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Secret Service: Suspect In Shooting Outside White House Has Died; Trump: Iran "Agreement Has Been Largely Negotiated"; Toxic Chemical Tank At Risk Of Exploding In California; Texas Republicans Battle To Win The GOP Nomination For U.S. Senate. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 23, 2026 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:54]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

We are following breaking news out of Washington where the Secret Service now says the alleged gunman who fired shots near the White House this evening has died. During the back and forth between the suspect and Secret Service, a bystander was also hit by gunfire. That person remains in critical condition. Secret Service saying the incident is under investigation.

CNN correspondents Julia Benbrook and Brian Todd are joining us now with the details.

Brian, you're there outside the scene where a lot of the activity is taking place. Set the scene for us. And then, Julia, you were there when it happened. We want to come back to you and hear your experience.

Brian, go ahead.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Jessica, we're about a block away from where the shooting took place. And we can actually train our camera pretty close to the actual spot where the shooting took place. So I'm going to step aside, and our photojournalist, Nick Leinbach, is going to zoom his camera in to that actual intersection where this took place. He's training his camera in now.

Now, what we did observe a moment ago was that there were, of course, several police officers and vehicles right by that intersection. Now, what you're looking at is the intersection of 17th Street Northwest and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest. That is the intersection where the shooting occurred, according to multiple officials.

We are at the intersection of 18th and Pennsylvania, so we're about a block away. But Nick is able to train his camera. And on the ground there you can see some what appears to be some medical equipment on either side there. What we thought were some either bandages or possibly bloody clothing there in the middle, and what we think could be possibly some surgical gloves there. What we were told by law enforcement officials was that this occurred

shortly after 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That was a little roughly two hours ago when, according to a law enforcement official, the suspect pulled out a weapon. What we believe is a pistol and fired it at Secret Service officers.

The Secret Service has just put out a statement saying that this did occur shortly after 6:00 p.m. on Saturday evening, this evening, when an individual approached a Secret Service checkpoint in the -- in the area that you're looking at, 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest. And a preliminary investigation, according to the spokesperson, indicates that as the individual approached, he removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers. The spokesperson says that Secret Service police officers returned fire, striking the suspect, who was transported to an area hospital where he later died.

So the suspect is confirmed dead. At this point, there is a bystander who a law enforcement official tells us was also hit in the gunfire. That bystander, we believe, is now in critical condition. According to the Secret Service, they do confirm that a bystander was also struck by gunfire. It remains unclear whether the bystander was struck by the suspect's initial gunfire or during the subsequent exchange of gunfire.

No injuries sustained by the Secret Service, according to the Secret Service. Also, they say that the president was at the White House during the incident but was not impacted by the incident. So those are the latest details that we have for you guys. I'll step in front of the camera now as nick comes back to me.

But again, just a heavy law enforcement presence down there on 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest. And multiple streets are closed down surrounding the White House complex. Now, Jessica, you can probably anticipate that that will be the case for some hours to come.

DEAN: All right. Brian Todd there outside the White House.

Let's now go inside the White House gates where Julia Benbrook is standing by.

Julia, you were there. You had just finished doing a live shot for us when all of this happened. Walk everyone through what you heard, what you saw and what we're hearing about President Trump, who is there at the White House tonight.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

President Donald Trump was here at the White House as this happened. Secret Service has confirmed he was not impacted by this incident in any way. But as we were standing here, I was speaking with you, Jessica, and had just walked toward the press briefing room, just had opened the door when I heard what appeared to be gunshots, dozens of gunshots.

[20:05:11] It was this repeated noise, so much so that we thought it might be fireworks at first. And that's when my photographer, Joe Wagner, was out here on the lawn. This is his video right here. As you can see, the reporters who were out here still doing their hits, they were told to move, to get inside quickly, and everyone took off running.

You can see Secret Service trying to make sure that the area is secure there on the North Lawn. And then as we got inside, we were then on lockdown for about 40 minutes and just a lot of questions about what had taken place and a very scary moment. We now know that the suspect had taken out a weapon and was shot by Secret Service. We also know that a bystander was shot. It is unclear if those shots came from the suspect or in returned fire, but his condition at this time is still unknown.

