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CNN Live Event/Special
Soon: Trump Arrives For First Correspondents' Dinner As President; Trump Is Safe After Being Rushed From Correspondents' Dinner. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired April 25, 2026 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:26]
ANNOUNCER: It's an event to celebrate the First Amendment, the power of the press, and the freedom to seek the truth. And tonight, for the first time in either of his terms, Donald Trump will face a room of journalists and reporters at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
At the table, Van Jones, Scott Jennings, S.E. Cupp, Van Lathan. Also, Larry Wilmore and Lewis Black and special performer, the mentalist, Oz Pearlman.
And now, live from Washington, your hosts, John Berman and Laura Coates
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right, high drama. You can tell by the music.
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Washington for CNN special coverage of the White House Correspondents' Dinner. This does promise to be special in the sense that this is unusual.
Donald Trump is due to enter the room at any moment, and this is the first time he has attended the dinner as president. He famously attended before in 2011, when he was a target of roasting from then President Barack Obama. Roger Stone, the political advisor to Donald Trump, once said that that was the moment that inspired Trump to run for president.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Later. I mean, well, later.
And now here we are. Like John said, this is the first time he's attending the event as president. And what's usually a lighthearted, a comedic affair. The tone will be different this year since Trump, the president is addressing the same journalists and reporters that he constantly berates and threatens. Just this past week, dozens of news legends signed a letter urging reporters to stand up to the president's attacks.
BERMAN: We just saw Kaitlan Collins, CNN anchor on TV. She is winning an award tonight, and we are very proud of her.
COATES: Yes.
BERMAN: This does come at a sensitive time for President Trump. The United States is in a war with Iran. Peace negotiations seem to have stalled. The president's approval ratings on the economy, they are at an historic low for any president at this point in his second term and his overall approval rating is down near Jimmy Carter, in term to George W. Bush territory as well.
COATES: I want to go live to Sara Sidner right now, and Brian Stelter.
Are we getting a bit of a preview of what to expect out there?
SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What you are seeing actually behind us is that the motorcade has just pulled up. We've seen the secret service come in. We see the press pool just run by, and everyone cheered for them because this is the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
But we've been talking to members of the administration who have shown up here. Youve got the head of UFC, Dana White, was here. A lot of the folks around Donald Trump that would normally not be at this event are here tonight.
What are you learning? Because there is a tension. It is heightened, because of the relationship between the president and the press. The president constantly attacking the press and suing the press at the same time, at the same time. This is a huge crowd. It isn't as if people didn't show up.
BRIAN BERMAN, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: It's a sold out dinner. And news outlets have still been trying to buy more tickets. But there's no more room in the ballroom. That speaks to the heightened excitement about the president being here. At the same time, though, we're talking about a president who used to boycott this dinner, and now you have some veteran journalists on the outside telling journalists they should boycott this. We should not be here.
I think the journalists who are attending tonight, thousands of them, they want to hear what the president has to say. They want to see which version of President Trump shows up. I talked to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier. She said it's going to be entertaining. But she also acknowledged Trump's going to take some shots at the press, as he so often does. Here's part of what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, this speech will be highly entertaining. Its going to be classic President Trump. There will be some comedy throughout. There will be some jabs thrown. I think it's appropriate for a night like this. But I'm really glad that the president is here, and I know he's really looking forward to it. It's the 250th anniversary of our country, and he's definitely the most accessible president we've ever had. So --
STELTER: I know you say he's very accessible, but so often he tries to demonize the press. Is he coming here tonight admitting that the free press is an important part of the country and that actually he's conceding that by showing up for the first time? LEAVITT: Well, of course, he believes that. That's why he talks to
journalists personally. Half of this room will have his personal phone number and have spoken to him. He takes their calls, he answers their questions, and he tussles back and forth, too. I think he likes to hold people accountable.
You'll see a mix of both of that tonight. It's going to be great. It'll be fun. And we're happy to be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Look, look, perhaps seconds from now we are going to see the president. So, we need to mention that we are starting to see a lot of movement behind us, right now. So, you may see him literally walk behind us.
[20:05:00]
But there is a difference as to what is happening this time, that in the past, first of all, there is no one roasting the president. Usually there is a comedian that roasts the heck out of the president and the press. This time there's a mentalist who says he's going to try to get into the president's mind, a very different feel. But there are other things that are different this year. What are they?
STELTER: The association really wanted the president to show up this year. Theres been an effort by the White House press corps to try to mend some fences, make the relationship a little less strained. At the same time, in Trump's first term, it was mostly about words against the press. In the second term, it's been about actions, even suing news outlets. We've talked about FBI actions against the press, so we should keep that in mind as we see this celebration tonight.
The administration is actively trying to suppress news coverage. Now, all that said, here's what I'm curious about. Viewers who have watched this in past years. They're used to the format. Usually there are some scholarships, there's some awards. Then you have a speech from "The Associated Press". Then you have the president speak. Then you have the entertainer.
Tonight, something's different. For some reason, the awards have been moved to after President Trump speaks, he might be able to walk out. He might be able to drop the mic, leave the room and not sit there while Kaitlan Collins and Josh Dawsey and other reporters all receive their awards. That would also mean he would miss Oz Pearlman.
