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CNN Live Event/Special
Trump Speaks After Being Evacuated From WHCD Shooting. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired April 25, 2026 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: 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.
[22:00:04]
But every place outside of that venue, beyond the magnetometers, beyond the security, is inherently a soft target. You only get to a hardened target whenever you have members of the Secret Service or law enforcement, actually screening people. And so that will be interesting to determine where did this gun, the person that actually had a gun get to? Was it someone who approached the magnetometers and then tried to rush their way in and then was engaged? That would indicate that possibly, you know, likely that the security protocols happened the way they were supposed to.
If it determines that they were inside the venue, beyond those magnetometers, that will raise questions again, it's far too soon to determine whether that is actually the case. But so far, what we're seeing is what the Secret Service prepares for every single day.
The last thing I'll note is that there will be a lot of parallels to that very hotel where this happened. This was the same venue, of course, that President Ronald Reagan was shot back in 1981 by an attempted assassin. The circumstances very, very different.
So, before those parallels are drawn, I'll just note that in that situation with President Reagan, you had him outside in the exterior, walking to a vehicle, which is one of the most volatile risk, you know, as heavy risk there in those situations, this totally different. Now in this day and age, you had the president who was inside, inside this bubble, inside the secure area, the now protocols of the president have changed drastically. From that day, you won't see a president walking in open air, as we saw back in 1981.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: And of course, that hotel also changed to accommodate for that particular area where that shooting occurred. Really important.
I mean, the big questions, who is the shooter? What was their motive? Who was the target? Where are they now? Very important questions to understand what has happened here. And I want to go to Andrew McCabe, who of course is familiar with the FBI. And it's so important. I know you're not Secret Service, Andrew
McCabe, but I could not help but notice the order in which the president and the vice president were removed from that stage. Obviously, we did not see the first lady in the footage that we have. We're showing right now on the screen right now, the removal.
But we did see the Vice President J.D. Vance be moved separately into a different location, and it appeared to be chronologically prior to the president. Can you just describe a little bit about what are the considerations in terms of a president being moved? Obviously, it's not the order of importance. It's the order of the threat that's posed. Correct?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: That's true, Laura. It is, it is. But in that moment when there are loud noises in the lobby and there's reports of shots fired, they're not really processing anything other than what's immediately happening in front of them.
And so, it's, I think, also important to remember that the president and the vice president in that moment have two totally different teams that are assigned to prioritize their protection. So, if -- if it appears on video that a Secret Service agent made contact with the vice president before the president, that doesn't reflect a decision on that agents part. It's just simply like that agent was assigned to get to the vice president as soon as he could, and that's when he got there.
So, I wouldn't -- I wouldn't -- I wouldn't kind of over index on that. But I do think that what you're seeing on those videos is exactly the way they train, the way they practice what they're doing and what they prepare for in real life, with which unfortunately, with this president, they've had many experiences, unfortunately, to see how those threats play out in real time.
But nevertheless, that's what we're seeing on this video. The how the tactical team, you see that agents immediately step between the president and the table. One agent actually comes over to the other side of the table. They're essentially putting themselves in the line of fire.
They don't know if there's a gunman in the room. They don't know if there will be shots fired there next. And they're placing themselves in the way of, of essentially taking that bullet for the president. If -- if that's what's necessary.
So yeah, this is it. This is like the Secret Service doing their thing right in front of the entire world.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Andy, stand by. I just want to reread. It's just past the top of the hour at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, just to bring people up to speed on what's happened. This was the night where the White House Correspondents' Dinner was supposed to take place.
But let me read you a statement from the Secret Service that describes in the best detail we have of what happened, it said, "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 in law enforcement is actively assessing the situation."
The president delivering a statement very shortly at the White House. We will, of course, bring that to you live the minute it happens, the vice president evacuated. We learned the speaker of the house also evacuated, literally the constitutional line of succession was all there, and they are all okay.
[22:05:03]
We're here watching this unfold before our eyes. S. E. Cupp, Van Jones, Scott Jennings,
You guys have been sitting patiently. I know, working your own sources and also talking to the people you care so much about who were in that room. Just give us a sense of what you're hearing and what you're seeing and your thoughts?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, I saw a post from Congressman Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat from Florida who --
BERMAN: Parkland.
JENNINGS: Yeah. Who said that when this happened, it was Steve Scalise, the House Republican majority leader, who grabbed him and threw him into a secure location. Of course, Steve Scalise himself was shot, uh, years ago in the congressional baseball game. One other thing that I think should be noted, the Secret Service is an agency that it exists in the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down and not funded for 70-plus days.
So, when I think about watching these Secret Service agents and their heroism and what they have to do, they're currently working in an agency that, you know, for many, many, many weeks now is, has not been taken care of. So, I suspect members of congress are going to have to confront that. And it started this past week. But that's got to get fixed.
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that they obviously just did an extraordinary job. And, the people -- the people I'm hearing from are shaken up. Look, people respond differently, you know, I've -- I've been shot at, uh, you know, it's a very weird experience because bullets are when you're playing -- cops and robbers, you just go bang, bang, people fall down. Bullets are physical things, and they move past you faster than you can react.
And nobody knows how their body is going to respond in a situation like that. So, some people get very stoic, some people get very emotional, some people are fine for two days, and then afterwards they completely crash.
So, you're going to have, uh, unfortunately, a huge psychological impact for people with lots of responsibility in this country, people who are running agencies, bureaus, people who are running news organizations. So, we have to be aware of that. You know, I do think that the people who wanted the show to go on were people who were trying to figure out some way for this not to be a complete disaster.
I have to say, I think that President Trump, uh, is doing a good job tonight. I think that him deciding that he's going to address the public, that he's given the country a timeline for us to do this. Again, I think lets people have a little bit of structure for something like this. And -- but I'm hearing from people with all kinds of different levels of emotional reaction, but I don't trust any of them because by tomorrow morning, it's going to be different.