We do know that the suspect is dead, according to that Secret Service spokesperson. But a scary moment here tonight and just a lot of questions about what was taking place. And this comes, I mean, about a month since the White House Correspondents' Dinner, kind of a familiar moment with these reporters running and getting down to the ground, panicking.

So, just a scary moment here tonight. And of course, thinking of that bystander who is so impacted by this still.

DEAN: Yeah, we, as we wait to hear the, the exact condition of that bystander. Julia Benbrook, there inside the White House grounds, Brian Todd outside. Thank you to both of you.

Joining us now, CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former Washington, D.C. police chief, Charles Ramsey, and CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller, as well as Boston -- former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

Great to have all of you here with us.

John, lets start first with you. You've also been getting your own reporting around this as well.

What more can you tell us now that were a couple of hours out from this shooting?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, what we are told is that this individual was crossing the street, reached into his bag, pulled out a gun, opened fire officers returned fire. What we also are told from law enforcement officials on background is that, they have identified this individual based on the pedigree, the name, the date of birth. They've run that through their indices, both U.S. Secret Service, Washington, D.C. police, FBI.

It appears that he is a name matched to someone who is known to the Secret Service and to the D.C. Metro Police Department. As a person that they have had multiple encounters with in and around the White House, someone that they describe as possibly an emotionally disturbed person who has tried to gain entrance at different gates, at different entrances, at different times. And may be the subject of a stay away order but it is emerging in this picture that this is someone that they have encountered before more than once, but never violently like this, never with a weapon, certainly not with a gun or opening fire.

So whatever occurred today, if this individual is an unhinged person who has an obsession with the White House may have come to fruition with an action that he may have known or expected would get him killed.

DEAN: And, Chief Ramsey, as you're hearing this new information and we're putting these pieces together, obviously, law enforcement, both Secret Service, metropolitan police, theyre all trained. You know, this if this person is familiar to them, they know. They know that. What are you kind of thinking about as were getting all of this information?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I mean, behind the scenes now, there's still a lot going on. Let me start by first hoping that that bystander is able to pull through. Yeah. It's terrible that someone else not involved gets shot in incidents like this, but right now you're talking about execution of search warrants. You're talking about going through social media footprint. You're talking about interviewing family friends witnesses that may have seen what took place at the scene here.

Now, the check is criminal history, his mental health history. I thought about mental health. When John first mentioned that he had a revolver. I mean, you know it's really unusual now to catch suspects with revolvers.

[20:10:01]

I mean, everybody's got semi-automatics or assault weapons, so it does kind of look like, especially if he's been doing this before, not violently, but just well known to Secret Service. And the police department -- and police department that, you know, this could be a suicide by cop type of deal, too.

We just don't know the answer to any of that now. That's all going to be part of the history that they'll be going through. Fortunately, no one, no police officers were hurt. President's fine. Again, I just pray for that bystander right now.

DEAN: Certainly, certainly. We also have former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis here with us.

Commissioner Davis, we're looking at the scene, as John Miller was telling us in the previous hour. You know, we see all of these little yellow or orange cones rather where it would appear theyre, theyre marking where evidence could be. We are starting to get more information as the hours go by. But, but what is standing out to you and how are you assessing this?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, I would agree with Chuck and John the way they describing this. I can tell you that that crime scene, all three of us have been at a thousand locations that look like that with the medical supplies on the ground, the yellow tape up, photographs and, and evidence being collected. That's pretty standard. And, you know, when you -- when you look at the location of this assault clearly any shots fired near the White House put the president in danger. But is this a suicide mission or is it a real assault on the White House to try to get somebody inside? I think the former is more likely in this case.

These -- I've been in that entrance a number of times. There are heavily armed White House police there around the corner in the driveway. This there's not a shot that you could fire towards the residence from, from 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue. So those are the things I think about.

I think that, you know, a single person with a sidearm, particularly a revolver has zero chance of getting near anyone and it's going to be hit with a volley of shots if they open fire. So that's what this person should have been thinking.

