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Suspect In Custody After Shots Fired At White House Correspondents' Dinner; Trump Says He "Fought Like Hell" To Stay At WHCD After Shooting; Secret Service Officer Who Was Shot Released From Hospital. Trump Safe After Shots Fired at Correspondents' Dinner; Suspect Cole Thomas Allen Arrested; Iran Talks on Hold; Trump Cancels U.S. Delegation's Pakistan Visit; Iran: Will Not Enter "Forced" Talks Under U.S. Pressure. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired April 26, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:31]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and 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. This shooting happened as guests were still, some of them, trickling into the event. Our cameras captured the moment that attendees first heard those shots on the red carpet. You'll see them scatter.

I'm going to show you the video. I want to warn you, though, that this may be disturbing for some viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUN SHOOTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, a short time later, I'm talking second, security and law enforcement rushed in to figure out where the shots were coming from.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is it coming from? Where is it coming from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There, it's left, left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is Donald Trump? (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The shooting happened in a different part of the building from the dinner of the moments after Secret Service rushed President Trump and Vice President Vance from the stage. The President later posted this surveillance video. This was on his social media account.

You see the Social -- the Secret Service standing there and watch from the left of your screen. This is, they say, the gunman rushing through. The President praised how quickly Secret Service acted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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 ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in 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 and I was very, very impressed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The FBI director, you saw him there next to the President, Kash Patel, was urging anyone with information to come forward. We learned the only person injured in the shooting, that Secret Service officer who was shot, is already out of the hospital.

The suspect, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, is from a suburb of Los Angeles. He's in custody. 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, California, linked to Allen into the early morning hours investigating. Moments ago, we heard from the mayor of Torrance for the first time. And he's calling Allen's alleged actions deeply troubling. And he says that they do not define the city or the values of its residents.

Let's go to the White House now, where CNN's Julia Benbrook is joining us. We have been waiting for maybe anything new from the White House. Have we heard from the White House in the hours since?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a quiet morning here at the White House, much different than what we saw last night. As he announced that he was going to be giving remarks here in the press briefing room, you had reporters rushing in. There was quite a line in tuxes and evening gowns.

[07:05:05]

Just an interesting scene taking place because going to this event, this is supposed to be a celebratory event, to celebrate the work of the press at the White House, to celebrate press freedom. And this is a beat that is constantly moving. And so this is really a time where everybody is able to typically come together to bond over this shared work experience.

You're there with your colleagues. You're there with members of the administration. And it's supposed to be a time to come together. But that obviously took a very different turn as there were loud noises there in the room. All of us were down on the ground under tables, under chairs, trying to comfort each other and just trying to get through it, figure out what was happening.

You know, on the stage, there's the President of the United States, the First Lady of the United States, the Vice President. They were rushed off quickly. So we did know that something very serious was taking place.

But then we got some updates throughout the evening. There was a lot of confusion, but got updates from the President himself via Truth Social, where he often does do these updates. He said he wanted the show to go on, that he was going to follow the advice of law enforcement and protocols. But he wanted to make sure that this was not seen as stopping this event.

Later, though, within about 30 minutes, he posted again, saying that he needed to follow protocols and that this would not happen tonight. He did say, though, that he fought like hell to see it continue. And I want to play that for you as he promises to reschedule.

(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. We wanted to say tonight, I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay. But they -- it was protocol. I said, please, sir, because I didn't know a lot of -- there was a lot of action going on. And 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: He again emphasized that he thinks it's important that this is rescheduled and that he will be working with representatives at the White House Correspondents Association to get something on the calendar within 30 days. But no doubt this will be a different event that was then was planned. And there were already a lot of eyes on this.

This was going to be the first time Trump as a sitting President was going to speak at this event. And it is typically one where the tone is poking fun at each other, where he may have taken some jobs at the press. The press may have taken some jobs at him.

It was going to be interesting to see what that tone was with this President. But this did not go how anyone wanted it to. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Absolutely. Julia Benbrook there standing by for any new word from the White House. Thank you for that.

Now to the law enforcement response, the officers and agents from several agencies responded and they flooded in after the reports of shots fired at the gala. The dinner was about to begin in the ballroom when that suspect stormed the security checkpoint upstairs. There's a level above the ballroom and started shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFERY CARROLL, INTERIM POLICE CHIEF, WASHINGTON, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE: He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives as he ran through that checkpoint. Members of law enforcement from the United States Secret Service intercepted that individual. This is a very preliminary investigation at this point. We do know that law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the individual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Authorities say a Secret Service officer, as I've said, was shot, has already been released from the hospital, though. We have retired FBI agent -- Special Agent Richard Kolko joining us this morning. Richard, good morning to you. Something else that that interim police chief said that I want to get your thoughts on that.

