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CNN Live Event/Special
President Trump Safe After Shots Fired At Correspondents' Dinner; Soon: Trump Holds News Conference After Shots Fired At Event. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired April 25, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST (via telephone): 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.
[21:00:03]
And the next thing I knew, a police officer threw me to the ground and was on top of me. And I was listening and watching what was going on. And apparently, they got the gunman who had a major weapon there, but it was so worrisome. The noise was so loud in the small area.
And all of a sudden, I'm seeing gunshots. And then they grabbed me. The police officers, and they take me back into the men's room where it was safe. And there were about 15 other men who are stuck in there, and they won't let them out.
And that's what -- what happened. And, and then after a while, they let me out and I'm out now. I'm not back in the ballroom, but, everything is apparently closing down. Very scary incident.
All of a sudden, a guy with a weapon. It was a very, very serious weapon. He starts shooting. And I happen to have been a few feet away from him as he was shooting. And of course, the first thing that went through my mind is he trying to shoot me. And I don't think he was trying to shoot me, but I was very close to him, as the gunshots were fired. And it was very, very scary. But I'm okay now.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Wolf, it's -- it's John Berman. Thank God you are okay. And thank you for calling and sharing this information.
This is the first, we're hearing of any of this. So, I'm going to ask you to go over it again in great detail, because you are the first witness that we have who has seen anything quite like this. So please, was this is the on a different floor than the dinner itself. And you did see a person --
BLITZER: Yes, when you walk out -- when you walk out of the dinner and to go up, you have to climb a few stairs, not an escalator or an elevator. Just climb a few stairs to go out into the lobby area outside the ballroom where the dining area was going on.
We had just finished appetizers sitting down and I walked away to go out to the men's room. But you have to go up one flight of stairs. So, I was up one flight of stairs above the area where the dining was going on. And as I was coming out of the men's room to walk back in, all of a sudden, I hear these loud, very loud, very scary gunshots right near me.
And the next thing I knew, a police officer was on top of me, threw me to the ground. And I was waiting. And the next thing, a bunch of other police officers came and told everybody who was near me. You guys are all going into the men's room and closing the door and running because they was afraid there were other potential gunshots that could be fired from other people.
And so, the next thing I knew, I'm in the men's room with about 15 other men. We're just waiting to leave. And eventually they let us walk out and I'm out now, but they're not letting me go back into the dining area where the event was taking place.
And I just assume the event is going to be canceled, at least for now.
BERMAN: No.
BLITZER: Too scary with a gunshot incident like this. And I had no idea, as I was hearing the gunshots, who this shooter was aiming at, or if he was just trying to scare everybody. I didn't know what he was doing, but, it was within a few feet away from where I was, and it was pretty frightening.
And when the police officers took me away, one of my shoes fell off. And now I have that shoe back. But, it was just a terrible, scary, frightening moment for me. And I'm glad it looks like it's over right now. But I think that out of a presumption of caution, they're just telling everybody to leave right now.
BERMAN: Well, Wolf, Wolf, hang on. Just -- Wolf, first of all, they just said the event will continue. I don't know if they'll stick to that, but the announcement inside the room, I know you're not there was the event will continue.
But let me just ask you if you can wait. Just listen. Did you see a gunman?
BLITZER: Yes.
BERMAN: Can you describe the person and the weapon and what that person was doing?
BLITZER: I didn't see all the details, but I did see the gunman on the ground after he started shooting. Police officers were, threw him to the ground, but he was still shooting, and I could hear the, the shots going off. It was very frightening.
I was on the ground too, because a police officer was on top of me trying to protect me in case, you know, one of the bullets could get near me, which it didn't, but, I can't describe the gunman. I have no idea what, if any, motive this individual may have had, but the sense I got is that the police who were there and there were a lot of police there, took care of him relatively quickly.
And the incident looks like it's over. But it was a very frightening incident and out of an abundance of caution, I'm sure they're taking other precautions right now. You see, not only a lot of police officers near me right now, but a lot of military personnel as well, just standing, and they're all armed and ready to go if anything else happens right now. But it looks like that one incident is over, at least for now.
[21:05:01]
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Wolf, thank goodness. This is Laura. You're safe.
We'll make sure that your family also knows that you are safe, given what has taken place tonight.
I want to go. Please stand by. We want to hear more from you. We have Brianna Keilar, who also is on the phone. She also has new information.
Brianna, we've just heard that the president is safe. A shooter in custody at the correspondents' dinner, our own Wolf Blitzer in the lobby when the shots were fired and he was tackled to the ground by the officers to protect Wolf Blitzer and others who were in the area as well.
What can you tell us?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST (via telephone): I just spoke with someone I know who had been heading out of the ballroom to walk upstairs to go to that sort of lobby concourse area where the restrooms are, and on the wall by those stairs is glass. And as he just started to ascend the stairs, all of the glass started to shatter and rain down, sort of from above. As he was walking up from the bullets.
So, he heard multiple gunshots as he was about to ascend into the area where this was all happening, and he couldn't see because he was actually below. But obviously he could see all of the glass coming down. And that person came back inside to the ballroom. But when we were inside the ballroom, we couldn't necessarily hear that.
The reaction of the Secret Service was really what startled everyone, and they just ducked for cover. But he had seen this, a lot of glass shattering, and that's actually an exit of the ballroom that we are not being permitted. To go out right now and get some air from. There's other exits, weather permitting, people to get a little bit of air from, and that's a door that is no longer open.
