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Shooting Suspect Charged With Attempting To Assassinate Trump; King Charles Visit U.S. For High-Stakes Diplomatic Trip; Sources: Trump Unlikely To Accept Iran's Latest Proposal. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 28, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:25]

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers, joining us from the United States and all round the world. I'm Brian Abel. Thank you so much for being with us. It's Tuesday, April 28th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner appeared in court for the first time.

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: He was targeting president Trump. He described that in his manifesto.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The big debate within the Trump White House is whether Iran or the United States can endure the economic hardship that would result if the Strait of Hormuz continues to remain closed.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president's red lines with respect to Iran have been made very, very clear.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Elon Musk is suing the head of OpenAI for allegedly betraying the company's original nonprofit mission.

HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: If Elon Musk is successful in this trial, then the landscape for A.I. will change dramatically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

ABEL: The man accused of attempting to storm the White House Correspondents' Dinner will be back before a judge later this week, after making his first court appearance. Cole Thomas Allen was in a federal courtroom on Monday where he heard the three charges against him currently, which include attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump. One official said additional charges are likely. The incident has

sparked security concerns, but the acting attorney general, who was among the guests at Saturday night's dinner, defended the Secret Service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: Law enforcement did not fail. They did exactly what they were trained to do. This was not an accident. It was the result, as we know now, of preparation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Todd Blanche also saying that political violence and rhetoric has to stop. The White House press secretary has blamed Democratic rhetoric for, quote, inspiring violence in comments that have drawn a strong rebuke from the house Democratic leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party and even some in the media.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: And this so-called White House press secretary wants to lecture America and lecture us about civility? Get lost. Clean up your own house before you have anything to say to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: CNN's Katelyn Polantz is following developments and has more now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The man accused of attempting to assassinate the president of the United States on Saturday at the White House Correspondents' Dinner here in Washington, he made his first appearance at the federal courthouse in D.C. He hasn't had the opportunity to plead not guilty because this man, Cole Thomas Allen of California, he was just shown the three charges he faces for the first time.

One of those is the attempted assassination of the president. He also is facing two firearm charges, one for allegedly bringing guns across state lines on a train the whole way from California to D.C. just a few days ago, and then discharging a firearm just outside the entrance to the ballroom at that press gala on Saturday night.

Now, in court, Cole Allen was quite a confident and very imposing figure. He is very tall, taller than any of the U.S. marshals that were securing the courtroom around him. He was also someone who was speaking very clearly and confidently when he was being asked questions by the judge to state his name. He said he had a master's degree. He said he wanted a court appointed attorney to represent him just today.

And other than that, we haven't heard much else from this defendant, nor has law enforcement in court records that were unsealed after his appearance. It says that he has so far invoked his ability to remain silent, even if law enforcement is attempting to question him. And we have heard from the top officials of the Justice Department giving us not just a blow by blow of what happened on Saturday night, when Cole Allen fell to the ground, fired a shot, was shot at multiple times by law enforcement officials, securing the ballroom.

We also know from those officials, people like Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, that there is more to come here, more investigation, more details that we will be learning as law enforcement is putting together what they learned from witness interviews, from searches theyre conducting at his home and in other places in Washington and other locations, as well as what theyre learning from the ballistics around the two guns he had on him on Saturday.

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There are also more court proceedings expected. Cole Allen is set to be back in federal court here on Thursday for another hearing about whether he should remain behind bars as he awaits trial. We're likely to see arguments from the prosecutors about how this is such a serious charge, attempting to assess the president of the United States that carries the possibility of a life sentence in prison.

We're waiting to see how much Cole Allen's defense team may challenge that, if at all. And then we go from there waiting to see what a grand jury learns. What investigators also put together, and ultimately what the charges will be.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Katelyn Polantz, thank you.

Joining me now to discuss all of this further, Jason Pack, a retired FBI supervisory special agent and former FEMA external affairs officer.

Jason, thank you for joining us.

I first want to discuss with you the security aspect of this. I think now sitting a little more than 48 hours removed from Saturday night, I'm able to kind of consider and compare the security to other presidential events that I've had the privilege of covering at a wide range of venues. And this did seem like maybe the best word. And I'm struck by the fact that none of us attending the dinner Saturday night went through that white Secret Service tent that's usually outside the venue that I know you know well, where they check bags, do the metal detectors there have working canines checking you out.