They said that this suspect acted alone and that was before the processing of the scene there at the hotel had been completed. It was before the search of this home connected to this suspect in Torrance, California. How were they able to determine that so early in this investigation?

RICHARD KOLKO, FBI SPECIAL AGENT (RET.): Well, Victor, I think that's probably just a little bit of a play on words when he says acted alone. They determined there was no other person there with him at the time. Clearly, they have to go all the way back and do the investigation, starting at the hotel, but back to Torrance, California. And that search in his house could uncover a lot of useful information.

You know, on his computer, who was he talking to? Who had he been in contact with? He made the reservations at the hotel. Did he reserve an airline ticket? Where did he buy the weapons?

[07:10:03]

There's certainly people that may have possibly assisted him with that. And to what level they could have provided any assistance. And then, of course, every time we seem to go back and look at these, these people said something. They had some manifesto or some postings online where they talked about what they were going to do. So it may have been as simple as somebody having some awareness of it, but not picking up the phone, not calling law enforcement.

So the one thing that the chief did say correct there was, you know, this investigation is certainly in its infancy, a long, long way to go, and you can't expect any answers in the first few hours.

BLACKWELL: OK, let me ask you about the weapons. We're told that he had a shotgun, a handgun, several knives. And, you know, covering these types of events, the idea that you could get that close, even not in the ballroom, but that close to this type of event with the protectees present. What are your top questions about his ability to get those weapons into the Washington Hilton where the President was last night?

KOLKO: Great question. And people are going to want to view this as a security failure. Well, I think at least physically, this was a security success. He did not get past the magnetometers, did not get into the ballroom. You have to understand that this kind of security isn't just the building. It starts way outside.

I mean, from counter surveillance to people using license plate readers, checking out suspicious people, suspicious vehicles, not only in the hours in advance, but certainly in the days in advance, checking the hotel registration list, seeing who's going to be staying at the hotel that night. So there's a lot of intelligence based investigation that has to be done as part of the security.

So that's where they have to make sure there was no mistakes that occurred. But what happened when he charged that area there and Secret Service was able to stop him quickly? You know, that's exactly what they're supposed to do. That's what it's a success.

It's a soft target. You've heard that term used for years and years and years now. You can't hard secure every soft target out there. There's always a potential this can -- something like this could happen. It did. He was stopped. Nobody was killed. Not a not a good situation at all, but not a security failure.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I asked a law enforcement analyst this a few hours ago, and I'd like your perspective on it. The President says that he wants to do this again in 30 days. Now, 30 days may not be realistic or reasonable, considering there are thousands of people who come in from around the country, maybe even from around the world to attend this event. But from a security perspective, even an intelligence perspective, what has to change or what will be different the next time you expect that this event happens?

KOLKO: Well, the Secret Service is the experts that had to physically secure the building. I can see them moving part of that perimeter farther outside to outside the doors of the building instead of allowing that section where they can transit before they hit that first magnetometers. And the first law enforcement is there able to stop them.

They can put some sort of zigzag in the room. So people have to go back and forth and they don't have that open area to run across. There are certainly physical changes that Secret Service can make. And again, they're the experts at moving crowds through that they do that all the time.

So you can expect to see some of that as they go forward. But as everybody knows, this hotel has supported this event for decades. I even get to go a few times back when I was in the bureau. So they know what they're doing. They practice, they rehearse. This is a lot -- I don't want to say simpler, but simpler for them to do than something like Butler, which is those events that are thrown together at the last minute.

Those security challenges are much greater than working at this hotel, which routinely hosts VIPs, hosts the President. The security teams are in place. So they know what they're doing here at this hotel and they'll fine tune it. But if this event happens in the next 30 days, you can rest assured they're going to do everything possible to make sure nothing like this ever occurs again.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Or if it doesn't happen in 30 days and again next year, they'll probably learn some security lessons from the incident last night.

Richard Kolko, thanks so much for being part of the conversation.

Still ahead, the investigation into this shooting has stretched, as I mentioned, all the way to California. The FBI searched a home linked to this suspect. We'll tell you what we're learning about his background next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:19:04]

TRUMP: My impression is he was a lone wolf, whack job. These are crazy people. These are crazy people. And they have to be dealt with. We had that in the second attempt.