COATES: Brianna, we had been giving people as much of a play by play as we could. We knew that there was an announcement from inside of the dinner that they were intending possibly to continue the programing. We also saw a mass exodus of people leaving that ballroom and Secret Service also coming for members of the cabinet. Do you have any information about, um, anything about the cabinet members or what people are saying in terms of where they are now after having left the ballroom?
KEILAR: We don't at this point, but we did just get an announcement from the White House Correspondents Association President Weijia jiang, who said that the program is going to resume momentarily, which is kind of difficult to fathom, because I just can't describe even the scene and just how scared everyone has been at this point in time as we're here inside the ballroom.
But she said, they would resume momentarily. And she understood that everyone wanted more information. They were hoping to provide some of that soon, I guess in an official capacity. But she says that they are beginning momentarily, even as there's obviously a lot of commotion here right now.
COATES: One thing we are seeing as we have been watching the screen right now, there has been different measurements and rulers coming out around the podium. You have members of Secret Service who are also walking that particular, it appears, entire area. You've got members of the FBI who was walking by the step and repeat area, which is downstairs near the entrance where the president of the United States would presumably have come in. It's also an area that has historic significance as well. This is, of course, the Hilton, where there was an assassination attempt on the life of our president, Ronald Reagan, as well.
Do we still have Wolf Blitzer on the line? Because he himself also heard and saw the gunman, gunman be tackled by the officers who were there? Wolf, are you still on the line? Are we able to hear him?
BLITZER: I'm here if you can hear me. Can you hear me?
COATES: Yes, I can hear -- Wolf, can you estimate the number of shots you heard fired, or the number of people that you saw with a gun that you believe were the gunman? Is it one person? Are there multiple people?
BLITZER: I was a few feet away from this one gunman, who was shooting, just randomly. And I'm guessing I heard at least a half a dozen, maybe six gunshots. I mean, they were booms. They were so loud. And I haven't heard gunshots like that in a long time. And it was very close to me.
But the next thing I knew, I couldn't see anything else because a couple of cops, a couple police officers were jumping on me and trying to protect me. So I was down on the ground, with police officers on top of me.
COATES: Could you hear the officers talking to the gunman? And what were they saying?
[21:10:00]
BLITZER: I think by then the gunman was shot. I could be wrong, but the gunman had stopped firing, and he was on the ground. And I'm standing outside. Theres a lot of FBI, a lot of metropolitan employees, a lot of military personnel who are all here. It looks like it's beefing up big time, there's a lot of DEA.
Theres a lot of law enforcement here dealing with this because they don't know if there's anything else planned. If there's anything else. But I don't know is how an individual could get that close to the door of the ballroom, with a weapon like that, because there was metal detectors outside the ballroom. And I assume that whoever was shooting had gone through some metal detectors, but he clearly had a weapon, and he was clearly firing.
I don't know if he was aiming at anyone, but I was just a few feet away from that. And it was a very, very, very frightening moment.
BERMAN: Wolf, again, and we are so glad you are okay. I can't imagine going through what you just went through. How many feet from the ballroom? What was the distance from the doors to the room that this individual was?
BLITZER: Hold on one second. A police officer wants to tell me something. Hold on.
BERMAN: All right. As Wolf gets this information, let me just tell people what we know here for sure.
The president and the cabinet all safe. They are all okay. We have also been told by the White House Correspondents Association President Weijia Jiang, CBS News White House correspondent, that the program will continue. We're waiting to see if that, in fact, is the case.
And we are also hearing from the Secret Service, their only statement is that a suspect is in custody. Okay? That could mean a number of different things in custody. In what state? Unclear.
But obviously, that is something we're waiting to hear more on as well. Let's go to our White House correspondent, senior White House correspondent, Kristen Holmes.
Kristen, what are you learning?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): We're learning about the status right now of the cabinet officials, most of them still on property. They did a full evacuation of the various administration officials that were here. We actually saw security going through, looking for each of these cabinet officials. Many of them are standing by in holding rooms trying to figure out what is going to happen next.
If this is going to be clear, obviously, we've been reporting that all administration officials at this time are safe, but several of them have been dispersed throughout this building that were in throughout the Hilton and are holding rooms with the details, with security, trying to figure out what happens next.
Obviously, it was quite a scene when most of these cabinet officials started being escorted out. We also heard private security going through, trying to get various guests, from different news agencies that might have had some kind of high profile, high profile in nature out of this room. And so there are still a number of questions.
Now, the pool that travels with the president does not appear to have left the building. So there are still questions as to what is going to happen next. Here. Obviously, the head of the White House Correspondents Association saying that the program would resume. This is going to be very much a push pull between Secret Service and, and the president, because the Secret Service, you know, obviously is going to want to make sure every aspect of this is safe.
But right now, cabinet officials are safe. They are holding to wait for next steps.
COATES: It's almost a surreal moment as we're sitting here watching a night that was intended to be one where people wondered what President Trump would say at the correspondents dinner.
Kristen, are you saying are you saying that the president is going to come back?
HOLMES: We're saying we aren't sure yet what is going to happen in terms of the president coming back? I have been told by a source that the president wants to come back, but as is often the case, we know that Secret Service might have a difference in opinion on the safety for President Trump.
I do want to remind you of what happened when there was an assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, when he stood up and raised his fist in the air and wanted to continue to fight on, that is generally his feeling in these kind of circumstances that he wants to continue the fight. And that's what I am hearing from sources that he wants to come back.
But I do want to be clear. I cannot confirm that he is coming back. This is going to ultimately come down to what the secret service wants him to do and what his safety concerns might be. So right now, we are in a holding pattern as everyone else is, to see what the next steps are.
