want to be able to prove motive as a prosecutor. You always want to be able to answer the question for the jury, but why did this person do this?

And so let's say, hypothetically, if we had no such writings, if this person had never spoken before, yes, you could still prosecute and convict him for shooting a firearm in this crowded place, but you wouldn't be able to make that connection over to his goal to target people politically, to target certain political officials. So that's really going to enhance the case that prosecutors and detectives have here when, if and when they eventually try this thing.

HUNT: Right. I mean, I guess that raises the question, Scott Jennings, Meghan Hays, legally, doesn't matter necessarily, except in the hate crime situation that Elie has outlined, why. But from a cultural perspective and in terms of, you know, whether or not we can figure out a way to get our political discourse back to a place where the answer that people seem to have to their grievances is shooting people or trying to, you know, this -- none of this helps.

JENNINGS: Look, it's awful. And -- but it's also awfully clear, I mean, the reporting all day on this guy has emerged of someone who was marinating in some of these extreme rhetoric here on the left about Donald Trump. And so I think it has to be acknowledged. And it needs to be discussed. I think at the same time that's going on, there are other voices out there in our politics who are rising right now, some on the left, who are engaged in similarly extreme rhetoric.

I've seen Democratic candidates campaigning with this Hasan Piker, who's been given a platform recently by "The New York Times." He's said a lot of violent, antisemitic things. I don't think that's good, for instance. And so I think even though it may not matter legally, I agree with you, it matters politically and it matters culturally. And I think it should matter all of us as American citizens about what is going to be acceptable and what's going to be platformed, you know, in our party rhetoric.

HAYS: Yes. But the left is not the only people doing this. And the right does just as much online. And I made this point earlier, a lot of this stuff lives in our phone. You're able to cultivate a community that agrees with you, and it just builds and builds and builds and then something horrible like this happens. And so it's -- I just think it's wildly unfair to blame one side. We are -- all of us here have a responsibility to not be as bipartisan or as vitriol coming out of our mouths as --

[18:45:04]

JENNINGS: You can understand why we're on edge as conservatives, though. Three times the president, Steve Scalise, Brett Kavanaugh, Charlie Kirk, heck, there was even a plot against Russell Vought the other day, who's the head of the Office of Management and Budget. I mean, conservatives are, I think, rightfully on edge because this keeps happening over and over and over again. And people keep calling Donald Trump a Nazi, and they keep calling him

a fascist, and they keep repeating lies about him that have -- that are not true. Yet they keep getting repeated regarding Epstein and other things.

I'm just telling you, as a conservative who lives in this every day, my friend was murdered last year. My president has had three assassination attempts. I have a knot in my stomach about it every day that I wake up.

HAYS: To be fair, he's all of our president. So that's number one. But number two, the left is not the only people online in the world creating this sort of commentary back and forth. And I don't -- I'm not trying to take away from people who have been targeted and things that have happened to them, but it doesn't change the fact that every single one of us is responsible for the rhetoric that comes out of our mouth. And it is just as equally as horrible on the right as it is the left.

HUNT: All right, we got to sneak in a quick break here. Tomorrow, the president plans to host King Charles. The visit going forward in spite of last night's violent attack. Could the incident shift the palace's plans? We're going to talk to you about the conversations that are happening behind the scenes. That's up next.

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[18:50:32]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back.

In the wake of last night's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, King Charles and Queen Camilla's state visit here to the United States will go ahead as planned. Their visit had been in some flux over security concerns after last night's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Buckingham Palace confirms the royal couple are looking forward to the visit that begins tomorrow.

CNN anchor and royal correspondent Max Foster is here.

Max, you're on this side of the pond.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Lovely to be here. Thanks for having me.

HUNT: Whatever has happened? Oh, the king is coming.

(LAUGHTER)

HUNT: Thank you for being here.

FOSTER: I precede him. I'm like a red carpet.

HUNT: We were, of course, at the British embassy earlier because I think CNN felt it was important to continue recognizing the importance of the First Amendment, even after last night's events. We had planned an event there. The British ambassador spoke a little bit. He touched on the king's visit and the importance of that being able to go forward.

What do we know about what we're going to see from the king and from Queen Camilla, and how last night's events have impacted the planning?

FOSTER: Well, very busy morning for the ambassador, or his team because this involves obviously multiple teams. And I think it's safe to say the whole event was on hold this morning whilst they worked out the security arrangements.

