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White House Suspect Wanted to Target Trump Administration Officials; Trump Lashes Out on '60 Minutes' as Host Reads Suspect's Manifesto. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 27, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: -- James, former Secret Service agent. I want to thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

[06:00:05]

JEFFREY JAMES, PRESIDENT & OWNER, CAPITOL SECURITY CONSULTANTS: Thank you.

CORNISH: I also want to thank you for waking up with me. We've got a lot of breaking news as the suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner is being charged and being investigated.

I'm Audie Cornish, and CNN THIS MORNING is going to continue in a moment.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, the White House Correspondents' Dinner, a Washington tradition, attacked by a gunman Saturday night. The suspect will face a federal judge just a few hours from now.

And I want to thank you for joining us on CNN THIS MORNING. I'm Audie Cornish in Washington. Sara Sidner is with me from New York.

And Sara, of course, we were both in the room as all this unfolded. And just to show folks your point of view from that night, you actually started taking some video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: We are seeing officers with their guns drawn, pointing towards the area where the loud noise is. A lot of fear in here right now. People next to me were saying, We've got to get out. We've got to get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right. So, this morning we're also learning more about the suspect in that shooting. He's a 31-year-old teacher from California.

And just before the shooting, he emailed a message to his family, writing he was targeting Trump administration officials. And the question this morning is, how did he get so close to all these high- ranking officials in government, including the president, the vice president, several top-ranking cabinet members?

And this afternoon, President Trump sat down with six -- that afternoon, he sat down with "60 Minutes." And he also faced questions about the suspect's motives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I read a manifesto. He's radicalized. He was a Christian, a believer, and then he became an anti-Christian. And he had a lot of change. He's been going through a lot, based on what he wrote. His brother complained about him and, I think, reported him to the police. And his sister likewise complained about him. His family was very concerned. He was probably a pretty sick guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, joining us now to discuss, Sara, I want to talk about you being crouched down there. People don't understand how tight this space is. It's almost -- it's a cattle call that, frankly, could have become a slaughterhouse, because there's nowhere for us to go.

From your experience kind of reporting in disaster areas, what was it like?

SIDNER: Look, I think, you know, what you mentioned just there is something that I think a lot of people don't know. If you haven't been to this particular dinner, which is it's actually hard to get to your seat, because it is so tight. The chairs, you know, just getting in and out of your seat is -- you're having to kind of maneuver yourself.

And so, to get out of a room like that, if indeed, a shooter had have made their way in, it would have been a slaughter. It certainly would have, because there is nowhere to go quickly.

I quickly got up after being under the table. But I have to tell you, a lot of people are like, look, you know, nobody in the room got hurt, everyone was fine. And that is all true and thank goodness.

But there was some serious fear. And there were people who were -- I could hear someone crying. Then I turned around. A woman was telling her husband, Please, I just want to get out. I've got to get out. I've got to get out. So, there was terror on the -- on the hearts of people.

And then, as I was leaving, you saw people shaking, crying, hugging each other, because most of the people in the room have never been through a scenario like this, whereas we're standing there, you will notice. And I think in this video, you will see all of a sudden, there's a man on our table.

CORNISH: Right.

SIDNER: It is a Secret Service agent. You see somebody behind me trying to get around and to get out. But you will see all of the agents jumping on tables. There's a reason for that. You couldn't get through the chairs.

The only way to get quickly to the dignitaries, and to the president and to either the people behind the president, but to the folks that are sitting in the front, the rest of the cabinet that are sitting at tables, they had to go on tables to get to them.

And so, the scenario is really, really tight in there. But there was a deep sense of fear. But a lot of confusion, because unlike when -- and sadly, there are drills, for example, at schools, right, where they --

CORNISH: Correct.

SIDNER: -- there's an announcement, there's a shooter in the building.

CORNISH: I thought the same thing. Yes.

SIDNER: There was nothing.

CORNISH: In a way, most Americans are more prepared for this --

SIDNER: Yes.

CORNISH: -- than we are. I know, as a reporter a lot of times by the time I show up, an event like this is over. And I'm talking to grieving families. In my mind went there to, am I going to have a grieving family?