BERMAN: All right, Kristen, we will let you get back to working your sources in there in that room.
[21:15:02]
Obviously, getting any information is helpful at this point. It is coming in in dribs and drabs, but we're doing a great job of piecing this together.
And one of the reasons that we are getting so much information is we have our own Wolf Blitzer, very much an eyewitness to everything that just happened. Wolf, if you can hear us now, we see you now. So please go over once, once more what you saw and where it all happened
BLITZER: Outside the ballroom, I was walking back towards the ballroom when all of a sudden, I hear these huge, really loud blasting away and I had no idea what was going on. But the next thing I knew, a police officer pushed me to the ground and jumped on top of me as if he was trying to protect me. I was just a few feet away from the gunman and it was a really scary moment.
And then after a few minutes, the police officer and other police officers who were there took me and a bunch of others who were nearby, and they wanted to make us secure. They took us to a men's room and shut the door and made us stay inside, because they thought there would be more gunshots, and they had no idea what was going on. None of us did.
But I can just tell you, as someone who just coincidentally was walking back into the ballroom, about to go down the stairs to the ballroom from one floor up, and all of a sudden, right near me, just maybe three, four, or five feet away from me. There's a gunshot, a whole bunch of gunshots, and someone firing. And I have no idea what that individual was aiming for, what that individual was trying to do.
But the next thing I saw were a lot of police officers and other law enforcement grabbing him and getting him to the ground. And then grabbing me and taking me away for my own security around protection. And it was just a very frightening moment.
And I wouldn't be surprised at all the security going into this event tonight. And I've been to about 30 White House Correspondents Association dinners. I had never seen security as tight as it was tonight when I was coming in, walking in my car dropped me off. They would -- cars wouldn't -- weren't allowed to get to the Washington Hilton Hotel.
So, I was a few blocks away and I was walking towards the hotel and you could see an enormous amount of security around the hotel. So, they were clearly very, very worried. I was very, very worried, obviously.
And then -- it was everything seemed to be going well until I walked out of the ballroom and I was walking back in. The next thing I know, I'm hearing gunshots and I'm pushed to the ground by law enforcement and take it away. It was just a very, very frightening moment for me personally, and I'm sure for so many others who happened to be in that corridor outside the ballroom when all this took place.
COATES: We can report now as well, Wolf, as we're hearing about these details unfolding, we are hearing that the president of the United States is in a safe location. We are also hearing that he does want to return. He does want to return.
There is no intel of any foreign threat that was prior to this dinner. You can imagine the amount of security in place.
Can you just describe for the audience the security bubble? That would be around the actual area of the ballroom entrance, and what it would be like to try to get a weapon through?
BLITZER: Well, that's what -- doesn't make any sense to me, because the shooter in this particular case, and I was just a few feet away from the shooter, seemed to have gone through the metal detectors, but he had a weapon and he was firing a weapon at least a half a dozen, maybe six or more shots.
And the noise was so powerful it scared all of us. I, of course, immediately knew what that noise was, that there was gunshots. But, it was surprising to me because it looked like that shooter, who was then taken down by police, had gone through security for some way, managed to do it, and, was firing gunshots just outside the ballroom where the president of the United States, many, many members of his cabinet and a lot of members of Congress, there were a thousand, maybe 2,000 people inside that ballroom when this was all happening outside the door.
And coincidentally, I happened to be outside that door. And I was watching all of this unfold. It was just, you know, an unbelievable, a very, very scary moment for me and for anybody else who might have been watching all of this unfold.
BERMAN: One bit of new information. We are told that the president does want to return, but we can also report definitively. Now, the Secret Service does not want him to.
[21:20:02]
So, we will see where this ends up. I mean, obviously it is still very much a chaotic situation. You can understand what the concerns would be.
And, Wolf, just to go back one more time at this information, and you are the first to report any of this. So, it is so useful. Did it appear to you that this gunman had already passed, was inside the security bubble, inside an area where he would have already had to have passed through security?
BLITZER: It looked to me like he had when he was shooting. He was inside the secure area where you have to go through metal detectors. You have to show your -- your card, your -- where you're sitting at which table. And they would ask a few questions. But it looked to me that that gunman who was firing these rounds was inside the security area and had done -- somehow managed to evade or just manage to get through the metal detectors that were there. I went through the metal detectors, and they made me take my cell phone out of my pocket.
All right, so people are leaving now, and the law enforcement is announcing everybody should leave. At least this area where I am right now, just outside the lobby of the Washington Hilton Hotel.
So, there's an enormous amount of law enforcement. I wouldn't be surprised if the Secret Service and others decide this is too risky right now. They don't know what happened. I'm sure they're trying to figure out what a motive was for this gunman to open fire like that. And so, they want to make sure that not only the president, but everybody else and a lot of VIPs in Washington are protected.
So, it's just a risky, dangerous situation. And I assume out of an abundance of caution, they're going to want to tell everybody, go home. This is not a good time for those for all of us to be at the Washington Hilton Hotel. That's just my assumption. I have not been told that, but that's just my assumption.
COATES: Wolf, have you seen the area where the gunman was brought down? Do you see blood or anything on the ground?
BLITZER: I didn't -- I saw where he was brought down because I was brought down by a law enforcement officer within a minute -- within a few seconds after the gunshots were opened, maybe five feet, if that away from me. And, then they, the police then took me away. So, I did not see any blood. I didn't see anything. I just saw the gunman on the ground.
It looked to me like he had been shot. But, I mean, I don't know that for sure. And I didn't see any blood or anything like that.