DEAN: Yeah. I we have some new audio from Washington, D.C. fire and EMS that the moment these shots were reported near the White House, I'm going to play it. Again, this was just moments after. And it is it is police scanner audio. So, we may not get a lot from it, but lets listen to what it what they said.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

WASHINGTON DC FIRE EMS: Battalion Chief EMS, Battalion Chief 6 respond along with EMS 6, Engine 23, EMS 7 for a shooting at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Northwest battalion Chief EMS Battalion Chief 6 respond for a shooting at 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest. Medic 2 respond along with Battalion Chief 6 for a shooting at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest. Medic 2 respond along with Battalion Chief 6 for a shooting at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

DEAN: Chief Ramsey, again, that's probably pretty standard scanner traffic for something like this. But what do you think?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, it is standard that the fire dispatch, she's sending enough units to be able to make sure that it's covered and covered quickly. But the location itself, they knew that it's right outside the White House grounds. And so, obviously, they're going to get a fast response, a large response, the same thing we did here with the police dispatcher, but I'm sure they're dispatching at the same time. So, Metropolitan Police, Secret Service, Park Police and you have so many agencies there that would be responding in a situation like this because remember when these initial calls come in, you don't know what you have.

DEAN: Right.

RAMSEY: You absolutely do not know what you have. So you are going to have a, a large response to something like this, especially because of the location.

DEAN: Absolutely.

And, John, just to go back to you, as we have been all night to, to see kind of where you are and the information you're receiving. I -- what -- what is the latest you can tell us from your end?

MILLER: The latest we have is, the facts as we know them about the individual approaching and opening fire. We are told from law enforcement officials the newest information we have is that now that they have had a chance to go through his pedigree, his name, his date of birth, their internal records, it turns out he was someone who was known to the Secret Service and to the D.C. Metro Police, as someone who they have had encounters with before, as a possibly emotionally disturbed person, and who has been encountered by law enforcement.

[20:15:11]

Now, just to be clear, when we say known to the Secret Service someone who has had multiple encounters at the White House that means that that could have occurred over a period of time. It's not to suggest that the officers in that -- in that security post would have recognized him necessarily, because as Chuck Ramsey can tell you, the White House has a number of regulars who have repeated contact there, and different issues. But it means that their records show it's someone that they've encountered before.

DEAN: All right. Good information there. Everyone, please stand by. We've got more breaking news ahead, please. We will come back to you all.

Plus, President Trump saying the U.S. has largely -- saying that the U.S. has largely negotiated a deal with Iran and that the strait will be open as a result. We're going to check in on those negotiations.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: We are following more breaking news, as President Trump says an agreement with Tehran has, in his words, been largely negotiated. Trump writing on social media, "Final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed and will be announced shortly. In addition to many other elements of the agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened," he says.

But Iran's state affiliated Fars News Agency is pushing back against Trump's claims, reporting the strait will remain under Iranian control. Again, worth noting that Iranian state media is not reliable.

Julia Benbrook joining us now from the White House with more on this.

Julia, very competing takes on what might be happening right now when you compare what President Trump is saying, what Iranian state media is saying. What more can you tell us?

BENBROOK: And we have seen that back and forth really ever since those first joint U.S. Israel strikes against Iran. But President Donald Trump, he is still working tonight, according to his team. They just posted, "Can't stop, won't stop that." But he is working for the American people.

Now, Trump has spent a large part of his day focused on these negotiations between the United States and Iran. We know that several top aides were here for a call with Gulf and other regional leaders, and according to people familiar with the discussion, that that was a positive call and that some of those leaders were pushing Trump, asking Trump to work toward a framework to bring this conflict to an end.

Now, he said that on this call, they discussed all things regarding Iran, including a memorandum of peace. He also said that they were very close to having this deal in place, and that he was going to put out more details shortly.

[20:20:04]

I want to pull up part of this post for you now. This is where we got the most details. This came at the end of his Truth Social post.

He said, quote, "Final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed and will be announced shortly. In addition to many other elements of the agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened."

