Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Soon, White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooting Suspect in Court; Trump Praises Law Enforcement's Quick Response to Shooting; Source Says, White House to Meet With Secret Service, DHS on Trump Security. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired April 27, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, suspect in court. Soon, the man who allegedly opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner is expected to face federal charges.

And security concerns, there are now serious questions about the screening protocol at the event. How did the suspect get that close to the president?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus inside the room, President Trump is now describing what went through his mind when the shots rang out, why he says he, quote, wasn't making it that easy for the U.S. Secret Service.

And new Iran proposal, what Tehran is now offering the U.S. with talks to end the war locked in the stalemate. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown and you're in The Situation Room.

We begin with breaking news soon. The man accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night is set to appear in federal court. This morning, investigators are poring over the writings of 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen. The White House says he clearly stated he was targeting administration officials.

The U.S. Justice Department says this video shows the suspect charged past a security checkpoint one floor away from the dinner where President Trump and members of the cabinet and thousands of others were seated. The suspect exchanged gunfire with U.S. Secret Service agents and was then tackled and arrested.

President Trump praised the quick response by the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He was fast. When you look at it on tape, it's almost like a blur.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. TRUMP: But it was amazing because as soon as they saw that, you could see them draw their guns, they were so professional, aimed their guns, and then they took them down immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And we're covering all the latest developments as this troubling story unfolds.

BLITZER: CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz is here with us in The Situation Room. Katelyn, thanks for joining us. I know you've been doing a lot of reporting on that. What do we know, first of all, about the scheduled arraignment later today?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we do expect to see for the first time in court Cole Allen after this alleged shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night. He has been in detention for the last couple of days. The feds have had him in custody.

And now in his first appearance in court, there are likely a couple things that can happen. We haven't yet seen any charges filed against him, even an initial complaint yet. I just looked, there's still nothing filed in federal court, but we do expect the Justice Department to put those initial charges at least against him so that they can keep him behind bars as a case would potentially proceed.

So, what the U.S. attorney, Jeanine Pirro, said on Saturday night, she said that they are expecting him, at least initially, to face a charge for using a firearm during a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

Now, more charges could very likely come later, and there would likely very much be a proceeding before a grand jury. But just today, it's about whether he can stay in detention, what the judge says, and for this federal defendant to now be facing a court for the very first time and seeing, hearing what he is potentially charged with and what the consequences may be. It may be a short appearance, but we do expect it for this afternoon.

BLITZER: What's the bar for attempted assassination, and obviously a very serious charge, and how likely is that these charges, these initial charges, will be upgraded?

POLANTZ: Well, that is something that we're just going to have to wait and see, and it will be dependent on the evidence.

So, the initial things that we saw the U.S. attorney come out and say they want to potentially charge Cole Allen with immediately, it's about what was witnessed there that day, him having a firearm and the assault on a federal officer. That would be a shot fired at a Secret Service agent and hitting that Secret Service agent.

Now, Wolf, the question of attempted assassination will certainly be something that the Justice Department may look at. We saw the acting attorney general say over the weekend as well that anything else we can get on this guy, we want to try and charge.

[10:05:06]

But regarding that sort of charge, it's a hefty charge. It potentially carries a life sentence. And we have seen previously one other man who brought guns to the golf course at Mar-a-Lago, didn't even get a shot off, but was apprehended and had a manifesto. His name is Ryan Routh. He was convicted of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump as a presidential candidate, and he is serving life in prison right now.

But this case, it's at the very beginning stage, so we'll have to see what --

BLITZER: I assume the prosecution will want life in prison for Cole Allen as well.

POLANTZ: We'll have to see what evidence they find though in these early days.

BLITZER: All right. Katelyn, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Here is that suspect under arrest just outside the hotel lobby and here's that same view from the Washington Hilton's website. If you go down this staircase on this virtual tour, you will be at the ballroom. That's how close the suspect was to the president, vice president, and many cabinet members.

CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez is here in The Situation Room. Walk us through this investigation, Evan, and what authorities are focused on today.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, in addition to trying to get some of the evidence that Katelyn is referring to for possible charges, including possible assassination charges, one of the things that they're doing is taking a look at what worked and what could have gone wrong on Saturday night. Obviously, we know that the Secret Service looks at -- for instance, they review people who are coming to the dinner. There is a screening process. Even people who are staying at their hotel are run through a database for people who might be wanted or have warrants outstanding. But there's nothing much more invasive about this.

