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CNN Live Event/Special
Police: WHCD Shooting Suspect Believed To Be Guest At Hotel. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired April 25, 2026 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.
[23:00:02]
And again, we had some very brave people doing a great job. So we're very proud of them and happy with them.
I just want to thank everybody. They will be able to give you all that information as to the names and everything else. Most of -- I think we released the names already. Most -- most of you would have it, but his name.
We appreciate it. I see so many tuxedos and beautiful dresses. It was a little different evening than we thought, but we're going to do it again.
And we're going to -- we have a great chairman who were so proud of, and we have to make it better. We'll make it safer, I guess, right? But we're going to make it even better.
Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you.
REPORTER: President Trump, sir, about how impactful this was. Can we hear from her about well --
TRUMP: Honey, would you want to say something?
REPORTER: Okay.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The back one in the back. Go ahead.
REPORTER: Millions of people across the globe are watching you. You demonstrated courageous leadership. And thank God you're alive. All of us are alive.
What is the message that you want to give to the world that this should change? What corrective measures can we take from here on, sir?
TRUMP: Well, all you can do. Look, I don't care how many people you have, how good they are, they can be the greatest people. You have the greatest security in history. If you have a whack job who's got a brain. But it's a little bit distorted or a lot distorted, they can make trouble. I would say, Pete, right? You know, they can make trouble. Some of
these people are of genius level IQ and they're nuts. So, it can be trouble. So, you do absolutely the best. You get the best. We have the best people.
Well, look, they -- it was proven tonight. He -- he started running from 50 yards and he was fast. He was like a blur on tape. He was moving. They turned.
It was very impressive the way they got him because a lot of people would be looking and saying, you know, it's like a weird feeling. And they would let him get through, but they didn't let him get through. They drew those guns so fast, it looked like they looked like Matt Dillon. They looked like somebody that knew what they were doing. We really do.
But it comes with the territory. And if you want to do a great job, I really believe that. And you take a look at what's happened to some of our greatest presidents. And it doesn't happen to people that don't do anything, and it's not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran.
I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I really don't think so. Based on what we know. But, we're going to continue to do a great job. That's all I can do.
Thank you very much. We'll see you tomorrow. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
REPORTER: Glad you're okay.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: All right. The president of the United States finishing up a briefing there in the White House briefing room.
A remarkable moment, really, in our nation's history. The president relaying how a suspect is in custody who ran through a security checkpoint. We now have video of that, which we'll see in a second at the Washington Hilton Hotel, at the White House correspondents dinner, and was very quickly apprehended by police, the president confirming a few details here that the suspect is now in custody, that a Secret Service agent was shot, although was wearing a bulletproof vest. And the vest did stop the round there. The president saying he has spoken to that agent who is doing well at this point.
The president would not release any details other than to say it's a male from California who was in custody. He was asked repeatedly said, wait, let's wait until tomorrow until we get more information here. We'll find out that information soon about this person, whether there were any motives, whether there were any new details about what he was doing here.
The president also noted, I think, tonally, that there were Republicans and Democrats and conservatives and liberals and reporters and politicians all in that room. And he reached out his hand at this moment to everyone who was there and to say, this was a moment that did bring people together, albeit in some of the worst circumstances you can imagine. LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: He also praised the security, praised the
Secret Service detail that was very quick to respond to what unfolded in rapid succession.
He also talked about why he was intending to still speech -- speak that night tonight, saying that he was not going to let anybody take over our society, but then also talked about perhaps the inappropriateness of a speech that he had intended to be roasting of the media and beyond, and talked, quite frankly, which is a moment of levity in an otherwise very, very somber moment.
He also talked about -- posted on his own truth social video. He mentioned multiple times about this suspect fleeing and running at a very high pace. You can watch as this unfolding right now. You're going to see from the left part of your screen in a moment.
BERMAN: Yeah, this is the first time that we are seeing this on the big monitor. The first time we are playing this at CNN.
[23:05:01]
Okay. That guy --
COATES: Just how quickly and you see the area that they appear to be near. We were told earlier in the presence of a magnetometer look at the number of agents with weapons drawn who are running and pursuing this person.
And again, note the very quick pace from which this person has moved. And again, we do not see the shooting of a Secret Service member. We do have a picture of the suspect on the ground. We can show that as well in a screen that shows the suspect without clothing on, which seems to be which frankly is a normal course of business to remove to see if there's any threat under their clothing and beyond.
But let's -- let's bring in John Miller to talk more about this.
BERMAN: Yeah. John Miller again, we're seeing the photo of that suspect on the ground. We don't know if the suspect was shot because we're getting conflicting reports on that. It was hard to tell that photo if he was wounded.
You have some new reporting. Why don't you give that to us first? And then I do want to ask you to analyze the video. So first, your new reporting
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Sure. I mean, we've been looking into this individual since early on in this. And, you know, the picture that emerges of the man who's in custody is a 31-year-old man from Torrance, California. He is a graduate of California State University from Dominguez Hills.
He seems to go on from there to Caltech. He does a volunteer program at the jet propulsion lab, looking at his social media, looking at his posts, what he what he plays as, as a nerd, techie doesn't scream assassin, can't find controversial posts. He likes some other people's posts complaining about layoffs in
Washington of federal employees and things like that. But he doesn't -- his social media doesn't tell us much about him. So, the picture that emerges is not what you might expect from your typical assassin. But then again, look back at the other people who have been involved in these things and, if you've met one, one attempted assassin, you've met one attempted assassin.,
BERMAN: And John, the president did say he has no reason to believe this individual was motivated by Iran. That's the one bit of information he gave us. And he was quite dismissive about that. I don't think so. I don't think there's any reason to think that.
What he was motivated by is still to be determined. We will learn.
Now, John, I don't know if you've had a chance to see the video the president put out. We played it. Well play it again here of this individual running past the security.
