04/26/2026: Shots Fired, Ben Sasse, The Pigeon Mafia

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1:39Last night in Washington, a gunman stormed the security perimeter at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The president, the vice president, cabinet members, and more than 2 ,500 guests were gathered to celebrate freedom of the press. We spoke with President Trump this afternoon. How worried were you that there were going to be injuries?

2:05You don't have much time, so why are you spending time doing this? You invited me, so I assume you needed to fill some time. Precious time with Ben Sasse is well spent. The former U.S. senator and college president has perhaps only months to live, but time enough for one last lesson in what America can be. Neither of these parties really have very big or good ideas about 2030 or 2050. The Congress is not wrestling with big or important questions right now. Hello, Congress. It's a whodunit in the heart of Europe with Mission Impossible break-ins, organized crime, and international intrigue. We've heard people talking about a pigeon mafia.

2:54Is that a thing? Forget the Maltese Falcon. This mystery is about a Belgian pigeon and a sport god cuckoo. I'm Scott Pelley. I'm Bill Whitaker. I'm Anderson Cooper. I'm Sharon Alfonsi. I'm John Wertheim. I'm Cecilia Vega. I'm Nora O'Donnell. I'm Leslie Stahl. Those stories, and in our last minute, an Admiral charts America's course, tonight on 60 Minutes.

3:47Dad now? Uh, no, sorry. I do basements. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com. As a woman entrepreneur, you know that every connection counts, whether it's with your customers, your team, or your community. Spectrum Business is here to help you build those connections stronger and faster. Imagine running your business with fast, reliable, fiber-powered internet so you can stay connected to customers, employees, and vendors without having to worry. We know flexibility matters.

4:21That's why select Spectrum Business packages come with a three-year price guarantee so you can focus on running your business. Plus, enjoy savings on internet, phone, TV, and mobile services when you bundle, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee and no long-term contracts. With Spectrum Business, you get more than just internet. You get support with 100 % U.S.-based customer service, real people who understand small business, ready 24-7 to help you stay up and running. Join millions of business owners like you across America who trust Spectrum Business for reliability, speed, and support. Visit spectrum.com slash business today to get started.

4:58Restrictions apply. Service is not available in all areas. Last night in the nation's capital, a gunman stormed the security perimeter at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The president, the first lady, the vice president, cabinet members and more than 2 ,500 guests were gathered to celebrate the First Amendment and freedom of the press. But after shots were fired, the president was evacuated. It was at the same hotel where President Ronald Reagan was nearly assassinated by John Hinckley 45 years ago. Tonight, federal investigators are looking into the motive of the alleged gunman, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, California.

5:40He emailed what a senior official called a manifesto to his family minutes before the attack. He wrote he was targeting members of the Trump administration. We spoke with President Trump this afternoon at the White House about what happened. Mr. President, do you know if you were the target of the gunman? I don't know. It sounded to me, I read a manifesto. He's radicalized. He was a Christian, a believer, and then he became became an anti-Christian, and he had a lot of change. He's been going through a lot based on what he wrote. His brother complained about him, and I think reported him to the police, and his sister likewise complained about him.

6:23His family was very concerned. He was probably a pretty sick guy. I was in the room, not far from you, Mr. President. Could hear what sounded like gunshots or commotion. People nearby could smell the gunpowder. everybody hit the floor. How worried were you that there were gonna be injuries? I wasn't worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world. You are sitting there next to the first lady. The entertainer named Oz Perlman is talking to you. He's known as the mentalist. When did you know something was wrong? Right around that point. In fact, you can see the expression on the first lady's face.

7:15And your president of the evening, chairman or president or both, who was doing a great job, by the way. Weijia Jiang of CBS News. Yeah, she was a terrific person. They were asking the name of Caroline's child that he didn't know, I guess. Your press secretary is expecting and he was trying to guess the baby's name. That's right. You mentioned the first lady. her face, she looked very alarmed. Was she scared? Well, I don't want to say, and people don't like having it said that they were scared, but certainly, I mean, who wouldn't be when you have a situation like that by that time? I think she realized ahead of time that that was more of a bullet than it was a tray.