And so, one of the things that we've heard now from this the alleged shooter, he makes reference in his writings to essentially how easy he felt the security was there. He checks into this hotel and he makes his way down there. If you look at the screen there at this, at the layout of the ballroom and where it's located, he ends up getting apprehended one story above the ballroom. This is where, Wolf, and some of the other guests were standing.

One of the things that I think the Secret Service is going to be looking at is whether perhaps they should screen everyone who's staying in the hotel. That's something we've seen them do at the U.N. General Assembly. They didn't do this at this location.

The FBI Director, Kash Patel, spoke a little bit about what this investigation is involving right now. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there a profile put out? Was he known? Was there a chatter about him before it? Not his mind during the act, before it?

KASH PATEL, DIRECTOR, FBI: Yes. All those questions will be answered in the complaint, the criminal complaint that's being presented. I just can't get ahead of my partners at Department of Justice and especially can't get ahead of the federal magistrate that it's being presented to. But we have answered all those questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And, you know, as you look through the writings that he left behind, he talked about being a friendly federal assassin. He called President Trump a traitor and talked about the rage he felt for this administration. It's not clear that any of that would've come up in the checks that they did do of the guests at that hotel.

BROWN: Was there a designated survivor? Because I was in that room with Wolf, and, I mean, you had the president, the vice president, top cabinet officials in there. Was that part of the plan?

PEREZ: It is now going to be part of the conversation.

BROWN: And how wasn't it for this? I mean, when the president gives the State of a Union address, there's always a designated survivor.

PEREZ: Right. And that's one of the things I think the conversation inside the administration now is whether they need to do this for this dinner and other events like this. It's an extraordinary gathering where you have pretty much everybody --

BROWN: The speaker of the House was there.

PEREZ: The speaker of the House. You have probably the top five people in the succession of this country, of the leadership of this country in one room. And what this incident really does show that if someone is determined, right, to attack something like this, they can go get pretty far.

Now, it is clear, you know, we know the layout of this place. He was one floor up. There was another number of layers he would've had to get through before he even got to the president. But some of those cabinet members were sitting in the room with 2,600 guests in there, obviously, a number of journalists, a lot of other guests in that place. So, the number of death tolls certainly could have been significant.

And also, you're raising a very important question of like whether should all of these people be in one place at the same time. That is something that is going to be part of the conversation going forward, certainly. BROWN: Particularly when there's heightened threats. You know, we're in war, right? There's all this talk about right concern about sleeper cells and so forth, and, you know, this was one man who allegedly tried to carry this out, but I think it raises a lot of questions.

[10:10:04]

PEREZ: Absolutely. And I think that's part of the review that's going to be done by the Secret Service as to how to go forward.

BROWN: Thank you, Evan.

BLITZER: Yes, very worrisome indeed. And they got to learn the lessons to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I want to go to CNN's Alayna Treene over at the White House. Alayna, I know you have some new reporting on a security review that's ongoing this week. What can you tell us?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf and Pamela. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is planning to gather and convene a meeting early this week with U.S. Secret Service, as well as leadership, at the Department of Homeland Security to really go through some of the best practices and protocols moving forward, and, of course, also kind of go into detail in reviewing what happened on Saturday night that really allowed for this gunman to reach, as Evan laid out, the level above the ballroom where the president and several cabinet officials were sitting.

I do want to read for you what a senior White House official told me about the focus of this expected meeting. They said, quote, the meeting will discuss the processes and procedures that work to stop Saturday's attempt while exploring additional options to ensure all relevant components are doing everything possible to secure the many major events planned for President Trump.

One thing I want to note is that this official specifically pointed me to a lot of the planning that is currently underway for many big celebrations this White House is working on for America's 250th birthday in July, saying that a lot of, you know, the new practices that they want to put into place here would need to be in place for those events and for that planning.