Just tell us what you see with your trained eye here.
MILLER: So, he's running at breakneck speed. And you see the first agent who he is running towards literally spins out of the way while drawing his gun at the same time. And then shots are fired. This happens in less than seconds. These are milliseconds in terms of the reaction time.
And you can see by the way they move forward and are now reholstering their weapons that he is down, which means either he was shot and wounded by that gunfire or other Secret Service agents ahead of them out of frame tackled him. But either way, he was taken down fairly immediately after he ran by at that high speed.
BERMAN: John, right now --
MILLER: -- reaction time is --
BERMAN: -- we have the mayor of Washington, D.C., and police authorities speaking right now. Let's listen in.
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER, WASHINGTON, D.C.: Good evening. I'm Muriel Bowser. I'm the mayor of Washington, D.C.
I am joined by members of my public safety team and federal law enforcement, including the United States attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro. The Secret Service director, Sean Curran, as well as FBI field office Darren Cox.
We're here to provide you an update on the incident that took place tonight at 8:36 p.m. at the Washington Hilton, at the site of the White House Correspondents Dinner.
At about that time, a sole gunman rushed a Secret Service checkpoint in a lobby at the hotel. Secret Service agents stopped the suspect.
An agent was injured and transported to a local hospital, where the agent is receiving care. The suspect is also transported to a local hospital where he is being evaluated. The president returned safely to the White House as you know.
We are so very thankful to members of law enforcement who did their jobs tonight, and made sure that all guests were safe. We have no reason to believe at this time that anyone else was involved.
[23:10:01]
I want to turn to the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, Chief Carroll, to provide a law enforcement update and specifics.
JEFFERY CARROLL, INTERIM CHIEF, METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you, Madam Mayor.
Again, I'm Jeff Carroll, interim chief of police for the Metropolitan Police Department.
This afternoon, this evening, members of the United States Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department were here at the Washington hotel for a site detail for the correspondents dinner.
As the mayor mentioned, at approximately 8:36 tonight, an individual charged a U.S. Secret Service checkpoint here in the lobby area of the hotel. He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. As he ran through that checkpoint, members of law enforcement from the United States Secret Service intercepted that individual.
This is a very preliminary investigation at this point. We do know that law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the individual. We do know that a U.S. Secret Service uniform division officer was struck in his vest. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment. He seems to be in good spirits at this time.
The suspect in this case, he was not struck by gunfire. However, he was transported to a local hospital to be evaluated. Again, we're very early in the investigation. We have members of the United States Secret Service, the Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI here to continue to investigate this matter.
But at this point, it does appear he is a lone actor, a lone gunman that does not appear to be any sort of danger to the public at this time. However, we are continuing to investigate this matter.
At this point. I will turn it over to, I believe, the FBI.
DARREN COX, ASSISTANT DIRECOR IN CHARGE, FBI WASHINGTON: Hi. Good evening, I'm Darren Cox. I'm the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington field office. The American public should be proud of the quick response and heroic actions from law enforcement officers tonight to keep the American public safe. Their actions are absolutely heroic. The public should also rest assured that there will be no stone unturned during this investigation.
The FBI currently has our Joint Terrorism Task Force here on scene, along with our criminal division, our crisis response team, and agents from across the country are working on any leads that may come in in this investigation.
Anyone with tips in this investigation should call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Thank you.
BOWSER: Director. Director Curran.
SEAN CURRAN, U.S. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: Thank you
My name is Sean Curran. I'm the director of the Secret Service.
Tonight, we saw exactly what our brave men and women do each and every day to protect our protectees. It's not easy. And I will tell you that they performed admirably. We got to see what they do.
And that individual, when he charged a checkpoint was apprehended. It shows that our multi-layered protection works, and I'm grateful to our partners that help assist us with building these sites and protecting these sites.
Very fortunate that this officer is alive, is being observed, and I'm grateful that the president reached out to this officer and spoke with him earlier. I ask everybody to pray for him and all of our officers and agents that were involved. And I will tell you, we will continue with the mission. Thank you.
BOWSER: Thank you.
Judge Pirro?
JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: I'm Jeanine Pirro. I'm the United States attorney.
Right now, the defendant is being charged with two counts. 924C, using a firearm during a crime of violence, and a second crime under 111, which is assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
Now, as you all know, there was an individual, a uniformed Secret Service officer who was shot, and fortunately, he is doing all right and he will be fine. But it is clear, based upon what we know so far, that this individual was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could.
And thankfully, because of the checkpoint right outside the ballroom where thousands of people were situated, to hear the president of the United States, because that checkpoint worked. There was no one who was injured when it was clear where this defendant was going.
Now, I want to make one comment. As a participant, someone who was in the ballroom, who came this evening to be part of a very lovely event at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. I, for the first time was in a situation where there were shots fired, shots heard, and a whole room went silent.
When I lifted my head and when I looked up, every law enforcement officer was out there as we all had our heads down, thousands of them.
[23:15:11]
These are the men and women every day who do what they do silently, and they do it with courage and with dignity. Thank god for our partners, the FBI, the Secret Service, the Metropolitan Police, all of them tonight acted so quickly that they prevented what could have been a horrific event where we were all sitting there in one room.
The defendant will be arraigned on Monday in federal district court. But make no mistake, there will be many more charges based upon the information that we are learning in this very fluid situation. Thank you.
BOWSER: We'll take a few questions. Right here in the front, right here in the front.
REPORTER: -- sure that the suspect was specifically targeting the president, and is he talking to law enforcement now?
BOWSER: Chief?
CARROLL: Sure.
So, at this point, what we know is we know the individual charged a checkpoint with a firearm in his hand. We know he was running in the direction of the ballroom that the president was in, as well as other cabinet members. So, what his specific motivation was, we can't say at this point. However, as we continue to investigate that, we'll continue to work towards that.