7:57And she was, I looked at her face just a little while ago. before I came, I saw the scene, they played it for me in pretty good close up. And she looked very upset about what just took place. Yeah, why not? You see the security moving quickly, within seconds, grabbing the vice president by his coat, lifting him up, bringing him out. Then the counter assault comes in, took 10 seconds for them to flank you, Mr. President, and then 20 seconds to get you out. It looked chaotic. At one point, you were down. What was happening? Well, what happened is it was a little bit me. I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn't making it that easy for him.

8:45I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time, we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem, different kind of a problem, bad one, and different than what would be normal noise from a ballroom, which you hear all the time.

9:04And I was surrounded by great people. And I probably made them act a little bit more slow. They said, wait a minute, wait a minute, let me see, wait a minute, so you know, I'm telling guys - Just at that moment where it looks like you go sort of down with the service, you were telling them to wait? Well, you know, what happened is then I started walking with them, I turned, I started walking. And they said, please go down, please go down on the floor. So I went down and First Lady went down also. but we were asked to go down by the agents as I was walking. In other words, I was - They wanted you almost to crawl out.

9:37I was standing up, pretty much. I was standing up and then turned around the opposite direction and started pretty much walking out pretty tall, a little bent over because, you know, I'm not looking to be standing too tall. But I was walking out. It was pretty about halfway there, and they said, please go down to the floor. Please go down to the floor. So I dropped to the floor. So did the first lady. What was your thought at that moment? What did the first lady say? Well, my thought was, you know, I've been through this before a couple of times. And she has not, to this extent, she handled it great.

10:14I mean, she's very strong, smart. She got it. She knew what was happening. She listened. I did, too, by the way. Because this was the first time she was. Yeah, when they said drop down, that meant trouble. And obviously, I'm the president. and I listened to what they said, please drop down, sir, please drop down. So I was walking halfway, and then I dropped down at the final because we had little ways to go where you're exposed to the ballroom, surroundings. And then I got up, and we went to a hold room for a while, and I tried to get them to continue the event if possible. You wanted to go back in.

10:53I did, I really did. You can see the gunman running through the metal detectors, and he fired off one or two rounds. His speed was rather incredible, actually. It was like a blur. How did he get that close with the place swarming with security? I will say, look, I say it because I'm a big fan of the people of law enforcement. And, you know, some of these people, they may be crazy, but they're not stupid, and they figure things out. He ran 45 yards, they say, and he just went to it and then, boom, he popped through it. I mean, he ran like I think the NFL should sign him up. He was fast. When you look at it on tape, it's almost like a blur.

11:35Right. 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. Two hours later, the president was back at the White House to brief reporters. I saw a room that was just totally unified. It was, in one way, very beautiful. Do you think this will change your relationship with the press? Well, look, for whatever reason, we disagree on a lot of subjects. We talk about crime. I'm very strong on crime. It seems like the press isn't. it's not so much the press, it's the press plus the Democrats, because they're almost one and the same.

12:18It's like the craziest thing. I have the strongest border we've ever had in the country, where, as you know, it said zero people for nine months came into our country through our southern border. We have a very tough border. The so-called manifesto is a stunning thing to read, Mr. President. He appears to reference a motive in it. He writes this, quote, quote, administration officials, they are targets. And he also wrote this. I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. What's your reaction to that? Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you're horrible people.

12:56Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody. I'm not a pedophile. Do you think he was referring to you? Excuse me. I'm not a pedophile. You read that crap. from some sick person. I got associated with stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let's say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, you know, I'll do this interview and they'll probably, I read the manifesto, you know, he's a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I'm not any of those things.

13:40Mr. President, these are the gunman's words. Excuse me. You shouldn't be reading that on 60 Minutes. You're a disgrace. But go ahead. Let's finish the interview. The other thing that he wrote in the manifesto that I think is worth looking at in terms of determining his motive is he had been staying at the hotel since Friday. He checked in. He said he had cased the place, and he wrote, what the hell is the Secret Service doing? And he wrote this quote, I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo. What I got is nothing.