Now, another thing I want to say is that the White House has been very clear, and this official was as well, about how the president stands by the Secret Service and that he's really been supportive of their efforts for protecting him, the First Lady, the vice president, as well as for neutralizing the shooter. We kind of heard him discuss some of that yesterday when doing an interview with 60 Minutes, where he essentially laid out that part of the reason he felt maybe it took them a little bit longer to actually remove him from that stage was because the president said that he was being a little bit more slow.

But, hopefully, we'll get some more reporting out of that meeting with the chief of staff and Secret Service earlier this week to bring to you guys. BLITZER: All right. Alayna Treene at the White House for us, thank you very much.

Our Legal Analyst and former Federal Prosecutor Elliot Williams is with us here in The Situation Room. Elliot, thanks for coming in.

The suspect is charged with two counts of using a firearm, one count of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. What else could we learn from today's upcoming hearing?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is an important step in the process because this is where the defendant is advised of the charges against him, and we, the public, will hear some of the evidence that they have behind these two charges. So, things like, number one, what was the firearm that was used? How did he -- how was he accused of having used it? And most importantly on this assault of a federal officer, prosecutors will have to prove that he attempted or intended to hurt an officer in some way. So, did he shoot it in an officer? How, when, where?

For now, that's all we're going to get because, you know, there's, even though there's talk of other charges in the future. That's not -- it doesn't look like that's what the Justice Department's moving forward with today.

BLITZER: The officer was wearing a vest and that bullet stopped in his vest and saved his life.

BROWN: Yes. And according to his source, Elliot, the suspected gunman referred to himself as, quote, the friendly federal assassin and writings that he shared with his family moments before the incident. Do you believe his charges will be upgraded to include attempted assassination?

WILLIAMS: Yes. It's an important distinction to make here. They certainly won't be upgraded. They could be added a separate crime. He will always, I believe, be charged with these two offenses that were talked about here.

Now, if prosecutors can established that he knowingly intended to kill the president, went there with that purpose, and those writings will be the kind of evidence that would be helpful for bringing a charge like that. But, yes, even though as a matter of common sense, it appears that if someone is going to the White House Correspondents' Dinner with a firearm, do you think he's there to kill the president? Well, prosecutors need to be able to establish that beyond a reasonable doubt, and they will be scouring for his writings and speakings and comments to other people that can just establish that not only was it a coincidence that it happened, he intended to do it on that day.

BLITZER: What do you make of this alleged self-titled from the suspected gunman. He called himself supposedly the friendly federal assassin.

WILLIAMS: That's -- you know, I was going to make a joke about those -- remember of those shows about stupid criminal stories where they would talk about things that people will admit to. That's the kind of thing that when someone either says it or puts it in writing. Prosecutors can use that immediately to establish this person's intent. If he's referring to himself as an assassin, that absolutely speaks to the idea that he went there not just by chance with the firearm but intending to kill.

BLITZER: Elliot Williams, thanks for coming in. I appreciate it very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Thank you, Elliott.

And still ahead here in The Situation Room, how could a gunman get so close to the packed hotel ballroom?

[10:15:01]

Lawmakers are demanding answers from the Secret Service. I'll ask one congressman about his concerns.

BLITZER: Plus, what Iran is not proposing to try to end the war as peace talks hit a wall.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Breaking news, CNN has learned that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will convene a meeting this week with her operations team, the Secret Service and leaders at the Homeland Security Department and will discuss security protocols for major events involving President Trump. A senior White House official says the group will go over what worked Saturday at the White House Correspondents' Dinner and explore more security options.

[10:20:00]

Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois. He serves on the House Oversight Committee. Congressman, thanks for coming on.

I understand that the Oversight panel has requested a briefing with the Secret Service about Saturday shooting. Do you have any updates on that front?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Yes, that's correct. The Oversight Committee is planning to convene a hearing similar to what happened right after Butler, Pennsylvania, with the Secret Service. And so I'm looking forward to that because there are a lot of questions unanswered here. Thank God that people like Wolf Blitzer, the president and other guests were unharmed, but there were definitely security lapses and now we need to get answers as to how those are going to be prevented going forward.

BROWN: Do you have any idea of a timeline? Have you received a response back about this potential hearing actually happening? KRISHNAMOORTHI: No, I have not. I expect it will be in a timely manner because there's tremendous, as you can understand, concern given the threat levels that are going up in part because of the president and now three assassination attempts on him, his very low approval ratings, which, unfortunately, fuel a lot of disaffection, the FIFA World Cup coming up, America 250, and, of course, the Summer Olympics in 2028.

