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FBI Going Door to Door at Shooting Suspect's California Neighborhood; Suspect's Family Told Police of Manifesto Just Before Shooting; Timeline of White House Correspondents' Dinner Attack; House Oversight Committee Asks for Secret Service Briefing; President Trump Gives First Interview Since Shooting Incident; Correspondents' Dinner Shooting Suspect to be Arraigned Tomorrow; Trump Says If Iran Wants to Talk, They Can Call Us. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired April 26, 2026 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:41]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in Washington.

Authorities searching for answers tonight after a man charged through security and opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night. The president, vice president, multiple top government officials, all in attendance. They were raced to safety by Secret Service.

As investigators now go door to door in the suspect's neighborhood, we are learning he sent a message to members of his family saying he planned to target members of the Trump administration. 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen is a part-time teacher from Torrance, California, and you see him there after Secret Service brought him down inside the Washington, D.C., Hilton Hotel.

And new tonight, the president speaking with "60 minutes" about what Allen appears to have written in the so-called manifesto.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I read a manifesto. He's radicalized. He was a Christian, a 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 a probably a pretty sick guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Kyung Lah is joining us now from the suspect's neighborhood in California.

So tell us more about this message the suspect sent and the investigation that's unfolding really right behind you. KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, really

right in this exact community as the FBI starts to try to figure out this timeline and piece together this puzzle of what happened to this young man who seemed to be such a high achiever, coming from a good home, according to the people who live here, a really quiet, middle- class family. So what we saw today are a couple of FBI agents going door to door.

What we overheard is that they said that they were trying to get together some ring video, ring cameras of some of these homes. And a lot of these homes, you can see it for yourself, just with my eyes here, a lot of these homes do have cameras, so they're trying to put together whatever evidence that they have. And these are just the two officers we saw. We understand that there were others walking through this neighborhood trying to get -- open up a larger perimeter of this investigation.

A little bit about Cole Allen, 31 years old. He is someone who went to an elite academy in -- for his post-high school degree. He went to Caltech, he got a degree in engineering. This is a very difficult school to get into and a difficult one to graduate from. And then he got his Master's degree at another university. He was the Teacher of the Month in December 2024, according to social media posts.

So he seemed to have it together in many ways. But what we are now learning is that in October of 2023, records do show that he purchased a weapon, a handgun, that was legally purchased in this area. Then he purchased, two years later, a shotgun, the shotgun in this photo that was obtained by our Josh Campbell, from 2025, then traveled with him along with that handgun and multiple knives to Washington, traveling apparently by train.

Again, this timeline certainly being pieced together. He does face some serious charges. He will be arraigned tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. in -- on the East Coast. He is charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence, as well as assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

And as far as that puzzle, Jess, that you were just talking about, this manifesto, while we don't want to go into the details of it, it certainly does point out and clearly reflects some political anger, political anger to the Trump administration. His sister, talking to authorities, said that he did practice at a local shooting range and that he was increasingly talking about some left-wing activity. So, you know, a lot more we hope to learn tomorrow morning at that hearing, Jess.

DEAN: Yes, for sure, Kyung. And just staying with that suspect's family members and neighbors for a second, I know you gave a little bit about what they've been saying. Is there anything else that we know about that they're telling authorities right now?

LAH: We don't know what they're telling authorities. But let me just kind of piece together a bit of what we have seen over the last 12 hours. [20:05:02]

I don't know if the family wasn't home at the time, but when federal authorities arrived here, it looked like they were going to try to force entry into the home. They didn't have to do that. So armed with a search warrant, they appeared to make some type of contact. And we understand that the family is cooperating. The sister and the brother certainly talking to local authorities, but the parents who are here certainly seem at this point to be talking to the authorities and cooperating.

DEAN: All right. Kyung Lah, with the very latest there from Torrance, California. Thank you so much for that.

CNN national security and law enforcement correspondent Josh Campbell and CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller are both joining us now.

Good to have you both here.

Josh, I know you have just now obtained a new image of the suspect, and I want you to tell us about that.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes. In this photo that you can see, this was just after the suspect was apprehended there outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner. You see him. He's covered in a mylar blanket. That's that tin foil looking blanket on him. I'm told that he was searched for any type of weapons, any type of wounds. That's why you see his clothing removed there.

