Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Suspect in Custody After Shots Fired at White House Correspondents' Dinner. Aired 5-6 am ET

Aired April 26, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:30]

ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN Breaking News."

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. Thank you for joining us. I'm Victor Blackwell. This is CNN's Breaking News coverage of the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

The shooting happened just after 8:30 last night, as guests were still trickling into the event. Our captures -- our cameras captured the moment that attendees heard the shots. This was on the red carpet you're about to see, and they scattered.

Barely 15 seconds later, security and law enforcement immediately rushed to figure out where those shots were coming from.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Now, the shooting happened in a different part of the building from the dinner. But moments after, the Secret Service then rushed President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance from the stage. The president later posted this surveillance video on social media of security reacting, and he praised how quickly they acted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT: Everyone owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to the courage of law enforcement. The law enforcement and working with the D.C. police, and we just spoke with the mayor. And when we're finished, the police chief is going to take over and discuss it also from their viewpoint.

But they also performed exactly as they were supposed to. And you see the attacker in different positions, but you also see the attacker totally subdued and under control. So, as you know, this is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a would-be assassin who sought to kill in Butler, Pennsylvania, less than two years ago. You all know that story. And in Palm Beach, Florida, a few months after that, we came close. We really had, again, we had some great work done by law enforcement. But in light of this evening's events, I asked that all Americans recommit with their hearts and resolving our difference peacefully. We have to -- we have to resolve our differences. I will say you had Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Conservatives, Liberals and Progressives. Those words are interchangeable, perhaps, but maybe they're not. But yet everybody in that room, big crowd, record setting crowd. There was a record setting group of people and there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together. I watched -- I watched and I was very, very impressed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: An FBI director, Kash Patel, is urging anyone with information to come forward. We have just learned that the only person injured in this shooting, a Secret Service officer, is already out of the hospital. The suspect is Cole Thomas Allen, 31 years old. He's from a suburb of Los Angeles and he's in custody. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, says that he'll be charged with firearm use and assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon. He's expected to be arraigned tomorrow. FBI agents were at a home in Torrance linked to Allen into the early morning investigating.

Let's bring it now. CNN's Julia Benbrook. She's joining us from D.C. You were in the room when this happened. What can you tell us?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and it is -- it's jarring to see all those different angles that you played out. People on the red carpet, people in the room, just how everyone experienced this. I walked through that area maybe about 20 minutes before all of this happened and had gotten seated, was coming from my shift at the White House.

But got seated, was -- was talking with our group there. And when this happened, there was just a lot of confusion. Everyone shouting at each other to get down, to get down, get safe and stay down.

But panic in this room, of course, is the president of the United States, the vice president of the United States, the first lady. They're all there on that stage. And then you have so many Cabinet members, prominent members of the administration and journalists, as well as their guests there as well.

[05:05:04]

So, a moment of panic. Everybody kind of has this -- this moment of relief when they are able to get off the ground and still trying to figure out what's going on. We were told that the show would likely go on in some capacity. You then see this post from Trump himself saying that he wants the show to go on, but that he's going to follow safety and security protocols.

Not long after that, though, there was another post from him where he said, law enforcement has requested that we leave the premises consistent with protocol, which we will do immediately. He then went back to the White House, and that is where he spoke with

press and was able to give some more details. But he honed in on that again, saying that he really wanted to stay that night to prove a point, essentially, and that he fought like hell to do that. Let's play some of those remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But again, the response time was really incredible. And we're going to reschedule. We're going to do it again. We're not going to let anybody take over our society. We're not going to cancel things out because we can't do that. But we wanted to stay tonight. I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay. But there was protocol. They said, please, sir, because they didn't know a lot of there was a lot of action going on. They didn't know. Could there be probably a lone shooter? But we'll find out. We'll find out very quickly. They have it very well under control.

So, I want to thank everybody very much. And --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And we've started to learn some more details about the suspect. But there are still a lot of questions about motive. We know that he had multiple weapons on him when he did try to get through that security area.