So, we don't know what Trump's going to do, but we do know many of the journalists are interested in hearing what he's got to say. But I'm told at least one person, not a journalist, is planning to walk out in protest. So, we'll see if that all shows up on camera.
C-Span did add extra cameras this year, so we'll be able to see more of the action.
SIDNER: I mean, look, this is what the press does. They cover the president. That is why we are here. But the real reason why we're here is because of the freedom of the press. And as you have the First Amendment, and that's what the celebration is all about tonight -- John and Laura.
BERMAN: The real reason we're here is to talk to Sara Sidner and Brian Stelter. Dressed up looking fabulous on the red carpet, and to check in with you as much as we possibly can. We'll come back to you in a little bit.
And just a note, some of the faces that we've seen while you were talking, we just saw the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, walk in.
COATES: We saw Erika Kirk, who is seated with Gabby -- Tulsi Gabbard as well, who was there. I mean, you're seeing a number of people who I got to tell you, I wish there was a microphone at the table that I could hear every single word because it promises to be a lot of good conversation happening.
BERMAN: Yeah, I'm sure none of them would like to have a microphone at their tables to have us listening in right now.
However, at this table, we are fully miked for the entire evening. And with us here, CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, Van Jones, CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp and the co-host of "The Higher Learning" podcast, Van Lathan. We've got two Vans, S.E. and Scott.
And I got to say, everyone was punchy even before we started. Usually, it takes hours to get to the punchy level.
COATES: It did not take long tonight.
BERMAN: My question, just to start off with is sort of why is this night different than all others, which is a, you know, a Passover question. But for President Trump, why, S.E. is this the correspondents' dinner he has decided to attend as president, the first? What's changed?
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, from what I can tell, they made it real easy for him to attend. And I -- you know, glad to see everyone is in great spirits.
And this is a party -- I'm real bummed, real bummed about tonight because here's what's happening tonight. Journalism is throwing a party. Journalism is celebrating journalism at this party. Journalism, for some reason, invited Brendan Carr, FCC chair, who is threatening to revoke the licenses of broadcast networks. Pete Hegseth, who removed journalists from the Pentagon, and Donald Trump, who attacks us on the regular.
Now they're giving Donald Trump a speaking position to roast us to our faces for an hour, and he doesn't have to stay for the part where we celebrate journalism and give out awards to journalists and talk about the importance of free speech. And here's the kicker, we broadcast it on national TV.
He could not have planned this scenario better. And guess what? He didn't. We did. Journalism planned this scenario for Donald Trump.
So, if I'm Donald Trump, of course, I come under these conditions. And you just heard Brian Stelter say that the Correspondents' Association was trying to sort of mend some fences with a guy who wants us dead, figuratively, figuratively. He wants journalism dead.
It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I don't think this is a great night for journalism. It's a night that's meant to be celebrating it, but I think its a real bummer.
COATES: Is it a night, however -- I hear what you're saying. A lot of people who do feel the way you do, but it is also an opportunity to suggest that journalism is going to still exist in the face of the adversity that is presented from the United States, or simply that he can have his opinions, and they will still continue to celebrate as we have.
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I was going to say that the people look very nice, and they were dressed very good. Welcome to our special coverage. I was going to say I was I was going to say that this is a wonderful evening in Washington, D.C., where people come together and put aside their partisan differences, but never mind.
[20:10:00]
Why should we be happy? Look, this is awesome. I don't care what anybody says. This is great.
You have all these people that are usually fussing and fighting and arguing and trying to make each other look terrible. They're there. They look nice. I bet they smell nice.
They're talking to each other. They're asking about each other's kids. This is what D.C. could be every day, and we only get one time to be happy. And I refuse to be unhappy tonight. It's awesome.
BERMAN: Stephen Miller was on camera right there talking about people smelling nice.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: I'm just -- I am just merely narrating what we are seeing on the screen.
COATES: This is a night. Scott Jennings, what's your take? How thrilled are you?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I'm happy the president is speaking tonight. We do have serious issues going on in the country. We got a war going on, for goodness sakes. You might say something about that tonight. So, there could be a news value to this.
I respectfully disagree with S.E. on the state of journalism. I think journalism has never had more access to the leader of the free world than they have right now. Everybody in that room, as was noted by the press secretary, has his cell phone number. And lo and behold, he answers their calls.
He answers their questions in the oval office on a daily routine basis. I mean, he answers questions on the tarmac. He answers questions on the south lawn. You couldn't pry access like this out of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or any other president.
And so, if you just think of what is the job of journalism, and that is to take us inside the decision making process of the president of the United States, we've never had a more accessible president to get those answers than we have right now. And by the way, he may roast the press, and they spend 24 hours a day roasting him, and they need to have a little bit of thick skin and put on their big boy pants and take it.
CUPP: We will. We'll sit there and well take it. I don't know all the people talking about walking out. You can't walk out when the president's in the room, the doors are shut. You're there.
We will sit there and take it because that's what we do. Journalism isn't roasting. That's not the same thing. And I would just push back a little bit.