But we're also getting some new details on how that arrest actually went down. We know that authorities have said that he opened fire on officers, in fact, striking one uniformed officer with the Secret Service. Thankfully that officer's ballistic vest stopped that round from being fatal. But I'm also learning from a source that an officer opened fire on him as well. And authorities have been working to determine exactly how many number of rounds were fired.

The preliminary investigation has determined that it appears he fired one to two rounds from that shotgun that you showed earlier, and then the officer fired three to four rounds. And so there was an in fact exchange of gunfire that was occurring before authorities were ultimately able to tackle him.

The next step, obviously, with the investigation, getting to that motive is something that is also happening. You know, one thing that is so striking about this case is how uncomplicated this seems right now, this motive. You know, when John and I were in the FBI, I had worked for him. We would have some type of act of violence that would happen in this country. We would sit there and read over investigative reports as authorities are trying to get to a motive.

Sometimes that could take a long time. I mean, you look at the attempted assassination on President Donald Trump last year in Butler, there's still major questions there. Here it appears this is all coming together very quickly in less than 24 hours, based on the alleged gunman's here suspected own words in that manifesto where you see his deep animus for the Trump administration as well as senior government officials. And so if that indeed is tied to him, this looks like a clear case of political violence.

DEAN: John, what are outstanding questions for you tonight?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, as Josh was saying, you know, a lot of this goes to motive, but he's given us more than clues. I mean, when you get into the manifesto and he talks about turning the other cheek is when you yourself are the oppressed. I'm not the person raped in a detention camp. I'm not the fishermen executed on the high seas. I'm not the child blown up or starved.

And so what he's doing here is he is balling together images that are evocative of the conflict in Gaza, the war in Iran, the U.S. missile strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. And then repeated references that appear to be related to the Epstein case. And, you know, those that he feel -- those that he feels it is being covered up on behalf of. So he's got a complex agenda of anti-Trump administration gripes that he is elected himself.

And talking to FBI profilers, people like Mary Ellen O'Toole and others, about this, they compare it in many ways to Luigi Mangione, where he's saying only I can step up and deal with this injustice and I have this moral omnipotence where I am going to take this action and kill these people and so on. Of course he failed to do that. And in doing so, in the manifesto, he also put out his rules of engagement.

I'm not going to engage with the cops unless they shoot at me first, or hotel security or the National Guard, or hotel employees, unless they interfere with me. My job is to get in there and to target, you know, the people who work in this administration in sum and substance.

DEAN: Wow. Josh, tell us more about the weapons that the suspect had. And then I know, I know you got a little bit into this --

CAMPBELL: Well --

DEAN: About the exchange of gunfire, too.

CAMPBELL: No, that's right. So obviously a shotgun, the high powered rifle that was there, and it's interesting, authorities, as they've been trying to determine the number of rounds fired, they've been interviewing witnesses. They've also been going over the large number of videos that are out there listening to the difference in the sound I'm told from a source of those weapons. A shotgun has this very large concussive blast sound. That's how authorities determined they think one to two rounds fired.

[20:10:05]

The pistol from the officer, more of a cracking, kind of less baritone sound. But he also had a pistol on him, as well as knives. And, you know, when I say knives, I don't want people to think a pocket knife because I'm told, according to a source, we're talking about combat survival style knives that were on his person.

I think it's important to note, as we talk about the weaponry and we talk about the manifesto that John had mentioned, you know, reading through that, quite frankly, I mean, it sounds kind of delusional a lot of the things that he was talking about. In so many of these cases, it's hard to rationalize and make sense of something that is, you know, maybe nonsensical, but in his mind, for whatever reason, he determined that he was going to act with violence here.

We know this incident will be investigated by the Secret Service. They'll do an after action to try to determine, you know, if processes were fired. But the overall point is, you know, the president didn't appear to be in any type of imminent danger. It did not appear this person was, you know, imminently prepared to, you know, bust into that ballroom. This happened, in fact, on a different floor where he was actually taken into custody.

But nevertheless, as they always do, they will look back and, you know, make sure that processes are as secure as they should be because this is a president that obviously is out there very publicly for events, you know, all the time.

DEAN: Yes. And John, how long will an investigation like this take? And also, I was -- when I was talking to Andrew McCabe in the last hour, we were talking about just the intelligence that specifically the FBI will be gathering just to try to inform them of the profile of this person as we see more political violence in this country. And, you know, we could list out so many political -- you know, so many incidents we've seen in the last even just two or three years.