COATES: Let's take a broad out for a second though, as well here, because it's not just the people in the room who want to hear from the president of the United States or the people in this room, or even the United States audience, because given the scope of the role of the president of the United States in the entire world, at least -- not the least, which includes an active war, there are probably a number of leaders around the world who one was expecting, possibly who last week was talking to our vice president of United States about negotiating the end of the war. They're also leaning in and watching this and wanting to hear from the president of the United States tonight.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. But also, so are viewers at home, right?
COATES: Yes.
CUPP: I think it's so important that he's going to speak tonight. Again, I think it was the right decision to stop this event for all the reasons, the safety reasons, also just the human reasons. Weve become almost, I think, desensitized to some of this, which is really, really awful.
I have covered so many of these -- too many of these from Butler to Charlie Kirk to Scalise to the Minnesota lawmakers' murders. I mean, I could go on and on. There have been 930 attacks on journalists since 2020. That is crazy.
We worked at CNN when pipe bombs were sent to our bureau. I mean, this is never ending it feels like. And so, I think the world wants to see what the president has to say about this, but so do people at home.
That's who I've been hearing from. My friends at home say, are you safe? Are you okay? What is happening?
Oh my God, I think people are still watching this at home. And again, another attempt, possibly on Trump or another violent attack on somebody -- I think it's overwhelming to people and they want someone to get up and make some sense of something this senseless.
BERMAN: They also, I think, want to learn as much as they possibly can. And the details are scant right now. One piece of new information, this is coming from our reporting team, a U.S. Secret Service agent was shot at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night. The bullets struck the agents protective gear okay, and the agent was taken to a local hospital. The agents condition not immediately clear, but the fact that the protective gear is part of that statement, let's hope that means this officer is in good condition.
We now have with us, CNN chief law enforcement analyst John Miller.
John, you have so many great sources. What are you learning now at this stage of the evening
[22:10:00]
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Now is who is this suspect? What was the motive? They are obviously doing background into that.
What we know from law enforcement sources who have been briefed on the matter is, according to identification found on the suspect, after he was taken down, he is a 30-year-old man from the Los Angeles area of California. They are working on his background. Any potential criminal record, social media, and all of the rest of the things you think they would be doing?
As you've been reporting, the details are still relatively sketchy, but what we are told is that there was the set of magnetometers. And as he approached the magnetometers, there was this confrontation and shots fired. The Secret Service agent was hit. We are told, in the vest.
But as you know, this is all preliminary and that information can shift. But even if you are shot in a vest, it's still going to cause an injury with that impact. We don't know his condition or if there was any shot that penetrated or went around that vest in the seems still waiting to hear about his condition.
The security in an event like this is layers. The layers begin outside. They get thicker as you get into that building, but the people who are at those magnetometers, the people whose job it is to be that front line of making sure that anybody who gets through those magnetometers in that screening area is now part of the sterile crowd, meaning they can't be armed, they can't have anything on them that could be dangerous. Those are the Secret Service uniform division. They wear white shirts and black pants and badges look like normal police. And they are that front line.
Beyond that, of course, there's the Secret Service plainclothes agents who guard the president and are spread throughout that building. So we don't know who was involved in the initial confrontation, but there are some likelihood that that encounter would have started with the uniformed division at those magnetometers.
So, we don't know how far when they get to this press conference at the White House, how far they will go into the details of whether they've identified the gunman or his background, but they're working on those details. And at this point, so are we. BERMAN: Thirty-year-old male in custody reports John Miller from
California. That is all new information. A 30-year-old male from California.
Any sense of the condition that the suspect is in, John?
MILLER: Well, that's been a point of confusion. We were told initially, and this was literally within the first minute. So, the earlier the information it is, the less reliable it is. We were told that he was taken down. The suspect was down. The suspect was dead.
The terms they're using now were apprehended and in custody, which are suggestive that he is not succumbed to those injuries. So, we'll have to sort through that as well as we go.
BERMAN: Thank you very much for making that clear. Because, again, the initial report different than what we think we are hearing now, we are just hearing in custody at this point. A 30-year-old male from California.
And another point, I just want to reiterate that you said, is as we are getting more information, the fact that this happened near the metal detectors, it's possible that the security here did what it was supposed to do.
I mean, there are going to be questions obviously need to review every aspect of this. But it is possible. One possibility is, is that the precautions they had in place are what kept this from being a true disaster tonight.
COATES: And, of course, we heard from Wolf Blitzer about the location where he witnessed at least the gunman being brought down. You are seeing right now on your screen, the White House press briefing room, because we were told by the president of the United States that he intends to speak within the 30 minutes.
We're actually around that time right now, is when to expect him to speak. He would have come back from the Washington, D.C. Hilton where this shooting took place. We still have a lot of questions.
Number one, more information about who the shooter is, the motivation here, who was the intended target, the condition of the Secret Service officer who was struck in the vest, the condition of that suspect as well. And you can believe, as Jonathan Miller -- Jonathan, you talked about the amount of investigation that is taking place right now, including combing through social media, combing through electronic evidence, combing through anything that could give an indication of what was happening there.
Wolf Blitzer, we see you as well. We know that you witnessed this gunman in action, and you have stated that the gunman was firing as they were brought to the ground, but you were unclear in the direction to which the gunman was firing. Could you describe the clothing or the weapon that you saw from the gunman from your vantage point?
[22:15:07] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Is that a question for me? It's wolf.
COATES: Yes, Wolf.
BLITZER: I just saw a big gun. I don't know what kind of weapon it was. And I heard a loud -- loud bangs that were going off. It was extremely frightening. I was only a few feet away.
It was a total coincidence. I was walking back to the ballroom. We were on one floor above the ballroom. You had to go downstairs to go back into the ballroom, but the gunman was clearly on the secure side of the metal detectors.