BERMAN: All right. Wolf, stand by, if you will, for a moment, because we are just getting some new video in. And one of the situations here is, is that there are a lot of cameras there, but they weren't always necessarily pointed at the at one place or another. It's hard to get a signal out, but we now do have some video of the moment where the president was rushed off the stage.
Let us watch that now.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
COATES: You know, it occurs to me as were watching this as well, we just said Erika Kirk was in this room.
BERMAN: She was.
COATES: She was in this room as well.
BERMAN: There are reports -- there are reports that she was seen crying as she was leaving the room as well. People who did see her there made that note. Obviously, this had to be very, very traumatic.
COATES: Can you imagine what this scene must be like knowing the -- not only the climate, but her personally? What she has been through as a now widow, not even a year in.
We have sound from Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. let's hear what she says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY: I'm at the Washington Hilton. I've been taken out of the main ballroom after the sound of the shots fired. The Secret Service is now in charge of this building, this hotel, the. I just spoke to Mayor Muriel Bowser. She is on her way. And Chief Jeffrey Carroll is on his way. He will be in charge as soon as he gets here.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: Apparently, there is a statement that has come in as well from the United States.
BERMAN: Yeah, it's a statement from the president on Truth Social. He said, "Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and law enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we let the show go on." That's an all caps.
"But will entirely be guided by law enforcement.
[21:25:00]
They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned and we'll just plain have to do it again. And it's signed President Donald J. Trump."
That statement again, just on truth social. It shows you sort of the moment that were in, where even the president does not know if the program is going to continue tonight.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If what Wolf said is true, and if you've been to one of these dinners, the layers of metal detectors you go through, if what Wolf said is true, that the shooter was apprehended or taken down on the secure side of the metal detectors, I can only imagine what the Secret Service is thinking about that entire facility right now. If it was on the secure side of a metal detector checkpoint, that that is a scary item.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Can I just say something? While I appreciate the courage and stoicism from my colleagues here and Weijia at -- at the -- at the dais to continue this night, what we just watched is so upsetting. I'm in studio and I'm shaking watching this, and I can't imagine what Erika Kirk is going through again.
And I think it's important to remember that the people in that room, we know so many of them. They're also human. And I imagine that while they want to show up for press freedom, and we don't know what the motive of this shooter was, I imagine some of them are also really scared and traumatized. And I think I think viewers who are watching some of this footage will be scared and traumatized by it.
It's really upsetting. And I feel so exhausted by how much violence we have to cover violence against journalists, violence against politicians. I just can't imagine continuing on with this night. I understand the importance of standing up there and standing against these threats of violence.
But this is very real and we are human. Journalists are human, too. And I would really understand if, for security reasons and also just compassion, human reasons, this night didn't continue as planned.
VAN LATHAN, PODCAST HOST: I don't know, man. Everybody in there looks a little shaken when I -- the way I feel about this is there's a lot of people that are watching this have loved ones inside of that building. You guys have loved ones inside of that building. When you send your kids to school, when people go to church, when
people go to the movies, when they go to grocery stores, so many places they go in America, it's just not safe from gun violence. And where -- we have conversations about it. But now, it's once again --
COATES: I want to -- I want to hear what you all have said is so important. I want to hear from Andrew McCabe. I really want to understand, based on your experience in law enforcement with the FBI, we have seen many an agent in that room. We know secret service is there. We know the sheer volume of security that would be present with the president of the United States, let alone so many cabinet members in that room.
Andy McCabe, describe for us not only your reaction tonight, but the security presence that would have been in this room. And what do you think is happening right now to try to assess whether there's an ongoing danger and what has happened?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yeah, sure. Laura. So, before anything happened out of the ordinary in this event, you are the law enforcement approach to this thinks of it as almost on the level of a national security special event. You have so many leaders of government present in the same room, at the same time that creates an enormous vulnerability for all sorts of problems. So, I have no doubt there was a massive coordination effort between secret service and every other partner that had a role in this evening. And I'm sure all those folks had representatives on site tonight.
That said, after a gunman shows up and according to Wolf's comments earlier and other reporting, it sounds like that person might have actually gotten through the security perimeter. We don't know that for a fact yet, but that's what some folks have said.
That is just that takes your entire plan, all that coordination and throws it kind of out the window. Surprise is the enemy to law enforcement planning. The people behind the security of this event. They want to know everything. They want to know who's there, who's in the room, who's outside the room, what time they come in, what time they go out.
And they've just been surprised in the absolutely worst possible way. So, it is inconceivable to me that any law enforcement person would advise them to continue with the program this evening. I'm sure that's a disappointment to a lot of people who are there, but, yeah, there is no, no way you could possibly recommend anything other than say, thank you very much and sorry for your trouble and send all these people home.
[21:30:03]
BERMAN: Andy, stand by for one second. We want to go to Zach Cohen, who is inside the room right now with some new information.
CNN's Zach Cohen, what are you learning?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, it's a scary scene out here, honestly. But I will say that we know that from a source familiar that there was no foreign or domestic threat to this dinner ahead of time. Because we obviously, the I.C. is constantly monitoring things. We're also told by multiple sources that a law enforcement officer did take a shot to the vest and the status of that law enforcement officer is unknown at this time, but that just tells you the extent to which -- the extent to which wanted to come to this and potentially harm people.
And so, we're still more details at this time. But the U.S. intelligence agency and law enforcement, both on scene here and, you know, obviously the president of the United States being present, the CIA, the DNI, the -- all the U.S. intelligence apparatus are going to be constantly screening for multiple variations of those threats. And again, I'm told that there was no indication that there was a threat ahead of time before now. And just waiting to hear what the result.