How important is that, too, in terms of being able to assess these sorts of threats? I know you and I talk about this a lot, too, that if there are lone wolf and they're kind of by themselves and not talking to anybody, it's hard to know if they're going to act out like this.

MILLER: Well, that's right. And this investigation will go on multiple levels and at different speeds. As Josh said, the Secret Service will review what was done right, what could they do better, because they're going to be back at this event within 30 days. The FBI will be working on that criminal action where they will literally be walking backwards in time, trying to reconstruct every step he took, every message he sent, his electronics, his communications, make sure that nobody else may have had any advance knowledge of this.

And then there is the profiler piece where we were talking about a minute ago, where the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit will want to take a deep dive into this person and figure out what took him from the jet propulsion lab and Cal State and California universities and Master's degrees and so on, to a pathway to violence. They're going to want to see where that fork in the road came for him, what the drivers were, that went from being threats -- that went from being drivers to this threat.

DEAN: Yes. To action. All right. John Miller, Josh Campbell, great to see you both. Thank you so much for that. And still ahead, how the shooting unfolded. CNN's Brian Todd will

break down the timeline for us. Plus security concerns, the attack, raising questions over the Secret Service's handling of the event.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:15:28]

DEAN: Back now with our breaking news coverage of the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. And tonight, there are major security concerns being raised after the suspected shooter was shown on this surveillance footage charging through a Secret Service checkpoint and opening fire.

CNN's Brian Todd has more on the dramatic moments inside the Washington Hilton Hotel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chaotic scenes at this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner as U.S. President Donald Trump was rushed off stage after shots were fired in the hotel where the event was taking place. Trump and the Cabinet members who attended are all safe, and the suspect is in custody.

Here's what we know about how the incident unfolded. By 8:00 p.m., the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel was full of guests awaiting the night's festivities. Sixteen minutes later, the U.S. president and first lady took to the stage. So far so normal. At 8:34 p.m., Trump is seen conversing with American mentalist Oz Pearlman, who appears to be showing him a magic trick.

And here's where the night takes an unexpected turn. Outside that room at the security perimeter, a man is caught on video charging through a Secret Service checkpoint. In the footage, which was later posted to the president's Truth Social account, Secret Service members can be seen drawing their weapons and pointing them off screen in the direction of the assailant.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Just maybe three, four, or five feet away from me, there's a gunshot, a whole bunch of gunshots, and someone firing.

TODD (voice-over): Back at the dinner, as President Trump makes conversation. A loud noise is heard in the background, followed by what sounds like several gunshots. A look of shock clearly passes over First Lady Melania Trump's face.

Eleven seconds after the first noise was heard, security services personnel surround the president. On the other end of the stage, security reached Vice President J.D. Vance who had been seated close to the end and immediately rush him away. Seconds later, the Secret Service continues to encircle the president and takes him offstage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he on the stage still? Hey, where are we at?

TODD (voice-over): In the moments that follow members of Trump's Cabinet, including secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, and speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, are seen being escorted through the hotel to safety. Back inside the ballroom, the shocked guests sheltered at their

tables. CNN's Sara Sidner filming this as she did so.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: There was a loud noise. There was a very loud bang. We're not sure what it is.

TODD (voice-over): Attendees including CNN's Manu Raju and Brian Stelter, trying to make out what had happened.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's unmistakable. It sounded like gunshots that we heard.

TODD (voice-over): The shooter was stopped on the floor above the ballroom. At 8:52 p.m. this video was filmed by eyewitness Bill Frischling, showing the suspect lying face down on the ground, shirtless and in handcuffs. Sources tell CNN he has been identified as a 31-year-old male from California. It's believed he was working alone.

Almost an hour later, a motorcade believed to be carrying President Trump departed the Washington Hilton. Still later, upon returning to the White House, the president held a press conference praising law enforcement and calling the presidency a, quote, "dangerous profession."

TRUMP: It comes with the territory. And if you want to do a great job, I really believe that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right, Brian Todd, thank you for that.

Let's bring in Secret Service agent and CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow.