There were already a lot of eyes on this dinner. This was going to be Trump's first time to speak at the White House Correspondents Association dinner since he was a sitting president, as a sitting president, I should say. He had been as a guest and attended.

But this was going to be the first time that he spoke. And a lot of crucial topics were top of mind as well. When Trump said that he might still come out, he did acknowledge that the tone was going to shift a lot. This is normally a time where people kind of poke fun at the president, the president pokes fun at the press. And there were questions about how that was going to play out. He was making that clear that that tone was likely going to shift.

Again, he said that he thinks it is important that it be rescheduled and that he'll be working with representatives to do that within 30 days.

BLACKWELL: We're glad everyone who was in that room is safe. Julia Benbrook, thanks so much. We'll get back to you later this morning.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer was just steps away outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton when he saw that suspected gunman firing shots a few feet away. Here's what he described.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It was just a coincidence. I was inside with, you know, a thousand, more than maybe 2,000 other people, a lot of journalists, a lot of Washington figures, a lot of members of Congress, Senate, the House, and, of course, the president and the top members of his cabinet. They were all there.

And after the first chorus, I got up from our table, our CNN table, which is near the front, and walked out the back door. I was going to go to the men's room, which you had to go up one level of stairs and go to the men's room. And I went to the men's room.

As I was walking out of the men's room to go down the stairs to go back to the ballroom, all of a sudden, I hear gunshots going off. And I knew there were gunshots. I covered words, and I heard the gunshots.

And all of a sudden, the next thing I knew, I see the gunman, maybe three or four feet away, shooting. And it looked like he was just firing randomly at the top, firing, you know, bullets. And he had a big gun. I don't know what kind of gun it was, but it was a big gun.

And within a few seconds, all of a sudden, a police officer comes running up to me and pushes me down to protect me, because he didn't know who this guy was shooting at. And here I was standing there, not very far away, maybe three or four or five feet or whatever. And I'm down on the ground. He throws me down on the ground. He lies on top of me.

And then the next thing I knew, the gunshots ended. I didn't know exactly what happened, but I assumed it was over by then. The cop then picks me up and takes me and a few others who were nearby into that men's room, which was a few feet away. And he says, you're going to be in here. It'll be safe. Nobody can come in here.

And they were clearly worried that maybe there were other, you know, gunmen there who could do something, and that just they wanted to protect us, you know, just the observers. I mean, we were all journalists who were just walking around coincidentally. It was very, very scary. It was very frightening.

But thank God I'm OK. Thank God for those police officers who really took care of me and protected me and made sure I'd be OK. And I was -- I'm grateful to them for what they did at the time when they threw me to the ground and lied on top of me.

[05:10:09]

I didn't know what they were doing. One of my shoes came off, and it took me a while to find that shoe later, but that's another matter.

Fortunately, I'm OK. One of my shoes came off, and it took me a while to find that shoe later, but that's another matter. Fortunately, I'm OK, and I'm home, and I can absorb it. And it was just a very, very scary situation, very frightening.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, no question. I'm glad you're home safe with Lynn.

Did you -- and listen, in those moments, split seconds, was it clear to you that the officers fired back at the gunman?

BLITZER: No. It was -- when I was there, the only thing I heard was the shots coming from the gunman. And it looked like he was just randomly pulling the trigger and shooting. And I didn't know if he was shooting at some specific target or shooting at me. I had no idea.

So, even before the police officer threw me to the ground, I was ready to just lie down and make sure that none of the bullets, if they were straight bullets, would hit me. But before I could just, you know, jump to the ground and lie down, the police officer jumped on top of me and pushed me to the ground, and he was lying on top of me.

If they were straight bullets, he would have gotten shot, not me. So, I was just grateful to him, potentially, for saving my life. It was just bullets were flying.

I don't know how many times he shot, but I think I heard at least half a dozen boom, boom, boom, big gun -- you know, very loud, you know, gunshots.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. Well, I'm thinking, Wolf, you know, all the wars you've covered, war zones you've been in, and here you are at home in a hotel you know well, where maybe you come closer to gunfire than you have, right?