Why do you think that didn't happen?

JASON PACK, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, that's a good question, Brian. Good morning.

First of all, let me say I have the utmost confidence in the U.S. Secret Service. They are the best at doing it. Having said that, this particular venue for 60 years has been a place that nothing has ever happened. They've had a plan with the Metropolitan Washington Police Department, the Secret Service and the other law enforcement folks have teamed up with the hotel security folks to provide that security.

Now they'll tell you, and I agree that they did not get to the protectee. But having said that, I don't think anyone doubts that it was a little too close. So -- and you're right, you have seen different levels of security, particularly at different events. But I'll try to look at this, Brian, like a cast iron skillet. Every time you cook, you don't need to get a new cast iron skillet. Being a security plan, you want to season that a little bit.

And this particular 60-year plan, every time they finish one of these events, they'll have that after action. Clearly, the biggest vulnerability here was the fact that he was able to check in and get past one layer or two layers of security. Now there's those concentric circles of layers of security. They've talked about that he didn't get to, but he certainly got close enough to scare everybody and to be charged with what he was yesterday.

ABEL: Yeah. Lets talk about that a little bit more, Jason, as we scrutinize the video of this suspect running around that corner and past those agents, is there anything about their posture that you find concerning how at the ready or lack thereof, they may have been at the time, given that this appeared to be a final checkpoint before access to the ballroom?

PACK: Yeah, looking at that, once you get everybody screened and into that, that room where the president is and that inner circle, inner perimeter, sometimes you can take a sigh of relief. Like I've gotten everybody in, but you're still on guard. And they were still there looking. You don't really expect somebody to come running at you like that.

And the fact that they reacted as quickly as they did probably saved more lives because he was determined to get to that room. The fact that he didn't start shooting when he immediately encountered law enforcement, Brian kind of goes to his motive a little bit. And I think that's why you saw that charge of the attempted assassination of President Trump, because had he just wanted to create chaos and start shooting, he would have done it there when he first encountered law enforcement, I believe.

ABEL: Yeah, that's a good point. And to that point in his manifesto, he even said that he did not want conflict with law enforcement. I do want to talk about the investigation now, because that manifesto is part of it. FBI Director Patel says investigators have now accessed the alleged shooters cell phone. What information now, outside of this 48 hour bubble, are authorities looking to gather, and to what end?

PACK: Theyre going to look for any particular places he was going on the internet, or were there other people he was talking to? No evidence of that yet, but that's part of a thorough investigation. They'll use that information and go interview folks who may be in contact with. They'll also see if there was planning evidence of planning on there.

Anything that can go bolster this criminal complaint that was filed yesterday, those three charges that Katelyn talked about in the piece earlier. One charge that is absent from there is that assault on a federal officer, that uniformed Secret Service division, not the agents with the earpieces and the sunglasses, but these uniformed agents that staffed these security checkpoints.

It's important to know that I'm pretty sure theyre going to charge him with the shooting of that agent as well. So look for that charge. What happens though? They'll take the evidence. They found that the search warrant there, you see on your screen where they were in California at his residence, and they'll take what the forensic evidence was at the hotel, combine those, and they'll go before a grand jury and get an indictment.

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That's the next step. That criminal complaint holds the suspect. Now, initially, there was probable cause to believe he committed these three crimes that he was charged with yesterday.

The investigation far from over, a lot of work to do with that digital footprint, going around and talking to his acquaintances and even trying to find video from the -- from the California trip to Chicago to D.C. on that train. Like, what did he do on the train? Who did he talk with? How did he get those guns transported without anybody being seen?

Another security flaw, too, is you don't have your X-ray, your luggage X-ray when you check in a hotel. And that's probably some things that theyre going to have to look at, whether they can use that working hotel at the same time and secure everything. I think that's really the beef with this particular security plan.

ABEL: Yeah. And we know that there was security reviews after Butler, after West Palm assassination attempts. Surely there will be here. We will see what changes come about from it. Jason Pack, really appreciate your expertise, sir. Thank you.