I love the access that Donald Trump gives the press, but is the press a guy from MyPillow channel? Because that's who's covering the Pentagon. That's who was allowed to come into the Pentagon as "The New York Times" and CNN, and everyone else was pushed out because they wouldn't submit to his rules, the Hegseth's rules.
So is the MyPillow guy, that's journalism? That's access?
JENNINGS: The press is CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who's getting an award tonight for her oval office coverage of the day that Zelenskyy had the meltdown in the Oval Office. That's the press. And that's the kind of access --
CUPP: Yes, I wish he's going to stay to watch that.
JENNINGS: -- that we have.
So, no, I think the press is thriving in the Trump era. The access we have and the information that we get to bring to the American people, because he allows it is a good thing, objectively a good thing.
CUPP: The information he wants us to have. If we don't say what he wants us to say, we -- we're on our own.
COATES: Van Lathan, what do you think?
VAN LATHAM, PODCAST HOST: I wish that everybody was watching this tonight. Like the Nuggets are getting ready to play the Timberwolves. So, there'll probably be some people that I know that are paying attention.
But I wish that everyone was watching this tonight. And I wish that everyone could be at the parties that happened this weekend. Because when I went to those parties and this is the first time I've really done it, I saw a lot of people that I see on television screaming at each other, like happy to see each other, like talking, laughing, and doing the whole thing leads me to believe either one of two things. Either all of this is fake, which I could maybe believe.
Or the second thing is, is that there's a conversation being had in rooms with high level people, and then those people take those conversations and come on places with gigantic platforms and make Americans hate each other and make them look for people inside their communities, call like snitch on each other and not act in community with one another at all.
When I see that, I see a bunch of people who are smiling and drinking, it looks like a big party. And I wish our communities look like big parties. I wish that we could actually have conversations, talk about each other as human beings, and get back to some sort of decency that builds community, which is what we've lost. And I think that we've lost on purpose.
COATES: Yeah. You know, one thing I think is so unbelievable about this night is not just the idea that the press is talking about the first amendment, which is obviously a constant reminder we should all have. But it's also that one way the press is, to me, one of the best parts of our Democratic institutions is that they don't need to be appreciated or lauded or praised in order to still stand up for the first time. It's great that they're all getting awards, and especially Kaitlan Collins, who has a fantastic job.
But when you talk about the president being there to actually see it, you know, he's seeing the journalism in action, which I think is actually a pretty good thing as opposed to having the praise about it. We're actually seeing a lot of right there.
BERMAN: Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt just walked in.
COATES: She's there.
JONES: This is going to be a little bit different. This is your first time. I've been to too many of these things.
The things that are different are you do have a president that has sued a bunch of people. That is unusual. And then the other thing that's different is you usually have a direct response. You have a comedian who's giving to the president, and then the president gives it to the press.
This time there's no comedian. There's --
JENNINGS: Well, we have Trump.
JONES: Well --
JENNINGS: He's the greatest working comedian in America today.
[20:15:03]
JONES: But not --
COATES: By a laugh. But good for you.
JONES: But not -- but not --
JENNINGS: He's objectively hilarious.
JONES: But not good at making fun of himself. And so that's really what's going to be missing the balance in terms of the comedy. And instead, we're going to have a mentalist who's going to try to, I guess, read Trump's mind.
Now the guy is unbelievable. He's almost frightening how good he is. But that's another -- to S.E.'s point. That's another thing that's different is that even the show has been changed to make sure that there isn't that normal balance. Usually, the presidents making fun of us, somebody making fun of him. And when a good time was had by all that is different.
COATES: Why don't you see --
BERMAN: We saw just come in there, Weijia Jiang, CBS News White House correspondent, the president of the White House Correspondents Association.
You will be hearing a lot from her over the course of the evening. White House press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, sitting down there and up there on the dais is the board. Oh, that's the vice president, J.D. Vance, who is very much not in Afghanistan now as he might have otherwise been to negotiate nor -- nor is -- sorry, Pakistan, I should say. Nor is Jared Kushner or Steve Witkoff, the president, in a big move, decided not to send them today because he does not think negotiations will bear fruit, at least not now.
Let's listen in to some of the proceedings of this event.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, the 45th and 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC)
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the nation's colors presented by the Joint Armed Forces Color Guard. And please remain standing for our National Anthem performed by the U.S. Marine Band.
(PRESENTATION OF COLORS)
(NATIONAL ANTHEM)
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: And now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of the White House Correspondents Association from CBS News, Weijia Jiang.
(APPLAUSE)
WEIJIA JIANG, CBS NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Welcome. Welcome to the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner. Thank you to the president's own marine corps band led by drum major, Master Gunnery Sergeant Steven Williams and vocalist master, Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Bernier.
(APPLAUSE)
JIANG: Good evening to everyone.
President Trump, Madam First Lady, on behalf of the White House Correspondents Association. Thank you for being here. It is meaningful that you are with us tonight.
(APPLAUSE)
JIANG: And White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, thank you for everything you and your team does to work with us every day, whether you like it or not. I'm biased, but covering the White House is the best assignment in all of journalism.
We have the privilege of covering the biggest story in the world every single day. The speed is exhilarating, demanding, and it offers a critical public service, strong journalism benefits the entire country.