REOPRTER: When you.
BOWSER: The question here.
REPORTER: There seems to have been a lack of authorization to come to this event. Was this a failure of the Secret Service?
CARROLL: I mean, I can -- no, I mean, what we have here is a multi- layered approach. The director spoke about it. We have officers on the outside from the Metropolitan Police Department along with the escort, the inside portion of any presidential site is handled by the Secret Service and law enforcement partners. This is a multi-layered approach.
The point of this checkpoint is to intercept individuals that were there. And what we see in this case is when he reached that checkpoint, Secret Service agents and law enforcement engaged him immediately. They were able to bring him into custody and prevent anyone from being harmed.
BOWSER: Okay. Right here. Right here.
REPORTER: Chief Carroll, can you tell us if you found a vehicle associated with the suspect? And are you the FBI conducting any search warrants on vehicle or locations here or elsewhere around the country?
CARROLL: Sure, Mark. So, as you can imagine, this is very early in the investigation. So, you know, things were looking into is his background vehicles. Those are all things that the FBI, the Metropolitan Police Department and the Secret Service are working together jointly to determine. Is there anything else that's available?
So, I would imagine as we continue to go through this investigation, there will be additional search warrants and things of that nature as the investigation progresses.
REPORTER: -- law enforcement.
CARROLL: At this point, he was not known to the metropolitan police department, I can tell you that.
BOWSER: Right here.
REPORTER: There are multiple other parties and events happening associated with this weekend. Tonight. Is there any reason to believe that there will be security concerns at those events? Are there preparations being made locally to protect those attendees?
CARROLL: Yeah, absolutely not. So, we have no indication. This is an isolated incident with one individual is the information that we do have. However, we do have additional officers across the city that are giving special attention. We do know there were some after parties and events that are planned that we will be providing coverage for those events.
BOWSER: Right here.
REPORTER: The president said that this is not a particularly secure building. Would you agree with that assessment?
CARROLL: I'm not exactly 100 percent familiar with this building. I do know in this -- in this incident tonight, I know there was a security plan that was developed by the Secret Service that the Metropolitan Police Department assisted with. And I know that security plan did work this evening.
BOWSER: Right here.
REPORTER: Thank you so much. Do you know specifically what target this attack? And can you speak to the reporting about the suspect assembling a long weapon at --
CARROLL: Yes. So, as we said before, we do know the president was inside the ballroom. We know there was cabinet members and many guests in there.
Who specifically he was targeting at this point, that's part of the investigation. We do know that he was armed with a shotgun when he ran through that checkpoint. So that would look like a long weapon in video.
BOWSER: All right. Right here, right here, right here. REPORTER: Clarify -- earlier, you said there was an exchange of
gunfire. Did the suspect fire any shots? And did the uniformed officer do you know yet which weapon he was shot?
CARROLL: Yeah. Obviously, we're only a couple hours into this incident, so we don't have that level of information. The FBIs evidence response team is here. They're processing the scene.
So, as the investigation develops, all that information will be figured out with the ballistics. The ATF is also on scene here with us.
REPORTER: The suspect did or did not fire a shot?
CARROLL: Sure. So, again, it's very preliminary information. We do believe he did. However, as the investigation determines, we'll pull the shell casings. We'll be able to get more information as we review more evidence. We're very early in the investigation.
BOWSER: All right. We can take a couple more, right here and right here. And one more over here.
REPORTER: Thank you so much. So, the president said that he wants there to be another event within 30 days. Given what happened tonight, do any sense of what additional security measures might be put in place to ensure that something similar does not happen again?
CARROLL: Sure. I'll toss it to the Secret Service.
CURRAN: Yep. This is what we plan for every day. So, we take each and every case and we evaluate it. And we do site assessments.
[23:30:01]
And that's why we go out and build these sites per -- per what the event is. And that's -- that's how we go about our business.
REPORTER: Will there be any changes or added measures given that this did happen?
CURRAN: We're going to have to evaluate this evening.
REPORTER: Thank you.
REPORTER: Any indication how the suspect got into the hotel. Was it a guest here? Are you searching rooms here?
CARROLL: Sure. So preliminary information. We do believe he was a guest here at the hotel. We have secured a room here in the hotel. And again, we'll go through the appropriate procedures to determine what was inside there. But that is secure at this point. Like I said, we believe he is the only suspect in this case.
BOWSER: Okay.
REPORTER: So, to jump on that question, I understand that approach to security. But you walk in with a weapon of that caliber and get all the way to the bathroom, which is on the lower level, seems to be quite a historic feat. How does that happen?
CARROLL: Sure. So again, I mean, we're very early in the investigation, so we'll have to determine, you know, well go through video across the hotel to figure out how the gun got in, how it got down here. Those things will come through the investigation. At this point, we don't have that level of detail.
BOWSER: Okay. Last one.
REPORTER: Yes, there appears to show -- video appears to show this person falling down with the escorted out here at all during this evacuation.
CARROLL: No, we don't have any information that he was injured.
REPORTER: Can you clarify how he was detained if he was not shot? Can you clarify how he was detained?
CARROLL: Sure. So, law enforcement. Yeah. Law enforcement in the in right here in this very area. They actually tackled him to the ground and handcuffed him.
REPORTER: Can you give us his name?
CARROLL: Not at this time. We will release his name, Mark, once we have all the information. Again, we're still running a lot of things down. Judge?
In the hospital. So, we have the uniformed division Secret Service officer who's being evaluated at the hospital, who took a round to the vest, and the suspect is being evaluated, but he was not struck by gunfire.
REPORTER: District Attorney Pirro, are you looking at any terrorism charges?
PIRRO: Well, as the chief just indicated, we're very early in this investigation. But make no mistake, if there is anything like that, we will find it and we will file it.