That, of course, is the point that you pointed out that state media is already pushing back on. Now, throughout all of these negotiations, Trump has said that the key point here, the main thing he is paying attention to, is that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. And it's still unclear if that portion has been worked out.

Now, some drafts, recent drafts of this memorandum we know included ending hostilities in Iran, as well as reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending that U.S. blockade there as well. But still a lot of questions, Trump is saying that there is this positive momentum that he will be announcing details shortly. He did speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. He said that that call, quote, "went well".

And we have heard from sources that he has plans to speak with him again soon. Now, there is a lid here at the White House tonight. What that means is that we do not expect to see Trump out in front of reporters and cameras again tonight. But that doesn't mean that he can't make big news.

Of course, a lot of these developments, including the one that were talking about now, have come on his social media site, Truth Social. So keeping a close eye out for any more concrete details from these meetings, as he says, they are close to a deal.

DEAN: Okay. Julia Benbrook from the White House with the very latest. Thank you for that.

We are joined now by former State Department Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller.

Always good to see you. Thank you for being here.

We're getting reporting, as Julia was just noting from our colleague Kevin Liptak on some of the things that could be in this deal, which would include, as she mentioned, ending the hostilities with Iran, gradually reopening the Strait of Hormuz, ending the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and unfreezing some Iranian assets currently held in banks outside Iran.

What I think is also interesting, Aaron, and I want to get your take on this piece, particularly the starting of a clock on at least 30 days of continuing negotiations meant to resolve the sticking points on Iran's nuclear program, including what to do with that uranium, which, with that and the strait, seem to kind of be the two biggest sticking points at this -- at this juncture.

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Yeah, I think that's right. Look, look, this is the narrow deal. Everybody talked about it. It's about the best you could hope for. Open the straits, remove the blockade. Maybe the Iranians get some unfrozen assets. And every other issue is punted to the 30 to 60-day period.

So what essentially has happened is that Iran and the administration has bought themselves a ticket to a set of negotiations that are going to resemble, I would phrase it this way, a root canal and a migraine headache and a series of them, because every single issue is a universe of detail and complexity.

What to do about the HEU? The 900 pounds, and now it's 60 percent. A matter of weeks to get to 90 percent.

Iran also has 1,100 pounds of enriched uranium at various levels. Where is that? What about centrifuges? What about monitoring verification, snap inspections?

Anything remotely resembling -- we keep talking about this as a deal. I mean, right now it probably is a deal. You open the straits, gradually remove the blockade gradually, and maybe there's a cessation of hostilities.

But we're nowhere near, Jess, anything that normal humans would regard as a serious effort to actually reach an agreement that would constrain Iran's enrichment activities and deal with all of these other matters. I'd have to say just and again, haven't seen the one page framework agreement strikes me this, and I hate to say it, I really do. It's a brutal, authoritarian, repressive regime that murders, tortures and imprisons its own citizens.

Seems to me round one goes to goes to Iran. They've relieved the military pressure. The blockade will be removed. They'll get some money out of this. Their money, unfrozen assets. And they haven't agreed or committed to any of the substantive issues that the Trump administration initially wanted -- moratorium on enrichment, end proxies, restrictions on ballistic missiles.

And finally, you've got this hard line band of brothers, IRGC security and intel officials running the country.

Strikes me, Trump wanted a way out of this. He probably will be able to claim that the straits are now open.

[20:25:01]

But again, the Iranians can close them any time they want.

DEAN: I do want to ask you about that, because I would not surprising in the sense that were hearing from Trump, who says that he says the Strait of Hormuz will reopen under this agreement. Iran state -- Iranian state media saying that's -- that's not right. That's false.

I gave the -- you know, the clarification that that theyre not ones that traffic in the truth much. But what does that tell you that were hearing such different takes on this?

MILLER: I mean, it tells me that the -- and again, we, we use memoranda of understanding strategic framework agreements. They were cover basically for problems that we couldn't resolve initially. And you created a process. Like, the memorandum of understanding could easily turn into a memorandum of misunderstanding, because the Iranians have two things that the president wants.