Tonight, we will celebrate the exceptional work you have done and host a group of promising students who want to follow your lead. Of course, at the heart of both of those things is the importance of the First Amendment.
I want to take a moment to recognize some important people who helped me tackle this job, and who helped make this night possible. First, to the members of the White House Correspondents Association. Thank you. Thank you for this opportunity to lead.
It is an honor and a privilege. Thank you to my advisor in this role, Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News. And to the other past presidents who have helped me navigate challenges, to my CBS News bosses, Tom Zebrowski, Bari Weiss, Mark Lima. Thank you. Thank you for your leadership and support.
To the relentless CBS News team, especially the White House unit, I am grateful to call you not just colleagues, but friends. And thanks to the mentors and other friends who have kept me balanced this year and always.
And of course, to my family. In a world full of chaos, you are my calm and I love you.
We have a big night ahead and we're going to get started now, so enjoy your dinner and well be back. Thank you. COATES: What we're seeing, are you talking about the food at the
table? We also -- who was at the table? You, of course, saw Barry Weiss. You saw Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general there as well. And next, as we await the president's remarks, one of the comedians who has hosted this event in the past is going to join us.
We're talking about Larry Wilmore, who is next. Stay with us
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:28:32]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: And with that, I just have two more words to say. Obama out.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And that was President Obama literally dropping the mic at his final appearance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Now, the comedian that year was Larry Wilmore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY WILMORE, COMEDIAN: Let me just say, Mr. President, the office has taken its toll on you. You look terrible, Mr. President.
No, you do, man. I mean, look at you. Your hair is so white, it tried to punch me at a Trump rally. President's hair is so white. He keeps saying all lives matter. All right. Fine, fine, I get it.
You've got seven months left, and we should enjoy every moment of it. That's right. Soak it in, people. I don't know when we're getting a Black president again. I mean, they're not even going to let Morgan Freeman be president in movies anymore for a while.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And with us now is Larry Wilmore. It is so great to see you.
I actually -- the first White House Correspondents' Dinner that I anchored CNNs coverage was the year that you were the comedian. And since then, I've done 76.
But I remember speaking to you beforehand just about what an unusual room it is. And your anticipation beforehand about that. What's it like to be in there?
WILMORE: John, I was just going to say, I remember that talk very fondly. You're very nice because I was so nervous ahead of time, and I appreciate you talking to me.
[20:30:00]
It was very surreal. I'll be honest with you. You know, what's interesting is that it's kind of an out of body experience and, you know, you have to follow like the funniest president ever, for one thing, you know, I mean, Obama, I mean, he was so good.
But I'll never forget that. I got to sit there before that and have basically have dinner with the first lady, with Michelle Obama. It's my biggest memory of that event, you guys. We're talking about our kids. Yeah, they're going to college.
And it was like one of the most normal conversations you can have. And then in the back of my head, I'm like, wait a second. I got to go up in a few minutes and tell jokes and maybe slamming her husband in a couple of seconds.
So, it was a very surreal experience for me, but one I'll never forget.
COATES: So, I mean, there are some surreal times we may find ourselves in right now, Larry.
WILMORE: Yeah.
COATES: And you wonder the time that you were doing it. We didn't have the war we're talking about now.
WILMORE: Right.
COATES: We didn't have midterm elections coming up. It was the second -- of the second term president.
Does it -- would it fundamentally have changed your approach to how you would have done it or how it should be done now, given they don't even have a comedian, they're going to have a mentalist?
WILMORE: Well, first of all, I do feel sorry for the mentalist because he's going to get inside Trump's head. And that could be problematic. You know, I mean, it's going to be a traffic jam in there. That's going to be very, very interesting.
So just be careful. Just a word of caution for the mentalist.
But no, my approach is the same. You know, you just -- you have to do an equal opportunity kind of roast. You know, make sure you go after both sides. Don't try to be partisan in your approach of going after people, you know.
So I tried to do it fairly and, you know, sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss. Believe me, I missed a lot that night because I -- and I felt every single miss up there, you know?
Can I say one thing real quick? One of my misses was about Wolf Blitzer. It just came out wrong. The tone was wrong. And I -- and I think I offended Wolf. And I want to say I love Wolf Blitzer, and I'm so sad that it came --
I'm so sad that it came out that way because I'm like, oh, this is terrible. I just offended the guy that I really love the best over there is Wolf Blitzer.
So, Wolf, if you're seeing this, I love you, Wolfie. It was just a joke.
BERMAN: You know what? He's muddled through. I will say --
WILMORE: Yes.
BERMAN: He's made it.
WILMORE: I don't think he's thinking about it.
COATES: He has managed.
BERMAN: He's done okay for the last ten years. He managed somehow. We have -- we have a special guest questioner here for you, Larry.
S.E. Cupp is here with us.
CUPP: Hi, Larry. It's so good to see you, as always.
I just wondered what you thought. As we've all mentioned, Trump is not going to have a comedian there to do the thing where the comedian kind of roasts both the press and the president. It feels to me like Trump is a little scared of comedians, right? We've seen him go after Jimmy Kimmel and Colbert and now we have tonight. I'm just wondering what your take on -- on that is.
WILMORE: Well, you know, I tend to try to focus on the positive of these things.
CUPP: Oh, please. Okay. We're done.