I don't know how he got through if he got through, if he had been there earlier. But he was armed. He was firing, and police were there, and they and they were on top of him within a minute or so. And then they were on top of me to protect me, as if I could have been shot, too.
So, it was just a very frightening moment. And I'm not surprised at all that they've called off the whole evening out of an abundance of caution, knowing that at least one individual armed with a weapon had -- had managed to get a few feet away from the door to the ballroom.
He was not in the ballroom. He was outside the ballroom. One floor up a few stairs, up. But it was clearly a very dangerous situation and situation like that, you don't take any chances because you don't know if he was acting alone, if there were others involved with him and what was going on.
So I'm now in the lobby of the Washington Hilton Hotel, and all the people who were inside are slowly but surely taking the escalator up, and they're getting ready to leave and see if they can get a ride home one way or another. The security going into the event tonight was incredible. I had never seen security around the Washington Hilton Hotel, where White House Correspondents' Association dinner or for any other major dinner as tight as it was tonight.
And I've been to about 30 of these White House Correspondents Association dinners over the years that I've been with CNN. And it was just very, very, very intense.
And I have no idea if there were any indications that something like this could happen, but I know that security was beefing up potentially for something and something happened. But the shots were fired just outside the door to the ballroom. The shooter did not get into the ballroom was shooting one floor up the stairs leading to the ballroom. And, it was just an enormously loud, difficult to, you know, to comprehend what was going on.
And I'm sure we'll be learning a whole lot more about the suspect. What was going on, if there was a motive or whatever. But when the cops saw me only a few feet away from the shooter, they threw me to the ground and got on top of me to protect me. And then after a few minutes, they picked me up and took me away to a secure room, the men's room, which was not very far away. And there were about 50 other men already inside who were just trying to stay secure in the face of the gunshots that were going off.
And I think I heard at least three, maybe six gunshots, boom, boom, boom, boom. And it was just enormously loud. And I had no idea what was going on. And for, you know, initially when the cop pushed me down, I said to myself, I wonder if, you know, I was a target or whatever.
And I thank God I wasn't because I was not shot. I was just thrown to the ground and protected to make sure that there were no gunshots aimed at me. So, it was just a coincidence that I happened to have been there walking back to the ballroom when all of this took place.
And it was just a frightening moment indeed. And people are still here at the hotel. They're trying to get out of here. They want to go home. I don't blame them. And it's just, you know, a scary, scary situation.
BERMAN: Wolf, we are so glad that you are okay. I have to say, we are lucky that we have a reporter like you who happened to bear witness to what happened, because you have really given us the most details we have had to date as an eyewitness to this event. So, thank you very much for telling us everything that you saw and experienced.
On the other side of our screen from Wolf right now, you see live pictures of the White House briefing room where were expecting to hear from President Trump very shortly. And inside that room is filling up with reporters. Some of the press pool, some of the reporters who made it from the Washington Hilton.
And one of those reporters is our very own Kaitlan Collins, who was supposed to win an award tonight at the White House Correspondents' Dinner and is showing us why you earned that award, Kaitlan.
So. give us the latest on what you were hearing.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, John, it's been this huge scramble to even assemble in this room. It's only about half full, probably the least full it's ever been when the president is expected to make an appearance here. But that's because all the reporters pretty much were inside this room, were gathered at that ballroom inside the Washington Hilton when those shots rang out.
[22:20:03]
And I was seated about 50 yards away from where the president was, at the front table with the first lady, Melania Trump, and also with the Vice President, J.D. Vance, at that table. It was actually surprising how long it took them to evacuate the president off stage, because there was enough time for us to look. We saw the Secret Service running in with major weapons down that first aisle. As everyone got underneath their tables and crouched, and then the president was removed from the stage.
He was then taken backstage, and he wanted to return to that room there, John. And he was arguing. We were told with Secret Service that he would like to come out and return to the program. Obviously, as you later saw, he said he was going to defer to what law enforcement wanted, but clearly there was a breach at the Washington Hilton, and they did not want the president returning to that room. They didn't feel that in good confidence. They could have him return to that room.
So, then we all rushed here to the White House. Obviously, you can see everyone is still in their formal wear and coming in. Secret Service was doing a magnificent job having everyone get inside so they can make it in for this briefing where Karoline Leavitt said, we are expecting to see the president come out.
You can see John, they have the seal on the lectern here in the briefing room, obviously signaling that an appearance by the president is imminent. Now, there are a lot of questions that remain here. This is a president who has faced many security threats, and obviously, two assassination attempts. And so, obviously, a moment like that where he is rushed off stage is not unfamiliar territory for him.
And so, in this moment, now that we know that authorities have identified the suspect who is at the Hilton, as CNN reported just a few moments ago, we're waiting to see what it is that the White House has learned. And I just want to know, John, that in the room, the cabinet secretaries and top administration officials are kind of seated sporadically at random tables. So, you could see there was a difficulty in security going and making sure they could get to every cabinet member.
I was seated next to the secretary of education, Linda McMahon, in that moment. And I mean, we were both crouched on the floor, sitting next to each other, waiting to see what was going on, and learn more from the service and the security that was inside the room. So obviously, we're waiting to see what the president himself has learned and what he'll say when he comes out here to the briefing room in just a few moments.
But it's a heroic effort even just to get these reporters inside here, many of them running, some physically running from the Hilton to get here, as we raced over to make it to this press briefing, obviously, 10:17 p.m. on a Saturday night, in itself an incredibly rare occurrence, John.
BERMAN: Kaitlan, I don't want to make light of the situation, but we could all use a smile right now. This will be the best dressed press briefing, I think, in the history of the White House, with all the reporters dressed for a black tie event.
It just gets to the absolute surreal nature of what Kaitlan and all of our friends have been through tonight, and what we've watched play out before our eyes. I mean, we saw it happening in this camera that was focused in the room as the president was being led off. And then just the pieces of information that were coming in, not easily because communications were hard from the Washington Hilton Hotel.
