WEBVTT - 4/26/26: WHAT WE KNOW: WHCD Shooter NAMED, Security FAILURE 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:03.400 Hello everybody, it is Sunday morning. I'm just gonna come 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:05.280 here to give you a little bit of a roundup 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:08.799 of everything we know about that shooting that happened last 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.719 night at the White House Correspondence dinner. Lots of details. 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:14.440 We've chosen to take a little bit of time so 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:17.079 we can provide you a fullsome picture, and of course 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.640 we're gonna have more details for everybody tomorrow. Let's go 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:23.200 ahead and start here with the video of what happened. 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:27.440 This is, by far, I think the most close up 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:30.280 video that we can all see. That was taken by 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:33.800 a Getty photographer. So I'm gonna go ahead and play 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:35.320 a little bit of this, and I know that some 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:38.120 of the imaging here is a little bit chaotic. 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.760 There we go. This is the video of the. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:44.559 Vice President and the President being escorted from the stage 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:46.200 of the White House Correspondence dinner. 0:00:46.400 --> 0:01:12.280 Let's take a watch. So that was the video. 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:15.280 I'm sure many of you have seen many other angles. 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:17.959 There was the one that was taken from the head 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:19.920 on shot that I saw. That that one you could 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.880 both see the President who appears to have either stumbled 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:24.840 or gone down on the floor. He was picked up 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.240 and then taken across. The woman crawling behind him is 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:30.200 Wija Jang. She's the President of the White House. Correspondent 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:32.000 sent her. And then the first lady was in front 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:34.840 of the president. The vice president was ushered off of 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:38.120 a different side of the stage in the background and 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.880 appears to have been taken off first. So that was 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:43.760 the video, I'm sure. Again, there's so many different video angles. 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:46.920 Cabinet officials, RFK Junior, almost the entire cabinet was there, 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.440 a full spectrum of the line of succession from the 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.560 Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Almost the entire cabinet 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.920 was President in an attendant, senior administration officials, the vice president, 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:59.160 and the president all sharing the stage, And I think 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:01.920 that's what sets the stage for what a shocking incident 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.200 that this all is. Speaking personally, I've probably spent days 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:08.720 of my life in secret service lines, like trying to 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:12.680 get into conventions, the DNC, many others, and so to 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:14.560 see a shooting that's able to take place at an 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:16.920 event with the President of the United States. In addition 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:19.160 to a significant amount of the cabinet, I think some 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.720 Supreme Court justices were there, Members of the House of 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.000 our presentatives in addition to the Speaker of the House, 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:27.799 who is third in line for succession. I mean, it's 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:31.320 genuinely shocking. And so again, just to stick to all 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.919 of the things that we do know, we do have 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:37.360 this video which was shared late last night by the President. 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:44.640 This is the video surveillance photo of the President shared 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:48.440 which appears to show the gunman and I will give 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:50.839 you some details on him here in a little bit 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:55.280 actually charging the Secret Service cord. Obviously the video is 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:57.360 very grainy, but we can take a look here. It 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.959 looks like this is a Secret Service perimeter and you're 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:03.079 were about to see him come running through, so you 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.000 could see him. He's sprinting through with a gun and 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:10.480 immediately these Secret Service agents spring into action. Now, a 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:12.400 little bit of what we do know here is that 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.160 the gunman appears to have popped some shots off with 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:19.840 a makeshift shotgun. The shotgun did appear to hit a 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:23.000 Secret Service agent in a bulletproof vest who's been transported 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.560 to the hospital and is fine. That's all what we 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:28.360 know so far in terms of the weapon that was used. 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.400 Actually in the course of the shooting. Now, witnesses described 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:34.680 from five to six different shots it appears that some 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.960 of those shots were initially fired by the gunman, then 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:41.480 Secret Service firing at him. However, it is important to say, 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:43.560 and I think this will get a little bit later 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.480 on here in a little bit about what exactly happened, 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.720 is that the suspect appears to have been taken in custody. 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:54.840 This is a photo which was shared again by the 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:58.480 President late last night. Is down on the ground in 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:02.840 the lobby of the Washington Hilton. He does appear to 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:07.080 be unharmed, so even though multiple shots were fired at him, 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.840 it doesn't look like he was hit. And Wolf Blitzer, 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:13.040 the CNN anchor, was actually in the lobby while all 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:14.920 of this was going down. He said he didn't see 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.320 any blood. Now we haven't seen a full release or 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:19.720 anything of his condition, but just wanted to share all 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.120 of that with you. So that's what we know here 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:24.599 about the initial details with the president runoff. We know 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.200 that there were a couple of shots fired in the 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.640 Washington Hilton. And of course Washington Hilton is not only 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:32.560 where the White House Corresponds dinner is held every single year, 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.440 it is also the site of President's Reagan. President Reagan's 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.440 attempted assassination attempt. Again, part of which make this so 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:41.640 surreal and shocking is to the area. And you know, 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:42.920 let me just take a little bit of time here. 