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Inside Politics

Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired April 27, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: How did a would-be assassin gain access to a building packed with dozens of top U.S. leaders.

I'm Manu Raju in for Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

We start with the investigation into the man suspected of opening fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. That's 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen is expected to be arraigned today in Washington, D.C. And it comes as investigators are examining his writings, background and movements before the shooting. According to the White House, he quote, clearly stated he was targeting Trump administration officials.

I want to get straight to CNN's Paula Reid. Paula, we'll soon see the suspect in court. What do we know about him, the charges he's facing, and what are we expecting today?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, in this courthouse right behind me, Manu, the suspect will appear for an arraignment, pretty quick proceeding. You'll hear the charges that have been filed against him for the first time. Now, we don't know exactly what these charges will be. But on Saturday, U.S. Attorney Pirro said that the charges will likely include using a gun during an act of violence and a charge related to assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon.

Now she said that before they executed search warrants, we know that the investigation continues, Manu, and as they learn more, they will likely add additional charges. In fact, the acting attorney general said that they could even add the possibility of charging him with attempting to assassinate the president.

So, we're going to be watching these proceedings very closely today to figure out what else we might learn, especially when those charges are filed around the same time that this indictment is released as he's being arraigned. So, this is very significant because this is his first court appearance since Saturday's shooting.

RAJU: All right, CNN's Paula Reid, outside the courthouse. Thank you for that. And joining me now are CNN's Josh Campbell and Terrance Gainer, whose many former titles include former Senate sergeant of arms and the former chief of the Capitol Police. Thank you both for joining me this afternoon and really appreciate it.

And Josh, I want to start with you, because we're learning a lot about this suspect. He went from a teacher in California to an alleged would-be assassin. So, you were an FBI agent. What are investigators likely doing right now to learn more about him?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT & FORMER FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, we're know that -- we know they're digging into his past, and that includes speaking with anyone who might have known him. I'm told from a law enforcement source that his family has been very cooperative with investigators as they've been conducting interviews. Authorities have gotten search warrants for his digital devices, and they've uncovered the so-called manifesto that he had allegedly sent to members of his family just before this attack.

You know, Manu, you and I have covered a lot of incidents where sometimes the motive is in question. Here, it appears that it is crystal clear. In his own words, he's saying, according to this manifesto that he had great animus for the president, that he was targeting members of the administration. He had a target list.

I mean, I will say that some of the writings in this can appear quite delusional, just, you know, going so far as to kind of pre but some different criticisms that people might have against him for wanting to come and stage an attack like this, but it's very damning, and so that will certainly be evidence that is likely used against him in the prosecution.

And then finally, I'm also learning some new details about what went down at that moment. But believe we have a picture of the firearm, the shotgun that was left behind. I obtained that from a law enforcement source. He was armed with that gun. He had a pistol, he had knives. He had come down a stairwell onto that terrorist level at the Washington Hilton.

That's how he got there, and then started running towards that check point, went past it, engaged in gun fire with a secret service officer, and we have that picture of him as well. They were able to subdue him, and you actually see him. They stripped him of his clothes, I'm told, from a source, in order to check for any additional weapons, any possible wounds. And then he was taken into custody, as you mentioned. He is now under arrest and facing his arraignment here very soon.

RAJU: And Chief Gainer, you know what security situations like this are like. You've had so much experience here in securing and dealing with major events. Wondering what you think about what happened here? Did it actually work as intended because the suspect didn't get all that close to the president, or, in your view, was the security insufficient?

TERRANCE GAINER, FORMER SENATE SERGEANT AT ARMS & FORMER U.S. CAPITOL POLICE CHIEF: Well, number one, it worked because no one was injured, apparently, besides the Secret Service officer and the offender himself. But getting kind of close and almost close is not good enough in the business. So, I am confident that the Secret Service and others involved will take a close look at what went right and what went wrong.

[12:05:00]

And Manu, you may know that over the years, police in general or federal agencies haven't been very good at doing great examinations, because we never want to offend those who have been injured or involved in the heroes of -- being heroes at these events, but we've become much more adept at reviewing strengths and weaknesses. I got to say, it would appear he got closer than anyone would want to. And so, you have to look at what went wrong and what went right.