And over time, what we have learned is there is a suspect in custody right now, shots were fired at or near the security area of the Washington Hilton hotel outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner, but that everyone is okay. COATES: A Secret Service member was shot in the protective vest it
appears. We're learning about. We're waiting to see the condition of that Secret Service member. But just so we can help the audience understand, I mean, we're talking about literally minutes into the start of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, you had the White House Correspondents Association president speaking, thanking the White House press secretary, thanking the president, United States, for having been at this event. And the first lady, we saw the announcement of people being in the room as well. You heard the anthem and other things starting to play.
And within moments of being told to enjoy their dinner, suddenly we were brought back into the room by chaos that was unfolding, and Secret Service members bum rushing the stage and weapons being drawn as people were crouching under their tables.
And we had just talked about some of the people who were crouching at those tables. We're talking about the line of succession who was there as well. It is unfathomable to think about that.
And of course, members of the press, civilians, human beings, not only in the room, in the lobby. This is not a hotel that shuts down just because the White House Correspondents' Dinner is being held there. You have a huge tourism boom in Washington, D.C. people who are outside as well. And of course, Andrew McCabe, I want to bring you in here because it is so important to hear about you talk about soft versus hard targets. We have no idea who the target was here. There are a lot of assumptions being made as the reporting is coming in fast and furiously.
But talk to me about the idea that you're talking about a crime scene that is the length of a city block, practically in Washington, D.C. --
COLLINS: John?
COATES: Kaitlan? We hear more from you, Kaitlan.
[22:25:01]
COLLINS: Yeah. I just want to let you guys know we just got a two- minute warning. That means the president is imminently coming out here to address the press corps. So, we will hear from the president himself, who is offering a lot of the updates.
I mean, we were hearing that the gunman was dead. We were hearing multiple reports, but obviously, understandably, it was breaking news situation. A lot of reporters in one ballroom asking people for information. And the president himself was the one who said and confirmed that the suspect had been apprehended by law enforcement. So he'll be out here momentarily.
And we'll obviously see who joins him. If anyone from the cabinet joins him and what he has to say about this experience. As he was sitting there on stage, obviously, as all of this was going on.
COATES: So important. John Miller, it was -- his reporting to us as well, Andrew McCabe, about some identifying details of this suspect. Give us some context to what you were hearing -- Andrew.
BERMAN: Andy, 30-year-old, white -- 30 year old male, we should say from California. Those are the only details we have right now. Suspect in custody. Sorry to interrupt you, Andy.
MCCABE: Yeah. That's okay, John.
So, obviously, we're going to learn a lot more about this person as the hours and days go on.
But really, the preliminary question for me is, are we talking about someone who simply approached a magnetometer and then engaged a firearm, or someone who got through the magnetometer and actually engaged firearm in the -- in the cleared kind of space? That's -- how that -- how that question is answered is going to really, I think, set the tone of the conversation around this attempted attack, if that's in fact what it was for the next several days.
There will be a lot of questions to answer at the Secret Service, if that person got through the security perimeter with a firearm.
BERMAN: And that is one of the key questions here. The absolute layout of the room, how far the person got, the disposition of that person as he was going through security. I don't know if we'll hear that from the president. The president does have a tendency to be the first provider of information that sometimes you would normally hear from law enforcement officials.
So obviously, we are all on the edge of our seats waiting to learn more here. Kaitlan was describing the situation as all the reporters who cover all the major events in Washington were in the Washington Hilton, and now many of them have tried to get to that room. You're looking at right now where this briefing is about to take place. We were given a two-minute warning about two minutes ago. That can be a little bit squishy.
COATES: Some even running from the location of that Hilton down to the White House, which of course, you're talking about over about two miles down Connecticut Avenue. Essentially, it's a long way, but just the ferocity of which they're trying to get to the location because obviously the president, United States, was not going to speak from that location.
And you also see down there you see Kash Patel, the FBI director, who was at this dinner as well. You see Secretary Kennedy, who was there as well.
S.E., you've been -- you've been watching very closely by the people who are in this room. And the impact of what this could mean.
CUPP: Well, I was -- I was watching tonight to see if Kash Patel was going to come for other reasons, because he's suing a journalism outfit right now. But we just saw him, you know, text out as a guest the nation's top law enforcement officer was in this room tonight, which is remarkable, and has so many implications.
What did he see? What will he mobilize? I mean, was, was he a target? We have no idea.
BERMAN: The acting attorney general, the U.S. attorney for Washington.
CUPP: Very important people, forgetting the politics of these people. These are very important people in the country. And they were all in this room, including the nation's top law enforcement officer. I just think that's really, really fascinating.
COATES: Secretary Hegseth there as well. I mean, the number of people, which is part of why this was such an important night that many of these people had not come before as cabinet members.
JENNINGS: A lot of important people. And I just think these people are all guarded by people. Secret Service cabinet officers have their own protection. The Capitol Police protect the people from the legislative branch. You got a number of different. You got D.C. police get a number of different law enforcement people here.
And look, you know, at the end of the day, the shooter is in custody. And we'll learn details. But these are -- these are brave people because they are guarding people that are constantly under threat. They're going to these major events. Thousands of people are around, you know, it's a little wild out there.
And, so, I just think -- I just wanted to say thank God for these law enforcement personnel, because what they do to put their lives on the line to protect the continuity of our government and events like this, we should be proud that they serve our country and our -- and our government the way they do.
BERMAN: And one Secret Service agent did take around to the vest. We do know that. We don't have an update on that individual, but. But one can hope that based on the way that we learned that information, that agent's recovering right now.
But certainly, Wolf Blitzer, our eyewitness on the scene, described many shots being fired.
JONES: And can we just give Wolf Blitzer some praise and some credit? He's the best to ever do it. And for him to be able to go through that and still be as cool and calm and collected and be able to explain what was going on, really, before anybody in the world knew what was going on. Wolf Blitzer was there, and he was able to continue to report and then have to repeat a few times tonight what was going on.