Number one, he wants assurances that the straits will resume to what we saw in February 28th, when they were open. And number two, he wants constraints that go beyond better than the J -- the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Iran nuclear agreement, that the administration walked out of in 2018. And those are Iran's cards. And frankly, right now, they have the leverage and the time and the space to play those cards.

Again, having worked in voted for Republicans and Democrats, this is an example of a war of choice turned into a war of necessity based on a complete misreading of the adversary and a complete overestimation of what American formidable military capacities would be to break the will of a bunch of guys for whom this is an existential. I mean, Trump has his golf club midterms. He has another two years in the White House. None of this is existential for him. It's existential for these guys.

And frankly, they're prepared to hold out and do whatever is necessary to preserve their leverage. And I think that's what you've seen. We'll see what the one page memorandum or strategic framework looks like. But I just think it's going to be very tough negotiating for the next 30, 60, 90 -- well, maybe even more, more days ahead.

DEAN: All right. Aaron David Miller, always good to have you. Thank you.

MILLER: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: And stay with CNN.

The Secret Service saying officers shot and killed a man who shot at them near the White House. Our breaking news coverage of that continues after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:32:12]

DEAN: We are following this breaking news out of Washington tonight, where the Secret Service says officers shot and killed a man who opened fire on officers with a pistol at a checkpoint near the White House. A bystander who was hit during the gunfire is now in critical condition.

We're going to go now to CNN correspondent Brian Todd, who is there just outside the White House.

Brian, what can you tell us?

TODD: Well, Jessica, the scene still pretty tense here near the White House. We're about a block away from where the shooting occurred. I'm going to step aside and let our photojournalist, Nick Leinbach, take you much closer to where the shooting occurred. As I step aside here, Nick's going to zoom down. This is Pennsylvania Avenue that we're standing on that you're looking down right there. That is 17th Street where Nick is training his camera a little bit closer.

That's pretty much the spot where this happened. We don't know whether this shooting occurred on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue or possibly on the north side. But basically you're looking at the spot, the general area there where the shooting occurred. And there's still some material on the ground that is related to the shooting. We believe some medical equipment on the ground there. We detected what we thought were possibly some surgical gloves on the ground and either bandages or clothing that appeared to have blood on them there on the ground.

None of that has been moved in the past hour, and you can still see there is a heavy law enforcement presence here. The streets around the White House still closed down. You know, the security -- it's always a little tense around this area because of the security posture around the White House. It's just kind of naturally that way all the time.

But when you think about everything that's happened here in the last five or six months, you know, you can pretty much get the picture that law enforcement here is kind of maybe a little bit more on edge than they, than they would be, normally. You had the shooting of the two national guardsmen, which was only about two blocks from this area. That was on November 26th. One of those guardsmen was killed in that shooting.

Then you had the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner less than a month ago, on April 25th. That shooting took place only about 12 or 13 blocks away from here. And then you have this shooting taking place this evening. So just kind of a rash of kind of high profile incidents of shootings, you know, near the White House complex near this general area of downtown, near the White House. So that just kind of has folks here on edge. We can report to you. Of course, you know, what we what our sources have been telling us

that, the, according to law enforcement officials and a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson at about 6:00 this evening, a suspect approached Secret Service officers pulled out a weapon, fired toward the officers. They returned fire and struck that suspect. That suspect was transported to a hospital where they later died. A bystander was also struck by gunfire.

What is not clear at this hour is whether the bystander was struck by the suspect's initial shots being fired, or whether that bystander was struck by the exchange of gunfire that occurred right after that.

[20:35:11]

That bystander, according to a law enforcement official, is in critical condition. The suspect is dead this evening.

So that's what we can tell you. And we can also relay from our colleagues, you know, who are inside the White House complex at the time, it was a scene of real chaos there. Some reporters who were at what they call Pebble Beach. That was the area outside of the White House, inside the complex, but outside the White House itself, where reporters usually do their live shots. There were some reporters there, and they had to really scramble for cover.

CNN counted a couple of dozen reporters who were inside the briefing room taking shelter there. We were told that reporters and other journalists there were on lockdown for about 40 minutes. And that multiple reporters there did hear just multiple gunshots, which really were very disturbing to them at that moment. So a scene of real chaos, you know, inside the White House complex, as reporters were very close to where this happened, and of course, outside.