SIDNER: Yes, I think that was on the minds of people when we first heard -- I heard it and I thought, those are gunshots, because I've been around that so much.

So, you know, as we're sort of sitting there, there was no announcement. There was no we have an active shooter, you know, go into sort of active shooter mode. Everyone was sitting around.

[06:05:09]

And for a while, you'll see they're sitting in stunned silence. And people don't quite know what's going on. We did not realize it was -- it happened just above us. It sounded like it was just outside the door.

There was someone who was carrying dishes, and all of a sudden, all those crashed to the floor. And so, there was a lot of confusion.

And then, when people saw the security apparatus start moving and the guns coming out, that's when everyone ducked, got under the table. But it was a terrifying moment for a lot of people there who had just

never been through something like this and honestly didn't know what to do, whether to stay or to run. They didn't know where to go because there was no direction for a very long time. Audie.

Let's bring in Donell Harvin. He's the homeland security analyst and faculty at Georgetown University's emergency and disaster management master program.

Thank you so much for being here.

Look, the suspect wanted to -- to target administration officials. That is what we have learned since this arrest. And there were -- just about every cabinet member was there. I mean, I interviewed several of them as they were coming to the carpet.

And I do want to ask you just how much risk was it to have them all there? And they all walked through where this gunman was because it happened right near where the red carpet was, where the security getting in actually wasn't that vast. There was no magnetometer there. You walked in, you had a ticket. People, of course, recognized members of the cabinet as they came through and were yelling their names.

But -- but this could have gone really, really terribly. Why have everyone there? How much risk do you have to deal with when that is the scenario?

DONELL HARVIN, HOMELAND SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, this is unique, because we've never had this type of event attack before. This is what we call a target-rich environment. And the targets are Trump administration officials, which this individual allegedly was targeting.

Normally, when you have this amount of concentration of high-ranking officials, it's a national security special event at what we call NSC, and that's coordinated at a very high level with the Secret Service.

In this particular case, the Secret Service was doing their job, as you saw in the previous interview with the former Secret Service agent. But all these other cabinet members have their own security. FBI. All these high-ranking officials have their own security.

So, it's unclear whether they were coordinating. They may have been caught flat-footed in terms of thinking that this was a target. They won't be caught flat-footed again.

SIDNER: Yes, it's a really good point. I do know that some members of Congress are saying that they could not bring in their own security that they normally have with them, because of the layers of security that were already in place.

You had, you know, the Metropolitan D.C. Police that were outside. And you had layers of security. And eventually, of course, the FBI came -- came rushing in.

Look, we're learning more about the suspect, and that is the video, the surveillance video of the suspect running through as he is trying to -- after this attack.

And we don't know exactly, you know, what he was thinking at this moment. But we do know that he was on a floor that was above actually where the dinner was. But it did say ballroom.

So, he may have been confused as to where, exactly, this was happening.

I do want to ask you about the suspect, because he traveled by train. There's no, obviously, TSA at the train stations. He was able to get into this hotel room days before. And this is a hotel.

How difficult is securing something like this? And do you think that maybe this may change where this happens and how the president and his cabinet members end up coming into event -- an event like this?

HARVIN: Yes. So, I was the chief of homeland security in D.C. for many years, and we worked with hotel security directors just for this type of scenario.

Ostensibly, if there's a bad actor coming to your city to do some bad, they need some place to stay. And so, we would work with hotel, especially after the Las Vegas shooting, where that individual checked in with an arsenal.

SIDNER: Right.

HARVIN: And so, we would work with hotel to pick out individuals like this.

This is really difficult. This is picking out a needle in a haystack. If you heard other security officials say the lone actor, the lone threat is the most difficult threat to detect and interdict.

This individual clearly knew what he was doing. He's not going to get on a plane with those weapons. The train is faster than a bus or a car. And as you mentioned, there is almost no security when you're coming on trains, not like we would see in an airplane.

And so, this was relatively well planned up until the point of coming into contact with those Secret Service agents at the magnetometers. At that point, he had no chance of really getting close to the president.

SIDNER: Yes, that is certainly true. Donell Harvin, thank you for your analysis. I really do appreciate it. And we will probably be speaking to you shortly.

Audie, back to you.