BOWSER: Thank you, thank you, thank you/
COATES: Really compelling. Today we are hearing a lot of information. We heard from the chief -- acting chief of police in Washington, D.C., the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., the mayor, as well as Secret Service director, hearing a lot of information. We know that the suspect was not shot but is in the hospital being evaluated.
We also know the president of the United States contacted Secret Service agent who was, in fact, struck and asked for the nation to pray. The person is in good spirits. We also learned a little bit more about whether they believe this person acted alone, saying there was no reason to believe that anyone else was involved. As the president articulated earlier, a lone wolf is what they believe happened here. A number of counts has been already identified by the U.S. attorney.
That will change, that will evolve as more information becomes known. She is initially raised two, both including acts of violence, both felony offenses, and they both have said that the checkpoint seemed to have worked, that this person from the video that we saw and started a little bit more, the video, the person sprinting through the area. They believe that that area acted as an effective checkpoint and actually was able to be a deterrent from more happening. But we do want to go to John Miller.
BERMAN: Let me just say, there are a couple really important details here. He was armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives. And as he ran through the checkpoint, engaged members of law enforcement intercepted the individual and exchanged gunfire, which indicates that both law enforcement and the individual did fire.
And then one last piece of information that we learned right at the very end, they think the individual is registered as a guest at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where this event was taking place. I didn't mean to interrupt.
So, John Miller.
COATES: So important.
BERMAN: John Miller is with us now.
COATES: I mean, everything you articulated, John, is important.
John Miller, let's talk more about this because this part of the investigation particularly intriguing that this person is a guest of the hotel. Remember, this Hilton is not shut down during the course of this event. It is an annual event. It is important to note this is, one could say the event attended by the most VIPs in the world tonight. I mean almost the entire. At least initial numbers of the line of succession would be. I mean, John for a second.
BERMAN: Literally, vice president, speaker of the house. We don't know if Chuck Grassley, the president pro tem of the Senate, was there, but the secretary of state, the secretary of treasury, the secretary of defense, literally.
COATES: Attorney general.
BERMAN: You know, almost five of the five in the constitutional line of succession was in that room at the same time.
COATES: And we know just by the weapons that were being used. And when I hear shotgun, handgun and multiple knives, John Miller, I anticipate this person was intending to exact maximum damage, but also in close proximity with knives alone. Talk to me about what you heard.
[23:25:00]
MILLER: Well, I'm hearing what you're hearing, but what I'm seeing here is indicators of a lot of planning. And when I say a lot of planning, a lot of advanced planning.
First of all, the Washington Hilton is a massive hotel. And the reason they have that event there is because it has the biggest ballroom in Washington that can accommodate the most people. That said, getting a room at the Washington hotel on the night of the White House Correspondents Dinner is nearly impossible unless you book that far in advance. Despite, despite the fact that it's a large hotel.
So, we could deduce from that that it is likely that he thought of this for some time in order to line up a hotel room in a hotel that is always fully booked for this evening. You can also deduce from that the fact that he had a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives that, beyond renting the room, what does renting the room mean? It means that he has the privileges of a guest. In most of those cases, the names of the guests are run through a sort of databases to make sure that none of them are known threats to the president.
But as far as we know from our own research tonight, he doesn't seem to have a criminal background that would have set off any of those alarms. But by being a guest in the hotel, he'd be able to enter the hotel, show security people his key, I'm staying here, and so on, which gives him some access, by getting there. And we don't know how far ahead of time he registered, it might give him a chance to get those weapons into the building and up to the room.
But that many weapons on one person seems to indicate possibly that he would use the shotgun until it was exhausted of ammunition. Toss that aside, transitioned to the handgun when that was exhausted, tossed that aside, and then go to the knives.
The idea of carrying a layered set of weapons, large, smaller, and then smaller seems to indicate he was in it for some kind of protracted fight. As long as he could go.
Now, we're adding a lot of thinking to -- rational thinking to what may be an irrational act, but it answers the questions or attempts to answer the questions. Why all of these weapons? Why be a guest in the hotel?
And when you see him do that charge? This is like a football play. He is trying to run as fast as he can by those layers of security, likely to get to those doors of that ballroom. Now, that didn't work for him within a couple of seconds, he was tackled. The chief did say exchanged gunfire, but it's still so early.
Whether he got shots off or they shot at him and he was tackled. Whether or not the Secret Service agent, the uniform division officer who was hit -- was hit by something fired by this gunman or whether he was hit by one of the rounds, fired by other agents trying to take the gunman down. We won't know that until the ballistics are in.
What we do know is everybody performed very quickly and heroically. Some of the key is going to be into this -- into this individuals background. And of course, what he is or isn't saying as he's in custody. COATES: But before we get to one point, I just want to ask, you
mentioned a number of things. Joint Terrorism Task Force. This is obviously the District of Columbia, as you're talking about the, you know, the federal government being involved. Also, the D.C. local law enforcement and beyond. The FBI has been mentioned here.
Can you just describe a little bit of the coordination that would be taking place behind the scenes now to conduct this investigation? And who would have ultimate authority?
MILLER: So that's a great question. In the immediate sense. What we saw is the Secret Service is the lead agency in protecting this event. This is their event. And you could see how quickly they acted. Once this person is in custody.
All of that changes over the Secret Service will review the incident. But now the FBI becomes the lead because the crime here is an attempted assault on the president of the United States. Possibly, but in the most immediate sense, an assault on federal officers. That's that Title 18 111, and the 924C that the U.S. attorney mentioned that statute is using a gun in a violent crime in violation of federal law.
So those are the immediate charges. The FBI's ERT, evidence response team, will come and process that entire scene. And his hotel room. Right now, they are searching the area to determine did he rent, buy or bring a vehicle there?