Look, you know, you have some people who are legends for a reason. Wolf Blitzer is one of those people.
COATES: Can you imagine? We just we just were talking about him before this. I mean, Larry Wilmore was just talking about referencing him in his earlier speech.
CUPP: And Wolf said to us tonight that it's been a really long time since he was around gunfire like that. People have to remember Wolf Blitzer went to war zones. Wolf Blitzer reported from the belly of the beast in very, very dangerous places. And he comes back, he's in a studio, right? Thinks safe and sound.
You're not safe and sound in today's America. You're not safe and sound in any room, in any classroom, in any church, in any movie theater.
That is awful. But I can't imagine someone like wolf blitzer who have has experienced kind of the scariest things imaginable, was tackled by police tonight to keep him safe.
BERMAN: Sitting down with us right now and -- just come on in, Brian -- is one of the journalistic heroes of the evening, and I'm not being glib, our very own chief media analyst, Brian Stelter.
And, Brian, just so you know, and I don't even know that, you know, this.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: A lot I don't know.
BERMAN: We saw what was happening on the screen, which was hard to tell. And then we didn't know anything. And the very first bit of information we got was from you in your first instinct was to basically Facetime and start reporting. So, thank you for being such a great reporter.
STELTER: I appreciate that.
BERMAN: Thank you for doing what you did.
STELTER: The only other time that's ever happened to me at CNN was a little bit like this night. It was the night there was a bomb threat at CNN in New York. And our colleague Don Lemon was anchoring.
We had to evacuate out of that building, and I happened to live nearby. So, I walked over, I brought out, I think I used Skype because it was pre-COVID. And so, we ended up going live on the street.
And that night reminds me a little bit of this because, no matter what, people need to know what happened, people need to know what's going on. And so, we kept the show going, kept the broadcast going. But I'm -- and I went streaming to talk to you, John, live on air.
And it didn't sink in for me until about a half an hour later what it actually happened because for me, holding up the phone was a way to step away from it and not have to process it and not get so shaken up, like so many of the people around me. Because as you've mentioned, there were a lot of people in that room that were pretty shaken up by --
COATES: Major Garrett and you thought it was dishes. Excuse me.
STELTER: Truly, and many of us, many people around, were just hoping that this was some misunderstanding.
JONES: Overreaction.
STELTER: That's what we were hoping. JENNINGS: When it started happening, Brian, I assume there was a lot
of confusion. Were people screaming? Did people start running? I mean, or was it sort of a delayed reaction to --
STELTER: I think it happened too fast for people to leave the room. I was on the other side for most of our CNN colleagues, around some NBC tables. I was talking to somebody from Comcast and then, you know, 10 seconds later, I'm on the ground right next to her.
I remember she was visiting from Philly. We had just been talking about our kids together and now she's on the ground. I'm right next to her and thinking, you know, we don't know what to think.
CUPP: Did someone tell you all to get down?
STELTER: No. I think it was one of those just instant, you know, reactions like a wave across the room. And because I'd only heard dishes clanging around. I was hoping it was overreaction. But because so many law enforcement officers swarmed in, not just from the middle, the way you've seen on TV, but also from all the sides, it was, you know, pretty clear something was wrong.
BERMAN: Let me just tell you right now, we're standing by, you're looking at the White House briefing room. The president due to speak any moment. We were given a two-minute warning about five minutes ago. It could very well be that they're getting new information now, and they're holding back to wait for the president to come out. Although the door just opened there, there is the president of the United States. Let's listen in.
STELTER: Still in the tux.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, thank you very much. That was very unexpected. But, incredibly acted upon by Secret Service and law enforcement and this was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press.
And in a certain way, it did, because the fact that they just unified us through a room that was just totally unified, it was, in one way, very beautiful, a very beautiful thing to see -- a man charged, a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and he was taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service. And they acted very quickly.
And have just released for purposes of transparency, clarity, I've ordered it to be put out. You probably have it by now. Put out on Truth and put out on many other platforms a tape showing the violence of this thug that attacked our Constitution, and also showing how quickly Secret Service and law enforcement acted on our country's behalf, really did a great job.
[22:35:10]
One officer was shot, but saved by the fact that he was wearing a -- obviously a very good bulletproof vest. He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun. And the vest did the job.
I just spoke to the officer and he's doing great. He's great shape. He is -- has very high spirits and we told him we love him and respect him. And he's a very proud guy. He's very proud of what he does. Secret Service agent.
And, we looked at all of the conditions that took place tonight. And I will say, you know, it's not a particularly secure building. And, I didn't want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we're planning at the White House.
It's actually a larger room, and it's a much more secure. It's got its drone proof, its bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That's why Secret Service, that's why the military are demanding it. They wanted the ballroom for 150 years for lots of different reasons.
But today is a little bit different because today we need levels of security that probably nobody's ever seen before. But everyone owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to the courage of law enforcement. The law enforcement, and working with the D.C. police, and we just spoke with the mayor. And when we're finished, the police chief is going to take over and discuss it also from their viewpoint.
But they also performed exactly as they were supposed to. And you see the attacker in different positions, but you also see the attacker totally subdued and under control. So, as you know, this is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a would-be assassin who sought to kill. In Butler, Pennsylvania, less than two years ago. You all know that story. And in Palm Beach, Florida, a few months after that, we came close. We really had -- again, we had some great work done by law enforcement.
But in light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts and resolving our differences peacefully. We have to -- we have to resolve our differences.
I will say you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals and progressives, those words are interchangeable perhaps, but maybe they're not. But yet everybody in that room, big crowd, record setting crowd. There was a record setting group of people, and there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together.
I watched, I watched, and I was very, very impressed by that. But we were -- first lady and I were taken very well care very quickly, very quickly rushed off the stage.
