Hey, that folks did. It's Sunday, April twenty six, and we are waking up once again to another incident, seeing people scramble after shots fired, and this time, once again it was near President Trump. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Let's start with that White House Correspondence
dinner the President. Everyone is safe, but the White House Correspondents dinner interrupted, robes stopped because the President had to be rushed off stage because of incidents and shots being fired in the building.
This was a surreal situation.
In fact, we had already planned We're like, you know what you said, something usually comes out of the White House Correspondence Center every year. That will be our first.
Episode of the morning on Sunday. We had no idea.
We thought maybe the President would have said something outrageous, of course, for the comedian would have roasted him in a way that would have been worth mentioning these types of things. No, we were not expecting that an armed gunman would try to rush a security point to get into the ballroom to wreak havoc with He had two guns, a couple of knives, and it certainly seemed like an intent to do massive harm.
Okay, so you all know this event. It's an annual event. It's a big event. They call it the Nerd prom there in DC. But yes, all the journalist from all over the country, but it's mainly a Washington, DC event. It's a prom. It's for all the people who cover the White House to get together this big event the president. This is his first one right that he has attended as president. He skipped them all during his first term,
and Rolvey decides to go to this one. We know about the relationship between the president and the press, but this was going to be robed. Actually, all eyes on this moment and an opportunity maybe for everybody to get in the room, maybe have some fun, poke fun at each other instead of being combative. So all eyes are on it for a lot of reasons and maybe some positive ones.
Even Yeah, I think we were hopeful.
Look, you and I have both did this event in years past, plenty of times and seeing presidents, and that's like the highlight to see the sitting president. Basically, everyone puts down their arms, so to speak. Where you know it's an adversarial role oftentimes the White House correspondence and the White House itself and So this is a night where everyone can laugh together, raise a glass together, share a meal together, and have a few laughs at each
other's expense. Everyone basically puts away their egos and laughs a little at themselves. So this is a fun evening that can be really communal and healing. Honestly, after a lot of back and forth, and so the fact that he had never attended one was a big deal, was a rub, so to speak. And so this this was going to be an exceptional year that President Trump was finally a sitting president going to attend.
So with that, the event was just getting going. It was around eight thirty. You still had people actually trickling into this ballroom, huge ballroom, and some of the most recognizable, some of the most not just in journalism, but in business. You had a very important room. And you got just about the whole damn cabinet in that room as well, members of Congress in that room as well. So it's an important room. I'm going to let you hear. Now, what you're going to hear is the moment that shots
rang out. Now what you're going to hear is video that was taken when people were still on the red carpet so this is outside the ballroom. Most people are already in, but this is when it's soon. As we start this clip here, you'll hear it at the very top, the shots ring out, and then you'll hear some chaos. But just to give you an idea of what happened last night, the second doc, it's something there at the
end to hear robes the chaos. You hear a member of law enforcement and the video you could see him with the gun out. He's screaming, where is it coming from? That's the chaos, where is it coming from? They actually did not know in ropes. It wasn't like a stationary gunman or assailant. He was on the move.
Yeah, I went back and rewatched it, and you'll see it on TV if you turn on the news or if you flip up your computer. But it really is
intense and remarkable and fast. This guy, and will tell you who he is, who the shooter is, came out of nowhere seemingly and was running at full speed as fast as he could humanly run past this checkpoint where they were kind of chilling because most of the people had already gone through the president and his cabinet first lady were all sitting up on the dais up on the stage and just enjoying the just some small talk
before the event got started. So yeah, things were winding down in terms of the checkpoint and the security area, and he just comes tearing through so fast. You can see the Secret Service ation's just kind of chillin all of a sudden boom and like turns around and has to try to get down on his knees to find him to shoot at him.
Don't know how the guy did it, but by the time he got to the checkpoint, he was in full sprint. He had while he had gotten a running start from somewhere down the hall around the corner, but he was in full sprint and they were in robes. What I saw from the video, they didn't most of them give full chase after him. They pulled guns.
They pulled guns, and.
There was no question that that person meant to do somebody harm by the way they ran through there. Now we did call him a shooter. He has been called a shooter, but not quite sure what shots he got off, because we do understand that one member of law enforcement was hit by a bullet. But the toll we're told the vest stop that bullet. That officer is going to be okay, it's actually already out of the hospital been
checked out. The potential shooter that we're gonna id here, at least that's been given us Robes did not sustain a shooting injury, but was taken down. We do know shots were fired, but those shots we heard there apparently were as law enforcement shooting him.