They're looking for that car. Search warrants are being obtained for his home in California. All of those wheels are turning with the FBIs la office with the FBIs Washington field office.
[23:30:00]
And as you guys already pointed, who's in the room in the ballroom is the director of the FBI, Kash Patel. So, he is just outside or just inside the scene of the shooting that's occurring on the other side of that wall.
The other person who was there is the assistant director of the Washington field office, Darren Cox, who will be in charge of this investigation. And we just saw at that press conference.
So, the investigation started before the smoke cleared.
BERMAN: Yeah. And many of the people conducting the investigation could very well be witnesses as well.
One bit of other information. The interim police chief of D.C. basically said that they believe the suspect did fire a shot. That is based on preliminary information.
John, standby. I want to go to Paula Reid, who has been waiting, who's got some new reporting she wants to share with us.
Paula, what are you learning? PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Look, my
analysis of this press conference is that I was pretty surprised. But, you know, it's not shocking given the circumstances. But it's notable that the president was flanked by his two top Justice Department officials. And it's significant because both men are under scrutiny right now for very different reasons. The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, is, I'm told, by sources, basically auditioning to be the nation's top law enforcement official.
Of course, Director Patel is currently dealing with a flurry of unflattering stories, a lot of questions about his status within the administration.
So, this is a test for both men of how they handle a significant event like this. We saw the acting attorney general come out. He described the investigative steps that officials are taking. He said they're working on search warrants, whatever they collect in those searches that will help inform the charges that are eventually filed.
Director Patel also making a plea for additional information and how these two men handle this case going forward, will be significant. Neither one of them can afford a misstep here.
Now, we also heard from the U.S. attorney in D.C., Jeanine Pirro. She is someone, according to my reporting, who is also up for a possible promotion within the Justice Department. She came out and she detailed specific charges, including firearms charge, as well as the fact that this individual allegedly -- allegedly shot a federal law enforcement official. She said an arraignment will happen on Monday.
But this is something to really closely watch how these Justice Department officials handle this high profile case, because so far, a lot of the major stories in the Trump Justice Department have been sort of self-inflicted controversies like the handling of the Epstein files, firings, controversial cases.
But something like this. This is the type of event that almost every attorney general, every FBI director eventually encounters. So, the president, likely watching these folks very closely to see how they handle this and how that will inform his staffing decisions at the top of his Justice Department going forward.
BERMAN: Yeah, no doubt about that. And look, they were all there, and they are all very much a part of this in so many different ways at this moment.
Paula, thank you. Stand by.
With us now, Jonathan Wackrow, CNN law enforcement analyst and a former Secret Service officer. Jonathan, it's great to see you tonight and have your insight here on everything we just saw and everything that just happened, particularly if you can describe the area around the checkpoint and this individual charging right at it, and at least for a moment, right through it.
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yeah. Well, listen, John, good evening.
One thing I want to say is I want to echo some of the things that director curran had stated is that, you know, the Secret Service puts together a very comprehensive security plan for this site. Every year, they start from scratch. They look at the threat environment, they build out that security plan based upon what they believe is, is the best protocols to put into place for this specific event.
And tonight, what we saw was that plan coming to fruition exactly, you know, as it has been practiced time and time again, those uniformed division officers are always anticipating some sort of, you know, attack on that site. Why? Because they know that that is the line of demarcation for any protective site for the president of the United States. They practice these types of attacks in the response to those types of attacks time and time again.
So, when we watch that video and we saw and we see without hesitation those officers immediately identifying the threat, responding to it, and then, you know, taking control of the situation. This is something that is not a one off. This is something that those officers, as professionals, plan for time and time again.
At the same time as that is happening, communication is going back to the working detail for the president of the United States. They're letting the detail know exactly what is happening, that there is this, you know, that there is this attack at the main mag checkpoint, which we see on the video.
[23:35:04]
And they are saying, hey, listen, we have one threat. The threat, you know, is either contained or uncontained, but the detail leader at that point in time has to make the judgment call. Are we removing the president?
In this situation, the answer is yes, we are removing the president and other Secret Service protectees to safe locations within the site. They're not immediately leaving. Why? Because you don't want to go from one destabilized environment into another without actually knowing where you're going.
So, it is not a rapid departure. In this instance, it was, you know, very staged. But again, from the playbook of the Secret Service. And I have been in the situation where I've coordinated these exact type of events, this -- this site was set up perfectly. And the response by everybody, the agents and officers involved was almost textbook, you know, from what they practiced time and time again.
COATES: You know, John, people should know, we're not talking about an average, you know, dinner party. We're talking thousands of people who would be inside of this room.
BERMAN: Literally the least average dinner party ever.
COATES: But the sheer number, the proximity of these tables, the way in which people have to navigate. You heard the president earlier talk about even people coming up and in disguise as Secret Service, trying to make sure everyone was safe.
Kaitlan Collins, you obviously were in the room tonight as a recipient of an award. You raced to the briefing room, of course, as White House correspondent to focus on all what's going on. Describe for us out there that room, the way to navigate. Just talk to us about the sheer hurdle of trying to contain that room and ensure the safety of literally thousands of people there.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And obviously, this is a president that travels with intense security, especially after those two assassination attempts, their security that accompanies the vice president, all of those cabinet members who were in the room, I saw Speaker Mike Johnson as I was making my way to my table at the beginning of the dinner. He has security standing around him as well.
I mean, there is a ton of security that was already inside the room. The question is about what happens before the room. And I've attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner for nearly 10 years now.
And when you arrive at the Hilton, you know, people typically get out a few blocks away. Theres protests generally outside. But once you get inside the hotel, there are a few parties that some media outlets host for people to go. Typically, the president of the United States usually comes actually before for a small reception with the Correspondents Association board and the awardees of the evening.