PACK: Have a good day, Brian. Thanks.

ABEL: You, too.

This morning, Britain's King Charles III will begin day two of his high stakes diplomatic visit to the U.S. He will meet with President Donald Trump behind closed doors in hopes to bridge the divide between the two nations after tensions have risen over the Iran war.

Then later, he'll head to Capitol Hill to deliver a speech to Congress.

CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: The king and queen arrived in the United States at a particularly bad time for U.K.-U.S. relations, but the president has a fondness of King Charles, and they obviously have a very close relationship. And you saw that on display at the White House as the first lady and the president welcomed the king and queen to the United States. The big formal welcome will be Tuesday.

But this was day one. And the king and queen moved on from the White House here to the U.K. embassy and a garden party, typically British in the U.K. ambassador's garden. There were salmon sandwiches on, uh, available. There were cups of tea. It was a typically British event.

And the first group that the couple met were a group of bipartisan American politicians. You had the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, Nancy Pelosi from the Democrats, Scott Bessent from the cabinet. And then they moved through and met high profile names in sport and in show business and high profile business figures.

This is all about showing that there are deep ties, deep cultural business intelligence ties, security ties between these two countries. And that was a visual expression of that. And the couple clearly enjoyed that experience. And a lot of people invited, really enjoyed it as well.

The queen making particular time for a group of charities that represent survivors of domestic violence. This is a cause close to her heart. And when one of those charity heads was asked what they thought about the fact that the king won't be addressing the Epstein scandal in any way, they actually said they respect that.

But certainly part of the optics there was that the king cant speak to a live investigation, but the king and queen can show that survivors always come first in all types of violence.

The big moment, really, of this four day visit will be on Tuesday, and the kings address to the joint chambers of Congress. And I understand that the king will start off that speech talking about Saturday night and the attack on the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and how the king being here is showing that these are two nations, shoulder to shoulder, something that has been reflected through out history since the war of independence.

He will talk about what he thinks has come out of that deep relationship. So working together in World War Two and the postwar institutions that came out of that, and the king will point to the United Nations and NATO as key achievements of that relationship.

Some in the administration may not see the positives of that post war era, but it's certainly something the king is going to lean in hard on and how this is an address to the people of America and the peoples of America, coming together with the peoples of the United Kingdom, and actually, this visit transcends actually anyone that's' a current occupant of the White House. And this is about uniting joint histories, really. Max Foster, CNN, Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Turning now to the Middle East, where Iran has submitted a new peace plan proposal. And sources tell CNN, U.S. President Donald Trump appears unlikely to accept that proposal. Tehran's plan would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but leave questions about its nuclear program for later negotiations.

The U.S. secretary of state says the proposal is better than expected, but reiterates that the strait must be fully and freely open.

[05:15:02]

This, as Tehran's top diplomat, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. The Iranian foreign minister says their meeting included discussions on the war and the aggression by the U.S. and Israel.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us live from Jerusalem with the latest on the conflict.

And there are multiple developments now, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: A lot here, Brian.

Crucially, it's difficult to see from where were sitting now, a way to get the plan talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, between the U.S. and Iran back on track to try to get to a more permanent ceasefire agreement. Iran, within the last several days, transmitted its latest proposal to President Donald Trump.

But Trump, as you pointed out, according to two sources familiar with the matter, is unlikely to accept the proposal. Iran wants this to be phased negotiations, and the first phase of that is the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Only later is Iran willing to discuss, according to this latest proposal, one of the key issues for the United States. Perhaps the key issue, and that is Iran's nuclear program.

The problem, from the U.S. perspective is that opening up the Strait of Hormuz means they lose their key leverage over trying to force Iran to make any changes to their nuclear program. In addition, the U.S. views the closure of the strait and the U.S. imposed blockade on Iranian ports as a key source of leverage, one that inflicts economic pain on Iran and therefore economic pain on the regime itself.

But that cuts both ways. And that's because with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, gas prices continue to rise in the U.S., nudging upwards to $4.11 on average a gallon across the country.