BROWN: And the bottom line is we see political violence on both sides of the aisle, unfortunately. And all of this raises whether the Secret Service has the resources it needs in these heightened threat environments that you just mentioned. Is it time to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, which, as you know, oversees the Secret Service?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think it's time to bring back the deal that the Senate unanimously passed to fully fund the Secret Service, TSA, other elements of DHS. As long as ICE and CBP are not fully reformed and overhauled, then those should not be funded right now.

BROWN: That's being dealt with -- on a separate track, the reconciliation. What is your understanding of funding DHS? Because, again, this highlights a need for the Secret Service to have the resources it needs in this heightened threat environment.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I don't know what's going to happen with reconciliation. I think Democrats stand fully prepared to fully fund Secret Service and these other elements. Of course, with regard to what happened on Saturday, there were definitely security lapses that have to be addressed. I think that some of the lessons with regard to Butler, Pennsylvania, have not been applied here, namely that the outer security perimeter was still porous and that this person, if you look at the video, was able to basically go through the checkpoint unchecked and you know, get very close to the ballroom where he could have really wreaked a lot of havoc.

BROWN: I want to play some of what President Trump said about political violence yesterday. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If you go back 20 years, 40 years, 100 years, 200 years, 500 years, it's always been there. People are assassinated, people are injured, people are hurt, and I'm not sure that there's any more now than there was.

I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats, much more so, is very dangerous. I really think it's very dangerous to the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: How do you respond, Congressman?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think that definitely rhetoric needs to cool. But remember his own rhetoric has inflamed the discourse in a way that we haven't seen before. I mean, just his Truth Social post the other day talking about ending Iranian civilization, or even his repost a couple days ago about how India as a hellhole and people like me, Indian Americans, are a problem in this country, only inflame the political discourse. It's got to come down. The discourse has to cool down, that it starts with the president. Of course, it extends to all of us, but to say that it's only one party doesn't really make sense and goes against all the facts.

BROWN: How do you do that though? What can and should political leaders on both sides of the aisle do to actually calm the rhetoric and potentially help prevent more violence? Because in this age of social media, the outrage machine is what is rewarded. We live in an attention economy. And the more outrageous you are, the more attention, the more clicks you get. What do you do as a politician to really calm down the rhetoric in this environment?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think we have to model the behavior that we want to see in others, including the president. But at the same time, you know, we have to come together and say that political violence has to end, that it's one thing to debate and discuss, you know, even vigorously policy matters of the day. But to engage in ad hominem attacks or to say that, you know, Indian Americans shouldn't belong here, or that a civilization should end, that's completely unacceptable. It's got to come to an end right now.

[10:25:00]

BROWN: Your Democratic colleague, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, joined the growing calls from Republicans this weekend on the need to quickly build President Trump's White House ballroom, citing security concerns. Is that something you're willing to consider?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: No. I think the golden ballroom should not be funded for various reasons. But even if it were somehow funded, the president's not going to be stuck in a golden ballroom. He has to travel the country, travel the world. He has to be kept safe. Others have to be kept safe along with him. So, we need to really drill down on the security lapses here with regard to what happened on Saturday and fix those and address those first and foremost before talking about golden ballrooms and other such concepts.

BROWN: Do you think the Secret Service Director should resign, given what -- how you're viewing all of this?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I don't know. I want to wait until he comes before us at the Oversight Committee hearing. A couple years ago after Butler, Pennsylvania, I called on then acting Secret service director to resign because she was completely unable to answer basic questions and she wasn't really willing to take responsibility for what happened.

I want to see Sean Curran this time answer the questions very directly, knowledgeably, tell us how he's going to fix the problems that exist and the security lapses that occurred, and then I'll make my decision after that.

BROWN: All right. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, thank you for your time.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you so much, Pamela.

BROWN: Wolf?

BLITZER: And coming up, diplomatic push. Iran's foreign minister is in Russia for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. What Tehran now says it isn't -- says isn't up for negotiation as peace talks with the U.S. obviously stalled.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:00]