(LAUGHTER)
WILMORE: Well, no. Well, I'll say what I mean about this because to me, if he if he is in the business of appreciating journalists, I'll take that as a win because I know -- I know Trump is brittle. You know, he can't really take a joke, you know?
CUPP: Right, yeah.
WILMORE: So, we can't change him. But, S.E., my favorite moment of the correspondents' dinner was the year before I hosted. I got to meet Jason Rezaian, you know, who was the political prisoner.
CUPP: Yes.
WILMORE: And it just -- it reminded me of what the importance of this night really is, you know, and we need journalism to be strong now more than ever. We're in the middle of a war, you know? And so, I'm -- if he honors the press in the right way, I don't care about the comedy part. You know, do the right thing, Mr. President.
COATES: That's a big if -- if -- if he honors the press. That's a good question.
Larry Wilmore, we're so glad to see you. Thank you for joining us.
WILMORE: You, too. It's my -- it does my heart good. It's so great seeing you guys. Thank you.
COATES: I love this -- this -- this is a nice, happy, happy moment. Let's go now to the news.
Harry Enten joined us on some somber, sobering new numbers for the president as he craters into Bush and Carter territory. I told you.
Stay with us.
BERMAN: It is Harry, though.
COATES: It is Harry.
BERMAN: Harry doesn't do sober.
COATES: He -- true.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:35:29]
COATES: What we just heard. Where -- are we back on?
CUPP: Why aren't we --
COATES: We're up.
Okay. John Berman, we are now learning there is a commotion happening. There were loud sounds in the room. We are seeing Secret Service, who appears to be armed on the stage. The president of the United States and the first lady, who were previously along that stage, are no longer present in a visible to the audience right now.
Just before we came back on air, there was a big commotion. John, we're seeing this.
BERMAN: Yeah. Okay. To be completely transparent with everyone, we do not know what is happening in there. All we know is that there were loud sounds. You can see people in the house crouched down. You can see people on the stage now, armed security there.
The president was very quickly escorted out of the room, as was the vice president. The unusual thing I will note here is there is a pool, the White House pool, traveling with the president. We normally be getting this information, but it may be a little while before we learn more just because of the nature of this event and the fact that the press is all there. Again, we're also seeing people being ushered out very, very quickly
from the dais in the journalists, all in the house, seated very quietly, watching this.
COATES: And remember who is in the room. Secretary Pete Hegseth is in that room. You've got Scott Bessent in that room. You have Tulsi gabbard in that room.
You, of course, have J.D. Vance in that room. Naturally, the president of the United States, and as John mentioned, the White House Correspondents' dinner is where we are broadcasting from, and they are no longer on that stage as well. And we hear sounds inside.
Let's listen in.
Some sort of chanting --
BERMAN: Let's get right to Brian Stelter. Brian, you were in the room. Why don't you tell us what you are seeing and hearing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the phone.
BERMAN: Brian, go ahead.
Okay. We're trying to get Brian Stelter on the phone to establish a connection. The minute we do, the minute we do have him. Please just have him start talking and telling us what he is seeing and hearing because getting a connection with someone there is of the utmost importance.
I will say cell service is very hard in this room because of all the security, because of all the reporters and the situation there. So, it is hard to get a connection. I know this is an unusual situation.
Everyone who is watching alongside of us because we have a picture, but we don't really have a solid understanding of what's happening.
There's Brian.
Brian, go ahead. Can you hear me? Go, Brian.
STELTER: Hey, John. I'm going to be honest. Nobody knows what's going on. But you'll see there are people literally hiding under tables inside the ballroom of the Washington. We have seen many different security officers, some of them climbing over the chairs in order to get through this room.
There are some people starting to stand up. I see some people walking out. You can see this is the center of the ballroom. The center hall, people walking out, this commotion happened very suddenly. People dropping to the ground, some still hiding behind tables, some chairs, and people now getting up.
One person injured, it appears, limping with a -- you know, something on his leg. Maybe from the commotion. Okay. The people that were very shocked as they were falling to the ground, trying to seek shelter under the tables -- John.
BERMAN: Brian, if you can hear me and I don't know that you can. Was it a sound? What was it that set it off initially?
STELTER: You know, I -- I heard a loud sound and at first I thought it was a plate. I thought it was a plate of dinner, meals falling to the ground. My first thought, John was one of the waiters who are trying to navigate this room, had dropped all of the meals, you know, and it was, you know, a loud noise.
But I have no idea that was and I was, you know, pretty far away. You talk. But people in a matter of three to four seconds, John, fell to the ground under these tables as the Secret Service ran up the center hallway.
But as you can see, most people now stand back up and try to pick up these chairs that are now littered all around, all across the room.
COATES: To remind people of the fact that there is very difficult ability to get reception in this space, this is a historic location, John. As you know, it was March 30th, 1981, where President Reagan had an assassination attempt outside of this facility.
We do not want to rush to conclusions here, but it is noteworthy to note that the president, United States, Donald Trump, has been the victim of assassination attempts in the past. He has spoken about this. We have seen it as well.
And so, there is going to be security anytime a president is in a room. But this is particularly heightened given all the people, including the cabinet members who were inside of that room, as you wait to hear more information about what might have transpired.