BERMAN: Zach, thank you for that. It's a sketchy connection right now. But let me reiterate the one piece of truly new information that we had there, which is that Zach is hearing from a source that there was a law enforcement officer that took a shot in the vest.
And this is the first we have heard of anyone, perhaps other than the alleged shooter, who may have been hurt or affected or wounded by this. So that's a bit of new information there, that there was a law enforcement agent who took a round to the vest. We certainly hope that that agent is doing okay.
Andrew McCabe, if you are still with us, I would like you to react to that. But also, I just want to make clear there is still so much we don't know. We really don't know exactly the geography of where this happened. It's conceivable that maybe the person did get identified at the screening and then kept on going through and then was taken down. These are some of the questions we absolutely need answered at this point at what was and as Andy, you just described, literally a national security event.
I mean, you have the president in much of the cabinet there, some of the most powerful people in the country in one room at one time. I know these are the questions that will be asked, and they will be looking for answers as well. And it's just surreal also, Andy, that that everyone is still there. So many people are still there because they can't go just yet, and everyone's waiting to find out what happens next.
MCCABE: Yeah. John, you put a -- you fill a room with reporters and they're probably going to want to stick around to figure out what happened. I'm just guessing, but, you know, there are reasons that you might want to keep all those folks there. I think it's probably unlikely in this scenario because you have so many people in that room. And it sounds like most of the action took place outside the room and possibly a half a floor or maybe an entire floor above.
So, yeah, it's a little a little odd to me that we still are in a position where we don't know if they're going to try to continue with the program, or if they're going to send everybody home, but I expect they'll make a decision on that in the short term. I can't imagine that anyone from a law enforcement perspective, is actually advocating for anything other than shutting this thing down and bringing it to a close.
The concern, the number one concern on the part of law enforcement, once they get the protectee and everybody else they're worried about out of the room is, is there any possibility of a follow-on attack?
Now, I'm not suggesting that there is. We don't have any facts here that that point in that direction. I'm just saying, as a member of law enforcement, that's what you're worried about here is this first one a distraction? Is it an effort to kind of draw resources in one direction so that you can do something more significant someplace else on site?
That clearly has not happened here yet, but those are the kind of things that are going through the minds of the folks who are responsible for the security there.
COATES: And, you know, the prosecutor and me right now is off the rails in that sense, because what I would want to know is, one is that is that shooter alive?
And if that shooter is alive or not, I want the phones. I want whatever devices may be on the person. I want to know what the security footage looks like inside of that hotel. I want to know where they walked from and walked to.
Is there a traffic camera that's present? Is there a hotel security? Has there been a change of clothes? Is there a bag somewhere? What type of bullets?
Who are the last calls made to? Who did they speak to on the way? Because you have an ongoing investigation right now. And of course, whatever vehicle was used to actually transport this person to this location is now the number one thing I'm looking for, as well as who they may have spoken to.
[21:35:00]
So, this investigation reminds you, there are members of Congress who are there. There are regular civilians who are there as well. Obviously, the cabinet members, the president of the United States. But we're talking about Wolf Blitzer, who we have on the line right now, who also was talking about how he heard the gunman shooting in that lobby, was not clear as to who he was shooting at himself, fearing his own safety, being tackled, Wolf Blitzer being put on the ground by law enforcement for his own safety.
So, we may have had an indiscriminate shooter as well, which adds a very different layer. I know, Scott, you wanted to say really quickly, go ahead.
JENNINGS: Well, I just -- I don't know if we've heard this yet. I've been wondering if we've been notified if any emergency vehicles left the hotel --
COATES: Yeah.
JENNINGS: -- to go to a hospital, because that would give us some information about injuries to anybody. I don't know if we've heard that, but that's a question I have.
BERMAN: I will -- I think it is notable that we have not heard of a single person being injured at this point, other than maybe a law enforcement officer who took a bullet to the vest. And obviously.
JENNINGS: What Kaitlan was told early on.
BERMAN: Or Kaitlan, which was the suspect. But again, we haven't had confirmation of that since and only have heard from secret service that there is a suspect in custody.
Go ahead, Van.
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, I think that there's a number of things that are being balanced here. S.E. spoke well to the human dimension, people are probably shaken up to the logistical dimension. Can you do this?
To a political dimension here, and this is the president of the United States being run out by a terrorist. And that's why you see Donald Trump trying to signal that he wants to come back.
JENNINGS: Yes.
JONES: That's why you see the people who are trying to keep the show on the road, because it's not just a human event. I'm not done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
JONES: You talked. I'm not done.
It's not just a human event. These are the most powerful people in the world, the most important people in our country.
And it makes a -- it sends a signal if they stay, it sends a signal. If they leave. So, the logistical issue is important. The issue is important. The human issue is important.
But there's a political dimension here that also has to be taken care of.
BERMAN: Let me just jump in. We have a couple of new pieces of information. If you guys will stand by for one moment.
We have a statement from the Secret Service, the first official statement from the Secret Service. Let me just read that -- read that right now.
The U.S. Secret Service, in coordination with the Metropolitan Police Department, is investigating a shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents dinner. The president and first lady are safe, along with all protectees. One individual is in custody. The condition of those involved is not yet known, and law enforcement is actively assessing the situation.
A couple new pieces of information there that are important to reiterate. Number one, this was near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents Dinner. So, we don't know if the person really made it through or much past that area right there. So, it may be a case of the screening area identifying this person.
Number two, everyone, all the protectees are safe along with their loved ones, and an individual is in custody. We do not know the condition of that individual.