That did not happen tonight. Instead, the president traveled over here from the White House with the press pool in tow. And as you get there, I should note, you go in and then there's an escalator that goes downstairs. That's the level where you see the red carpet, where Sara Sidner was anchoring from earlier. And once you go from there, that is where you approach to on the terrace level towards the ballroom where this is.
And I will tell you, you get a small ticket that says what your table number is. You have one physical ticket to get into the room. And before you approach, as you're approaching the magnetometers, there are aides down there, not law enforcement, it's staffers who are there that asked to see your ticket. You show it to them.
You don't show them any identification. It's just your physical ticket that you have. And then you go through the magnetometers.
It's done by Secret Service because, of course, the president was going to be there. I saw several Secret Service agents who were there that I know and recognize from covering the White House all these years.
People checked our bags. I had a small purse. They looked inside of it. And then you go through the magnetometer and they warned you if it sets it off.
And then from there, you go downstairs, another level to where the ballroom is. So, from this video that the president posted, it appeared that the shooter was on that level where you approached the magnetometers, not physically downstairs. And that's why when Wolf went up there and Wolf was going to the bathroom, it's on that same level by where the security is, is you go up some stairs.
And, so, obviously that's why initially there were questions about whether or not we had heard gunshots. As the president himself noted, they're moving a lot of dishes around. It's pretty loud inside that room. And so that was the indication there in terms of that.
But I want to tell you guys, because I thought about this because there's an escalator that everyone uses to get downstairs. So that main security level, the terrace level, I took an elevator down. There was no one checking my security or anything. Getting into that elevator. I went downstairs, walked out, and then walked in.
And so, when you walk by that there's a restaurant in this hotel. I think there's about a thousand rooms. There are regular people who are inside that are not attending the White House Correspondents' Dinner inside this hotel. It's not just only attendees who get inside the hotel.
And so, when you hear, as we just heard from the D.C. police, that the suspect was a guest at the hotel, obviously, that raises the other questions about the security levels here and how they even monitor for something like that. You know, as the president is saying, that in 30 in the next 30 days, he's going to attend another revamped with more security White House Correspondents Dinner. It raises questions about that.
And, I mean, you just can't ignore the historical reference here either, given -- obviously, this is the Hilton where President Ronald Reagan was shot outside of. And all of those decades ago.
[23:40:07]
And so just all of those questions there, as you heard, in this remarkable moment tonight where the president, the first lady and the entire cabinet was here in the briefing room, something that I personally have never seen, you know, in my decade covering the White House.
BERMAN: I've got to say, no one's ever seen a night like this in Washington, d.c., quite a night.
And, Kaitlan, thank you for being there. And thank you for being our eyes and ears throughout the whole evening. You were one of the first people we were able to speak to, giving us some of the earliest reporting that there was, in fact, a shooter that was taken into custody just outside the doors where the White House Correspondents' Dinner was taking place.
Kaitlan, thank you very, very much.
Here with us now, Laura, and I should note, I just want to thank each and every one of you who's been here all night long, right? And we all have friends inside that room. We all have loved ones watching, thinking that were inside that room. So, thank you all for being here and being so patient and learning
right alongside all of us.
Brian Stelter, S.E. Cupp, Van Jones, Scott Jennings -- wow. All I can say is wow.
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I thought the president did well. I'm starting to worry about something, though, which is that the shooter survived, which means on Monday he's going to court, which means there is a danger that people try to make him some sort of hero. You watch what happened with Luigi, who shot a CEO to death, and somehow became a hero.
So, they said, tonight you saw the worst of America. You saw the best of America. Tonight. You definitely saw the best of America. I hope on Monday, we don't see the worst.
Again, this I just want to say very clearly, this kind of despicable behavior has no place in America. It has no place on the right. It has no place on the left. We don't know if he was there because he wanted to hurt Democrats or Republicans. Both were there.
We don't know if he wanted to hurt journalists or politicians. Both were there. This kind of behavior has no place in America, and it is -- it is wrong. Violence is not the way to resolve any grievances.
And this cheerleader culture for violence, for people who think that the answer to our problems is to go shooting billionaires or going to synagogues or all these different things has to be called out immediately. The minute it starts, every single person with a platform must denounce it. Or are we going to see this again?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I couldn't agree more with you, Van. And also, anybody who attempts to rationalize it. You know, I think in the wake of some of these things, you get people who are saying, well, you know, you could see how someone might feel a certain -- no.
JONES: No.
JENNINGS: There's no place for rationalization of it, encouragement of it, coddling of it. I couldn't agree with you more. That's well stated.
I think on the president's press conference, extremely well handled, extremely responsible, perfect tone. And you know what I liked about what I'm seeing? You got the president there and he's usually jousting with the media. Very respectful of Weijia Jiang, very respectful of the press that was in the room. They were respectful of him because they had just gone through something together.
And, and all of them very complimentary of law enforcement. So, you think about all the different elements of our government and society that were in the room, political leaders, media, law enforcement, other important people. I mean, they all occupy different corners of our political affairs.
And yet look how quickly they got information to the public. Look at the tone they were using with each other. Look at the details that we now have.
We're under control here. And different layers of government, federal, local.
JONES: The mayor, the mayor job.
JENNINGS: And that press. So, I don't know. It was a terrible thing that happened. And then I saw a whole bunch of people do exactly the right thing in the right way with the right tone, and that ought to make us feel good as Americans and locals here.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: One of the first people who checked on me inside the ballroom was Brendan Carr, who was the Trump FCC chairman. And some of you might know, I've been rather critical --
JONES: Yes, you have sir.
STELTER: -- of his actions in the last year.
JONES: Yes, you have.