CORNISH: OK. I wanted to bring in our friends here who were also in the room: Michael Scherer, staff writer at "The Atlantic"; Seung Min Kim, CNN political analyst and White House reporter for the Associated Press; and Francesca Chambers, White House correspondent for "USA Today."

[06:10:00] Francesca, can I start with you? Just with our current White House folks. What was it like for you? Where were you in the room? And were you actually able to get any information?

Because to me, that was one of the more striking aspects of hundreds of reporters. And yet, we knew nothing for the first few minutes.

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "USA TODAY": Right. Well, part of the reason is because the White House press staff was in the room. We actually had one of the White House deputy press secretaries at one of our tables.

And so, they were in the room. That was not as if they were going to know more information than we were going to know about what just happened.

CORNISH: Right. There was no text (ph) in sight, yes.

CHAMBERS: So, even if you are, you know, emailing the White House press inbox, I mean, Karoline Leavitt was also on the stage.

You asked about where I was, in particular. I was not at that table. I was at a different table. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, was actually a guest of "USA Today," and he and his wife had been seated at our table.

He had actually gotten up to -- to go to the restroom. So, he was in the hallway when this took place. His security detail went with him. So, he was -- he was in the hallway with his security detail.

His wife, Kelly, was still seated at the table with us. When we were -- when we were sitting there, I originally didn't hear what commotion had been taking place. I was engrossed in the conversation with the speaker's wife.

And so, everyone's ducking and getting under, but we're not quite sure, you know, what's -- what's happening.

CORNISH: Yes. In a way, I think, Seung Min, the interesting thing was the silence. In a room full of talkers, all of a sudden there was this, honestly, very scary silence.

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, it was a really stunning silence, because I actually think when the president described the noise as he thought it was a tray, you know, clanging and falling down. I wasn't quite sure what it was, because I have been thankful to not have been in that kind of situation.

So, we were kind of trying to figure out what the sounds were. We were sort of on the -- the right side of the ballroom, maybe sort of halfway close to the -- close to the stage.

But you see a lot of commotion. You see some clear security officials running around, trying to escort dignitaries or -- and cabinet officials out. I actually -- I think the first sign that I could kind of confirm that

something -- you know, something gun related happened was when I was able to get cell signal at one point, because the service in the ballroom is terrible. We usually lose --

CORNISH: Yes. You can't get anything out.

KIM: We usually lose connection. I was able to walk, log on to the wi- fi to figure out what was going on. And I saw one of the pool reports that had cited an agent saying shots fired. So, I think that's --

CORNISH: Yes. You're better than me.

KIM: Yes.

CORNISH: I didn't realize anything, truly, until I saw the snipers move from the shadows to the center of the room. And then I didn't know if they were looking for someone in particular.

We're going to talk about this more in the program, Michael, but I do think we learned about the have and have nots --

MICHAEL SCHERER, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": That's right.

CORNISH: -- in terms of who in that room had security, private security detail, or access to Secret Service.

SCHERER: I mean, I think the thing that makes this attempt on the president different is it wasn't just an attempt on the president.

CORNISH: Yes.

SCHERER: The -- the two assassination attempts that happened during the presidential campaign were targeting him. The manifesto of this alleged shooter says, we're going after administration officials.

And I talked to people yesterday. There are a lot of administration officials who are really concerned in the wake of this. I mean, you already have a situation where even lower-level White House officials are living on military bases because of concerns for their safety.

CORNISH: Lower level. I think Stephen Miller is among those folks, right?

SCHERER: That's right. I mean, lower level, meaning not cabinet agency.

CORNISH: Yes.

SCHERER: People. Like Stephen Miller is staff.

CORNISH: Right.

SCHERER: He's a White House staff. And you have -- and but -- but the vast majority of people who work in that building, hundreds of people who work in that building don't really have much. CORNISH: Right. And also, it's about symbolism. When I think about the

person who drove across country to attack two National Guardsmen on the streets of D.C., this event is -- think about it, every year people are saying you shouldn't be going to it, right? Like, it has taken on a different kind of symbolism.

And therefore, I think it was particularly vulnerable to potential attack.

The president is saying we're going to be back in 30 days. We're going to have this. We're not going to -- you know, I don't know what those grins mean. Does that -- are you guys going to be back?