Jonathan, thanks so much for being here with us. We've seen that surveillance video now, and I know you've seen it a number of times of the attacker charging that checkpoint, running through what stands out to you when you see that?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Jessica, good evening. In looking at the situation 24 hours later, the key takeaway for me is this. The overall security plan that was developed by the Secret Service worked in the most critical of elements, which is the attacker was stopped. However, this incident also exposes this deeper threat environment that we're now operating in. Specifically, this normalization of political violence against, you know, our leaders.

That is the challenge around establishing these security plans and protocols for these mass gatherings for the Secret Service. I've heard, you know, things throughout today that there were security failures. I don't believe that there was a security failure. I believe that there is room for improvement here in how we establish these critical events, especially when we have our top political leaders all gathered at one location.

I think we have to basically take on a new model of protection, really, you know, transitioning from a site specific security plan to something that is more broad, which is what we referred to earlier in the hour, which is the national special security event that takes a whole of government approach, both from a threat perspective, consequence management, and all the resources that are necessary to protect these political leaders when they gather at events like this.

[20:20:24]

DEAN: Yes. Why do you think it wasn't designated as that sort of event?

WACKROW: Well, I think that was a critical miss. And I think that part of it has to do with timing. National special security events are planned over months, even years, to make sure that every single element of the security plan is put into place. Remember, it's not just site specific, it's region specific. So any type of catastrophic event that happens that could impact the entire region, in this case, the District of Columbia. has to have contingency plans.

That doesn't happen overnight. Just because you slap an NSSC label on an event doesn't make it, you know, more secure in a short amount of time. It takes, you know, critical meetings over months to look at this changing threat environment. And as we know, this threat environment changes almost weekly right now. So how do you plan for that on a large scale event? Again, we have to look forward into what our political leaders are doing and where they are gathering to establish the right protective structures around these major events.

DEAN: I want to play a new exchange that President Trump had with Norah O'Donnell of "60 Minutes" that just came out about the suspect. This is what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS "60 MINUTES": He had been staying at the hotel since Friday. He checked in. He said he had cased the place and he wrote, "What the hell is the Secret Service doing?" And he wrote this, quote, "I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the Wazoo. What I got is nothing." He wrote, "Like this level of incompetence is insane."

Sir, you have already had two attempted --

TRUMP: Well, he was pretty incompetent, too, because he got caught and he got caught pretty easily. So I'd say he was pretty incompetent, too. You know, I can take any event having to do with security or anything else. I can always find fault. Those guys did a good job last night. They did a really good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Jonathan, what do you think in hearing all of that?

WACKROW: Well, you know, I'm not going to take the suspect's, you know, he has no credibility in really establishing what the Secret Service security was.

DEAN: Of course, no. Right.

WACKROW: But, you know, the whole incident here, when we talk about the challenges of, you know, having this super secure event co-mingled with a public hotel, you know, there are gray areas of demarcation, right? That is something that needs to be looked at in the Secret Service is going to do that. They're going to do an undertake a mission assurance review to make sure that when they are holding these types of events, co-mingled, you know, within a, you know, a building that is essentially open to the public as well, what else needs to be done to ensure that the perimeter remains secure and that you don't have these types of incidents, you know, come up again.

DEAN: Yes. And I want to take a look to that point of the specific place. We have the floor plans of the Washington Hilton. And I think it's important for people to kind of understand, too, this ballroom, think of it as like subterranean. It's very deep in there and it's below, right? And you have to take these little escalators up to what we're calling the terrace level here. That's where the bathrooms are. That's where our Wolf Blitzer was when this all happened. And it's also where the suspect was apprehended.

How difficult is it, too, to secure a place like this that has these multiple levels like this? Or does that -- is that supposedly make it easier?

WACKROW: Well, it's -- the difficulty doesn't come in securing it. The difficulty comes in evacuating from there.

DEAN: Yes.

WACKROW: Again, just as you had said, this environment is subterranean. And, you know, all of the times when I was a Secret Service agent, whenever I brought my protectees to that ballroom, there was always a series of protocols that I went through my head on how do we get out. If we have a critical incident, whether it's a tactical, medical or relocation situation, how are we going to move out of this subterranean area?

Now, that was just with one protectee. When you look at a room that has 2400 guests and, you know, hundreds of people who have, you know, protection, whether they're government officials or private officials, all of which when a critical event happens, how are they going to evacuate without causing a stampede and really causing more harm than good? That is where the security planning by the Secret Service is very critical in sequencing how they are going to get these political leaders and the guests out safely should there be, you know, any type of critical incident.