BLITZER: I was -- I was three feet away from this guy when he was shooting, and I've covered, you know, wars in the Middle East and elsewhere, and I've seen the gunshots, but this was -- I was so much closer to a gunman who had a lot of bullets, and he was just shooting. I don't know if he was targeting something or what his goal was, and I didn't know if he was alone or if there were others with him, but it was just a very, very scary situation.

SCIUTTO: Well, my friend, I'm glad you're safe.

BLITZER: And I will just point out, I had probably been over my years at CNN, 30 of these White House Correspondents Association dinners, and this one, the security going in, and I think you'll agree, was really intense. You couldn't get a car near there. You had to park or have it dropped off if you had a driver bringing you three or four blocks away and just walk there.

It was very -- it was very, very secure, very intense, all the security, which raised -- even as I was walking in, I said to myself, you know, I've been to these dinners many times, even when there were Presidents there. I haven't seen security like this. I was wondering, is there some indication that something could happen, that that's why they're doing all this advanced security?

And I have no idea if they had any knowledge that there was something going on, but I'm sure they suspected it. I've given all the publicity that was around it, the fact the President wasn't going to be there, and the fact there were going to be hundreds of journalists who were there.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

BLITZER: So, it was just -- it was just a scary situation.

SCIUTTO: No question. Well, my friend, I'm glad you're safe. Thank you for sharing -- sharing your eyewitness account.

BLITZER: Yep, it was a scary eyewitness situation, but I'm glad it's over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Wolf Blitzer giving his firsthand account there.

Next, more on our breaking news. That man you're about to see on your screen in custody after shots were fired at the White House Correspondents' Center. We'll tell you what we've learned about this suspect after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:17:46]

BLACKWELL: More on the breaking news now this morning. A man in custody after shots were fired at the gala that President Trump attended. This all happened just before the official program of the White House Correspondents Dinner was to begin in Washington, D.C. last night. Suddenly, there was gunfire outside the ballroom. Secret Service rushed the stage to safely whisk away the President and the Vice President, the First Lady as well. The counter-assault team had weapons drawn. And journalists and other attendees, they just ducked under tables and chairs for cover.

A Secret Service agent wearing protective gear was shot, but was released from the hospital. Police say it was set off by Cole Thomas Allen, 31 years old. And public records say Cole has worked as a teacher in California. He's accused of racing past a security checkpoint. This is video that President Trump posted online.

This is a different floor from the ballroom. He was allegedly armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and several knives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Thanks to our interagency partnership with the Department of Homeland Security and the Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI was rapidly deployed onto the scene, took over the Evidence Response Unit, is examining all the ballistics that were found on scene to include the long gun and the shell casings. We are conducting witness interviews as we speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in now retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack.

Jason, hello to you. We've not heard anything yet about whether Allen is cooperating with investigators. But the FBI has searched a home linked to this suspect. We've got video of it from Torrance, California. Detail for us just the work that's happening to get the answer to the two big questions, why and the target that's happening right now. JASON PACK, FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT (Ret.): Victor, good morning. And those are the two most important questions this morning. There's a lot of work going on in two locations and maybe more that we don't know about.

Clearly, the FBI's evidence response team there at the hotel in Washington. And now we see the scene fan out into California there in Torrance where FBI agents are likely executing a search warrant to get to that why. They're looking for pieces of evidence in there, computers, phones, writings. Was there a manifesto like sometimes that we see or importantly, if there's not, that also says something.

[05:20:09]

So, there's a lot of work going into that effort to figure out what happened and why it happened. So, that why piece we're seeing in Torrance there and as the agents and the investigators in Washington piece together some of that trajectory. We don't know where all the shots have gone.

So, the FBI lab and the evidence response team will do some trajectory analysis and see where those rounds went and who may have fired them. And we are still unclear about that. But as they piece that together, it's important, Victor, because they'll take those pieces of information and match that up with some of those charges that the United States attorney announced last night.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. You mentioned the potential for a manifesto. And listen, we've covered so many of these that often we find a manifesto online.