14:15He wrote, like this level of incompetence is insane. Sir, you have already had two attempted - Well, he was pretty incompetent too, because he got caught, and he got caught pretty easily. So I'd say he was pretty incompetent too. You know, I could take any event, having to do with security or anything else, I can always find fault. Those guys did a good job last night. They did a really good job. I mention that because, again, as his motive, you brought this up. He had social media accounts that had anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric. You should read. Why don't you read all the anti-Trump?

14:50Why don't you read it? You just did, so why don't you read it? Well, he had a lot of anti-Christian rhetoric. He was part of a group called the Wide Awakes. He had attended a No Kings protest in California. No kings. What did security tell you about what may have been his motives? The reason you have people like that is you have people doing no kings, I'm not a king. What I am, if I was a king, I wouldn't be dealing with you. Also at the dinner last night was your secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. His sister, Kerry Kennedy, was there. They've both witnessed their father and their uncle be assassinated.

15:26That's right. Erica Kirk was there. The house majority leader, Steve Scalise, was there. political violence has touched so many people in that room. Is there something that you as president can do? What can be done to change the trajectory? Well, you know, 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 it'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 for the country. President Trump told us he hopes to move events like last night's press gala to the new East Wing Ballroom that he says is ahead of schedule, though it won't be ready until 2028.

16:22But he wants last night's dinner to be rescheduled much sooner than that. You are committed to doing this event with the White House Correspondence Center that's about freedom of the press? I want them because I don't want to see it be canceled. I don't want to have a crazy person. I think it's really bad for a crazy person to be able to cancel something like this. There are great people in the press too, like a name, but I don't want to embarrass you, Shia. We have some great people in the press, some very fair people, and people that are just on my side. But for the most part, it's a very liberal or very progressive, let's use the word liberal, liberal press.

16:57but I was just really, I was really happy to see the, I don't know how long it'll last, the relationship, the friendship, the spirit after a very bad event took place. Now, the event turned out to be much less bad because nobody was killed, nobody was hurt. The Secret Service agent, I spoke to him, he had a bulletproof vest on, unbelievable. He's okay. Oh, he's 100%. Yeah, no, he was 100%. He didn't want to go to the hospital. He really didn't. They asked him to go. He didn't want to go. He said, I don't need to go to the hospital. But he went because they asked him to go. Well, I know the White House Correspondents Association very much appreciates you going last night and honoring a commitment to do it again.

17:44I hope we're going to do it again. Nora, tell him to get it going and we should do it within 30 days and they'll have even even more security, and they'll have bigger perimeter security, it'll be fine. But tell them to do it again. We can't let something be, it's not that I wanna go. I'm very busy, I don't need that. I think it's very important that they do it again.

18:17The Second World War is the largest event in human history. A 20-part series with Tom Hanks. No part of the globe was untouched. No life unchanged. Experience the ultimate account of World War II. Every single person had a story. These are the stories that make us who we are. Listen to World War II with Tom Hanks on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. And one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update, and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done well.

19:00For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. From plumbing to electrical, roof repair to deck upgrades. So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at Angie.com. As a woman entrepreneur, you know that every connection counts, whether it's with your customers, your team, or your community. Spectrum Business is here to help you build those connections stronger and faster. Imagine running your business with fast, reliable, fiber-powered internet so you can stay connected to customers, employees, and vendors without having to worry.

19:35We know flexibility matters. That's why select Spectrum Business packages come with a three-year price guarantee so you can focus on running your business. Plus, enjoy savings on internet, phone, TV, and mobile services when you bundle, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee and no long-term contracts. With Spectrum Business, you get more than just internet. You get support with 100 % U.S.-based customer service. Real people who understand small business, ready 24-7 to help you stay up and running. Join millions of business owners like you across America who trust Spectrum Business for reliability, speed, and support.

20:10Visit spectrum.com slash business today to get started. Restrictions apply. Service is not available in all areas. Ben Sass would like a final word. At the age of 54, the former U.S. Senator of Nebraska is dying of pancreatic cancer. But a new drug is giving him extra time. Time to hear his appeal for reason in Washington and community at home. Sasse is a conservative Republican of independent thought. With a Ph.D. in American history, he once told his fellow senators, the people despise us all because we are not doing our job. His cancer therapy leaves him looking seriously sunburned, but we found Ben Sasse as insightful, passionate, and hopeful as ever.