And I can tell you that, you know, from being inside that complex and outside in that corner of 17th and Pennsylvania, just behind me, it's really not very far from where the reporters do their live shots to that area on 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, where the shooting occurred. I'm not going to guess the number of yards, but it's probably less than I'd say 150 yards away from it.

So very close there. Where the reporters do their live shots from where the shooting took place, Jessica. So that just kind of added to the chaos down here.

DEAN: No doubt about it.

All right. Brian Todd with the latest outside the White House there. Thank you so much for that reporting.

We're going to bring in some experts now, former D.C. homeland security and intelligence chief Donell Harvin and former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

It's good to have both of you here.

Donell, let's start first with you. We are getting some more information. As the hours have gone by about what exactly happened. Brian Todd kind of taking us through some of that.

What's standing out to you at this moment?

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER DC HOMELAND SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE CHIEF: Talked about law enforcement being on edge. I would say that they're hyper vigilant in this state. There is no shortage of individuals who are seeking to hurt the president of the United States. I mean, I think that's I'm stating a fact. And so, it's shocking that this is obviously happening just a few months after the two national guardsmen were shot, just a few blocks away, one who passed away Secret Service responded clearly very effectively. You saw that in the feed that you just showed.

But, you know, they have to be on the lookout for individuals who could be anywhere from what we call mental health consumers, individuals who are just completely, you know, lost their minds and are threatened all the way to state actors like Iranian actors who may be here to you know, hurt individuals in the White House or aligned with the president.

DEAN: Yeah. And, you -- we were talking about this with John miller just a little bit ago. Just the fact that the suspect was known to Secret Service was known to the metropolitan police that that in John's words, this could be a case of someone who was potentially emotionally disturbed and, and had a gun in that certain situation. What kind of layers does that add to what we already know here?

DAVIS: Well, it's a very important observation. And you have to understand that the list of people who are known to the Secret Service is huge, thousands of people. We worked with them extensively when I was in the Boston Police Department with people who really had no access to the president, but used to say negative things or threaten. So that is a large long list. If this individual was known to the officers in the area, there's certainly as -- as was just said, there's a -- there's a heightened state of alert there. It's been going on for a couple of years now.

And so, the police are on guard and frankly, if someone comes towards what is the most heavily fortified building in the country, arguably and they start to fire their weapon, there's not necessarily going to be any verbal warnings or attempts to mitigate the situation, the response to a situation like that is gunfire, immediate gunfire and fire until the threat is mitigated or resolved. And you know, this, this is the, the first level, the outside perimeter of a very secure building. And thankfully, the assailant did not penetrate the outside perimeter.

DEAN: And, Donell, we are also getting word that the second person that was shot in this, in addition to that suspect who the Secret Service says has died as a result, the second person is a bystander, somebody that somehow was caught in the back and forth.

[20:40:12]

They don't -- they haven't said yet exactly how. But again, as someone who's quite familiar with Washington, D.C., you know, that, you know, downtown D.C. is often very heavily trafficked, although it is rainy and it is a weekend. So maybe there were a few fewer people down there. But just the idea that when, when officers have to engage like this in that area, that there are often bystanders around.

HARVIN: Yeah, I passed by the White House every day for many years on my way to work, and there is very little times, very few times rather that I didn't see a tourist or bystander kind of taking a photo or a selfie by the White House. It draws people. When they come to D.C., you have to visit the White House. It doesn't matter what time of day, what the weather is like.

This is the reality of urban policing. And our friend from Boston can tell you this. When Secret Service agents or with federal agents, when I -- when I went through the academy, you are trained for this kind of close combat people, you know, innocent bystanders in the way the marksmanship that these individuals, Secret Service officers and agents get is world class. And theyre really trained for this.

Unfortunately, when bullets are flying, you know, innocent people can get shot. It hasn't been determined if it was the alleged perpetrator that shot this individual or from one of the agents, they'll come out through forensics. But this is a reality, unfortunately, when you're -- when you're dealing with these type of situations.