RAJU: Should that include Chief actually examining the hotel guests himself because themselves, because he wrote the suspect wrote in the manifesto that he was surprised at the lack of security at the hotel that he's able to walk in with a bag full of weapons. So, should there be a different level of security for hotel guests themselves?

GAINER: Well, I think we're going to look at. When we had the biggest security events, whether it was a State of the Union or the inauguration, or any place else that we control. We run name checks on all the guests, which I'm sure is done now. In a hotel situation, unless you control the whole hotel, you do have to look at that, and I don't know, as I sit here, whether that was done to at least run the names of the people there.

Now maybe it's really pointing out that that's a bad venue. Now, I've been thinking about the president's call to have this within the next 30 days. I suggest there are places now in D.C. where you can do that. And for instance, maybe the Capital One Arena, which you could better secure and that you wouldn't have people sleeping overnight. So, any place where you're going to have people in there that you haven't previously screened or control, you've got a problem.

RAJU: And Chief, I just want to ask you one other question about this, because much of the line of succession was in that room, the president, the vice president, the speaker of the House, multiple members of the cabinet. Should this event have been given a higher security designation in your view?

GAINER: Well, using the old rector scope, that shows something should have been done or there is a -- is the quick answer. I think that's one of the reasons that you wouldn't have the event there with this little background that probably was done on people at the hotel. So, I don't think it should be had there. I think there are better ways to secure it, and they should second guess having all their survivors, or people you want to survive in that one location.

RAJU: And Josh, the president is using this incident to bolster support for his call for a new White House ballroom. Is that the answer here only having the president attend major events at the White House. Is it probably -- is it possible to properly secure every place the president goes outside the White House? CAMPBELL: Well, it's a good question. I mean, obviously the whole ballroom issue has an entire political component, which I'll leave to your panel of experts. But purely from a security standpoint, I don't think you're going to have the president do every single event in one place. I mean, this is a president, obviously, who travels across the country, indeed across the world. And so that would definitely provide additional security to have that within the White House compound and all the accouterments of the Secret Service that come along with it on a daily basis.

The question is, is that realistic that you have a president who's simply in one location? I think bottom line for me, Manu, is that we're facing two realities here as we look back on that incident. It's a very scary incident on Saturday night, and that is, we're a nation where no place is seemingly immune to gun violence. That can be true.

And also, a second reality is that if you look at the Secret Service, their primary job is to protect the president, the vice president, and those protectees, which they did here. But there will be a review, as the chief said, to look at, you know, what was the safety like for everyone else who was in attendance at this event?

To include everything that he mentioned there, there's a question about, maybe you move back that initial checkpoint to provide a little bit more room. I mean, we saw the gunman on that CCTV video of just a dead sprint running past that whether he was -- whether he tripped or whether he was actually confronted, it was a short distance to actually get down the stairs into the ballroom.

Although, I will note that I talked to some of our colleagues, like you who were there, who said that there was Secret Service all over the place. So bottom line, it will be looked at. There will be questions. But to your original question, I don't think the answer is going to be to lock down the president, because again, this is a president who's always on the move.

RAJU: Yeah, all right. Terrance Gainer, Josh Campbell, thank you so much for being with me this afternoon. Really appreciate your expertise. And coming up for us from making peace to making accusations. How President Trump's tone has shifted in just 20 hours after the traumatic event that rattled Democrats, Republicans and the press. Plus, King Charles is headed stateside. His first visit as monarch carries serious diplomatic weight. We'll tell you on what's on his agenda, and why it matters.

[12:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: In the hours after a gunman opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, President Trump struck a conciliatory tone with reporters. He said he felt a lot of unity and love from journalists and Democrats in the ballroom, as everyone struggled to understand what was happening.

[12:15:00] But the next night, he went on 60 Minutes and erupted when Norah O'Donnell read part of the letter, authorities say, the suspect left for his family. The letter lays out an array of grievances against the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I'm no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. What's your reaction to them?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you're -- you're horrible people. Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody.

O'DONNELL: Oh, do you think he was referring to you?