And you can see that in the video.
You can see the officer who has no chance of catching him when he flies by him, goes down on one knee and starts to pulls out his weapon and is aiming and apparently shooting.
What a scene last night, obviously, Robes, this brings up alarm because the president has had at least two other bona fide assassination attempts Butler and then down at the golf course in Florida. Correct, we do not know, Robes. We have to mention, as we id the suspect, we don't have a motive and we don't know his target. At least law enforcement hasn't explained that to him.
Yes, there are a few outlets that are reporting that he just said in some way, I don't know how and to whom that he was targeting administration officials.
That was what has been floated.
So they're not even sure if President Trump was the target at all, if in fact he was, but certainly he wanted to.
Do harm, just don't know how much and to whom. But as far as we understand as well, he did not get into should make this clear, did not get into the ballroom, did not get into where all the journalists and important folks and the president was, did not get into it. Not actually sure how close he even came to it. But still that doesn't take away from the scene we saw last night. To set it up, this is around eight thirty in robes. If you're looking
up at the dais, you're looking around the room. Shots were heard, but it was so faint and in the distance, at least for the people who were in the ballroom to where robes. The ballroom itself wasn't necessarily a chaotic scene that they felt imminent danger and started rushing towards the exits. The scene in the ballroom was a little.
Confusing, Yeah, I think didn't Trump say that he thought that maybe some trays had dropped, so it was you heard these loud noises you heard some chaos, but I don't think it didn't appear that anyone felt like they were in imminent danger. No one reacted that way, including the folks on the stage.
And we should say they got folks started to understand they need to get down. They started getting under tables, but there wasn't a chaotic rush out. Now, different scene on stage that you mentioned, their robes where the vice president, the president was the first lady in that that scene was chaotic and confusing in some ways, robes a little more of a slow burn that you would anticipate given what was happening.
Yes, so you've got secret Service rushing the stage to get President Trump and the first Lady and just all the administration officials but mostly Trump off the stage.
And yes, they kind.
Of pulled him down and it almost looked like he stumbled and fell because in the chaos, and they had to go down and kind of get him up to get him off the stage.
But it took longer than you would think it did.
Robes even and we're seeing it being replayed here, but they got jd vance. They snatched his butt off the stage and he ran right off pretty quickly. But robes even as it was happening. I don't know. I guess maybe that's why folks didn't feel the same chaos, because it didn't seem like that much of an imminent emergency. On the stage. I even saw a couple of law enforcement officers walking up to the stage. Kind of it wasn't a full It didn't feel like that.
My thought is that this was after they already had the suspect on the ground arrested and they knew he wasn't Now, if he had run off and they couldn't find him, oh, it would have been a much different season. When they came into that ballroom, it would have been like everybody down. They would have pulled the president. Now, look when you see Secret Service and armed members of Trump's security team pointing rifles and flashlights into the crowd, that's a little scary.
Yeah, look at it. See this is a even that right there, Robes is a different scene from Butler. Yeah, they surround him. You don't see the presidents facing it. No you don't on this one. No, No, they got him covered. There are at least three fully armed, full tactical geared officers with automatic rifles standing at the already looking out at the crowd waiting. It's just chaos. You see people running and ropes. Right afterwards, it should be noted the
president was going to be during a press conference. All these reporters need to get on TV, all in tuxedos and gowns.
Yeah, it was. It was quite the scene. And then yes, even seeing the.
Folks, I think the biggest chaos not I think, I know the biggest chaos was the folks who had not fully cleared the red carpet yet in the area closer to where the suspect was apprehended. That area got pretty chaotic. Folks were running out and I understand, like you, just this is not what anyone is expecting when they're going to an event like this, And it takes a second, I think, for folks to recognize what's happening, that there's
something potentially life threatening happening. But to start seeing people running, that's a scary deal, especially when you're somewhere near the president and you've got basically every important cabinet member there and pretty much every major journalist who covers the White House there in that room.
Oh, this chaos again. They just didn't know. This is a big we should mention this is the why Washington Hilton. Yes, that one, this right outside was where President Reagan was shot back in nineteen eighty one. This is that building. It is an old building, and frankly, robe that can be a little run down. As fancy as this event is, it's an old.