As you know, he's spending life in prison because if you let him out, they'll probably, you know -- if he serves 10 years or 15 years, you let him out, he'll probably try it again with somebody else. The sick people. We have a lot of sick people.

But you're going to know -- I think, very shortly, you're going to know, Todd, a lot about him. You're going to know a lot about him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: As President Trump talking about the suspect who is in custody after he started shooting during the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the President, Vice President both rushed off stage after the shooting started.

CNN Anchor and Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins was seated pretty close to the President. And she describes what she saw and heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it was a remarkable moment. There was no programming going on, as you know. We were seated at our tables.

[07:20:05]

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. 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 --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, more on the suspect now. Three sources tell CNN that authorities have identified this man as Cole Tomas Allen, 31 years old, from California. The D.C. police chief said the suspect appeared to be a lone actor, was believed to be staying at the Washington Hilton where this dinner was happening.

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

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 Tomas 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., Janine 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' 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 Tomas Allen.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

BLACKWELL: World leaders are condemning the violence and the shooting that happened last night. They're also expressing well wishes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on social media, "We send our wishes for a full and speedy recovery to the wounded police officer and salute the U.S. Secret Service for their swift and decisive action." India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Violence has no place in a democracy and must be unequivocally condemned." Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said, "Political violence has no place in any democracy and my thoughts are with all those who have been shaken by this disturbing event."

President Trump called this a moment of unity for everyone in the room. And next, we'll speak live with CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju who was in that room. We'll talk about what he saw.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:29:23]

BLACKWELL: More on that breaking news. CNN's Wolf Blitzer was just outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton when he heard the suspected gunmen start shooting. Here's what he described overnight to my colleague Jim Sciutto.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first, I want to say I'm glad you're safe because you were closer to this than any of us. Tell our viewers what you saw.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You know, 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 course, I got up from my 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 upstairs, 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 wars, 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, 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've got to be in here. It'll be safe. Nobody can come in here.

And they were clearly worried that maybe there were other gunmen there who could do something, and that just they wanted to protect us, you know, just the observers. And then 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'm grateful to them for what they did at the time when they threw me to the ground and lied on top of me. I didn't know what they were doing.

One of my shoes came off, and it took me a while to get it off. But fortunately, I'm OK, and I'm home, and I can absorb it. And it was just a very, very scary situation, very frightening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Glad Wolf is safe. This is the suspect. He's 31 years old. His name is Cole Thomas Allen. He's expected in court tomorrow. This shooting sent the president, several of his cabinet members of the media rushing for cover, including

CNN's Manu Raju, and he is with us right now. Manu, good morning to you. It's good to know that you are safe as well. Did you identify them as gunshots at first? Because some people said it sounded like someone dropped a tray. What did you hear? And walk us through it.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, I was looking right behind me, Victor. You know, I got a little echo in my ear, a little mixed minus in my ear for those in the control room. We could please fix that.

But I could hear something behind me. My back was towards the door where you enter the ballroom. And I immediately turned around when it was very apparent to me that it was several gunshots. It was bang, bang, bang, bang. And, you know, I -- the response from security was very clear that something happened that was potentially very tragic. Because you saw, you know, from the videos and what we witnessed is just security detail running through the aisles of the ballroom in the Washington Hilton and trying to make sure that all the prominent government officials were OK.

And the president, I actually was standing up, probably not the best advice to take in that situation, but I was standing up, taking my cell phone video of what was everything that was going down. I got a video of the president who was being escorted out of the ballroom. And then I saw a number of other security personnel, Secret Service rushing into the ballroom, some with their guns drawn, pulling out cabinet officials, pulling out some of the top members of the House, including the majority leader, Steve Scalise. I saw him being escorted out.

And then it was just uncertainty about what was going on. I went around the ballroom trying to ask what people heard, what people saw, trying to get a sense of it. And people kept saying they heard maybe five, six, seven gunshots.

I ultimately talked to one of the eyewitnesses who said that she had heard three gunshots. She said she was feet away from the alleged suspect of this after the security perimeters that he apparently breached. So, there was just a lot of confusion. And they wouldn't allow us to actually leave the premises until it was pretty clear it was secure. And that was for many, many minutes later. So, it was a moment of total pandemonium, chaos. But thankfully, everybody inside that ballroom was safe.