And then one other piece of information I was just told is that the White House pool, and this is the group of reporters that does travel everywhere with the president. Wherever the president goes, has now been moved to the vans, which is where and how they get around Washington, D.C., when there are motorcades.
We don't know if they're going to move in those vans, if the vans will start rolling. But it is notable they are now in the vans, which indicates at least the possibility that they may be leaving the area soon, the White House pool.
COATES: So important to say, we are actually now holding outside the hotel. We've got Sara Sidner, who is outside. She's been doing the red carpet earlier as well.
Sara, I imagine you must have had quite the view of what's been going on outside as people are coming in and out. What are you hearing? What can you tell us?
SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, both inside and outside. I was inside when we heard the loud bang, and then we heard a bunch of dishes break and people were a little confused. But my instinct, having covered so many of these shootings in this country and beyond, was to go under the table, which is what we all ended up doing.
And I just want to give you a sense of what it was like in the room, because what you heard, um, that you might not have been able to hear on camera as I heard someone saying, I just please God, I just want to get out of here. Please, I want to get out of here. There were people started to cry as they realized that something terrible had happened, that there was some kind of security breach. No one knew exactly what the sound was, but to me it sounded like gunfire.
And so, I think those around me, when you see somebody being alarmed and then you see the look in their eyes --
COATES: Sara, hold your thought. We're hearing -- I want to hear from you -- give me one second. We're hearing from the White House Correspondents Association president and also more from a press conference from the president of the United States. Let's listen in.
WEIJIA JIANG, CBS NEWS: This is a room full of reporters. So I know you've already seen the president's tweet. My apologies, his post on Truth Social. And, law enforcement has requested we leave the premises consistent with protocol, and he wanted to emphasize that nobody was hurt. He and the first lady, the cabinet, everybody safe?
He.
(APPLAUSE)
JIANG: The president will be having a press briefing at the White House in 30 minutes. That is not a joke. And he insists that we will reschedule this event in the next 30 days.
(APPLAUSE)
JIANG: And that he wanted to do it tonight. He wanted to continue despite the news, but has to follow security protocol.
I said earlier tonight that journalism is a public service because when there is an emergency, we run to the crisis, not away from it. And on a night when we are thinking about the freedoms in the First Amendment, we must also think about how fragile they are. I saw all of you reporting and that's what we do.
(APPLAUSE)
JIANG: So, thank God everybody is safe. And thank you for coming together tonight. We will do this again. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
COATES: We've got the --
BERMAN: Yeah, we have a new statement from the president that was White House Correspondents Association president Weijia Jiang announcing that the White House Correspondents' Dinner is over tonight, which is understandable, and we will be rescheduled for sometime in the next 30 days. We also just learned the president is going to hold a news conference in the next 30 minutes.
And we just got a new statement from the president of the United States. It says, "Law enforcement has requested that we leave the premises consistent with protocol, which we will do immediately. I will be giving a press conference in 30 minutes from the White House press briefing room. The first lady, plus the vice president, all cabinet members are in perfect condition. We will be speaking to you in half an hour. I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days. President Donald J. Trump."
And just to reiterate, I think, which is a huge relief in the headline there, everyone is okay, as far as we know at this point.
JENNINGS: And it sounds like were going to hear from the president, which is vital. I think, you know, they're not going to resume the dinner. But to your point, earlier hearing from the president tonight, good for the country, good for the world. And to your point, S.E., earlier, the dinner is not going to continue tonight, but will be rescheduled. And so, for safety and security reasons, that's good.
But to hear from the president tonight and a half an hour is extremely vital. And I think, Van , you said it right earlier that the political element here is that we cannot allow people to believe they can show up with weapons and shut down anything that the president or the press or anything else were doing that causes our that makes our country run on a daily basis. We cannot allow it.
CUPP: I agree, and I think it is really important that the president is going to speak. I'm glad he's going to speak. I'm glad everyone's okay.
I will just say we don't know who the intended target was. It may have been the president, it may have been the press.
LATHAN: May have been the press. Yeah.
CUPP: So -- and this is still a crime scene. So, it's really important that all the people in that room, not just the president, not just the cabinet members, not just congressmen and women, but everyone is safe tonight and protected because we don't know what this lunatic was going to do tonight.
LATHAN: And after everyone's out of harm's way, this country is sick.
CUPP: Sick.
LATHAN: This country is sick, and everyone can continue to go on about like its business as usual. We can do the pomp and circumstance. We can dress up and we can go to prom and we can have all of these things that try to disorient us or take our focus off the fact that we are fundamentally sick right now as a country, and nothing is going to get better until we address that and talk about that in a really robust way.
Americans are hurting financially. Americans are hurting spiritually. Americans are hurting culturally. And we yell and argue and have all of this stuff, and we do all that. We're trying to protect everything. But like, people are in trouble. And the despair is running over.
And who's going to talk about that? Who's going to address that?
COATES: One thing I'll be curious, especially you're talking about this happening even at a at this event. I'll be curious to understand not only the target, but I want to know the state of the suspect, because that is going to be one of the most important sources of information of what has happened tonight. And especially we read from the Secret service talking about, as you noted, they're investigating a shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area.
[21:45:04]
Was it effective? Was it -- was he -- was this person intercepted in this way, which of course would be a very important detail to understand. And let's not forget as well that, as you mentioned, Scott, and we've talked about some of the people beginning this dinner who were present in the room, Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk. You have people who are civilians who may or may not have had their own experiences with gun violence in this country, and as we know, gun violence.
JENNINGS: Steve Scalise.
COATES: Steve Scalise is also there, a victim of gun violence as well. And there are others who we are not naming in the moment as well. And just to think about the prevalence of gun violence more broadly.