DEAN: Yeah. And, Ed, at this point, again, you know what it's like to put together an investigation on a suspect like this. What is law enforcement looking at? I would assume theyre going, you know, obviously, as we've talked about, if this person was known to them, they had some sort of record to start from, and they have some sort of identification. But what kind of picture are they trying to put together now?

DAVIS: Well, that's a good point. Any investigation that involves fatal force on the part of police officers ratchets up to the level of a homicide investigation immediately. Even more so, actually. So there's an enormous amount of work that's being done at the scene with collection of evidence photographs. You know, even angles of fire and things like that.

All of these things have to be put down on paper and they'll be studied for years after an incident like this. But then you get into the detective work and that is the exploitation of cell phones, social media open source information, and then any, any kind of communication. This person was having, they will subpoena his telephone records to see not only who he was talking to in the hours leading up to this case, but also where he was exactly where he came from, what the GPS information on the phone will tell them.

And then finally, they'll be tracking the gun to find out if he got his hands on that gun legally or if it was owned by someone else who may have assisted him. And whether or not there's anybody else behind this, those are all very active questions right now.

DEAN: All right. Donell Harvin, Ed Davis, our thanks to both of you for being with us on a Saturday night. Thank you so much.

DAVIS: Thank you.

DEAN: And still ahead, tens of thousands of people in southern California are being told to evacuate as crews monitor a toxic chemical tank that they fear could explode.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:48:16]

DEAN: Tonight, about 50,000 people are being told to evacuate in Orange County, California, as temperatures rise dangerously inside a tank containing a toxic chemical. Officials fear a leak of the chemical into the air, or what they say could be a catastrophic explosion. And it's just miles from Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm in Orange County, though both of those parks are outside the evacuation zone.

I want to go now to CNN's Veronica Miracle, who is in Los Angeles.

Veronica, as of now, crews say the tanks temperature increased in the last few hours. Not the way they want it to go. What is the latest?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jessica, they reported some bad news at their press conference today that they were hoping that by spraying water on the tank, that it would cool the chemical temperature down. And in fact, it's been increasing by about a degree an hour. So, yesterday, it was about 77 degrees in the morning, and the internal temperature today at last check was about 90 degrees. Definitely not the direction that they want to go because there's really two potentially very bad outcomes here.

The first being that that toxic heating chemical could leak by the thousands of gallons into the area or the other potential very catastrophic situation is a massive explosion. Officials did paint a picture of what could potentially happen in that worst case scenario. And here's what they had to say.

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NICK FREEMAN, DIVISION CHIEF, ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY: So if this tank fails and we have an explosion, these represent our blast zone. The innermost circle represents areas where we can expect severe structural damage and significant harm.

Beyond that, you'll see an orange oblong that represents areas that are immediately dangerous to life and health, where it would cause injury if anybody inhales or is impacted by the product in question. And then the yellow is our non-hazardous zone, which is our odor threshold. This product has a very low odor threshold and can be smelled very easily.

[20:50:02]

So that's why that representation is very large. But again, it is non- hazardous at that level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: So the chemical in question is called MMA. It's used to manufacture plastics. And as the official was talking about, just by smelling it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be harmful to your health. However, it can -- there can be respiratory issues. There can be adverse health effects. And in fact, some residents in the area have reported symptoms of dizziness and other issues.

And about 15 percent of residents who are in the evacuation zone have actually refused to leave, which is not a great situation. Officials are emphasizing that those who are in the red zone, in the evacuation zone, those who are outside of it, rather, there's no issues in terms of health. You don't even need to wear a mask. So that's why they want people to leave the evacuation zone.

About 50,000 people are under evacuation orders at this point. What officials are hoping will happen is that they'll continue to spray the tanks with water. It will reduce the core temperature and that it will harden the chemical harden from the outside in.

But there's no guarantees that's going to happen. This is a really hour by hour situation -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Veronica Miracle with the very latest, thank you for that. We really appreciate it.