STELTER: Brian, if you are still with us again, we saw the people on stage escorted out very quickly. Are the doors now open? Can people leave that room? Because one of the things that might have happened in certain situations with the president is that they keep people in.
(CROSSTALK)
MAJOR GARRETT, CBS NEWS: I was with Stephen Miller.
STELTER: Live on CNN here. Major Garrett of CBS, you're close to the front here.
GARRETT: -- Stephen Miller, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Michael, all we heard was plate falls.
STELTER: Yes.
GARRETT: And then we all went down. Yes, yes. The cascading effect with the entire ball.
STELTER: I thought a waiter dropped some plates by accident.
GARRETT: Right. So -- STELTER: Clearly, the pillars, all of them were down.
GARRETT: We were down. And Secret Service on top of them immediately.
STELTER: Right. And they all get escorted out.
GARRETT: They have been.
STELTER: Okay.
GARRETT: They have been.
STELTER: It appears to me, every Trump official who was in the room has left.
GARRETT: Yes, they have been very quickly right the pair of them and they got them out.
STELTER: So, John, the folks who were in the front did not know what was going on either. Here is now the front. You can see some of the damage, some of the lighting and things knocked over at the front of the room. Okay?
BERMAN: Brian, just so you know, you are our eyes and ears in there right now. We're seeing through your phone the closest images that we have to date, and we are hearing through your voice and through the people you are speaking with the only information that we are getting from inside there. So please keep looking and keep on talking to people. And we will try to get a sense of what happened.
But right now, just to reiterate, I think we did just lose Brian there, unfortunately, the cell service in there is terrible. All we know is there was a sound. The people we spoken to, Brian and Major Garrett of CBS said it sounded like plates and that every Trump official was then immediately escorted out.
COATES: We're seeing David Urban. And Tony --
BERMAN: And Tony Dokoupil of CBS.
Brian, go ahead.
STELTER: No, not -- I don't have anybody in this room who knows what happened. Hopefully this was a sudden reaction to some drop --
COATES: Hold on. Brian, we have Kaitlan Collins. We have Kaitlan Collins on the line for some more insight.
Kaitlan Collins, we're listening. What's happening?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, guys. Obviously, I mean, this is a total state of chaos right now in the -- in the ballroom. And we're seated maybe 50 feet from the stage where the president was up there, the first lady, Melania Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay here for now. COLLINS: Security is telling us that everything is okay. The shooter
-- there was a shooter?
One second guys, I'm literally -- what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're trying to identify it now.
COLLINS: Where was the shooter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somewhere out there.
COLLINS: In the lobby? In the lobby?
All right. Control. All right, guys, I just want you to know this is not verified. We're just listening to what's happening right now. But we have security around us, and it's Secret Service because there's a lot of members of the administration here.
The secretary of education is seated right next to me. And her security just said -- confirmed that there was a shooter in the lobby. It's not clear where. Obviously, it's a very big hotel. And the lobby of the Hilton, they said he is confirmed dead. We don't know anything more than that.
But I can tell you, we had just sat down to dinner. The president, the First Lady Karoline Leavitt were all on stage, including the Vice President J.D. Vance. So, obviously, a lot of security here.
And, you know, at the beginning of the dinner, everyone just kind of seated, having their meal. And within moments armed Secret Service is running in with massive guns. I mean, maybe dozens. And a silence just went over the room as they ran in. Everyone ducked, got on the floor. People were underneath tables. No one knew what was going on. And for a second, the president
actually was not evacuated. Offstage. I looked, he was sitting still right there. A Secret Service was coming in down the hallway. And so, we didn't know at first, but then we heard from our own security that they heard shots fired.
And now we do have Secret Service telling us, obviously, I want to know, this is only one Secret Service member, but a member of security is here telling us that there is a shooter is confirmed dead. And now we are kind of basically locked inside the ballroom.
But basically, they were saying it was okay. They have not identified the shooter yet, but obviously it shows you this was not some kind of false threat that obviously something had happened and they rushed the entire administration off stage.
A few members are still in the audience because as you guys know, someone from the administration is kind of seated at each table inside, inside. I'm actually sitting next to Secretary McMahon, the secretary of education.
[20:45:00] And so that was, that was what happened. I mean, I've never seen anything like this in my life. And I want you guys to know security is very tight getting in. It's Secret Service who warns you, you come in through magnetometers into this.
And so obviously, there's a ton of security here, given how many top officials here, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, top lawmakers who all have their own security details, are also in the room.
That just speaks to this. But as we were sitting here and then moments later, obviously the president was rushed off stage, the vice president was rushed off stage. I saw Secretary Kennedy being rushed off as well. Stephen Miller and his wife, as they were moving quickly.
But it's difficult for them to identify where everyone is in this very cramped ballroom, as were all kind of seated right next to each other.
COATES: Kaitlan, are you -- are you hearing anything more in terms of. The number of shooters or any shots fired or anything information about where they were firing into? Was it confined to the lobby or inside of the actual ballroom?
COLLINS: So, it's not clear because obviously it looked like the threat was coming near the stage. And that's where people thought that they heard gunshots. But then we also have reports that people were seated kind of in the back of the room, heard it. I mean, the acoustics, obviously, it's hard to judge.