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:46.400 If you ever attended to DNC, the RNC Trump rally, 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.360 or you know, anything, especially where there's going to be 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:53.240 multiple VIPs, there are levels of security. So what we 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.599 know about this event is that there were these metal 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.560 detectors that are in that you need to pass through 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.799 to get into the ballroom. But the security perimeter actually 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:06.000 did not shut down the entire Washington Hilton, which explains 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:07.599 things because one of the things that we're learning about 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.159 this gunman is that he apparently had made a reservation 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.920 at this hotel in April. Right, So he made this 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.880 hotel reservation in April. I can go ahead and share 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:21.560 that right here. This is from Catherine Falder's law enforcement 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:23.520 officials said he is believed to have booked a room 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.080 in the Hilton in early April, declining to answer questions 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.760 right now, but allegedly made some reference to targeting administration 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:32.440 officials was not specific. Okay, so he made this reservation 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:34.960 in April, and it appears the DC police telling us 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.080 late last night that actually he was a guest at 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.520 the hotel, and it checked in earlier and appears to 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.840 have brought some of the weapons in in his luggage. 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.119 Now again this is very very shocking. I mean again, 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:50.080 to be DNC or an RNC or any event, even 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.200 private events actually that the president or the vice president 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.280 will enter, you have to go through multiple levels of 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:58.960 security just to get near the building. I'm talking about. 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.279 If you're on your purse, you'll you know, you have 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:04.560 to pass through the metal detectors. You may or may not, 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:07.680 you know, X ray machines for example, luggage, anything that 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:09.360 you're trying to bring in and out of this type 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:11.280 of building. None of that appear to have been the 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:14.920 case this time around. Now, the President did give a 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:18.600 some remarks last night, so and again just to give 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:20.400 everybody what part of what made this all sort of 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:24.000 surreal was this shooting happens the president, the vice president, 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:26.599 the entire cabinet is rushed off. So then an announcement 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:29.039 comes on and they say that the programming is going 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:29.479 to resume. 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.200 The President actually puts out a truth social post. 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:34.160 It appears from some sort of holding room in the 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.600 very same building where he is saying, I want the 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:38.359 show to go on, but I'm going to refer to 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:41.760 law enforcement officials. Eventually, the Secret Service is just like, 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:43.760 we have to cancel this entire thing. The President has 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:44.159 to leave. 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:44.880 So he leaves. 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.520 He actually goes back to the White House, calls a 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:51.080 press conference at some ten point thirty pm Eastern time. 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:54.279 Many of the reporters you will see are in their 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:57.839 you know, regalia, because they ran from the Washington Hilton 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.720 back to the White House. I'm trying to think I've 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:03.080 done that a couple of times. It's not that close, 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.599 maybe a mile and a half, like two miles something. 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.280 So anyway, so many of them were sweaty, and some 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.200 of them haarently took scooters. So here's some of the remarks. 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:12.760 I'm gonna play a little bit of them just so 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:15.480 you can get a sense of what the initial statement 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:16.240 for the president was. 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:21.800 This was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:25.160 was supposed to bring together members of both parties with 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.720 members of the press, and in a certain way it did. 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:34.160 Because the fact that they just unified us to a 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:36.680 room that was just totally unified. It was in one 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.680 way very beautiful, a very beautiful thing to see a 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:46.240 man charged a security checkpoint, armed with multiple weapons, and 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:48.880 he was taken down by some very brave members of 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:52.160 Secret Service, and they acted very quickly. And I've just 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:59.160 released for purposes of transparency clarity, I've ordered it to 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:01.840 be put out, probably have it by now put out 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:05.080 on Truth and put out on many of the platforms, 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:09.360 a tape showing the violence of thisug that attacked our 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:13.680 constitution and also showing how quickly Secret Service and law 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:16.600 enforcement acted on our country's behalf. 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.000 Okay, so that was the initial statement. It was really, 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:23.360 you know, not too many questions, but basically detailing what happened. 