[20:25:08]

DEAN: Yes, that's such a good point. All right, Jonathan, great to see you. Thank you so much.

WACKROW: Great. Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: President Trump gives his first interview since last night's shooting. We just played you a small clip of it. Ahead we're going to break down what he had to say about how the Secret Service reacted to getting him to safety, and more.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:05]

DEAN: President Trump tonight telling "60 Minutes" he, quote, "wasn't worried" there would be injuries as shots were heard outside the ballroom where the White House Correspondents' Dinner was taking place on Saturday. Tonight, investigators are combing through a message sent by the suspect.

Let's go to CNN's Kristen Holmes, who is at the White House.

Kristen, there is some confusion about when these writings from the suspect were sent to the suspect's family, what that timeline might look like. What are you learning?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, this is what the administration officials, people around the investigation are calling the suspect's manifesto. And there have been some confusion about when he e-mailed this to his family, when his family read it, when they alerted local authorities. And what we're told now is that 10 minutes before the incident, the suspect sent this to members of his family.

Now, I am told that the members of his family did not actually see this until after the incident, and that is when they informed local PD. Of course, that is critical given that such a narrow window anyway before the incident. But there were questions about security and the timing and whether or not local officials were informed and had informed the Secret Service about any kind of credible threat, we now believe that all of the calls to local authorities, all of the information about the so-called manifesto, all happened after the incident itself.

And, of course, just the last hour we heard from President Trump in this interview, I know you played several clips of it, from "60 Minutes." And one thing is very clear, he feels very supported by the Secret Service and in turn is saying back to them that he is thankful that they were there, despite all the criticisms that we are hearing from the outside about how this could have potentially gone differently, how this could have been secured differently.

And President Trump in this interview kind of gave a look into why it seemed as though maybe his evacuation was slower than, say, Vice President J.D. Vance. We saw him kind of being pulled by the lapel. President Trump himself taking responsibility for that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: 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. A 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. And I said, wait a minute, wait a minute, let me see. Wait a minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, again, clearly praising the Secret Service, saying he was the one who was moving slow. I do want to note throughout this, he praised the first lady repeatedly. He noted that she has not been present for the other assassination attempts, that this is the first time that she's really been exposed to this. And he pointed out that she was scared. He wouldn't say that directly, but he kind of danced around the fact, wouldn't you be scared is what he said in response as well, and said that she was the first person who really seemed to notice what was going on. It wasn't just plates falling -- Jessica.

DEAN: Fascinating. All right. Kristen Holmes, at the White House, thank you so much for that.

We are joined now by CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. He's a former state and federal prosecutor and previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Elie, thanks for being here with us. Walk us through the charges that we're expecting here for this suspect.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So, Jess, there are currently two charges against this individual. The first one is using a firearm in the course of a crime of violence, and the other is assault on a federal officer, the Secret Service agent.

Now, it is very common in a case like this to see prosecutors only start with the most basic, easily provable charges, because you just need to get something on paper so you can arrest and hold the individual. And it is very common, and I assure you this will happen over the coming days, to see additional charges filed.

I would expect to see attempted murder charges filed and based largely on that writing that you were just discussing with Kristen Holmes, it sounds like there's ample support for an attempted assassination charge relating to this individual's efforts to assassinate the president, potentially the vice president and Cabinet members. So look for the charges against this individual to get more serious and more voluminous in the days ahead.

DEAN: Yes. And there's this alleged manifesto, writings, whatever we want to call them, that the suspect sent to his family. You mentioned that that could be relevant here. What is the legal relevance of that?

HONIG: Yes. Well, it's incredibly important, first of all, in assessing the overall security picture, as Jonathan Wackrow just spoke about in the prior segment. It's also incredibly important legally because it will allow prosecutors to clearly establish that this person acted intentionally and what his motive was. His motive was political. His motive was to target the president and other people around him. And that writing, those writings could become the basis for an attempted assassination charge.

You do have to prove that that was the intent. And so I would expect that based on that writing, potentially other evidence, we will see attempted assassination charges added to this case.

[20:35:07]

DEAN: And so walk us through what's going to happen in court tomorrow, what we should expect to see.