21:07I love America. And I think there's a lot of big and meaty things that we should have been talking about and we still can talk about. And having a terminal diagnosis isn't really that unique. We're all always on the clock. Some of us have the benefit, maybe. It's a weird word. But the benefit of knowing our time is finite and defined. And it becomes an opportunity to talk about bigger stuff. And you have focus from that. Yeah. I mean, it's weird to be in your early 50s and get a terminal diagnosis and people all of a sudden act like you're 93 or 94 and you have a lot of wisdom. I don't know that I have a lot of wisdom, but I have a lot of things that I think we should be reflecting on together.

21:54Reflecting, he told us, on rebuilding communities neighbor to neighbor, regulating artificial intelligence before it overwhelms us, and mending broken politics. Neither of these parties really have very big or good ideas about 2030 or 2050 at a national security level, at a future of work level, at an institution building level. The Congress is not wrestling with big or important questions right now. If Congress is looking at the wrong things, what is it missing? We are living through a digital revolution, which is both glorious and horrific at the same time because what the digital revolution does is it accelerates almost everything about the human experience.

22:40Anything that can be reduced to a series of steps, which is most economic activity, is going to be routinized and become really, really cheap, really fast, and really ubiquitous. We've never lived in a world where 22-year-olds couldn't assume that the work they did, they would be able to do until death or retirement, and we're never going to have that world again. And Congress doesn't talk about any of those kind of most fundamental issues. The disruption of work, for good and for ill, should be front and central. Congress doesn't even know how to have that conversation. In 2014, Ben Sasse was a college president in Nebraska when he was recruited to run for Senate.

23:20He became one of the most popular politicians in state history, maybe because during Senate recesses he worked as a garbage man and a vendor at Cornhusker games, just to stay in touch with the lives of Nebraskans. What makes you a Republican? I'm a Republican because I think the Lincoln-Reagan continuum does the best job of building constraint on thinking Washington is our fundamental political community. I think your fundamental political community is your neighborhood and your city hall and maybe even your state legislature. And right now, we are sacrificing a lot of our national politics to weird folks who want their main community to be their political tribe at a federal level.

24:08And that should be like the ninth thing or the 15th thing you care about, not the first or second thing. You ended your Republican pantheon with Ronald Reagan. And I wonder when you look at the Trump administration today, what do you see? It's no secret that the current president and I wrestled on lots and lots of issues, but I don't spend much time commenting on our current politics because I don't really think our current politics are driving what's happening. I think it's mostly an echo of what's happening. I think we have really thin, shallow community right now. And unless people know the thickness of their local community, it's hard to make sense of what national politics are for.

24:52I think our national political dysfunction is an echo of larger problems. In 2020, Sass was re-elected with more votes in Nebraska than Donald Trump. Then came January 6th. That day, Sass called out, quote, the screamers who monetize hate. You can't do big things together as Americans if you think other Americans are the enemy. Later, in Trump's impeachment over January 6th, Sasse was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict. His stand against the insurrection offended the Nebraska Republican Committee, so he sent them a message. Personality cults aren't conservative. Conspiracy theories aren't conservative.

25:42Lying that an election has been stolen, it's not conservative. Acting like politics is a religion, it isn't conservative. In 2023, with four years left in his term, Sasse quit to become president of the University of Florida. There had been too little substance in the Senate and too much absence from his wife and three children. Many senators I know would not be able to breathe without that job. It would kill them to leave. I don't want what you said to be true, but I fear that that is true, and that is a sign of a much, much deeper problem. We got a lot of people who serve in government who really do think the highest and greatest thing you can ever do is have the title senator or congressman.

26:36bull****. The best thing you can do is be called dad or mom, lover, neighbor, friend, governor, senator, house member. It's a great way to serve. It should be your 11th calling or maybe sixth, but never top. His calling left bipartisan consensus on one thing. The voice of Ben Sasse is missed. Democrat Mark Warner worked with Sasse on the Intelligence Committee. He never really thought about things as conservative liberal. He much more thought about issues as future past. Somebody who was fearless, passionate. Republican John Thune of South Dakota is the Senate majority leader. Concern not just for today, but for tomorrow and the future.