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.800 Cash Betel also was in attendance, he was rushed out. 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:28.840 You can read some of the details of how all 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:31.480 that went down, which perhaps, you know, we'll definitely have 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:33.199 a lot more to say of it tomorrow. I'm just 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.600 trying to do a general news roundup now in terms 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:37.960 of the suspect, some of the things that we know 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:39.960 now so far. I'm gonna go ahead and share this 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:45.440 from the Wall Street Journal. The suspect's name is Cole Allen, 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.640 who is now in custody after an attack outside of 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:51.360 the White House correspondents dinner. He is a graduate of 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.840 Caltech University. He was a teacher of the month, and 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:57.960 he has been named as the Washington shooting suspect. Thirty 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:02.720 one years old. He was Fromlawrence, California. So what we know, 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:04.920 as you can all see here, is that he was 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.840 armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives and was a 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:10.640 guest at the Washington Hilton where the dinner was taking place. 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.000 They have not yet shared a motive, as they said 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.360 that Trump has called the shooter quote a lone wolf 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.959 and a whack job. Allen graduated from Caltech, one of 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:22.120 the most academically rigorous schools in America, in twenty seventeen 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.160 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Appears to have been 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:28.360 an intern or a fellow I think at JPL with NASA. 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.960 So very very bright individual. He was registered with no 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.840 party preference. It donated twenty five dollars to Act Blue 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.520 in twenty twenty four with a memo quote earmarked for 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:41.880 Harris for President. He worked as a teacher at C 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.600 two Education, a private tutoring and test prep company, where 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:48.080 he was named the teacher of the month in December 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:51.199 of twenty twenty four, and he also pursued a master's 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:55.360 degree in computer science from cal State University. Posted a 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:57.319 photo of himself in a cap and gown last year 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:01.200 on LinkedIn, writing pretty sure my master's in CS is done. 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:03.880 Lives in Torrents, fifteen miles from Los Angeles, in a 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:07.360 middle class neighborhood primarily composed of single level ranch homes. 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.400 A blue scooter was parked on his lawn and the 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:12.640 neighbor said he had seen Allan riding it around the neighborhood. 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:15.320 So obviously big questions here. How did it even get 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:19.200 from Torrance, California to the White House correspondence dinner. We 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:22.200 do know a little bit about that from the initial 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:26.000 statement here, which was released by the Deputy Attorney or 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:28.320 I guess the acting Attorney General now Todd Blanche. He 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.480 said in an interview this morning that the suspect call 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:35.720 Allan traveled from LA to DC via train and passed 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:39.200 through Chicago on the way, and so obviously a very 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:43.920 very long way of getting across, likely perhaps transporting weapons 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.280 the handgun, the shotgun and the knives that he had 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.280 in his luggage which he used and checked in the hotel, 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.360 but obviously premeditated attack. If you're booking a hotel long 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:56.200 in before. We don't really know a lot about him, 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.840 and he is not really cooperating with authorities. They're telling 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:02.400 people that he was target quote administration officials, So obviously 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:07.560 huge question marks surrounding still this entire incident. I think 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.360 the big story outside of you know, not just the 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.200 official details. And let me just of course say, I'm 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.719 just choosing to do an entire news roundup for many 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.760 of you who still have bigger questions about the assassination 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.079 don't or sorry, the assassination attempt, we will or perhaps 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:24.160 even just a shooting. I shouldn't even necessarily say that 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:26.320 we don't know any of that yet. We will do 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:28.880 more of a deep dive tomorrow. You know, the team 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:31.280 and I were all researching all of this, but I'm 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.400 just sticking with what we know and what the official 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:35.439 story is now so far from the government. So I 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.160 just want to make that very very clear. Here is 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:44.240 a weird and frankly bizarre comment from the from the 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:48.760 Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche who said that the gunman 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:50.840 was able to fire five to eight shots when he 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:54.280 charged through a security checkpoint outside the dinner, and she asked, 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.920 was the same massive security failure and he says, to 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:59.760 the contrary, it was a massive security success story. 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:00.920 Let's take a listen. 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:04.200 The gunman was able to fire at least five to 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:08.480 eight shots when he charged through a security checkpoint outside 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:09.080 the dinner. 