This Tuesday, Texas voters will head to the polls for their states primary runoffs and the most closely watched race is the dogfight for Senator John Cornyn's seat. President Trump throwing his support behind Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is seeking to unseat his fellow Republican.

Trump's endorsement could mean a big difference with Republican voters, and CNN's Harry Enten is here to run the numbers for us on this -- Harry.

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HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there, Jessica. Happy Saturday to you.

Look, the final election day of May 2026 is coming up this Tuesday. And the marquee match up is, in fact, the Texas primary runoff between Ken Paxton, the attorney general in the great state of Texas, and the sitting incumbent, Senator John Cornyn. Now, of course, Donald John Trump has in fact, endorsed Ken Paxton. He did so earlier this week. And all I have to say is that when it comes to Republican primary voters, Donald Trump is their general. And the voters, the primary voters are in fact, his soldiers.

So not much of a surprise that when we go to the great state of Texas, you can see, and this was polling that was conducted before the endorsement occurred. If Trump endorses someone for Texas senate, would you be more likely to vote for him? What you see is the clear majority of Republicans in Texas say absolutely yes, 55 percent of them say they'd be more likely to vote for the candidate that Donald Trump endorses. You see it right here. Just 36 percent say they would have no impact on your vote. And then a very small sliver, just 9 percent say you, in fact, be less likely to vote for that candidate.

But clearly here, the majority of Texas Republicans say that a Trump endorsement would, in fact, make them more likely to vote for the candidate that Trump's endorsed. And therefore, it's not much of a surprise when you look at the prediction markets that, in fact, Ken Paxton's chance to be the Republican nominee there up like a rocket, you know, on Monday before the endorsement occurred, Ken Paxton's chance to be the Republican nominee was only about 66 percent. It's a good chance, but certainly not anywhere near a hundred.

But look at the average. Look at the average. Since the endorsement from Donald Trump of Ken Paxton, Paxton's chances are now sky high. We're talking about 94 percent chance on average.

You know what? Of course, when we think of Texas sometimes, at least I think of the great phrase, "Houston, we have a problem." Well, I have to say, John Cornyn, you have a big problem on your hands. While Ken Paxton looks like two thumbs up as the president likes to give in terms of his chance of being the Republican nominee for United States senate from the great state of Texas.

Of course, not much of a surprise that Ken Paxton chances have gone up because you know what? The last week or so has just been absolutely amazing for Donald Trump. When were talking about his control of the Republican Party and the effect that he can have on a race when he goes for you or against you.

Of course, on Tuesday, we saw it in Kentucky when Donald Trump went up against Thomas Massie, of course, the representative from the fourth district for a long period of time. And you can see it right here, the impact that Trump's endorsement against Massie had, because look at Massie's primary performances in Kentucky's fourth district.

You know, in 2022, he got 75 percent of the primary vote. In 2024, he got 76 percent of the primary vote. But this year, when Trump went against him and went against him hard, Massie's support fell through the floor. Look at this. Just 45 percent of the vote as Thomas Massie, of course, was defeated on Tuesday in the great state of Kentucky, I should say the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

There are some states that are states. There are some states that are commonwealth. Kentucky is a commonwealth.

But we can in fact go to another state in sort of understanding the Trump power. Go back a week ago.

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Go back to Louisiana. When you combine it with Kentucky, you're really understand just how powerful Donald Trump is in the great state of Louisiana down by the bayou. Look at this. This is just absolutely stunning and amazing to me. I went back through the record books, looked at all the spreadsheets I possibly could. Bill Cassidy got just 25 percent of the vote as a sitting United States senator, not appointed.

And you know what? That isn't a primary, Jessica. That is the worst primary showing of any incumbent senator running for reelection over the last 80 years. My goodness gracious. You put that together with what happened in Kentucky, what the prediction markets think is going to happen in Texas. And you can see that Donald Trump has an iron grip on the Republican Party and their voters in a way that, truthfully, I've never quite seen a president have over their party.

Jessica, we'll see what happens in Texas on Tuesday. But for now, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Thank you, Harry Enten. We appreciate it.

And thank you for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean.

Brian Abel picks up our breaking news coverage after a quick break. Have a great night.