BERMAN: I will note the president on his way to the White House now for a press conference shortly. The entire press corps is in this room right now. They're not going to make it there. I imagine that the people asking the questions, to the extent that there will be questions, will be the White House pool, which is a limited, very small group of reporters who will be able to travel with the president and ask him questions there.
But this is --
JONES: Yeah.
BERMAN: It's so surreal. It is so surreal that the president, everyone who covers him, all there for this, they're all leaving now. The members of the press leaving. But what we do know for sure at this point is that there is a suspect in custody. We don't know the condition of that suspect and the Secret Service telling us the incident happened near the magnetometers there.
COATES: And those involved, their condition not yet known.
BERMAN: Those involved, their condition not yet known. But the president is okay. The cabinet is okay. We have not seen or heard any ambulances taking anyone from inside that event. So, we think everyone in the event is okay and they certainly look okay.
And the pictures that we are seeing now, I have to say, I'm sure they're all just relieved, frankly, that its gone on the way it has.
We have Wolf Blitzer with us, and Wolf has been crucial in understanding the course of this event because -- Wolf, you were really the first witness to tell us what happened, that there did appear to be a shooter near the magnetometers who was apprehended by law enforcement.
So just give us a sense, now that were piecing together the actual official statements, how it matches with what you saw.
BLITZER: The shooter was clearly on the ground shooting. When I saw him, I was only a few feet away, and this was inside the secure part of the magnetometers, as if this individual had gone through somehow the magnetometers, I don't know if he did or he didn't. I don't know if he was just in there waiting or whatever, but, it was clearly in a secure area where we assumed everybody had gone through metal detectors and was cleared to go in to the ballroom. And all of a sudden, I'm walking right near the shooter. And all of a
sudden, I start hearing gunshots. And the next thing I knew, I was only maybe four or five feet away from the shooter. The next thing I knew was a police officer jumped on me and threw me to the ground and lied on top of me for a few minutes before other police officers came and grabbed me and some other witnesses who had been there and took us into a nearby men's room and shut the door and wouldn't let anybody get close to protect us, presumably, if there was still more shooting that was about to take place.
But it was just a very, very frightening moment for me personally and for everyone who was nearby. And to see this unfold as quickly as it did. And I must say, I give law enforcement a lot of credit because they moved very quickly, risking their own lives in the process as a shooter with gunshots, and, they took this guy down, and, you know, the process they took me down to, they took me down to save me, which was good because I didn't know where this guy was aiming.
But the gunshots were so loud, so frightening that it scared all of us. And we had no idea what was going on. But, I -- my gut was that out of an abundance of caution because the shooter was inside the secure area, they should definitely have canceled the event for tonight and told everyone to go home as quickly as possible. I'm now in the lobby of the Washington hotel, and you see hundreds of people coming up the escalator, going to the lobby, getting ready to go home if there are cars waiting or if they're walking or whatever they're doing, taking an Uber, but they're all leaving.
And it was just a very, very frightening, scary moment indeed. And thank God, you know, everybody inside was okay. Uh, and I don't know if anyone was injured at all, but, uh, I know it was a very frightening moment for all of us, especially for me, because I was only a few feet away from the gunman when he was -- you know, when he was stopped and thrown to the ground, and presumably his weapon taken away. But it was just a very --
COATES : Wolf, I'm sorry, did you say -- did you see the type of weapon or --
BLITZE: -- if there were others there. So, they just took everybody and they tried to save us and make sure that we were secure, which I was grateful for at the time.
[21:50:08]
COATES: We know that the motorcade is leaving as well.
BLITZER: As you see hundreds of the guests of the people who were in the ballroom just coming up the escalator and trying to leave as quickly as they can, which is clearly smart.
COATES: One of the new footage that we do have in right now, Wolf, is of the vice president of the United States, J.D. Vance, being evacuated. Let's listen.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS) BERMAN: There's the president being escorted, the president being escorted out one side, the vice president being escorted out the other, which is so interesting. I mean, the Secret Service has so many different protocols. The vice president no doubt has one secure area that that he was taken to the president. No doubt a different secure area.
The entire constitutional chain of -- chain of command and succession was really in that room at the time. So almost everyone, I'm sure, had a separate area that they were taken to.
We now know that the president is on his way. The motorcade has left the president on his way back to the White House, where he will be delivering a news conference or a statement before the press. I imagine it will just be the White House pool who was with him. And that could happen very shortly.
So, stand by. Obviously, we will bring that to you live as soon as it happens.
COATES: And we also have Sara Sidner, who has been outside of the Washington Hilton, an historic site, I might add, for people who recall, in 1981 an assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan.
Sara, can you tell us what you're seeing out there and what, you know, given the number of people in that room
SIDNER: Yeah. I mean, if you think about the number of people in the room, the number of cabinet members alone in that room, there are going to be some big questions about security and how this happened, because I will tell you that those magnetometer that you all are talking about are very far into the venue.
When you first come in, mostly what they asked was they wanted to see your ticket. They -- that allowed you to sort of get to the door where you did the sort of red carpet, if you will, and every single cabinet member almost went to the red carpet.
And when we walked in that door there, there were no checks on our bodies. They did not do any checks of what we had with us at that point. And so that may have been where the shooter entered or how the shooter entered, although we don't yet know that, but it takes a while and you know this. Well, John, it takes a while before you get to those magnetometers, before they start checking your person, before they start checking your purses, for example. So, there will be a lot of questions about security here.