TRUMP: 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 gunman's words --

TRUMP: Excuse me. You shouldn't be reading that on 60 Minutes. You're a disgrace. But go ahead, let's finish the interview.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: All right. My excellent political panel is here, including Jeff Zeleny. So, Jeff, there was -- it sounded like a kumbaya moment on Saturday night. Not so much anymore.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, we've learned many things in the Trump era. We know that things don't last for a long time. And I think anyone who saw the president's remarks in the briefing room at the White House on Saturday evening talking about that moment of unity, knew it wouldn't last. I mean, I think the bigger point here is, as we go forward, the White House, as we know, is looking into Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff is conducting some meetings this week to see if the protocols were handled.

As the White House looks ahead to the America 250 celebrations, things are going to go back to the acrimony that is there with many presidents and many press corps. There's no doubt. But on this specifically, because the suspect is still alive. He'll be having his first arraignment in court this afternoon. We're going to learn more about this. So, you know, I think it's no surprise the president was not thrilled with Norah O'Donnell reading that, but that gives us a bigger picture into motivations and why, perhaps he allegedly did this.

RAJU: Yeah. And he was asked the president was on 60 Minutes about the rise in political violence that we have seen here in this country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: It's always been there. People are assassinated. People are injured. People are hurt. And I'm not sure that it's any more now than there was. I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats much more so is very dangerous. I really think it's very dangerous for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Yeah. He said, going after democratic hate speech and downplaying the amount saying that, you know, this has happened. This is this kind of -- these kind of incidents have always happened, but we really have seen the rise for the last decade or so. I'm targeting both sides, political violence targeting both sides. Just you can see here on your screen, a number of really troubling episodes that just shows the moment that we're in right now, but the president sees it differently.

ELI STOKOLS, WHITE HOUSE & FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: Yeah. And it's not surprising that he would, you know, cherry pick the democratic rhetoric in an instance where he was seemed to be the target, but it's glaring. You put up that graphic, and you see all these examples, you know, you think back to Melissa Hortman being shot on her doorstep in Minnesota. The president didn't have much to say about that.

And this is a president who, you know, all of this stuff is public. You can go back and pull the clips, glorify -- has glorified violence among his supporters. Has threatened violence against demonstrators in the summer of 2020 with the George Floyd protests. There's obviously January 6, and his role in instigating what was ultimately a very violent clash at the Capitol.

So, you know, it's not surprising because we've seen it before, but his response to the rhetoric, and singling out democratic violent rhetoric and blaming only democratic rhetoric is incredibly selective.

RAJU: And we've seen now that today we're also seeing the first lady come out and publicly go after Jimmy Kimmel, who made this crack last week as Thursday, when he was speaking, pretending like he was giving a speech to White House Correspondents there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!: And of course, our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at more. So beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And so, this was the first lady's response this morning on X. She said, Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn't comedy. His words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America. She called on ABC to take a stand and said that his leader -- his behavior was atrocious. Betsy, you covered the first lady very closely. What do you make of her coming out like this so aggressively? BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think it's definitely notable, and it's notable too that we didn't hear from her in the 48 or so hours after Jimmy Kimmel gave that monologue. She was remarkably silent in the immediate aftermath of this shooting incident. The president had spoken for her. He said, of his wife, it was a rather traumatic experience at the Washington Hilton. We know that security and safety has been top of mind for the first lady, and this really marked the first time that she was beside her husband when he was aggressively evacuated by Secret Service.

[12:20:00]

RAJU: Yeah, it's a good point. Meantime, they're also making this case here for the White House ballroom. That's really been the new focus of this. President's been pushing for this for some time. And now, he says that this is the reason to have this kind of event in mercy on Capitol Hill. This being echo. In fact, the speaker just told reporters just moments ago that this needs to be to move ahead. But also, we're seeing some of the rank-and-file members demand this all amid this government shutdown for the Department of Homeland Security.

ZELENY: Look the president in the very first opening minutes Saturday evening. After talking about the incident, he talked about the need for the ballroom. I mean, we have seen him again and again, make the national security argument for his ballroom. Other, perhaps may be some merit to his argument, but it also is spurring these wild conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact, that this was a staged incident so he could have carte blanche to build a ballroom. That's not true.