Vice President J.D. Vance, who is here, was likewise, uh, beautifully done. He was just saying how quickly everybody acted law enforcement, Secret Service in particular in this case, but law enforcement. Marco had the same thing.
Pete was there. Pete didn't want any help. He didn't want anybody to help. He doesn't want anybody to help him. But he did get some, didn't you? And I think you also said that it was very impressive. So, with that, I'd like to ask Todd Blanche to come up and say a few
words and tell you it's already underway. The man is -- has been captured. They've -- they're going to his apartment, I guess. He lives in California and he's a sick person, very sick person. And we don't want things like this to happen.
I think it's very important that I say, though, and I told the representatives of the evening they did such a beautiful job. It was such a beautiful evening. And again, they're talking about free speech in our Constitution. That's what it's all about, not just White House correspondents. It's really it was really based on free speech in our Constitution.
But I said very importantly that we'll do it again within the next 30 days and well make it bigger and better and even nicer.
So, I just want to thank everybody that was involved. I also want to thank the press, the media. You've been very responsible in your coverage. I will say I've been seeing what's been out and you've been very responsible.
So, Todd Blanche, I'd like to say a few words and then were going to have Kash and then you're going to go on and we can ask, I guess we can take a couple of questions. I want to thank the first lady for -- that was a rather traumatic experience for her.
[22:40:05]
There was a lot of action taking place up there very quickly. But again, the response time was really incredible, and we're going to reschedule. We're going to do it again.
We're not going to let anybody take over our society. We're not going to cancel things out because we can't do that. We wanted to stay tonight. I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay, but they -- it was protocol. They said, please, sir, because they didn't know a lot of -- there was a lot of action going on and they didn't know, could there be probably a lone shooter, but we'll find out. We'll find out very quickly. They have it very well under control.
So, I want to thank everybody very much. And, Todd Blanche, please?
TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you very much, Mr. President.
Tonight, you saw the very worst and the very best of this country. You saw the very worst by the actions of that coward that the president just talked about. But you also saw the very best because you saw law enforcement do exactly what they're supposed to do. And you'll see the videos come out, I expect very shortly. And you'll see law enforcement do exactly what we want them to do.
And so, I echo what, Mr. President, President Trump just said that we are extraordinarily grateful and appreciative of the men and women of law enforcement that that did their jobs tonight, including one who was -- who was injured. This investigation is ongoing. I expect you will see charges filed shortly. The charges should be self-evident, given the conduct. But as you'll hear, there will be multiple charges surrounding the shooting around the possession of firearms and, and anything else that we can get -- get on this guy.
The investigation is obviously ongoing and just started. There is federal law enforcement already working on search warrants and doing their job, and I don't want to get ahead of them and don't want to get ahead of the work that they're doing, even as we speak.
Director Patel and I were just on the crime scene, a short while ago, and everybody in this room should rest assured that the Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI, Secret Service, everybody is on the scene doing their job. I know that the police chief is going to give an update from the scene as soon as we're finished here. And I obviously will lead that -- leave the details of what -- of what they have learned to him.
But in the meantime, I just want to thank -- thank everybody in this room for the courage. And I want to thank President Trump for his for his words. And I promise you, justice will be served. Thank you.
Director Patel?
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Thank you, General. Thank you, Mr. President.
The president is absolutely right. You saw the best resolve of American law enforcement because you, Mr. President, inspire them 24/7/365. You give them the resources that they need. And, you know, they know that you have their back. And that is a changing dynamic in this country. And that's why you saw a brave Secret Service agents respond immediately, swiftly subdue and take down the suspect and safeguard the lives of thousands of individuals at that hotel.
Thanks to our interagency partnership with the Department of Homeland Security and the Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI was rapidly deployed onto the scene, took over the evidence response unit is examining all the ballistics that were found on scene to include the long gun and the shell casings. We are conducting witness interviews as we speak.
You will hear from our team on the scene there with the mayor and the head of the FBI field division there. But please know what the attorney general has just said remains no truer. You saw the very best of America tonight. The very best unite us at a time of uncertainty, because we have leadership here with the president, the vice president that backs law enforcement and the men and women that I shook their hands on the scene today could not have been prouder to show up on scene.
And as the attorney general said, make no mistake, we are conducting witness interviews. If you have any information, any information whatsoever related to this event, 1-800-CALL-FBI, 1-800-CALL-FBI. No piece of information is too small. No piece of information is inadequate. We will evaluate it all. We will also be conducting interviews of
those that were there. And if any of those individuals have information, please come forward to law enforcement or the FBI or the Metropolitan Police Department.
We will be examining this individual's background thoroughly. That process has already started, and we are going to ensure that he was either a lone wolf actor or anyone else that was responsible. We will analyze all evidence immediately to make sure that we safeguard this country.
Mr. President, Mr. Vice president, thank you for your leadership.
Attorney General and Homeland Secretary Mullin, thank you for your partnership and law enforcement.
TRUMP: Okay. We'll do a couple and then we go to the chief.
Madam Chairman, I just want to say you did a fantastic job. What a beautiful evening. And we're going to reschedule.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And after that, it's very tough for her to ask a killer question, right? But you have done a fantastic job. Please.
WEIJIA JIANG, CBS NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Mr. President, I appreciate it.
As you mentioned, it all happened so quickly.
TRUMP: Yeah.
[22:45:00]
JIANG: And I wonder, especially because unfortunately you have experience with these sorts of threats, in that moment when you realize there was a threat and service agents were telling us to get down. Can you describe what was going through your mind, how you were feeling in that moment?
TRUMP: It's very good question, actually. It was -- it's always shocking when something like this happens. It happened to me a little bit and that never changes.
The fact we're sitting right next to each other, the first lady, am I right? And I heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray. I thought it was a tray going down. I've heard that many times and it was pretty loud noise, and it was from quite far away.
He hadn't reached the area at all. They really got him. But so, it was quite far away. But it was a gun.