STELTER: But we were talking a couple of times right afterward, and that's the point, Scott. Right, right. Is that this was for everybody in the room who was there, a moment of unity, a shared traumatic experience. And that raises the concern you brought up about will people who are on the outside, who will view the press and the president as all part of the problem together on a night like this, all getting together for a grand old time, will they view it as, as something to celebrate? And let's hope not.
But tonight, look, everyone from Chuck Grassley who was not there, he's the one in the last session who was not there to Zohran Mamdani have all already come out on social media denouncing this. So, we are seeing that across the spectrum.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I thought a really interesting and I agree with you that the president handled that press conference incredibly responsibly. And I was really pleased to see that.
There was a moment, though, when our colleague Garrett Haake, I think, asked, is this just the cost of doing business now in politics or media?
[23:45:10]
And the president said, yeah. And I found that really disheartening because it should not be the cost of doing business to be a political figure, as someone who a legislator or the president or a journalist, again, we don't know who the target was here. There might have been multiple targets, frankly, with that much gun power, that many weapons. But it should not just be the cost of doing business. And I'm sure
watching President Trump talk tough, right? Like I'm not a basket case over this, right? Sounded really good and felt really good. You want your leader to project that kind of strength, but we do need to admit something that Van Latham was saying earlier, like we are sick and that we have been so desensitized to this that we say this is the cost of doing business.
I say it all the time to my therapist, but also, like in general, this is part of the job, getting swatted at my house, getting death threats at my house. Right? This is the -- this is the job.
It should not be the job. And we have people debating right now, some guy with a platform saying, well, someone like Rick Scott should be murdered, said that. People are justifying that. They justified it after UnitedHealth CEO murdered.
JENNINGS: Charlie Kirk.
CUPP: They justify it, whatever side. That has to stop. This cannot be the cost of doing what.
COATES: I want to say tonight. Tonight is also about the First Amendment, but I'm focused also on due process because that is where we are. And so frequently we have abominable, atrocious gun violence and victims are looking from left to right. And there is no suspect to answer for it. No living suspect to answer for it.
And as much as the United States is about and ought to be about freedom of the press and free speech and all of our various amendments and the Constitution, it is also about due process and about what happens Monday in terms of an arraignment.
One thing I'm particularly heartened by as a attorney, as a prosecutor, was that I did not hear any of the people who are in positions of authority and prosecutorial discretion to be wielded, get ahead of the evidence, get ahead of the facts or undermine a prosecutors ability to then bring a case.
Part of what we've seen recently has been the words of a president, the words of a prosecutor, the words of even journalists undermining the ability to have due process occur. And so as much as talking about the first, let's talk about the fifth and talk about what's going to happen on Monday.
BERMAN: I got to say, I will note one of the most notable things, and I don't think we've seen this before in events like this. We actually learned more from local law enforcement in the news conference after the president spoke. I think when we've been through things like this before, the president tends to want to be the news provider in chief.
And he held back, and we heard significantly more details from local law enforcement.
JONES: You know, S.E. Cupp, you know, more than a lot of people about guns. You're actually a gun owner. Can you explain to somebody like myself how much damage could have been done by two handguns and a shotgun? I just wanted to hear it from somebody who knows.
CUPP: It depends. And they were not specific. If were talking a semi- automatic shotgun that can hold upwards of six rounds. Okay, like your standard like 20-gauge, 12-gauge is maybe 2 or 3 rounds. We don't know what kind of shotgun it was.
We don't know what kind of handgun it was. He could have had multiple clips. He could have had multiple magazines.
I mean, he could have done a ton of damage. We just don't know. Exactly, because I think that the law enforcement officer who gave us that information was probably purposefully not very specific about the kinds of guns that were there.
STELTER: I was just thinking about the fact that in the ballroom, there's a lot of tables in the back, right by the exits. The shooter, if you've been able to get inside, would have been on those tables first.
Those are the usually -- they're usually the scholarship recipients. They're usually the college students who are allowed to come and see this. They're usually the folks who are not on tv who are nowhere near President Trump, but who are right by those doors.
BERMAN: One other point I do want to make, and this is Kasie Hunt, from Kasie Hunt, there are so many reporters who are either there and are watching, and everyone's doing work right now. So, thank you all.
It seems like it'd be impossible to get a room at the Washington Hilton. I actually don't think that's the case.
CUPP: I just tried and I could get a room tonight.
BERMAN: In this day and age with hotel bookings, so we don't know. We shouldn't jump to a conclusion that this guy necessarily booked the room six months in advance.
STELTER: And planned this for a very long time.
BERMAN: We just don't know. Maybe. Maybe yes, but not definitionally based on the fact that there was a room there. But the fact that he was allegedly heavily armed, that does tell us something. The fact that he was there at all gives some level, I think, of planning.
JENNINGS: One other thing going on in Washington. The guy who took a bullet tonight, a Secret Service agent, they are not being paid. They work for the Department of Homeland Security. It has been unfunded for 70 days.
[23:50:02]
And so when I look at these law enforcement guys, particularly at the federal level in DHS, the Secret Service guys, putting your life on the line, and I've seen a picture of one of the agents standing directly in front of the president of the United States. Yeah, heroes. Absolutely absolute heroes. What they do. And then look how we treat them. Look how -- look how the political
system treats them. And so grateful to all the agents and all the law enforcement that put their lives on the line.
One took a bullet. Now he had the vest, but he took a bullet. Thank God for these people.
BERMAN: We're seeing -- we're seeing the video of the principles being taken from the event. We saw the video of the checkpoint itself, of how quickly they all reacted to that. A lot of work happening before our very eyes here to be sure.
(CROSSTALK)
CUPP: I just want to point out, you can see in the midst of this Secret Service officers training their guns out at the crowd, which is what they're trained to do. And some have scopes and some have lights on them to see, you know, but imagine being a journalist in that crowd as guns are not -- they're obviously not on journalists.