CHAMBERS: Well, no -- the smile. So, I actually used to sit on the White House Correspondents' Association board --

CORNISH: Yes, say more.

CHAMBERS: -- and helped to plan this dinner for a number of years. And while that that may be the case, the challenge for that is, is these tickets are paid for by -- by news outlets and given to a number of political guests who are in the room.

And so, putting on something like this takes months and months and months to -- to plan in the first place. And so, while I know that the White House Correspondents' Association board has said that they're looking into this, and the president says he wants to do the same thing, too, the logistics of how that will -- will play out might be a little challenging.

CORNISH: OK. We're going to call on your expertise more later, because needless to say, I have questions. You guys stay with me. We've got a lot to talk about this hour.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, U.S. forces are not letting up. They are launching more deadly strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats in the Pacific.

Plus, a battle of tech titans begins today in California. Could it determine the future of ChatGPT?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:25]

SIDNER: It is 17 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup. Some other stories you may have missed.

Iran's foreign minister is in Russia this morning after talks between the U.S. and Iran stalled. He will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and says it's a, quote, "good opportunity" to discuss the ongoing war with Iran.

The U.S. military carried out two strikes on alleged drug boats this weekend. Officials say, in the strike Sunday, three people were killed. On Friday's strike, two people whose lives were taken. That brings the death toll of the U.S. operation on suspected drug

boats to at least 185 people.

In Texas, lawmakers there will begin a two-day hearing into last year's deadly flooding at Camp Mystic. Twenty-five campers, two counselors, and the camp director died in that flood.

The camp's owners are attempting to reopen this summer while also fighting multiple lawsuits from victims' families.

Jury selection begins this morning in a clash of tech titans. Elon musk is suing Sam Altman in a case that centers on OpenAI's transition from a nonprofit research center to a for-profit company.

Altman and Musk were the founding co-chairs of OpenAI, and that is a battle royale.

Audie, back to you.

CORNISH: I was about to say, it is personal.

SIDNER: Yes.

CORNISH: But there are lots of people who have questions about Altman's transition of the company. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

SIDNER: Very true.

CORNISH: We're going to come back to Sara in a moment.

After the break on CNN, making amends. The president had said that it was very nice to see Democrats and Republicans coming together after Saturday night's shooting. How far will the niceties make it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:24:27]

CORNISH: So, President Trump says he wants the White House Correspondents' Dinner rescheduled. That was the first time Trump had attended the annual dinner as president, and he seemed to have a more sympathetic tone leading up to it with the media. But then, even after the night was cut short.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It was really -- it was really based on free speech in our Constitution. But I said, very importantly, that we'll do it again within the next 30 days, and we'll make it bigger and better. And even nicer.

So, I just want to thank everybody that was involved. I also want to thank the press, the media. You've been very responsible in your coverage, I will say. I've been seeing what's been out, and you've been very responsible. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Less than 24 hours later, that tone shifted somewhat. When you look at his "60 Minutes" interview on Sunday, he called CBS's Norah O'Donnell a disgrace.

It happened after she read quotes from the suspect's manifesto from Saturday's shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS'S "60 MINUTES": He writes this: quote, "Administration officials, they are targets." And he also wrote this: "I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes."

What's your reaction to that?

TRUMP: Well, I was waiting for you to read that. because I knew you would. Because you're -- you're -- you're horrible people. Horrible people.

Yes, he did write that. I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody.

O'DONNELL: Oh, you think -- you think he was referring --

TRUMP: I'm not a pedophile.

O'DONNELL: -- to you?

TRUMP: Excuse me, excuse me. I'm not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person.

You should be ashamed of yourself reading that. Because I'm not any of those things.

O'DONNELL: Mr. President, these are the --

TRUMP: I was never --

O'DONNELL: -- gunman's words.

TRUMP: Excuse me, excuse me. You shouldn't be reading that on "60 Minutes." You're a disgrace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: I'm bringing back the panel, because the context to this, frankly, is the relationship between the Trump administration and CBS, the lawsuit they settled with him. The Ellisons, and their purchase with Paramount.

And I have to say, they had many tables directly in front of the room.

SCHERER: Yes.