HONIG: Yes, as surreal as this event is, tomorrow's appearance is going to be quite routine in some sense. This will be the first appearance in court for this individual. He will be arraigned, meaning he'll be advised of the charges against him. He will likely enter a plea of not guilty. The judge will make sure he has a lawyer. If he can pay for one, fine. If not, the court will appoint one.

The judge will consider the issue of bail. He's not going to get bail, I promise you that. And then the judge will set a schedule moving forward, and we'll get a good sense of how quickly this case is likely to move.

DEAN: And so to that point, what is a likely timeline? Do we know what a likely timeline might look like for this?

HONIG: So sometimes judges will set a trial date at the first appearance, which would be tomorrow. But that's more unlikely in my view. It's sort of uncommon for judges to do that. I think what we will see tomorrow is the judge will set a briefing schedule. Here's when the parties have to submit their briefs. Here's where I'll make my rulings. And then from there, they'll set a trial date.

It's hard to tell with federal cases, but typically in a case like this, I would expect to see a trial somewhere in the six to 12-month range from now. In a sense, it's not all that complicated of a case. It looks like this is just one individual, one fairly discreet event. But of course, on the other hand, prosecutors and the FBI and other law enforcement agents will turn up every single available fact.

So I think we'll have a sense of roughly how quickly this case is going to move tomorrow, but I don't think we'll end up with a trial date at the end of the day tomorrow.

DEAN: Yes. What about just, again, looking pretty ahead here, but sentencing? Is this something that would carry the potential death penalty or a life sentence? Like what are we working with here? HONIG: So there is no potential death penalty here because you can

only inflict the death penalty if someone is killed. There was not a murder here. Thankfully, nobody was killed, so there can be no death penalty. However, if you look at the crimes that this defendant is already charged with, they carry a potential life, max. And if you look at some of the other charges that I expect to see in this case, they too carry a potential life, max.

If this person is convicted, whether he pleads guilty, whether he's convicted eventually by a jury, I think it is very, very likely he will get a life sentence. And in the federal system, Jess, a life sentence is a life sentence. Sometimes in state systems, you'll hear about someone getting life and then getting parole. There's no parole in the federal system.

DEAN: That's it. All right. Elie Honig, always good to have you to get us all. Thank you.

HONIG: Thanks, Jess.

DEAN: For another piece -- another piece to this puzzle, let's bring in former FBI assistant director Frank Figliuzzi.

Frank, thank you so much for being here with us. All right, let's talk about the FBI's role in all of this. We have seen these FBI agents going door to door in the suspect's California neighborhood today. We have our reporter, Kyung Lah, who's there? They've been at the parents' house. She's been reporting.

What are they trying to do as they're going door to door in that neighborhood?

FRANK FIGLIUZZI, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI COUNTERINTELLIGENCE DIVISION: So first, their number one job is to determine once and for all whether there's any other individuals that are a part of a conspiracy. That -- and it certainly looks like that's not the case, Jessica, but that is priority number one first, public safety. Number two, they're of course going to support a prosecution on the other side of the country in D.C. and that means building the case with intent.

How do you find intent and planning and conversations with others? You pull and forensically examine devices. You interview perhaps even hundreds of people, neighbors, associates, family, co-workers, all of that's going to take place and will be a great examination of all of his writings and-or rantings as it goes toward intent and motivation. They'll show his planning of the trip. How long ago did he start planning that? That all goes toward intent.

The train tickets. Why did he take a train? Was it, in fact, to get around security with his weapons? How long ago did he secure a room at the Washington Hilton knowing that it would be filled to capacity because of the major event there? All of that goes towards supporting the prosecution. And even don't be surprised if we see the investigation turn into an attempt to tack on a sentencing enhancement for terrorism or even, even don't be surprised if we see a material support to terrorism.

Just within the last two months, DOJ charged eight Americans and convicted them in a Fort Worth courtroom of material support to terrorism. A crime usually reserved for international terrorists. Why? Because they slapped an antifa label on them. I would not be surprised if there's an attempt for that here.

[20:40:00]

DEAN: That is very interesting. Going to the suspect specifically, what stands out to you about his profile from the information we have so far?

FIGLIUZZI: Yes, there's some remarkable commonalities between him and Luigi Mangione, right? The guy who shot and killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Why? Both incredibly intelligent individuals, but both on a passionate cause to effect change, but both having an irrational or inflated concept of the change they could actually affect.