[07:35:00]

BLACKWELL: Manu, help me understand this, because I don't know if the viewer gets a good appreciation for the distance between where he charged the security checkpoint and the ballroom where you were. So, the Washington Hilton, the international ballrooms on the level, then there may be 20, 25 stairs up to a terrace level where they're typically cocktails, bathrooms. Is that where the security checkpoint was? Because I don't want people to think that on the other side of this, you know, where he runs off screen, that he's at the door of the ballroom.

RAJU: Yes. I mean, that's right, because there is some distance between where you're seeing on your screen right there and the ballroom. So, it's not right outside the door, but it's not too far from the door either. And the first point in which you go through that security checkpoint is when you start to approach the ballroom. So, you could actually enter the hotel by not going through security. They don't have a security perimeter -- at least they don't have mags outside of the Washington Hilton.

Now, they did have a security checkpoint in that they'd want to make sure everyone had the ticket to the event, feet outside the event, about maybe outside the hotel entirely, maybe about 50, 100 yards outside the hotel. You had to have a ticket to actually enter. But you weren't going through the mags until you started to approach closer to the ballroom. And it's at that point in which this alleged assailant apparently had his rifle and where the shots were fired and where he was ultimately detained.

So, Victor, it is not very close to the present, but it's close enough where it could cause the kind of commotion and the kind of scene that we saw happen last night.

BLACKWELL: Yes, far too close for it to happen at all in the building, especially with anyone there, but certainly with the attendees last night. Let me also ask you about this ongoing partial government shutdown that's affecting the Department of Homeland Security. Secret Service falls under DHS. Does that impact security for events like this?

RAJU: I mean, it's unclear, Victor, because, look, these agents have not been paid in 71 days. I mean, this is the longest shutdown of any federal agency in the history of the United States. They fall under, the Secret Service agents, their agency falls under the Department of Homeland Security. So, many of them have been working without pay. And it's unclear the extent to which the many of them may or may not be coming into work or having to take second jobs and the like. So, that's a question in and of itself, the extent to which the resources within this vital law enforcement agency are strained.

But no doubt about it, when Congress comes back to session this week, there's going to be renewed pressure to finalize a bill, to finish, to end this government shutdown once and for all. A bill has passed the Senate twice to reopen all agencies other than border enforcement agencies. That would be done through a separate process because of the Democratic resistance to funding it in this bill. But that bill has passed the Senate and is waiting for action in the United States House.

The Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has refused to move on that Senate bill until the border issues are dealt with in a separate measure altogether. But there's going to be renewed pressure on the Speaker undoubtedly to pass that bill, given what we saw here this weekend, and also what's happening in some of these critical law enforcement agencies across the country, which aren't being paid amid this shutdown, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Manu Raju, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks so much. I know you get into all of it in about 20 minutes. Be sure to watch Inside Politics with Manu Raju next hour. He'll talk to GOP lawmaker Mike Lawler, who was also in the room last night. And that starts at the top of the hour, 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

The White House Correspondents' Dinner is held to honor the First Amendment, and it was President Trump's first time attending as president. We'll talk more about that with our Brian Stelter next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

BLACKWELL: Now, there is glamour at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, but it's really about something more. It's about celebrating the First Amendment. It's the president, President Trump's first time attending the dinner as president.

I'm joined now by CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter. He was there, he joins me now. Brian, listen, we've talked a lot about what people have seen, but I want you to give me some context, right? This event is about celebrating the First Amendment. And the people in that room were confronted with what school children, and moviegoers, and congregants, and people at grocery stores have been confronted with. And that is the threat of gun violence. Talk to me about the context of what we saw last night.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Well, Victor, what you just said, that was my main takeaway from this. Because, you know, on Saturday night, it happened to be a bunch of media elites, political journalists, and politicians, and lobbyists all dressed up in black tie suits. But we've now joined a list of millions of other Americans who know exactly what this is like, who have been through a lockdown, who have been through an active shooter emergency, or at least a perception of one, who have now heard about shots being fired near them.

[07:45:00]

And I think for different people at the dinner, it's sinking, or it's been sinking in at different times. I was talking to people last night who were in tears, and others who were almost in denial that there was anything dramatic going on around them.

And then by the end of the evening, early this morning, I started hearing from folks who were starting to process it and make sense of it. But the thing about this is it was not extraordinary, it was all too ordinary. And, you know, in this case, all those journalists and all those politicians, they had lots of bodyguards and Secret Service staffers and police around.

For the average American who lives through one of these ordeals in their own communities, they don't have as much of that security around. You know, a couple minutes before this happened, I was with House Speaker Mike Johnson. I shook Johnson's hand, I was talking to him.