And some people really understood that pretty quickly. Other people didn't. I was watching to see what was happening. Probably should have gone down even faster. Melania was very cognizant, I think, of what happened. I think she knew immediately what happened. She was saying, that's a bad noise. And, I -- we were whisked away along with other people, but we were really whisked away.
And again, the performance of the Secret Service and the police, all of the law enforcement, I thought it was really good.
So, it was very quick. There wasn't a lot of time to be thinking, because it was a matter of seconds before we were out the door and gone into an area we very much. And you wanted to, too, you very much wanted to continue it because I don't like to let these sick people, these thugs, these horrible, horrible people change the fabric of our life, change the course of what we do.
So, we held out. You were there. We held out right till the end. But they didn't want to take a chance. And I understand it was protocol, but were going to be doing one hopefully within the next 30 days or sooner.
And I am ready, willing and able. And I was all set to really rip it.
And I said to my people, this would be the most inappropriate speech ever made if I said so, I'll have to save it. I don't know if I can ever be as rough as I was going to be tonight. I think I'm going to be probably very nice. I'll be very boring the next time, but we're going to have a great event.
And you did a fantastic job. Thank you very much.
Peter, go ahead.
REPORTER: Thank you, President Trump. There's a report in "The New York Post" that this assailant assembled his weapon somewhere on site at the hotel. What do you think about that? And, I asked respectfully, why do you think this keeps happening to you?
TRUMP: Well, you know, I've studied assassinations, and I must tell you, the most impactful people, the people that do the most. You take a look at the people, Abraham Lincoln. I mean, you go through the people that have gone through this where they got them.
But the people that do the most, the people that make the biggest impact, they're the ones that they go after. They don't go after the ones that don't do much because they like it that way. And when you look at the people that have either, whether it was an attempt or a successful attempt, they're very impactful people.
Just take a look at the names here. The big names. And I hate to say I'm honored by that, but I've done a lot. We've done a lot. We have -- we've taken this country and we were a laughingstock for years. And now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. We've changed this country, and there are a lot of people that are not happy about that.
So I think that's the answer, Peter. REPORTER: And after Butler, your team for a while rethought outdoor
events.
TRUMP: Yeah.
REPORTER: Do you think that you now need to rethink indoor?
TRUMP: Well, then you just don't do events. No, I can't do that. I have to what -- you know, it is what it is. We have to do it. The room was very, very secure. You know, he charged from 50 yards away. So, he was very far away from the room.
REPORTER: And what did you think when you saw the video of how fast he was running?
TRUMP: He was moving. He was really moving. And the reaction time was great. Boy, those guys, they had their guns drawn, literally. By the time he was there, they were shooting.
They were -- I thought they were very impressive. I thought they were very impressive. And if I didn't, id let you know. You know, I'm not going to be -- I would not stand for that. No. I thought they were very impressive.
COLLINS: Thank you, President Trump. Thank you for updating us on the suspect earlier.
Were you aware of any threats or does your team aware of any threats beforehand? And do you believe you were the target of this tonight?
TRUMP: I guess, I mean, these people are -- they're crazy. They're crazy. And you know, you never know. It was very far away from me. You had to go through a lot.
We had -- we had resources all over. We had resources sitting at tables, literally in disguise, sitting maybe at your table.
[22:50:03]
Who knows?
But we had -- we had people all over the room. So, he had a long way to go. That was really a first line of defense. And they got him. And they really, you know, they acted incredibly. No, we have -- we've had no -- there was no notification. We had no idea. Go ahead, Kevin.
COLLINS: Any political motivations from this?
TRUMP: Well, you never know. Now, we'll be able to tell you that maybe by tomorrow or the next day. You know, he's in custody and they're asking him a lot of questions. I guess they're going, Todd, and they're already at his apartment. He lives in California.
BLANCHE: Yes, sir.
TRUMP: And they'll be there over there. So they'll be able to tell you. Thank you, Kaitlan.
REPORTER: President Trump, did the suspect say anything or was he wearing anything that would allege some type of motive here?
TRUMP: No, I mean, he was a guy who looked pretty evil when he was down. You know, they had him down. He was fighting hard. He was a obviously, in my opinion, a sick person who would do that. But a sick person.
But I think you're going to find everything about him. No reason to talk about it now. But tomorrow at this time, long before this time, you're going to know a lot of things about him. He was a -- they seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too.
REPORTER: Are you concerned about U.S. Secret Service protection ability? We saw several of the detailees take minutes to be escorted out of the room.
TRUMP: No, they acted very quickly and I was very impressed by Secret Service. I mean, I'm the one. And Markwayne, you would agree with that?
I think I'm the one that would complain. You don't have to complain for me. I would be complaining. I'd be up here right now saying they didn't do their job. Oh, believe me, because, you know, it's my life and I want to live because I want to make this country great. That's why I want to live.
But when you're impactful, they go after you. When you're not impactful, they leave you alone.
Okay. A couple of a -- couple of more, a couple of more. Go ahead, please.
REPORTER: Is there any indication that this, um, this shooting could have been linked to the war in Iran?
TRUMP: I don't think so. But you never know. We're going to know a lot. Well, we have the best people in the world working on it. And we're going to know a lot.
Please?
REPORTER: Mr. President, there's a lot. There's -- you as well as some of us who have covered Butler experienced another horrific day two years ago.
TRUMP: Yeah.
REPORTER: What felt similar? You know, you had the first lady with you today. What felt different? And you have another two plus years in office. Are you concerned about something like this happening?
TRUMP: Well, I can't be concerned. I can only get great people. They did the job a much better, in my opinion, a much better job than Butler. Butler had one weak spot that we all know about. Somebody should have been up there, but even Butler, we had a -- our sniper -- sniper on our side within 4.2 seconds from a distance of about 400 yards, one shot, and he was gone.
And if he didn't do it -- now, you know, he's David. His name was David. I say, hello, David. Every time I see him. David, I like you very much, David. But think of that now. If he doesn't hit him and he hit him right between the eyes from 400 yards without any notice.