Look, Luigi Mangione tragically killed a person, but it didn't change the health care insurance industry. Similarly, this individual thankfully did not actually harm anyone, but he thought he could actually do it and he thought he could take out the line of succession in the U.S. government with a shotgun filled with buckshot, this makes no sense, and a pistol and some knives. Wholly irrational but he believed he could do it.

DEAN: Yes. And it kind of takes you inside just how irrational that thinking is. We also have this preliminary investigation showing that the suspected gunman may have used the stairwell in the hotel. So he went from his hotel room to this terrace level undetected in a way because he was running up and down the stairs, not in the more monitored part of that hotel.

Does that surprise you?

FIGLIUZZI: You know it does and it doesn't. As someone who's been involved, along with Secret Service on special -- major special events security, and then in the corporate world for major corporate security events, you can tend to, when you have something in the same place every year, you can tend to fall into complacency, and just assume that something is being guarded, oh, I thought the hotel security had that, or I thought the local police had that. And that can happen. They've got to learn from these mistakes.

And Jessica, I have to tell you, moving forward, I'd be very surprised if we see major events with virtually the entire line of succession held at a venue that has 1100 hotel guests in there. I think we're going to see a change in that.

DEAN: Yes. All right. Frank Figliuzzi, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

FIGLIUZZI: Sure. DEAN: After the break, we're going to be joined by "New York Times"

reporter who was meant to be honored at the dinner last night with an award. We'll have his account. That's next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:46:52]

DEAN: The ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel was packed last night. The president, the first lady, vice president, members of the Cabinet, the majority of Washington, D.C.'s top journalists all there when those shots rang out, disrupting an event meant to honor press freedom and journalism.

We're joined now by White House correspondent for "The New York Times," Tyler Pager.

Last night, Tyler, you were set to receive an award for the most fair, impartial and objective news reporting from the White House Correspondents' Association. How -- I just want to start first with how the night went for you. I know we're not used to talking about ourselves, but suddenly it was an intersection of what you were doing for work and the experience we were all having.

TYLER PAGER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: Yes. Jessica. It was definitely surreal and chaotic evening and it unfolded quite quickly. The dinner had really just begun. Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents' Association and a CBS News correspondent, and our colleague on the White House beat, had just made brief remarks and sat back down.

And we were just sort of -- the program was just unfolding when we heard the shots rang out. I didn't initially register exactly what had happened. But then we saw people sort of jump to the floor and just this line of security agents basically bum rush the door and come down. I was seated off to the side, and the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was sort of whisked out from his seat by his detail.

A few minutes later, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of National Intelligence -- the ballroom, as you know well, is so packed and the tables are so close to each other. Initially her security detail tried to lead her down one way and got sort of stuck and then redirected and brought her out another way. But it was just sort of this surreal scene as journalists and attendees were on the floor. Security details were sort of rushing in to grab their various Cabinet officials and other protectees from around the ballroom.

And then, you know, very quickly, we started to jump into action. There's very little cell service and a poor Wi-Fi connection in that subterranean ballroom. But I immediately called my editor and said, what do you need? How can I help? And just started sort of filing updates from inside the room to "The Times" Web site. And it was quite the scene to watch people from all different news organizations just immediately jump into action and start covering what we could from inside the ballroom.

DEAN: Certainly. And then, you know, you're somebody that covers the president day in and day out. We saw him last night afterward in the briefing room, and it was so surreal. Everyone still in their clothes from the black tie dinner. And he just also, too, the contents of what he was saying. It was a little bit different than we have heard. He didn't, you know, he was -- it was kind of like everyone had had this shared experience. What was that like? And what did -- you know, what did you notice from his remarks last night?

PAGER: Yes, I rushed home, grabbed my White House press pass and computer, and hurried over to the White House to catch that press conference.

[20:50:02]

And you're absolutely right. Everyone was -- most of the press was also in tuxedos or their evening gowns, rushed over to cover it. And it was quite the tableau of just the contrast between everyone in these very formal clothing and the president setting up there, the first lady, much of the Cabinet.

And you're right, Jessica, the tone that he struck last night was quite different than we have seen on most days from the president. He was praising the press, thanking the press. And not immediately jumping to conclusions about who the suspect was or what prompted the shooting, and also talking about how he didn't want it to change his life or the way that he went about his job.