What we did see is some real deep disturbed emotions in that room. One of whom was Erika Kirk. As I was walking out of the venue trying to figure out what happened and what we could find out as a reporter, as we're walking out, she also came out and she came right by me. It was just a few seconds in tears saying, "I just want to leave."
Imagine her distress as she's sitting there hearing the same thing that we all heard, which was gunshots. And knowing what happened to her husband, and being in that scenario, she looked visibly terrified as she was being escorted out. And then we saw her again once she was outside of the building, kind of being surrounded and waiting to be able to, to leave the area completely. We also saw Senator Fetterman and his wife, who were also trying to figure out where to go, how to leave, how to move out of the way.
There was chaos. There were moments where people weren't sure what they were supposed to do, stay inside the ballroom or leave, but we are seeing quite an apparatus out here. We did see ambulances, but they were not in the kind of scenario that you have all seen. When there is someone who needs to be taken to the hospital, they were sort of sitting and waiting with their lights going, and then we saw quite a few police vehicles coming and going, throughout this particular area.
And then a while ago, we saw them put up the crime scene tape here, which has moved out further than it was initially just down here. I'm on Columbus in California, just down here, where you see all of those lights. That is where the Hilton is. That is where this occurred.
But I think someone mentioned this, and I don't know if it was Van Jones or who mentioned that there's this sickness and you saw the result of the sickness with gun violence. You saw the result of that in this room.
While people are saying, look, thank goodness nobody was injured. There was no one who was killed in the crash, no members of the press, no members of the cabinet, not the president.
[21:55:04]
Everyone, for the most part, safe.
There is an emotional toll here. There's a psychological toll. And I saw people breaking down after they were able to get out, because many people have never experienced something like this. The terror of it all. They've never experienced it.
I'm just -- Tom Homan, as he leaves the venue now, with several people here, but were just watching streams of people come out and there's going to be huge questions about security and what the security look like before they got to the magnetometers, because I will tell you from experience, all I had to show was this. And I didn't really have to show ID when we first got in to basically be on the red carpet.
I think a lot of questions will be asked about that.
BERMAN: Sara, thank you very much. I should note that everyone in that room almost is a reporter. We are all reporters. And so, everyone is working their sources, trying to find out what they can to find out what pieces of information we can about the situation.
Sara, I'm so glad you're okay. My morning co-anchor there, and you've done a terrific job explaining what you are seeing out there.
COATES: And so important to focus on the emotional toll of what this is, because we often forget that gun violence is more than the actual bullets. It's what the -- it's the fear. It's the anxiety that produces. We have our school children as early as kindergartners who are in training for gun violence in their classrooms.
And here we have grown-ups who themselves are likely parents or not, who might be experiencing what so many children across this country endure every day in schools.
BERMAN: So hang on, I'm so sorry, Van, because the president is on the move back to the White House now to deliver a statement to the press there in the White House briefing room.
We have Josh Campbell with us now, who used to work for the FBI and law enforcement.
Give us a sense of what it's like to move a president in the Washington Hilton so people know, not -- not that close to anything. I mean, there's a lot of reporters, a lot of politicians now not having an easy time getting home. It's much easier for the president. But what is it like to move a president in this type of situation?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, that's right.
I mean, we're basically talking about two different phases here. And this is critical for people to understand. You have the emergent phase. That's, you know, shots are fired. Law enforcement has to respond.
Obviously, the Secret Service is well-versed and is well-trained in responding to a variety of different scenarios. And then you have the investigative phase, which will be coming forward next.
But let's talk just briefly about the emergent phase. So obviously the Secret Service, they're poised to respond if there is any type of potential threat to the president or any of their protectees, it appears in this case, they did exactly that. We could actually see the video of the agents approaching the president.
You have members of what's called the CAT team, the counter-assault team with the Secret Service. Their job after the president is spirited away, is to engage any type of threat that might still remain. And again, it appears all of that that took place as it was opposed to.
The way this typically happens, whenever you have a protectee, obviously here, the president of the United States, who is in an enclosed area, the Secret Service, will determine if there is some type of threat. Where do they move him? Do they move him straight to the cars?
Obviously, the vehicles are outside, they're running. They're ready to steer him away. If there is a threat or they move him to what's called a hold room. Every venue the president of the United States goes to has an identified hold room. That is an area where the president would be taken for safe harbor, if indeed there is any type of threat. Because of the lag between when this incident happened and when we saw the video of the motorcade actually start rolling, it appears that the president may have been actually taken to one of those hold rooms where he is afforded a variety of suite of communications. Obviously, all of his staff are there.
There was a question at one point whether the venue would actually the event would actually continue. We now know that that is not going to happen, which is prudent to me. As a former investigator, which I'll get to in a second. But that was likely what was happening behind the scenes. And then they got him out of there. And obviously we will hear from him shortly.
The second part here, obviously the investigative side, and that is who is this suspected gun -- gunman or gun woman that was there? And what was a potential motive? What was a potential target?
The one thing that they will try to attempt to do very quickly is what they call FID, fully identify this individual. Do they have some type of identification on them? If not, there are various other means where law enforcement would use investigative tools to try to determine who this person was.
And again, right now, the language that the Secret Service is using is that the person has been detained. We don't yet know if that person was engaged with gunfire. If that person is even alive. All of those are questions that were still waiting to hear. So again, getting to the actual motive and long beyond that will be the final phase, which will be determined. Did everything happen here today as it was supposed to?
The one thing that I keyed in, and ill wrap up here very, very briefly, but one thing I keyed in on is this question of something happening around the metal detectors, the so-called magnetometers, every place the president of the United States goes to is a hardened target by default.