Now, let's go through what we know about this suspect. This is someone who came to this event, court of law enforcement, was a guest at the hotel, had this long gun, had a pistol, a handgun, several knives, and picked not only an event that the president was attending, but also literally the most well-known names and most influential people in media. Is this the type of suspect who would want the world to know why he's doing this, considering the event he picked?

PACK: Yeah, I think that's a fair question. It just shows you the level of preparedness and premeditation. You just don't wake up and decide to go to the White House Correspondence Center. As you know, you have to plan that a lot. So, it required a lot of preplanning, a lot of thinking, probably a lot of research. And the fact that he was able to travel from California, we think, all the way to Washington, the hotel rooms there are not cheap either.

So, doing the retrace of the financials to how he got there, who he may have spoken with, and all the people he may have interacted with. They're pulling the hotel video to be able to see where he's come and gone there while he was at the hotel and how did he get the weapons in. So, a lot of questions to answer there.

But as far as the reason, clearly, you have some of the most experienced journalists in the world in the same room with the world leaders. And that certainly says something about his motivation, I would think.

BLACKWELL: Can you explain something? Control Room, let's put up the picture of Allen on the floor face down. Yes, this picture.

I've covered many of these after which the shooter has been apprehended. And it appears he's obviously shirtless. I don't know what else he has on, but he's covered by a Mylar blanket. Is it protocol to take the suspect's clothes off? I've never seen this. Explain why we're seeing him in this condition.

PACK: Well, they probably were looking for explosives or something. So, when you detain a person, you do what's called a high-risk search to make sure there are no weapons in the waistband, those types of things. And then you do a full search on that. So, this appears to be some sort of full search. It does look like that blanket on top of him there. So, they wanted to make sure there were no other threats.

Did he have any explosives tied to him? Those types of things. When somebody is charging at you with a shotgun, you don't take any -- any chances with that. So, you want to make 100 percent sure that there's no other threats.

BLACKWELL: Speaking of other threats, this investigation is only a few hours old. And early on, even last night, we heard law enforcement say that they believe that he acted alone. How were they so early in the investigation able to reach that? I mean, maybe he was there at the Washington Hilton alone, but to say that he acted alone, how'd they get there potentially?

PACK: Well, that's a very good point because we all know in these early stages of these crises, as investigators learn things, the facts kind of change a little bit, right? Because they haven't done their homework and they've interviewed people and they're able to prove what they're saying. So, there has to be some sort of at least initial level of optimism that -- that was true.

Again, like you said, Victor, there probably wasn't anybody with them. They were making sure of that. And then their checks, their checks in the background initially, nothing probably came up.

But I think as we go in the days ahead here, they're going to make sure that that is the case and they're going to talk to all of his associates. We know that he might've been a teacher. They'll go to any of those types of places, interview his coworkers, see who his associates are and go and build that timeline from the time the shooting happened and worked all the way back several weeks beforehand to see how we got to the point last night.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, this is the very early portion of what will be an extensive investigation.

Jason Pack, I appreciate you helping us understand what's happening now and what's coming next.

President Trump called this a moment of unity for everyone in the room. We'll hear more from the President after the shooting, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:28:17]

BLACKWELL: Tomorrow, the man suspected of firing shots at the White House Correspondents' Dinner is scheduled to be arraigned. Investigators say that Cole Thomas Allen, 31 years old, he was a guest at the Washington Hilton leading up to the shooting. A Secret Service agent was shot, but is already out of the hospital. And police say Allen opened fire just after 8:30 last night.

President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, they were quickly rushed off the stage moments later. There were a lot of people in the room, though, who did not realize what was happening as they took cover under those tables.

President Trump later spoke, and he said when he first heard the noise, he thought it was maybe a dinner tray falling. And later, he praised law enforcement for their quick action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you mentioned, it all happened so quickly. And I wonder, especially because, unfortunately, you have experience with these sorts of threats. In that moment, when you realized there was a threat, and service agents were telling us to get down, can you describe what was going through your mind, how you were feeling in that moment?

TRUMP: That's a very good question, actually. It's always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me a little bit. And that never changes.