STELTER: That must be partly why people got under the tables. That must have been partly why the immediate reaction was for everyone to hide under the tables.
JENNINGS: You know, one of the one other person, I guess she was up there, Brian, was the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.
STELTER: She was.
JENNINGS: She's nine months pregnant. She's having a baby next week.
COATES: There were several --
JENNINGS: I don't know what happened. But --
CUPP: Katie Miller, pregnant, was there. A lot of ---
JENNINGS: And so, when you get ushered off the stage like that, I mean, it's kind of a -- it's a physically jarring experience.
BERMAN: All right, guys, stand by for one second. John Miller is still with us now. And this is still such an active investigation.
And, John, I know that every time we have news like this, you learn new bits and pieces as the minutes pass. What's the latest you're hearing? And sort of what questions do you think will be answered tomorrow morning as the hours go by?
MILLER: Well, I think tomorrow morning were going to see charges. I think we're going to were going to see his identity be released publicly, and we'll start to learn background on him and potentially additional charges as, as the U.S. attorney, Judge Pirro said, I wanted to actually pick up where you all were leaving off, which is, you know, you look at that footage of the president being hustled away. We've seen that scene before at that press conference, the director of the Secret Service, Sean Curran, spoke. Aa lot of people don't remember. Sean Curran isn't just the director
of the Secret Service. He is the agent in that famous photograph with President Trump, with the blood coming from his ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, after being shot. He's the one wearing the sunglasses who has his arm around President Trump and is moving him off that stage. So, a bit of irony there.
But look at what they were confronted with tonight as they are moving him off the stage. And we can go to that footage again. You see the Secret Service counter assault team, those are the uniformed people who look like SWAT people pointing semiautomatic weapons out towards the crowd.
As you were just discussing, what are they doing? Why are they doing that? They know a gunman tried to breach the room. They don't know if there are additional gunmen. So what they are doing as the president is being moved out behind them is they are covering his exit in case additional shots come from the ballroom. And that's just their training.
The other thing is the president was taken to that hard hold where he's under -- it's a holding room where they've got, um, heavily armed presence and there, as Jonathan Wackrow told us, trying to figure out, do we make a move to the limo? We're going to hold here.
The president is arguing. Let's let the event go on. If this guy is down, he's neutralized. He's in custody. Then why cancel the event?
And the Secret Service problem was exactly this, which is we've all seen that footage of him running by, you know, the checkpoint and then opening fire. And him opening fire. According to the police chief, we believe, and then being taken down and put into custody.
This is the same that you would see in an airport where if somebody runs through the checkpoint and there's a big chase and somebody's taken down, they consider that checkpoint compromised now, because who can say with all of that fast movement and all of the people that were there responding to it, that somebody else didn't get through that checkpoint, you have to review every camera from every direction.
So now, they're saying, we created a sterile environment where no one in that ballroom could be armed, and no one passed that checkpoint could be armed. And we've taken down this individual. But was he a distraction that allowed somebody else to get through? And can we guarantee that?
And the answer was no. And they went back to the president and the White House staff and said, we really don't want to do this. Weve lost our sterile environment. At least we think we might have.
[23:55:02]
Can't guarantee it.
BERMAN: In the end, I'm sure this was not a hard call. I think this was an easy call to call off the dinner for the night, given the security situation that we all saw there.
Andy McCabe is with us, former deputy director of the FBI.
Your reaction to now, the new information that came out, both from the president, but also really from the dc metropolitan police and the briefing we had there?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yeah, John, I thought, like you, the most remarkable thing that we heard from the chief of police was the number of weapons that this guy came in with a shotgun, which is not an easy thing to conceal unless he's shortened the barrel illegally. A handgun. And then he said knives, plural.
So, this guy was really armed for bear. And clearly, we, you know, you spoke earlier about its hard to tell at this point with the few facts that we have, exactly how much planning went into this. And that's certainly true.
But we do know there was a fair amount of planning on the weapons side, right? So, we also know he lived in California. So, it raises the question of how did he get weapons in D.C.? Didn't travel here with them on an airplane or any place else that you would need to check those sorts of things. So that raises the question. Did he procure these weapons here? And who might have assisted him in doing that?
So investigators have a very long night and probably a long couple of days ahead of them in terms of really digging into this guys background, understanding his network of friends and associates and family members to really kind of hang as many facts onto this question of motive and whether or not he had any help in doing what he did.
COATES: A grand jury certainly is awaiting all of those information as well.
I mean, our own Wolf Blitzer, by pure coincidence, happened to be near where the gunman was actually taken to the ground himself to protect him by law enforcement who witnessed the shooting as well. I mean, just listen to his account of what happened when he left the room.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I just saw a big gun. I don't know what kind of weapon it was. And I heard the loud -- the loud bangs that were going off. It was extremely frightening. I was only a few feet away.
There was a total coincidence. I was walking back to the ballroom. We were on one floor above the ballroom. He 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 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: It's truly an unbelievable night to think what began as what would the president of the United States say has now ended with a suspect in custody who brought multiple weapons to the dinner. And so many questions that we all have still.
BERMAN: I got to say, I wanted to thank everyone at this table who has sat here and watched it with us throughout the evening. I want to thank Brian Stelter, who was in the room a few hours ago and was the first to report what he saw.
And I want to thank all of our viewers here.
This has been an unusual event and a hard event for us to cover, A, because it's all of our friends inside there, but B, because it was just the communications. It was so unusual. So, thank you for bearing with us.
JENNINGS: You guys did great, by the way. You, I mean, you guys, I mean, how you pivoted beautifully, handled beautifully. Well done.
STELTER: I just hope we can have a normal one in a few weeks. A normal White House Correspondents Dinner.
BERMAN: With much better jokes a few weeks from now.
This is CNN special live coverage. Stay with us much more right after this