I personally did not hear the gunshots I was seeing. I'm seated maybe 50 feet from the main stage where the president and the first lady and the vice president were, and you kind of walk downstairs in the basement of the Hilton, the security has just confirmed to me that the shooter that was here inside the Hilton, where the president was confirmed dead, seemed to indicate that he was this person was in the lobby.
But, I mean, I want you guys to know this is all just coming in as were literally standing here in the room reporting on this as its happening. And I just to give you insight into this room, obviously, its always a huge gathering of media, but when the president comes, it generates a lot of interest. So, there are some of the most powerful figures in media, entertainment, news, Washington that are inside this room right now, just to give you a sense of what this security nightmare is like.
BERMAN: Yeah. Again, just -- let's reiterate what Kaitlan has just told us and bring people up to speed as to what we know. This is the White House Correspondents' Dinner. What was the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
About eight minutes ago, 10 minutes ago, there were people heard things in the room, was cleared out very quickly. The president, the vice president, the entire dais, most of the cabinet is there as well, taken out of the room.
Kaitlan, who is in there? Kaitlan Collins who in there, Kaitlan is reporting she is hearing from a security official that there were shots fired, perhaps in the lobby, by someone who is now dead.
Now, we don't have any information. This person got in the room or near the president or any official, but there do appear to be does appear to have been shots fired outside. You can see officials now, right now sweeping the area, going through.
And we have no information about who the individual might be, or anything like that. I will say, as Kaitlan was saying, this is one of the most secure rooms on earth tonight. You have the president, the vice president did the entire much of the entire cabinet there, prominent media figures as well. It takes a long time to get in, and everyone is thoroughly screened.
So, questions will be asked about how someone even got to the lobby.
Let's go to Brian Stelter and Manu Raju now, who are there for the latest on what you are hearing? Gentlemen?
STELTER: And this information, John, that you've been reporting, is news to most of the people in the ballroom. Most folks in the ballroom do not yet know anything about shots being fired.
Manu, what have you been --
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I only saw when I was sitting at the table, I saw President Trump getting -- pushed down by his security detail and then being rushed out. Then later seeing both vice president, the cabinet also members of congress also being rushed out by the security detail. And now, other than that, nothing else.
STELTER: Looking around wondering what happened because people inside do not know, I apologize. I'm literally holding up a cell phone camera in order to show you this, but it's better than nothing. In a moment like this. And I do think that -- I don't want to overstate this, but there are some folks pretty shook up in the room here. You had folks who look like they got hurt when they were falling to the ground.
You know, I don't want to overstate that, but this was a pretty, sudden, shocking interruption in this room.
RAJU: Yeah, no question about it, because its unmistakable. It sounded like gunshots that we heard from. Not inside the room, but nearby. And that was enough to cause so many people to -- immediately, they know what they heard, jumped to the ground, tried to protect themselves, but we saw what security reacted very, very seriously, immediately in this situation.
STELTER: Yes. That's right -- John.
COATES: It is stunning to think about where we are right now this evening that began as a question of why now?
[20:50:01]
Why is the president, United States, speaking and attending, what is his first White House Correspondents Dinner as the president of the United States, he is attending many of his cabinet members there. His obviously next in line, the vice president of the United States, the first lady is there. The defense secretary.
Also, you have DNI. You have so many people in the administration also, many of whom were on that stage. We are now -- we watched the video footage as it was coming in live to a bit of chaos after we were told that loud sounds had been heard inside of the actual venue.
Kaitlan Collins is reporting that actually shots were fired in the lobby and a shooter confirmed dead.
We've got Jake Tapper, who is standing next to Brian Stelter as well, who is our eyes and ears inside of the space right now.
Jake, what did you -- what did you hear? Can you tell us what you saw?
Jake, can you tell us --
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I'm looking there. Okay. Sorry.
COATES: Jake -- yes, I can hear you. What's going on?
TAPPER: So, this is what's happening. Were just all at this dinner, and then all of a sudden, I didn't hear the bangs, but I guess there was bangs. And -- the -- then there were secret service running here.
I'm sorry to do that, but there's Secret Service running down this aisle right here, and then if you look on stage, no ones on stage right now. But the president was there, and secret service has pointed him out. And, you know, people were jumping under tables and people were very upset and worried.
And I had some videos of somebody needs to have no signal. There's never any signal here at the Washington Hilton. So, I apologize for that. But, I have some video to send. But in any case, I have no idea what happened.
Somebody with a secret service pin said that there was a shooter made its way into the building, but not into the room. And that shooter was stopped. So that's all I know is that that shooter was stopped.
But again, that's from one person with a Secret Service pin, you know, not a thorough vetting of -- of an -- a journalistic sense. But since I'm being interviewed more as a bystander or an event, that's what I can tell.
But like everybody's here and everybody is all the I will say this. So, after that happened, I'm sorry if I'm -- it's tough to hear you.
After that happened, the Secret Service came and started collecting other members of the administration like Secretary Kennedy of the Health and Human Services Department was right there. He was taken out. Secretary Bessent was taken out one by one by one. The Steve Scalise,
who is the House majority leader, number two in the House, he was taken out. And this is just people who are sitting next to us or near us, rather, at tables near us.