The fact, we were sitting right next to each other, First Lady on my right, and I heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray. I thought it was a tray going down. I've heard that many times, and it was a pretty loud noise. And it was from quite far away. He hadn't breached the area at all. They really got him. But -- so, it was quite far away, but it was a gun. And some people really understood that pretty quickly. Other people didn't.

[05:30:10]

I was watching to see what was happening. Probably should have gone down even faster. Melania was very cognizant, I think, of what happened. I think she knew immediately what happened. She was saying, that's a bad noise. And we were whisked away, along with other people, but we were really whisked away.

And, again, the performance of the Secret Service and the police, all of the law enforcement, I thought was really good.

So, it was very quick. There wasn't a lot of time to be thinking. Because it was a matter of seconds before we were out the door and gone into an area. We very much -- and you wanted to, too -- we very much wanted to continue it. Because I don't like to let these sick people, these thugs, these horrible, horrible people, change the fabric of our life, change the course of what we do. So, we held out. You were there. We held out right until the end. But they didn't want to take a chance, and I understand. It was protocol. But we're going to be doing one, hopefully, within the next 30 days or sooner. And I am ready, willing, and able.

And I was all set to really rip it. And I said to my people, this would be the most inappropriate speech ever made. So, I have to save it. I don't know if I could ever be as rough as I was going to be tonight. I think I'm going to be probably very nice. I'll be very boring the next time, but we're going to have a great event.

And you did a fantastic job. Thank you very much. Peter (ph), go ahead.

PETER: Thank you, President Trump. There's a report in the "New York Post" that this assailant assembled his weapon somewhere on site at the hotel. What do you think about that? And I ask respectfully, why do you think this keeps happening to you?

TRUMP: Well, you know, I've studied assassinations. And I must tell you, the most impactful people, the people that do the most, you take a look at the people, Abraham Lincoln. I mean, you go through the people that have gone through this, where they got them.

But the people that do the most, the people that make the biggest impact, they're the ones that they go after. They don't go after the ones that don't do much because they like it that way. And when you look at the people that have either, whether it was an attempt or a successful attempt, they're very impactful people.

Just take a look at the names here, the big names. And I hate to say I'm honored by that, but I've done a lot. We've done a lot. We have -- we've taken this country, and we were a laughingstock for years, and now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. We've changed this country. And there are a lot of people that are not happy about that. So, I think that's the answer, Peter.

PETER: After Butler, your team, for a while, rethought outdoor events.

TRUMP: Yeah.

PETER: Do you think that you now need to rethink indoor?

TRUMP: No. Well, then you just don't do events. No, I can't do that. I have to -- what -- you know, it is what it is. We have to do it. The room was very, very secure. You know, he charged from 50 yards away, so he was very far away from the room.

PETER: And what did you think when you saw the video of how fast he was running?

TRUMP: He was moving. He was really moving. And the reaction time was great. Boy, those guys, they had their guns drawn. Literally, by the time he was there, they were shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

TRUMP: They were -- I thought they were very impressive. I thought they were very impressive. And if I didn't, I'd let you know, you know. I'm not going to be -- I would not stand for that. No, I thought they were very impressive.

(CROSSTALK)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, President Trump, and thank you for updating us on the suspect earlier. Were you aware of any threats? Was your team aware of any threats beforehand? And do you believe you were the target of this tonight?

TRUMP: I guess. I mean, these people, they're crazy. They're crazy, and, you know, you never know. He was very far away from me. He had to go through a lot. We had -- we had resources all over. We had resources sitting at tables, literally, in disguise, sitting maybe at your table, who knows. But we had -- we had people all over the room, so he had a long way to go. That was really a first line of defense, and they got him.

And they really, you know, they acted incredibly. No, we have -- we've had no -- there was no notification. We had no idea.

Go ahead, Kevin (ph).

COLLINS: Do you know of any political motivations from this?

TRUMP: Well, you never know. Now, we'll be able to tell you that maybe by tomorrow or the next day. You know, he's in custody, and they're asking him a lot of questions. I guess they're going over to Todd, and they're already at his apartment. He lives in California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

TRUMP: And they'll be -- they're over there, so they'll be able to tell you.