It's a little shooting when you go and you attended, especially. I remember when I walked in or when I went to my first event. I was in my twenties and I was so excited. But I remember thinking, oh my goodness, this is where Ronald Reagan was shot. I remember where I was when that happened. I was in second grade. The history of the building, but I don't think anyone imagines, even in the times we're living in, that it could be the scene of another shooting.
That just was. I don't know, it was never ever ever.
I guess you kind of think because it's the president, you feel safer in a way. I know that might sound silly because he's a target, but you also know, especially after the previous assassination attempts, you would think, and we've joked before, well this is the safest room in America right now, wherever the president is that's where you've got the most security.
So yeah, yeah, I.
Don't think a lot of people were feeling in any way vulnerable, No, not at all.
That should be the safest room in America, the room that the president is in, but it's also maybe the most targeted. Maybe it's the one that does attract crazy people. This and we don't know anything about the suspect right now, Robes other than where he's from, where he went to school, what degree has his name and his age? After that, we don't know a whole lot, but there will be more.
That's right. He is Cole Thomas Allen. He's thirty one years old.
He's from Torrence, California, and he's a graduate of California Institute of Technology in twenty seventeen and then he got his master's degree in twenty twenty five in computer science.
So a smart guy. He was a.
Teacher, part time teacher, part time video gamer, and he was a guest at the hotel according to CBS.
And what he's doing and why you see his picture and you wouldn't pay attention to this guy if you were walking past him in the hallway. Nothing about him that's menacing, alarming, noticeable, even Robes.
Who knows he was teacher of the month last year at his place of work. So this is just not somebody who anyone had their eye on, like whoa, he's a loose cannon, or we wouldn't want him around children.
No, he was quite the opposite. So it's very puzzling.
Right now, we know he was carrying knives, a shotgun, a handgun, and right now his charges are use of a firearm and assault. But those charges are going to accrue. He is going to be facing almost certainly many many more charges. We heard from jean Peiro last night, who said as much.
We heard from Jeanine Pierro. She had a press conference with DC officials and law enforcement, but the President himself had his own press conference. Stay here, well tell you what the President said. Immediately after this whole incident took place. He put out a couple messages on truth social also put out a picture and a video we'll describe. Also, we'll let you hear what the President said at that press conference that had a couple people raise an eyebrow
or two. Really we're talking about the ballroom right now. And also we will let you know why one of the top trending topics on social media right now is staged. All right, we continue here on Amy and TJ. I need to let everybody know the President is safe. Everybody in that room at the White House Correspondent's dinner is safe. After that incident last night, shots rang out after a man rushed past one of the security checkpoints at the hotel whether the event was taking place, carrying two guns
and several knives. He has been charged now, don't know what his target, who his target might have been, but the investigation is ongoing. Aforus this morning Roll the President was the first person we heard from and got information last night. You know, as much as we talk about the President and true social and stuff, he says, sometimes it's nice to get information from the guy at the center, and he was giving it to us almost in real time.
Yeah, it's wild. He's the one who was rushed off the stage. Obviously, the crowded journalists were left wondering what the hell is going on? All they had to do was pop on a truth social because moments later Trump put this out quite an evening in DC. Secret surface and law enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we let the show go on, but will entirely be guided by law enforcement. They will make a
decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we'll just plane have to do it again.
All right. Well that was the first one. He sent another one twenty minutes later. But in that one, robes it sounded like he was standing by waiting go back on state.
Yeah, he really wanted to come back on and finish the evening, And so all the folks there were some obviously most of them were going on live television explaining or reporting what just happened, but also waiting and maybe hoping that the show would go on.
But twenty minutes later Trump put this out.
Law enforcement has requested that we leave the premises consistent with protocol, which we will do immediately. I will be giving a press conference thirty minutes from the White House Press Briefing Room. The First Lady plus the Vice President and all cabinet members are in perfect condition. We will be speaking to you in half an hour. I have spoken with the representatives in charge of the event and we will be rescheduling within thirty days.
That's what a scene that's going to be. What a different security situation that's probably going to be. I mean, you can make the argument that it worked. I mean, well, somebody what he's supposed to do now, barricade the area in case somebody gets a running start. I don't know how else you do that. But Robes, nobody was hurt. Somebody went into their armed planning to do harm, and nobody was harmed save that one law enforcement officer who's already out of jail. I mean, Robes is as awful
as this looks, and you got a loan nut. Possibly this security worked.
I agree.