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:15.520 Was this a massive security failure? Oh, to the contrary, 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:18.160 it was a massive security success story. I mean, if 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.280 you think about what happened as far as what we 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.680 know right now, this suspect barely breached the perimeter. And 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:28.520 so when you have a perimeter of a situation like 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.320 we had last night, where you had over two thousand 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.360 people in a room, including the leaders of this country 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:38.920 and many other dignitaries, you have a perimeter where you 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.240 have law enforcement willing to risk their lives to keep 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.840 people who don't belong from getting in. This man, from 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:48.719 what we know from video surveillance and from witnesses who 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:54.000 were there, barely got past the perimeter. He was immediately subdued. 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.400 And yes, he got off a couple shots. Our brave 0:12:56.480 --> 0:13:00.319 Secret Service agent who took one to the chest although 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.600 he was wearing a bulletproof vest. The President talked to 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:05.760 him last night from the Oval Office. He was in 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:10.720 great spirits. He was very appreciative. The President expressed is appreciation. 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:12.640 Okay, so you could see there that the Deputy Attorney 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:17.400 General was calling this a massive security security success story. 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:20.000 I can just say, as an independent person, I don't 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:23.400 think that is in any way true. So the Washington Hilton, 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.560 as I said, I've been to that hotel many times. 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:27.960 I used to live right next to it, and that 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:32.200 Washington Hilton apparently, so there's the ballroom which is inside 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.000 of the hotel, but the rest of the hotel was 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.199 not locked down, not just for guests, and obviously he 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:38.520 was a guest at the hotel, and the security No, 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:41.679 there was no X ray luggage. I have attended events 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:43.720 in the past as a reporter where I had a 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:45.520 suitcase or something like that, let's say, had to bring 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:47.520 it to an event that had to be passed through 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:49.959 an X ray machine. And I'm talking about hours before 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.120 any sort of VIP we're even going to get there. 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:54.280 So that's what kind of makes this a little weird, right, 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:57.079 So there was no standard security protocol. So there's that 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.840 Number two is again for anybody whos attended some of 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.520 these events, it's the entire building is usually locked down. 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.120 You can't even go in and out We also have 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.719 a lot of testimony from guests who were shocked at 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:11.400 the lack of security at the event. I'm not going 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.439 to play all of this, but this was Simone Sanders, 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.079 who was recounting how poor the security was at the 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:19.680 White House. Corresponded to her. She says, I actually showed 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:22.320 up to the Hilton shortly after eight pm. I took 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:24.400 a scooter right up to the front of the driveway. 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:25.040 Crazy. 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:29.400 Again, there's usually barricades, multiple different checkpoints at this bit 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:31.560 matters because, you know, because there's a lot of protesters 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:33.880 outside a lot of those barricades before you actually enter 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.440 into the driveway. This year, there were no protesters. I 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:38.320 came to find out. People were milling about in the 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.560 lobby when I got off the scooter and into the 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:43.120 front of the barricade. Usually have to show ID and 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:45.640 a ticket. The folks the security at the gate, who 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.480 were not agents. They were identified as Secret Service, they 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.360 were not identified as Secret Search agents. They did not 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:52.640 ask me to show ID. They did not ask me 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:54.760 to show a ticket. They said, oh, you're good, I'm 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:56.720 sure you're going to your room. She said she wasn't 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:58.920 even saying there as I entered into the driveway. I 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.440 saw the vehicle, the Beast was driving around in a 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:04.200 circle of the Hilton driveway, people walking around near it 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:10.240 taking photos. Again, you're not like, I'm not just a layman. 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:12.640 I cover the White House, I've been in the motor cad, 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:17.000 I've attended dozens of these events as a professional, and 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:20.520 I'm telling you, like, this is not normal. When I 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:23.080 entered into the Hilton, I asked Secret Service agents, which 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.440 I saw they were identified as Secret Service agents, which 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.000 way the ballroom was. They said they didn't know. When 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.000 I finally got to the elevator, no one asked me 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:31.600 to show my ID, No one asked me to show 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:33.360 a ticket. I got all the way down to the 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:35.880 red carpet area without ever showing a ticket to anyone 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:37.960 in the Hilton. I'm saying it like this because this 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.640 is unusual. So I went to the DNC right with 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.360 the whole team, B and Ryan. We passed through probably 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.280 four barricades before you're even allowed to get into the 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.800 convention as a journalist, even with the press credentials hard 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.520 press credentials which have your photo, your name, that means 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:54.560 you've been pre cleared and all of that by Secret 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.720 Service the amount of rigormarole that you often have to 0:15:57.720 --> 0:15:59.960 go through if you're not traveling in the President's mote, 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:02.560 just to be able to get to this event. I 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.400 mean again, literally days of my life the Beast. 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:06.040 Yeah. 