Thank you, Kaitlan.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, did the suspect say anything, or was he wearing anything that would allege some type of motive here?

TRUMP: No, I mean, he was a guy who looked pretty evil when he was down. You know, they had him down. He was fighting hard. He was -- in my opinion, a sick person. Who would do that but a sick person?

[05:35:09]

But I think you're going to find everything about him. No reason to talk about it now. But tomorrow, at this time, long before this time, you're going to know a lot of things about him. He was a -- they seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you concerned about U.S. Secret Service protection ability? We saw several of the detailees take minutes to be escorted out of the room.

TRUMP: No, they acted very quickly. No, I was very impressed by Secret Service. I mean, I'm the one -- and Markwayne, you would agree with that, I think.

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, DHS SECRETARY: Absolutely.

TRUMP: I'm the one that would complain. You don't have to complain for me. I would be complaining. I'd be up here right now saying they didn't do their job. Oh, believe me, because, you know, it's my life, and I want to live because I want to make this country great. That's why I want to live.

But when you're impactful, they go after you. When you're not impactful, they leave you alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: The FBI is right now looking for any information they can find out about the suspect. We've got video for you here of agents searching a California home linked to that suspect overnight. We'll have more of our breaking news, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Now, last night, Vice President Vance, President Trump, they were quickly taken off stage after those shots rang out during the White House Correspondents' Dinner. CNN Anchor and Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins was seated really not far from the president. She describes what she saw as law enforcement stormed in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I mean, it was a remarkable moment. There was no programming going on, as you know. We were seated at our tables. And then, obviously, Secret Service and law enforcement rushed into the room in a way that I have never seen in my life, coming down the main aisle. And in that time, though, the president was still on stage for another 20 seconds, probably, because I looked over. He and the First Lady were speaking to Oz, the mentalist who was supposed to be the entertainment, during tonight's show. And then, obviously, they were rushed off stage. We saw the Vice President rushed off.

[05:40:06]

It took a little bit, though, before other Cabinet secretaries were removed from the room. I could see the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent. I could see the Health secretary, RFK, Jr., before he was taken out by security. The Education Secretary was literally seated right next to me during the dinner and was crouched on the floor with us as we were essentially waiting to see was the threat clear. And so -- (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Authorities have identified the suspected gunman as 31- year-old Cole Thomas Allen from California. Three sources familiar tell CNN that detail. The D.C. police chief said that the suspect appeared to be a lone actor and believed to have been staying at the Washington Hilton where this dinner happened.

CNN's Brian Todd has more on the suspect and what we're learning this morning about the Secret Service agent who was shot during the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have new information just in from the U.S. Secret Service regarding the Secret Service officer who was shot in the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Anthony Guglielmi, the Chief of Communications for the Secret Service, telling CNN that the officer in question has been released from the hospital and, quote, "The ballistic vest helped us avoid a potential tragedy." That is according to Anthony Guglielmi, Chief of Communications for the U.S. Secret Service, that officer released from the hospital.

Anthony Guglielmi declining to name the officer or the hospital where he was treated, but the officer has been released according to the Secret Service.

Some other information we're getting, according to sources who spoke to CNN, the suspect is identified as Cole Thomas Allen, 31 years old from Torrance, California.

Now according to the interim Washington Metropolitan D.C. Police Chief Jeffery Carroll, he said that the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives in this exchange. Chief Carroll saying that the suspect and law enforcement officers did exchange gunfire and the chief saying that they believe that the suspect may have been a guest at the Washington Hilton Hotel, the same hotel where this incident occurred. The chief saying that they secured a room there and are trying to determine the contents of that room, so that will provide some critical information.

Now according to the U.S. attorney for Washington D.C., Jeanine Pirro, the suspect faces two charges at least. One of them is using a firearm during a crime of violence. The other is assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

And some quick information on this alleged suspect's background. According to public records that CNN was able to sift through, he worked as a teacher and a video game developer. According to a LinkedIn profile matching his name and photograph, it described him as a part-time teacher at C2 Education. That is a test prep and tutoring company. CNN has reached out to C2 for comment. We have not heard back from them.