And then I was walking across the ballroom, Victor, kind of taking the long way toward the CNN tables, because I wanted to see some of my friends and some of my sources. And so, I ended up on the ground next to an executive from Comcast, some people from NBC. And in that moment, you know, there was a lot of unity.

And I'm thankful that President Trump talked about that unity last night and did not try to heighten the tensions or escalate the situation. He could have very easily gone out there and bashed the press last night and blamed the media for attracting this suspect to the ballroom. But instead, he basically said, we're all in this together. And that's certainly true. And that's how it feels this morning as well.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I mean, the president's tone certainly did soften last night, as we heard from him in the briefing room. It also softened after Butler. That didn't last very long. But it is good to point out that the president said that that this is a moment of unity that he saw and actually had some congenial things to say to Weijia Jiang, who is the president of the association.

STELTER: Yes. I did -- I thought that was -- that really stood out to me. You know, Jiang worked pretty hard this year to try to get President Trump to show up to this dinner. He had boycotted it for many years. You know, I asked Karoline Leavitt before the dinner, is the president conceding that actually the press does have a valuable role to play here in America? You know, I think that the intention for the president was to get up there and take some shots -- I shouldn't say shots -- I'm sorry, Victor. Take some jabs, make some comments, maybe some stinging comments to the press.

But certainly, after this emergency and after this fear washed through the room there, the president and all those journalists had a lot in common. And that's not nothing. And that's notable. But for me, I just find myself thinking for, you know, the average American, for people who have lived through this in their malls, in their schools, in their hospitals, it's something that takes time to process. And now, it just happens to be all these fancy Washington journalists who are wearing their tuxedos who are now going through the same thing.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Unfortunately, we can list off any place of public gathering where we have seen situations like this. Brian Stelter, always good to have you on. Thanks so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: And be sure to watch State of the Union later this morning. Dana Bash will be joined by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and mentalist and performer Oz Pearlman. Both were at the dinner last night. And you'll see that at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

We have more on the shooting coming up, but we're also following developments overseas. Those talks between the U.S. and Iran to end the war. They were over before they even began. The U.S. delegation never left Washington. We're live in Pakistan with where things stand. That's coming up.

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BLACKWELL: We'll get you the latest on the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in a moment. But for now, let's turn to efforts to end the war with Iran. President Trump says Iran has made a new offer and that it came shortly after he canceled a trip of his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for talks.

Let's go to CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, live at Islamabad. Nic, there was this will they or won't they for a couple of days. Turns out they didn't. Where do negotiations stand now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the Iranian foreign minister left here and he went off to Oman, Muscat, the capital there. He met with the foreign minister and he met with the sultan today. And that's a pretty big deal when your foreign minister meets the sultan of Oman.

But what does it really mean for these talks? Well, there's been a lot of rumor that we've been digging into that on the sidelines of those meetings in Muscat, the Iranian foreign minister was able to meet with other leading senior figures from within the region. What's the product of all of that? We don't know, but it does appear and we understand at the moment the Iranian foreign minister is coming back here to Islamabad, should arrive in the next few hours, expected to meet with government officials.

So, will the Iranians be coming back with another, this will be a third therefore set of alterations to this proposal that they're going to pass through the mediators here in Pakistan, pass back to Washington, pass back to President Trump. Is it going to be enough for the president to say, let's get into another round of face-to-face talks or not? It's hard to imagine what really kind of changed when the foreign minister went to Muscat, but this is where things stand.

A couple of other things that I think paint the atmospheric picture around the possibility of a sort of U.S.-Iran face-to-face talks, at least here in Islamabad. We know that the security, most of it's been taken down in the city. The roadblocks are gone, people can move around freely. The two core venues for the two delegations, U.S. and Iranian, those are still on lockdown. The Iranians probably coming back to theirs later today, but those are still on lockdown.

But it's also, we understand, allowed some of the sort of advanced U.S. logistics security teams drawing down their presence here as well, it appears. Certainly, that's being reported. And it does sort of paint that picture that the possibility of talks is becoming more distant.

[07:55:00]

But officials here remain hopeful, both the U.S. and Pakistani sources still believe that there could be the possibility of talks potentially later in the week. We just don't see the path to it, how it's going to happen yet.

BLACKWELL: Dynamic situation, of course. Nic Robertson, thank you. Thank you for joining us, for CNN This Morning Weekend. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up next.

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