My understanding is the king and the queen were still very keen to come because this is all about solidifying that relationship and showing loyalty to America and reflecting the long term relationship. So if they pulled out, that would undermine all of that.

The president was keen for it to happen. Then the governments needed to agree. And then ultimately, it was up to the security teams to give the go ahead. So even if the king wanted to come, if his security team said no, that would have -- he wouldn't have been able to come. But they were -- a lot of work this morning to get all the right approvals, and there will be differences to the schedule, but I don't think the public will see that. It's just details within the arrangements that people are aware of already.

HUNT: Yes, and securing that embassy compound actually much more straightforward than securing the Capitol Hilton, quite frankly.

Jeff Mason, I mean, this is a president who loves being around the royal family.

MASON: Yes, he does. He said that he's friends with King Charles. He's got a complicated relationship with the prime minister right now and with the U.K., I would say broadly, but certainly hosting the king and queen is going to be a highlight for him and maybe help with some of the tensions in that relationship.

FOSTER: There's multiple meetings. I'm sorry to interrupt.

MASON: No, please.

FOSTER: But there are actually several one-on-one meetings between the king and the president all off camera. And I think, you know, this is the king's role to try to fix that relationship that you're talking about behind closed doors. It can't be seen to be getting involved in politics on camera.

HUNT: Well, I was going to -- I mean, for a relationship that, you know, I mean, right now for the U.K. relationship with the United States, it's so dependent on this one person. And it always is to an extent. But in many ways, Donald Trump is singular in this way. I mean, what is it that the king potentially can accomplish that, say, Keir Starmer could not?

FOSTER: Well, he could say -- he could talk about independence 250 years ago and say things aren't as bad as they were then. And to talk about how the relationships only improved since then, and talk about -- talk directly to the American people. I mean, the way they've described it to me is that this relationship transcends the presidency. So this trip is really and the speech to Congress will be speaking to the American people, showing that American and British people have a long history that's pretty unbreakable. We've had problems in the past, and he will highlight some of them, we got through them.

HUNT: We are about to celebrate the 250th birthday of us, you know.

FOSTER: Well, this is why the king --

HUNT: The kind of giving King George --

(CROSSTALK)

FOSTER: This is the headline for the king. You know, to say that that's things have only improved since then.

HUNT: Yes, for sure.

JENNINGS: But it's a good chance for us to remind everybody of the pillars of Western civilization. I mean, there's a great clash going on in this world, and it's the United States and traditionally Great Britain that have worked together to uphold the West.

FOSTER: Well, I think -- yes.

JENNINGS: And I think reminding the American people about the seriousness and importance of that relationship as it relates to the West at large, it could be a big moment.

HUNT: Yes. All right. I want to just -- we have 90 seconds left, just very briefly. As we sort of sit and reflect, Jeff, final thoughts on what we saw at last night's dinner, what it means.

MASON: I think it showed resilience. Whether the dinner happens again or not, the fact that the president wants to see it happen again, the fact that the board is looking at it and the fact that honestly in a night when we've been using the word chaos, but people really responded in a very unified way in that ballroom.

[18:55:05]

As scary and as traumatic as it was, I think it's a sign of resilience.

HUNT: Well, speaking of the response in the room, because we could all use a little levity? It's very serious day, serious topic, of course, but we wanted to show you Salad Guy. Can we get Salad Guy up on the screen, please? I would like to give a toast here to a good friend of the show, Michael Glance, who as we were all hunkering down, continued to eat his burrata as though nothing were happening around him. May we all be so calm in moments of crisis, although, of course, this is not what the experts say that you should do in the event that you find yourself in a situation where this happens. Go ahead.

JENNINGS: Keep calm and burrata on. That is a new slogan.

HUNT: Yes.

JENNINGS: Trademarking it. We'll have merch up by tomorrow.

FOSTER: Ahead to the king's trip perfectly.

HUNT: All right. But no -- on a very somber note, I just wanted to say I'm grateful to be with all of you today. I'm grateful you have been following our coverage. I am also incredibly grateful on my -- on behalf of myself, but also everyone at CNN and all of the news organizations who are in that room for the law enforcement professionals. Dozens and dozens of them who protected not only the president of the United States, but also all of us. So thank you very much to all of you.

All right. I'm Kasie Hunt. Thanks for being with us. Our breaking news coverage continues in just a moment with Jessica Dean.

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