So -- but other than that, this is just -- this is I'm talking to you as a as a witness, not as a journalist. So like this is not like that. This is what I saw.
BERMAN: Yeah.
TAPPER: And, everybody in the room appears fine. You know, obviously we'll be finding out more. Yeah.
BERMAN: Okay. I'm just going to cut in here, Jake, and thank you for telling us what you saw, because its so important. And really much of the information we are getting is now from Brian Stelter's phone, which has the one connection we could get inside that room.
But we do have some crucial information.
TAPPER: Brian's stealing the phone from me.
BERMAN: Okay, Jake. Jake, Jake --
TAPPER: If I get any more information, I will share it with you.
BERMAN: Okay.
And when I get a better signal, send you the video I have.
BERMAN: All right. Jake, I'm just going to cut in, and we can just so people can hear me because its important that I say what I'm going to say here.
We're getting information that the president is safe. We can report that President Trump is safe. CNN's Alayna Treene is reporting. They are hearing the president is safe.
And I can tell you from looking at social media, social media, video, there's video of the president being escorted out safely from the stage. And well I'm sure we'll get that to broadcast very shortly. But the president was let out safely, and we are told he is safe. He is fine, which of course is important news now to deliver to the people here. I'm not sure that Jake and Brian.
Go ahead, Jake.
TAPPER: John, for what its worth. Yeah. Just for what it's worth, we didn't see anybody hurt in the room.
BERMAN: I think that's --
TAPPER: I'll tell you more when I hear more.
BERMAN: Good, good. I mean, we have the best reporters on earth in that room right now to go and get information. So, we will get this information to you shortly.
I will say were getting word the president is safe.
[20:55:00]
We can also just tell by looking, this doesn't look like this room, a crime scene, right?
You do not have -- people are being escorted out. There is a relative calm there.
So, this room itself does not appear to be a crime scene. And we're still trying to get much more information on what that single security official did say, which is that they did hear shots fired, that there may have been an individual who fired those shots who at this point may have been neutralized, but that is something we are waiting to learn more about at this time.
COATES: And let's just talk because we have our table of people here who have been at this dinner. I want to just give the American public a sense of the scale and what it takes to navigate this room, right? We are seeing but a sliver of the inside of this room. Someone's talking right now. Let's listen in.
We didn't hear. We did not hear what they just said just now. It apparently was not well received. But they're getting more information.
We are learning things. Brian, what did they say just now, Brian Stelter?
STELTER: This is just a very brief announcement saying the program will resume shortly. Not sure what form that would take at this point, but that something will take place on stage in the next few minutes.
COATES: How unbelievably stunning to think about because of course, what was on the program today included a speech from the president of the United States of America. Obviously, an award ceremony was supposed to take place, including, scholarships for future journalists as well.
But this was the first time that as president, Donald Trump was to speak. And we've just seen him escorted from the room, Van.
JONES: I think two things. First of all, I'm glad that the president is safe, and I'm glad that the cabinet is safe. And I'm glad that they were able to keep worse things from happening.
What I would say is that, there is some strength that's trying to be shown here. That you don't stop this country and you don't stop the celebration of the First Amendment because you're a crazy person with a gun.
And so, people will see it differently. But I can understand why people would not want to let the terrorists win today, why they would not want to let terrorism win today. But you're going to have a lot of people who are just upset and shaken because the president of this country could have been killed tonight.
And this is a sort of stuff that has to stop. This is -- the level of violence and crazy stuff on all sides of this country, is leading people to think that this is the right thing to do somehow. And I can understand why they don't want to yield to this, but I think people across -- around the world right now are shaken that somebody could get this close, get into an event this important and do something this dangerous.
JENNINGS: Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more actually about the need to continue. You can't let people who are committed to using violence to silence our political process win. You cannot do it.
The country is built on speech and debate and rooms and events like this. And even though, of course, its right and proper to take the president away in a security situation, you can't give people the idea that you can shut us down as the United States of America by showing up and doing something like this.
I was here on the Saturday night in 2020 for a Butler, Pennsylvania. And I got to tell you, I wake up every day worried to death about the safety of this president and everything that he has been through. I'm glad he's safe.
BERMAN: Let's listen. Weijia Jiang is up there. We may learn more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With security personnel have been rushed out of the building, Weijia Jiang speaking now.
JIANG: We have an announcement. I know everyone's going to want as many details as possible. And right now, we don't have that. But I can tell you that our program is going to resume momentarily. And, we will have more details to share also momentarily. But for now, please just be patient as we figure out just how much time it will be, but it shouldn't be that much longer.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
COATES: We're going to hear from Wolf Blitzer right now who is standing by. He's obviously at this dinner as well. Wolf, are you able to hear us? I'd love to hear what your perspective is and what you can tell us.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yeah, I can hear you fine. It's very, very worrisome what happened just coincidentally, uh, after they served the appetizers, I walked out to simply go to the men's room. But you have to walk up these stairs and walk out. And which I was doing.
And as I was walking back towards the door to get back into the big area where the event was taking place, all of a sudden, I start hearing gunshots in the hall right near me.