CORNISH: And it seemed like a warm relationship.

SCHERER: When they had a dinner last Thursday where the president attended with David Ellison. They also have a regulatory process approving the merger going through, which the president, his advisers have said they're looking at very closely, depending on the content.

CORNISH: Yes. So, it wasn't a surprise that the "60 Minutes" interview was -- like it wasn't FOX.

SCHERER: The one they went to.

CORNISH: Yes. It was this. So, what do you make of how it played out?

SCHERER: Look, I think people have to -- I think people have learned this. You discount the way the president talks to the press, to any adversary, to any friend, because he's constantly transactional. And he will flip on a dime.

I mean, he's insulted, I'm sure, everyone here at this table at some point. He's also been, you know, nice to us at other points.

You know, that interview, if you watch the full unedited version goes on another 20 or 30 minutes. You know, they kind of get back into a rhythm.

CORNISH: It's not like he walked out or something like that.

SCHERER: It's not like he walked out again. Yes.

CORNISH: What struck me is that it's not unusual for the president to lash out on the issue of Epstein. Like, when I have seen these moments where he might have insulted a reporter in a really striking way, it's often around this issue. And is it still a sensitive issue?

KIM: I think just -- you do see just the uncomfortableness that -- whenever this topic comes up. And I think we should say here that he has never been, you know, accused of any wrongdoing in this manner.

But the problem is the issue of Jeffrey Epstein has remained a political problem for the Trump administration, particularly as we started to get the files out. We see just the close ties that we have -- we have had with Jeffrey Epstein and kind of the -- the elite circles of the world.

And which is also why that statement from Melania Trump a few weeks ago was so shocking.

CORNISH: Yes. Because she mentioned, with the U.K. royal coming --

KIM: Right.

CORNISH: -- these questions are going to come up again.

KIM: It's all in this ether right now.

CORNISH: Francesca, can I come to you? Because as you mentioned, you've actually sat on the board for the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

CHAMBERS: Sure.

CORNISH: They've talked about rescheduling it. Do you think this relationship has improved?

CHAMBERS: Between the president and --

CORNISH: The president and the media.

CHAMBERS: -- the press corps? I mean, look, the president does take questions on a regular basis from the press corps, including --

CORNISH: Yes.

CHAMBERS: -- the other night when he got up at the podium and held the briefing.

CORNISH: And he's making phone calls to you. Yes.

CHAMBERS: Well, and sure. He's taking -- he's taking -- well, I don't know. In your case, I think you're calling him.

SCHERER: I'm calling him.

CORNISH: But he's picking up.

CHAMBERS: But I mean, but -- but also with Karoline Leavitt expected to go out on maternity leave, we're expecting to see the president, the vice president, other officials up at the podium. So, we could see the president himself personally brief in the coming -- the coming days.

The opportunity to be able to ask the question -- the president questions about this moving forward, as well as other administration officials, as we try to, you know, piece together these security measures will be really important for journalists. We're all trying to do our job in there, too.

CORNISH: Yes.

CHAMBERS: And hold -- and hold folks accountable.

CORNISH: And the question we were talking about here is, what does it mean to have an adversarial relationship, which is a defining aspect of being in the Fourth Estate, versus an acrimonious one? Maybe there's no difference?

KIM: Right. I mean, there's a -- I mean, we have an adversarial. relationship with every president. That is the job. That is what the Constitution laid out.

I would -- I have to point out here that the -- that the White House and the president banned the Associated Press for the words that we use from the press pool, and our legal fight continues. I just wanted to get that on the record. CORNISH: Yes.

KIM: But, you know, the president has had just -- whether this is -- I mean, I know we've been talking about whether this is a turning point. I think that this is -- this -- this has kind of been his posture towards the press for some time, right?

CORNISH: Yes.

KIM: Like we are -- he and the --

CORNISH: But isn't it an inflection point, given that --

KIM: Right, right. He makes us into a foil, and he sees a political advantage to that.

CORNISH: And -- but the public also hates it. Frankly, the comedians who come roast not just the president, but everyone in the room. It's become a symbol of something and maybe not a symbol of something so good.

So, do you think it's an inflection point?

SCHERER: I think what will happen is the dinner will be held again.