I mean at first, when we started to hear the reports, we thought, how did someone get into that area? Because we've been through it, we know what those checkpoints are like, we know it's heavy the security to get into that ballroom. So initially we were just like, how could someone bring firearms? Then you see the video and see how he runs like there's no tomorrow. Then you're like, okay, that would be the only way, and it didn't and he didn't get far, like he didn't get far enough.
I guess to do any harm.
Well, if that's important today. No one got into the ballroom with a gun last night, right, That did not happen. And so when we first saw this happening last night, we both of what the hell, How the hell did somebody get in there? And Robes, if you would have gotten in that room and just started firing, Oh my good god, the type of damage. Jesus.
The wine is flowing, conversations are going, everyone's ready to have a good time after especially it's just been so contentious, and so he did so much back and forth. This was going to be a night to just really let out or let off some steam. So no one was on guard to you know, no one was thinking to be weary of anyone or anything.
So that would have been disastrous.
So the bresident puts out these tweets, Robes you say, he's gonna have this press conference. He does. Come to the White House Press briefing room, has Cash Mattel, has the DHS Secretary of the new one Mullins next to him. He had the first ladies in there, Pete Hexa's in there, the Vice President's so they all collect over there with all these journalists with informal gowns and tuxedos, sitting in the room to ask questions now the president and else.
He didn't, you know what, it's okay for us to say how he appeared. The President appeared just fine, and I think a lot of people noted that it was important for him. In all this chaos and all we've seen in this country, we needed to see the president, the first family, We needed to see the cabinet, We needed to see our government still function into working.
I would say I would go so far as to say the President appeared in good spirits.
I think that's accurate, and I think I believe him when he said, yeah, I wanted the show to go on. I wanted to go back out there. It felt like that then, And yes.
I agree with you on that.
And I also think that for the first time in a long time, we heard him sound presidential, where he was talking about not being so adversarial towards the press, about unifying the group that was gathered there that night. It was the first time in a long time we've heard him.
Talk like that.
Roase he said something last night that I can say I have never heard him say before. He complimented the press as a whole. He said, I've been watching some of your coverage, and you've been doing a good job. I think, he said responsible ROAs. He said that to this crowd, not just to the right wing media, and
not just he said this to the crowd involved. And the young lady at the CBS news correspondent who was the head of the White House Correspondence Association, gave her the first question, and he complimented, you did a great job. To Roes, I have never heard him this kind of journal.
Yeah, he seemed grateful, ever kind, and just the softer, gentler version of President Trump that wow, we could use a little bit more of sometimes.
He said, we could recommit to resolving our differences in a peaceful way. Recommit to it. Now. We've seen things happen before and things quiet down for a little bit and then they ran back up. Have no doubt that this is gonna happen once again this time, Rhodes. But it was just I have not seen him like that.
I haven't either, and it was it was wonderful to see. It's sad that it took maybe something this frightening to bring this out, but certainly it was a much different President Trump than we've seen in the last few months.
Okay, but then he did something very trump like. He took the moment to make a pitch robes for the ballroom. Now, fine, everybody's okay. Don't know if this was too soon, but so much back and forth in court over the new ballroom that he wants that has now been put on hold by a judge saying that the construction cannot continue. The president too long after shots rang out at the White House correspondent dinner from the White House Press briefing room,
decide to make a little pitch for his ballroom. Will you know, it's not a particularly secure building.
And I didn't want to say this, but this is.
Why we have to have all of the attributes of what we're planning at the White House.
It's actually a larger room, and it's much more secure.
It's got it's drone proof, it's bulletproof. Lash We need the ballroom. That's why Secret Service, that's why the military are demanding it. So there you go, he's making a pitch for why we need the ballroom is because see see what happens.
That's when I looked at each other and said, is he actually pitching his ballroom right now.
Because we're like, oh, he was doing so well.
It is too soon.
I actually think it would it would have landed with more weight if he had given it twenty four hours and said, you know, I've been really thinking about this, and this is another reason why. I mean, I understand what he's saying in the connection he's making, just felt like it was a little too soon.
So the judge this goes back robes. They are making the argument, the judge who put this thing on hold, is that you all being ridiculous, because they came back and made an argument in court that we need the ballroom because some kind of ways, some tunnels underneath. If we don't finish it might put the first family at risk in the executive while they use some and he found it laughable, the judge. So the President is responding almost directly to that judge, saying, see, we need it
for security. I just thought it was funny.