C2 according to its records did name Allen as the company's, quote, "Teacher of the Month" in December of 2024. According to a LinkedIn profile, Allen graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He received a master's degree in computer science from Cal State University at Dominguez Hills last year in 2025.

According to federal election commission records, he donated $25 to Kamala Harris's presidential campaign in 2024. And he described himself in his LinkedIn profile as a video game developer. He appears to have published at least one game, an indie game called Boredom for sale on the Steam gaming platform. So, a little bit more of the background of this alleged suspect, Cole Thomas Allen.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Brian, thanks.

So, let's talk about the security around this event. And there's a conversation I want you to hear part of. It's between CNN's Jim Sciutto, former FBI Deputy Director and CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Andrew McCabe. They were on overnight. And Andy said that he had some concerns about how the security perimeter was set up around this event.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know, although the Secret Service members who are on site tonight performed extraordinarily and eliminated the threat and nobody got hurt, which is a remarkable result. And, you know, obviously hats off to them.

I still think there's a question of whether the way that physical perimeter was set up was adequate. I mean, I guess, was it adequate? Yeah, well, they stopped the guy. So, I guess it was.

But how close was he to getting past that part, you know, after he goes off the frame to the right as you're looking at that video? The question is, how close was he to actually making it through? And, you know, keep in mind, that was not apparently a time at which the security screening was overwhelmed.

There were hardly any people coming in at that moment. And yet one very determined guy who had a plan, obviously, you know, before he got there, was able to get pretty far beyond the perimeter.

[05:45:09]

Of course, he wasn't in the room with the President. But I still think that despite the great results, they'd probably do well to ask themselves some questions about how they should think about this in the future.

SCIUTTO: Well, some -- for some of the geography of this hotel, maybe we can put that video up on the air again, where the security cordon is in the Washington Hilton is a flight of stairs above where you enter the ballroom. So, the shooter would have had to get through the magnetometer and then down that flight of stairs into the room. That's a step, but you could do it in seconds, right? It's not -- it's not a -- it's an, you know, impossible step to take.

I guess the thought that occurs to me, Andy, is that when I was going through those magnetometers a short time before, when there were dozens, hundreds of people doing the same, the fact is this shooter could have killed other people, right, you know, without getting to the president. It could have been a mass shooting event, you know, quite easily.

MCCABE: Absolutely, absolutely right. You know, when you start adding additional people, dozens, hundreds of people trying to get through those magnetometers, just guests to the event, and then you add the variable of additional attackers, things begin to get very much more complicated and potentially lethal, either at the site of the scanning or at any place they're able to get to beyond that.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, you know, there was a moment -- well, it was more than a moment, when it was our understanding, based on our White House reporters, that President Trump very much wanted to return. He wanted to return, he wanted the event to continue, and in fact there was an announcement made by the White House Correspondents Association in the midst of this that actually the dinner was going to continue, which surprised me to some degree, I will say, and again, I'm not a security expert, but it struck me that at that point, how could you make a reliable judgment that there wasn't another remaining threat?

Did you know for certain that this was a lone actor? Did you know that there weren't other devices planted there, right? I mean, we've seen attacks like that before. I mean, it seems that ultimately the president and the organization arrived at the wise decision not to continue this dinner, but, you know, had the president returned, would you have considered that the smart thing to do?

MCCABE: Jim, as a former law enforcement officer and, you know, security executive leader, there is no chance, there's no circumstances under which you could advise the host of that or the president and his team anything other than send everyone home.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

MCCABE: We have to freeze this place, this is a crime scene now, we have to collect evidence, but most importantly, we need to find out if there's anyone else in here.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

MCCABE: There are opportunities to -- you know, any group of people could potentially plan to send one person through notoriously just running through the scanner to attract the law enforcement response and to distract from a potential entry or vulnerability someplace else.

So, yeah, as a security or law enforcement person, there was really no other recommendation you could possibly ever give. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And we'll talk more about the security profile and protocol there throughout the morning.