So you see the economic warfare here taking place between the U.S. and Iran, as both sides try to gauge how much pain theyre doing economically to the other side and how long they can keep this up. One of the challenge here is that the U.S. imposed blockade of Iranian ports appears to be porous. Over the last several days, there have been multiple ships that have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, according to marine traffic sites.

But they've done so on what appear to be lanes and routes designated by Iran's authorities, and at least half of them, again, according to marine traffic sites have appeared to load or stop at Iranian ports. So that would help Iran weather the economic pain of the blockade. And that leaves us where we are now. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was in Russia meeting with President Vladimir Putin yesterday. So, Iran still has its key ally here.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has signaled that he's skeptical of resuming the bombing campaign against Iran. And it's not clear what else it can achieve. Brian, given all of that, its unclear what the next play here. Is there a new proposal from Iran? Is the U.S. going to go back to Iran through mediators and try to work on that proposal?

As Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested, its not as bad as the U.S. had originally thought. It remains a very difficult diplomatic problem and one with no clear way forward right now.

ABEL: And no solution. Indeed.

All right, Oren Liebermann, appreciate you, sir. Thank you.

Still to come, Republicans in congress can't see eye to eye on how to fund the Department of Homeland Security. We'll tell you the latest setback in trying to reopen DHS. Plus, the severe weather outbreak hammering the central U.S. with thunderstorms and tornadoes isn't letting up quite yet.

After the break, well have the latest forecast for the days ahead.

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[05:22:46]

ABEL: The longest partial shutdown in U.S. government history will drag on even longer after House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected a bipartisan bill passed by the Senate last month to fund most of the Homeland Security Department. Notably, the bill did not include money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the U.S. Border Patrol.

Johnson says the Senate bill has problematic language that needs to be addressed. Senate Republican leader John Thune says he's willing to work with the house on any technical changes to the bill, but anything further is out of the question. Johnson warns they need to get on the same page fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We have to move DHS funding because its urgent as the secretary of homeland has said. We're out of money. He's out of money at the end of this week. And so, Democrats have been playing games with this.

It's very dangerous, as demonstrated Saturday night. We've got to get the job done (END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: And now to the severe weather raging across the central U.S. over the past weekend. That's not letting up quite yet. Powerful storms, which have already generated dozens of tornadoes and caused widespread destruction, are threatening to hammer several states this week.

Meteorologist Melissa Nord has the latest forecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA NORD, METEOROLOGIST: Monday was day number five of severe weather across the midsection of the country, and we are expecting more severe weather Tuesday and even possibly into Wednesday. Now for Tuesday, that setup is going to be where the warm and moist air coming off the gulf meets up with our incoming cold front, the dip in the jet stream, and the cooler air behind it.

There is a level three or enhanced risk for severe weather from the Ark-La-Tex region up into Little Rock, Arkansas as well. We'll have the best opportunity for damaging winds within clusters of thunderstorms. Some hail as well, and even a few tornadoes. That threat for Wednesday shifts closer to the gulf coast, just a marginal risk for some damaging winds and some hail as well.

So tornado risk today, on Tuesday, we're expecting that risk of tornadoes, basically between Fort Smith, Little Rock and Dallas and Ark-La-Tex region.

Now we will see several tornadoes possible, but that really stronger tornado factor with the really strong wind shear, we may not see as much of that in the cards for Tuesday versus what we saw on Monday. Let's go through forecast radar. What may time out hour by hour.

You can see Tuesday morning, a lot of the activity from the overnight starts to wind down. But then well see daytime heating and a re- initiation of more thunderstorms along the dry line ahead of the cold front, as we head into Tuesday afternoon and evening, starting off in Missouri, over towards Arkansas, and then really ramping up, pushing to the south as we head later into Tuesday evening, including parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and pushing into the Southeast as we head closer to the overnight, and first thing on Wednesday morning.

[05:25:24]

So, finally, some rain coming to places like Georgia with worsening drought and wildfires that are ongoing at the moment. As we fast forward to Wednesday afternoon, a few more storms initiate their. Throughout Louisiana, down into the Gulf Coast, and those will fizzle out later on Wednesday night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Melissa, thank you.

Next, the latest on the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran and Tehran's new proposal to end it. We'll discuss with an expert from the region.

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