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:09.040 The only time that you're generally like allowed around the 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:12.000 Beast normally is if you're in the motorcade and then 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.360 you can't get out of your vehicle and go up 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:20.680 to the President's I mean, look, you know, words barely 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:24.400 begin to describe. And some members of Congress are also 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:29.400 highlighting this. Here's Mike Lawler, the congressman. He's saying, while 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.200 the security perimeter outside of the ballroom worked, the Secret 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.640 Service in the federal law enforcement acted swiftly to secure 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.200 the ballroom and move the president and high level officials 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:40.360 out of harm's way. The fact is numerous glaring security issues. 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.280 There was no photo ID, no verified list of attendees, 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:45.200 which is very common for a White House event, not 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.520 just commonism, that's the standard. There were no magnetometers before 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.280 the ballroom. Prior to the event. There were numerous receptions 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:53.800 that someone could have easily gotten into with limited security. 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:56.880 The building was still open to the general public. Without 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:58.800 getting into details, I will just say there was not 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:00.960 a good handle on how how many members of this 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:02.920 Congress were at the event and where they were in 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.480 the room. There needs to be a complete, thorough after 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:07.600 action report as to how the gunman got from his 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:10.840 hotel room into a secure area with numerous guns. I 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.400 will also note we'll go much more into detail this tomorrow. 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.639 There is a reported you know, shooting that happened a 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:18.920 couple of weeks ago, apparently near the White House, which 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.320 no details that the Secret Service has been able to 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.080 run down. The trail has gone completely cold. There have 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:27.680 been numerous of these types of incidents. There's a report 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:29.919 out of there that Trump has apparently been subject to 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:33.440 more assassination or like public assassination plots, I think than 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.960 any modern president. And to see the breakdown in the 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:40.280 security perimeter, I think it is very valid for all 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:42.640 of us to ask a lot of questions about how 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:46.280 all of this happened, and the fact that the administration frankly, 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.119 I mean, look, I can only speculate, but you know 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:51.080 them praising the Secret Service, and of course we can 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.320 praise the individual agents, but at an overall planning level, 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.760 this is not normal. As I said here, just about 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:00.400 the Hilton Hotel, the Hilton ballroom, about how the fact 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:02.280 that public people were allowed, in the fact that there 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:04.600 was apparently no scrutiny of guts, the fact, I mean, 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.640 I could go on forever, like the beast detail there 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:09.879 that was shared. There have been multiple guests, now, not 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:12.359 just that one person I'm not cherry picking, who talked 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:14.240 about the lack of security and how the fact there 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.919 was really no security going into the ballroom itself and 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:20.440 not securing the entire hotel, the fact, you know, look, 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:26.040 who is this guy Caltech University not currently cooperating. We know, 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.320 took out for a train from California to Washington, d C. 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:31.680 Booked a room sometime in April. Let's you know it 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.959 more sophisticated level of planning necessarily than some sort of 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:38.040 opportune style moment. Maybe a kind I would say to 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:41.040 the Vegas the Vegas shooting that happened, I think that 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.000 was in twenty seventeen, which remains, you know, totally basically 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:46.720 unsolved in terms of like why that any of that 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:49.919 even happened today, still tons of questions around all of that. 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:54.040 So everybody, you know, be be very screwtinous. I think 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:55.960 of a lot of the statements, and it's not like, 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.320 you know, you have good reason not to have total 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:00.919 faith in Cash Betel, who is said to be leading 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.320 the investigation. So yeah, we're going to spend on a 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:07.679 decent amount of time going through even more of what 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.640 we know, don't know some of the statements made by 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.719 the President, by the press secretary before any of this 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:15.480 and all happened. But I did just want to give 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.359 a full rundown of everything that we know right now, 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:22.359 with also the appropriate level of skepticism as we have seen, 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.480 look at a breaking situation, things are always wrong. Don't 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.240 forget that. Initially CNN said that the shooter was dead. 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:30.520 Now they said he's not even hurt. You know, Initially 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.560 there was oh, somebody might have been shot, and yes 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:35.320 it was a Secret Service agent, but you know, he 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:38.480 wasn't shot and hurt, so I guess it is technically true. 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:40.240 But there's a lot of details like that that were 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:43.800 very chaotic also the Secret Service, you know, in security 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.680 details of all these cabinet officials running in and escorting 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.040 these people out, and then what happened you know, in 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.760 the hours after that, and what exactly the detail and 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:54.520 decision to cancel the event. What that all kind of 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:57.520 broke down into. So there will be quite a bit 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:01.439