Many members of Congress, of course, were in attendance there at the White House Correspondents Dinner, and they've been responding to the incident on social media. In a post on X, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said that he and his wife are grateful everyone is safe. He added that, "We are grateful as always for the law enforcement and first responders who acted so quickly to bring the situation under control."

House Democrat Jared Moskowitz, who was also at the dinner, similarly thanked law enforcement. He also thanked Republican Congressman Steve Scalise, who he says pulled him into a secure room.

A Secret Service officer we know was hit as shots were fired at that dinner. We've now learned that the officer has been released from the hospital. We'll have more from D.C., next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:53:12]

BLACKWELL: We have more for you now on the breaking news this morning. The suspected gunman in custody after a shooting near the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington.

(GUNSHOTS)

BLACKWELL: You hear the shots there. President Trump, Vice President Vance, the Cabinet members all rushed to safety. We've also learned that a U.S. Secret Service officer who was injured has been released from the hospital. Here's the suspect, 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen from California, three sources tell CNN. He is expected to be arraigned tomorrow. CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju describes what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's unmistakable. It sounded like gunshots that we heard from, not inside the room, but nearby. That was enough to cause so many people to immediately, they know what they heard, jump to the ground, try to protect themselves. But we saw how the security reacted very, very seriously immediately to the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN Anchor and Chief National Security Analyst Jim Sciutto spoke with "Politico" White House Reporter Sophia Cai about what happened. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SCIUTTO: Not only were you in the room tonight as these shots rang out, but you were in Butler, Pennsylvania nearly two years ago when the assassination attempt took place against this president. What -- how, as you heard those gunshots again, what was going through your mind?

SOPHIA CAI, POLITICO WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: It just felt surreal to be in this position, not even two years. I mean, this happened 22 months ago, right, before the RNC convention. The difference was the bullet did hit president Trump and we saw it happen six minutes into that speech.

[05:55:03]

And I asked the President today about that moment two years ago, I asked him what felt similar and what felt different. And he was pretty reflective. He said, "Look, both were very serious." There was a quick response. I think he acknowledged that today there was a very quick response to get him and Vice President and the First Lady who was also with him tonight. I think that was something that was different. He's with his family, his loved one.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. He said that to me. He said it was different to have his wife next to him there because I -- as anyone would imagine, right, your partner is at risk.

CAI: And he acknowledged at the top of that presser that this was a traumatic experience for Melania. At one point, a reporter in the room asked if Melania wanted to say anything to the press and she politely declined, but it's very rare to see her in that briefing room. I don't think it's happened this term.

SCIUTTO: Tell me you -- you -- you -- you cover the White House. You speak not only to the president, but you speak to other white house officials. Can you give me a sense of how they're handling responding to this tonight beyond the president's comments?

CAI: So, I was with several of the staff at the front of the ballroom after the shooting in the 30 or so minutes when we weren't sure if the dinner was going to go on, they were getting some updates in their signal chats. And, you know, for a time there was an expectation that Trump might come back.

SCIUTTO: Which is pretty remarkable, right? And -- and given it wasn't -- I mean, do we know that the threat was entirely removed? Did they know that the threat was entirely removed? I mean, that -- that consideration at the time struck me as -- as -- as really surprising.

CAI: But I think for the people who know the president, it's in his instincts to want to come back and to appear defiant. And that was considered, he told us in the press briefing that he fought like hell --

SCIUTTO: Right.

CAI: -- to have the dinner continue. And he said he would have had a very angry speech. It might not have been appropriate. We know now that the dinner will be rescheduled in the next 30 days, but all of it is stunning in the most remarkable ways.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

CAI: And it's mainly because look, people come out here in Washington, cabinet officials bring their partners and their families. And it's one of those times that makes covering Washington fun and being here. It's a celebration of the press. Everyone had their guard down.

SCIUTTO: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. Our coverage of the breaking news of the shooting of the White House Correspondence Dinner that continues next hour. President Trump is members of his administration are safe. The investigation is happening right now. After an armed man got past security, we have live team covers next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)