The caveat there, of course, is we saw very, very similar tone from the president after the attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania. That speech he delivered at the Republican National Convention. And so we'll see how this plays out over the next few days. But it was definitely a different version of the president than we see on a regular basis, just in terms of, you know, his engagement with the press and the way in which he was talking to them.

I mean, it was also striking to hear him say he had planned to give what he called the most inappropriate speech ever at the White House Correspondents' Association. It was his first time as president attending the dinner. There's a long history of presidents attending the dinner and roasting the press and making jokes. Obviously, this administration's relationship with the press is vastly different than previous administrations.

And so based on conversations I had with sources, they were, you know, expecting the president to deliver quite a speech with quite a lot of criticisms of the press. And the president acknowledged that himself last night. He wants to reschedule the dinner. We'll see if that happens, and we'll see what sort of message he would deliver then. But definitely a different tone at least in that appearance.

DEAN: Yes. All right. Tyler Pager, great to have you on. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

PAGER: Thanks for having me. DEAN: All right. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:56:03]

DEAN: Just a day after President Trump abruptly called off two of his top negotiators from traveling to Pakistan to discuss the war in Iran, Trump's latest message for Iran is if they want to negotiate, they're going to have to do so by phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They said, we're not doing this anymore. We have all the cards. If they want to talk, they can come to us or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice secure lines, although I'm not sure any telephone line is secure, frankly. But we have secure lines. And if they want, we can talk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Well, there's no sign that's happening yet. Iran's foreign minister was seen meeting with key mediators in Pakistan and Oman this weekend and Iran state media also reports he's now traveling to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow to discuss the stalled negotiations as this war now enters its ninth week.

Joining us now, Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for the U.S. State Department.

Good to have you as always. So if the message to Iran is pick up the phone and call us, how serious are these negotiations right now would you say?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: They're not. And, look, you can't do the stuff on the back of a cocktail napkin. You can't do it over the cell phone. You can't even do it through intermediaries. You need to do it face to face. And right now, frankly, I don't think Iran has the incentive to sit down at the table, in large part because of the blockade.

And it's extremely difficult, it seems to me, to get these negotiations. What would be required is the president would have to drop the blockade, in the condition that the Iranians would open the straits without conditions, and then, what, maybe 30, 40-day, 30 to 45-day period, you create some time and space to actually get Americans and Iranians in the same room to negotiate. I mean, that would be the play here, because otherwise just -- you're really only left with two options.

Number one is you wait to see if the blockade will break the Iranian economy. You know, if you're prepared to wait until September, October, November, maybe, or you do what the president has threatened repeatedly. You escalate not just against military targets, but against civilian infrastructure, what, desal plants, electricity grids, things that arguably have dual purposes, but would clearly be, I think, war crimes.

So I think we're really stuck. And to me, the only way out of this is the quid pro quo. You remove the blockade conditionally, the Iranians open the straits conditionally, and then you give yourself a month to try to work these things through. But even then, Jess, it's going to be really, really hard, given where the Trump administration is and where the Iranians are in terms of their positions.

DEAN: Yes. OK. And then just looking ahead, last month CNN reported Russia was providing Iran with intelligence about the locations, the movements of American troops and equipment. It was the first indication that Moscow sought to kind of get involved in this war. So what do you think Putin will be pushing for when he speaks to the Iranian foreign minister tomorrow? What is that conversation going to be like?

MILLER: You know, Jess, I think it's the other way around. I think this is Araghchi's dynamite. I think the Iranians are trying to figure out a way not to be isolated. The Russians have been a, quote-unquote, "strategic party." But I think he's going to be disappointed. Maybe the Iranians would continue to provide intel if the Iranians choose to go after, again, U.S. military bases, maybe some advanced drones.

But Putin's war is not Iran. Putin is focused on Ukraine. Frankly, the war helps him budgetary support, oil is rising, and he has to be very careful with respect to not crossing his good friend Donald Trump. So, no, I think the demand doer here is the Iranian foreign minister, frankly, Jess, who doesn't carry much influence or clout back in Tehran.

DEAN: Right. And trying to get something here.

MILLER: Yes. I mean, again, he was in Oman, Pakistan, and now.