I do love the idea of the White House Correspondence Center being at the White House Ballroom. That is, I had never considered that, I'll be honest, as much as I thought too soon, President Trump, I also.
Thought, ooh, that sounds amazing.
When is that ballroom going to be done again?
I might I might look for an invite for that first inaugural White House Correspondence Center at the new White House Ballroom.
And Zo Roads for you for the for what you just point out there talking about the ballroom. It's too soon, is what you just said, right mentioning the ballroom. What's happening this past week with the war in er On, gas prices are going up, the president approval ratings are going down. So you put all those things roll ope into a little pile, and it's caused people to put it all together and go, wait a second, We're not
gonna fall for this. And the number two trending topic on X this morning, right after the number one when being shooting, number two was staged, people have started It's a viral conversation going on right now suggesting that in some way of a president or someone staged this in order to help him with some political troubles.
Yes, and while I do not subscribe to that, I do think that some of the remarks he made about being a target. One of the questions that was asked of him was why do you think people keep trying to kill you? Basically, why do you think so many attempts have been made on your life? And he basically likened himself to Abraham Lincoln and said, basically, only the
greats are shot at. And it was a little bizarre, as if he was implying because he's had multiple assassination attempts that somehow is equivalent to him being a great leader or somebody who people envy or want to be, or because when you do great things and you are a great.
Leader, you are a bigger target.
So he took pride and that was a little bizarre, and I think maybe that could have also fueled some of this sentiment.
Bro, you said, bizarre, that was the most Trump Like thing he did at the press conference. Yes, right, being nice to the journalists threw me off, coming back around and saying, look, taking it as a badge of honor that people are trying to shoot me. That that reads and we don't know, and we should say roads we do not know right now the motives of this shooter, what the target was by this potential shooter. We just don't have these answers.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I was saying. CBS said they have.
It was two sources within law enforcement who said that they were that he said the suspect told them he was aiming for administration officials. So it doesn't mean he wasn't also aiming for President Trump. But that's the specifics they have right now.
He had a long, long, long way to go to get to anybody in that ballroom. Of note that he claims at least coins to these sources he was looking for, and he was just even if you get to the room, you have to even if you're walking through to your table, you have a hard time getting around how crowded it is. Just it wasn't a well thought out plan. If that was the plan, Barrow just another scary incident, another scary
reminder of some of the politics. We don't know what his motives were, but Robe just reminds us of too much we've seen. And what about that scene, You know, I thought about this. We saw the shot of Erica Kirk being taken out that ballroom. She was a guest of Fox News under a table at some point, but she ends up getting escorted out in the back and they have the shot of her she's in tears.
Yeah, you know what, Wow, I haven't thought about that look and you had a bunch of journalists talk about for the first time in their lives after reporting on so many shootings, found themselves under a table with an active shooter.
And just to have that full circle moment is one thing.
But when you're Erica Kirk and it hasn't even been a year and your husband died in a public forum on a dais with shots fired, that's that's too much.
That's too much.
We will keep an eye on this one plenty more to come out, expecting to hear a lot of updates from law enforcement, maybe from the White House as well, maybe from the President himself will want to hop on give you updates. I know a lot of you maybe didn't see this. Last night. We were in the middle of watching a We were having a horror movie night with the girls on the couch and who was it, Sabine bump me. She's looking on our phone as always. We said, hey, Trump just got rushed out of the
White House. Said what are you talking about? Sure enough, I look it up and I turned to you and then least and I say, hey, guys, I got to stop the movie, you know, like, what the hell? I said, Just trust me. And we had to put coverage on it, and it's it's stunning, stunning that this is happening again.
It really is.
And obviously this is not anything anyone wants to hear about when they're waking up on Sunday morning. But this is the world we live in. And look, you even said this to me. We were at an event, we were at a Broadway show and you just said, I don't like now being in these crowded rooms where I don't see an easy exit strategy. But that is the world we're living in these days. That unfortunately, last night proved that to be true once again.
All Right, folks, we always appreciate you spending some time here with us. We're keeping an eye on this one. Keep an eye on our feet today as always. Top right corner of your Apple podcast app where you see our show page as a button there that says follow. You can click that make sure you get our updates coming to you in As we say, there have been a plenty these days. What with that. I'm TJ. Holmes on behalf of my dear Amy Robock. We always appreciate you. We'll talk to you soon.