Nobody knew. He heard a sound. He looked over and there was actually a tree that was somewhat in his way. You know the story very well. And he aimed. He fired. And if he didn't do that beyond me, he would have had a lot more people killed. We lost one great person and two people very badly hurt. They're okay now, but no, that was so in a sense, you know, they it was pretty amazing the job they did.
But they did have that one weak spot, as you know, they should have had that covered. Tonight, they had everything covered very quickly. And he was fast. He was running full blast. And they got him before they got any further. I was very far away.
You know, he was -- he hadn't anywhere close to breach the doors of the ballroom. The ballroom was sealed. And everybody in there. That's why once those doors opened, they didn't want to do tonight, if the doors were opened, we could have probably done it tonight. But I think we're much better off rescheduling.
Yeah. Please?
REPORTER: Mr. President, for you and perhaps law enforcement as well, what is the level of confidence that this was a lone actor, and has the suspect made any statements to police while in custody?
TRUMP: I think it's just my -- look, it's not my profession. We have great professionals up here and outside that have been working with us. My impression is he was a lone wolf, a whack job. These are crazy people. These are crazy people.
And they have to be dealt with. We had that -- in the second attempt, as you know, and he's spending life in prison because if you let him out, they'll probably, you know, if he serves 10 years or 15 years, you let him out, he'll probably try it again with somebody else. They're sick people. We have a lot of sick people.
But you're going to know, I think, very shortly you're going to know, Todd, a lot about him.
[22:55:02]
You're going to know a lot about him.
Yeah. A couple of more?
TRUMP: Yeah. Please go ahead.
REPORTER: Are you concerned about political violence? This could be politically motivated. TRUMP: All violence. I'm concerned about everything, but I can't be so
concerned that you can't function. No, I'm here.
It's a dangerous profession. You know, I tell the story. Race car drivers. I think it's very dangerous. So, you take 1 percent and then take about 10 percent of 1 percent just to break it down very easily, they die. So much less than 1 percent, 10 percent of 1 percent.
I think bull riding is very dangerous. If you take about the same 10 percent of 1 percent, much less than 1 percent.
But if you take presidents, it's 5.8 percent. And about 8 percent are shot at. So, nobody told me this was such a dangerous profession. If Marco would have told me, maybe I wouldn't have run. Maybe I would have said, I'll take a pass.
No, it's a dangerous profession, but I don't view it that way. Look, I'm here to do a job. It's part of the job. It is a dangerous -- it's -- I can't imagine that there's any profession that's more dangerous.
But I love the country, and I'm very proud. I'm very proud of the job we've done. You see what's happened. We have a great country. We've got, I think, the most successful, the hottest country anywhere in the world. This has happened over a period of just a year, and we're going to do great things. But with that come risks. Theres no question about it.
Yeah.
REPORTER: To that end, I mean, there's been so much political violence not just aimed at yourself, but at other members of, you know, members of Congress, state house speakers, you name it. Is that just the cost of doing business to do politics in America anymore?
TRUMP: Yeah. Well --
(CROSSTALK)
REPORTER: What does that say about our --
TRUMP: You know, we're not the only country. You look at this great violence with all countries. I was talking to somebody from another country today, and they have numerous assassinations of political figures all over the world. You look at South America and South America. It's like some of the numbers are just horrific.
It's dangerous, dangerous stuff, whether it's here or someplace else. No country is immune, no country. Good question.
REPORTER: Turn the temperature down at this point.
TRUMP: Well, probably if I decided to just not do much, you know, if I let everybody rip us off and take advantage of us. Look, we're leading the world in trade now. We're leading the world in the military. Were the greatest military in the world. I rebuilt it in my first term, and now we use it because we have no choice. We can't let, as an example, Iran. We can't let them get a nuclear
weapon, that everything will be peanuts compared to that. If they ever were given a nuclear weapon and they'd use it, too.
Marco and I were talking about it today, they would use it without even hesitation. We can't do that. It was a shame. I said, oh boy, look at the numbers. We just broke 50,000 in the Dow. We just broke 7,000 in the S&P.
They said we couldn't do it in seven years, five years, four years. They were saying maybe in five or six years. And we did it in one year.
And I called everybody together. I called all of these people and others, and I said, we have to take a little journey. I say, to do this. We just had the great number. We just broke 50,000.
Wasn't supposed to happen during my term, wasn't reachable. We did it in one year. And I said, we're going to have to make a journey to Iran. They're going to have a nuclear weapon if we don't do it. We had the B-2 bombers take them out. I terminated in the first term the Obama agreement, the Iran nuclear agreement, which was a disaster. That was a road to a nuclear weapon.
They would have used it. They would have used it 100 percent. So, you know, when you do things like that, you become a target. If I wasn't doing that, I guess I'd be a lot less of a target. But I'm honored to be.
Okay. One more question
Go ahead.
Yeah. Go ahead please.
REPORTER: Thank you, President Trump. Thank you, President Trump.
Do you know how the gun was brought into the hotel? And also, how does this event impact you as the leader of our country? Do you think it will change --
TRUMP: I like not to think about it I lead a pretty normal life considering, you know, it's a dangerous life. I think I'm -- I think I handle it as well as -- as well as it can be handled.
I think a lot of other people, you know, you read stories where they become basket cases. To be honest with you, I'm not a basket case. I -- I take is really take it as it is. I do it for the country. I'm not doing it for any other reason.
I have a -- first lady who's doing a terrific job. She loves the country and she recognizes it better than anybody. She's told me numerous times it's you are in a dangerous job, but that goes along with her, too. I mean, it's dangerous for her, too.
We sat there tonight. We heard that noise and it was either a tray or a bullet. I thought -- I was hoping it was a tray, but it wasn't. And again, we had some very brave people doing a great job. So we're very proud of them and happy with them.