But we have seen in this age of ours where algorithms are feeding people's preconceived notions about this stuff, that that is what is feeding into this. But I have no doubt at all. As you know from a Capitol Hill, the DHS is still unfunded, is unbelievable --

RAJU: Yeah. 72 days.

ZELENY: 72 days. But this certainly will accelerate the conversation to build the ballroom, which --

RAJU: Or could it be complicated too?

KLEIN: Well, and at its heart the legal case, there's been so much back and forth here is about -- not about whether the president can build a ballroom. It's whether he can build it without seeking congressional approval. They say they do not need to. The National Trust for Historic Preservation says yes, they must have congressional approval.

ZELENY: And he would get the approval. Don't you think now?

KLEIN: Almost --

RAJU: I mean, it's hard, maybe --

ZELENY: Among Republicans. RAJU: Yeah, yeah.

ZELENY: It's hard to imagine.

RAJU: It's hard -- yes, Republicans, but of course, they need Democrats in the Senate. So, that's going to be that complicated factor and that could complicate reopening an agency that funds Secret Service. All right, coming up, still ahead. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis steps into the redistricting fight. We'll show you -- I'll show you how he wants to change Florida's map to help the Republicans ahead of November.

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[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: We've got breaking news in the fight over gerrymandering. Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled a proposed new map that aims to add four red seats in the midterms. Currently, Florida has eight House Democrats and 20 Republicans. The governor's proposal comes after Virginia voters approved a map that could flip four seats from red to blue.

My excellent panel is back, including Jeff Zeleny, who has a handy device here. You know, go through the map itself. What do we know about this map and who's going to be targeted here?

ZELENY: Manu, if you start out, I mean, the balance of power in Florida right now is 20 Republicans and eight Democrats. The proposed map that Governor Ron DeSantis is going to ask his Republicans in the Florida Legislature, where he has a super majority to do, is to effectively change that dramatically and give Republicans four more seats. Take away four seats from Democrats.

And if you look at these proposed maps again, just proposed maps. So, they're kind of an outline of something that he has released to this morning. If you look at the current districts here, which is on the left side of your screen. You will see that the Florida is basically a red state, but there are 20 Republicans, obviously eight to Democrats. That would change dramatically, because on the right side of the screen is the new proposed maps, 24 Republicans, four democratic seats, potentially.

But if you look at the area here, around Tampa Bay in the new map. There is not a Democratic Representative. There is now, currently, that's Kathy Castor, Hillsborough County, Tampa Bay has long -- had a Democratic Representative. Often over the years, it's stretched up to Jacksonville. There are different iterations, but that is very notable.

The second one is in Central Florida. If you look right around Orlando here, that's the only notch of blue on the existing map. There is far more blue here. So that's potentially another seat there as well. But South Florida, long a Democratic stronghold here. There's no doubt. Look at the differences here. That is where they're getting some of those seats here. So, the proposed changes there would affect Democrats in South Florida.

Again, these are large outlines. We don't know exactly which members are being affected here, but the reality is, Governor Ron DeSantis wants to give the Trump administration something that they want, and he does not have many constraints on him. Yes, these are likely to be challenged legally, but in the Florida Legislature, Republicans are likely to approve this proposed map.

RAJU: Yeah. And they're bonded to Democrats who could be targeted here. Castor, Moskowitz, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Soto, Frost, among those, again, but we'll see how this ultimately plays out. But it's a risk, right? And this is a pretty aggressive play by DeSantis. Some Republicans thought he may have to go after only maybe two or three seats because every time you change those lines, it affects other seats and may put other seats in play. He could backfire, potentially.

STOKOLS: It is aggressive, but it also speaks to the desperation that is probably being felt at the RNC. And I know it's being felt inside the White House after losing the redistricting fights in California and Virginia, not being able to get a Republican change in Indiana that they wanted.

And just looking at the polling and seeing the generic ballot disadvantage and the fact the president trending down in his approval rating, they are staring into some pretty heavy headwinds or headwinds, you know, looking into November. And so, I think you can understand the circumstances, and trying to, you know, get this Hail Mary at the end and maybe relieve in the playing field.

RAJU: And again, the reason why this is so significant