Alleged WHCD Shooter Charged with Three Federal Counts

0:00Say you've always wanted to have a backyard oasis. Here's the thing, if you get smart with your money, you can do things like that. With Empower, you can start making the most out of your money, so you can go out and live a little. Isn't that why we work so hard to have some fun with our money? So use Empower and get good at money, so you can be a little bad. Join their 19 million customers today at Empower.com. Not an Empower client paid or sponsored. Tired of paying for channels you don't watch? Well, a new select package by Sling gives you a curated lineup of live and on-demand TV you actually want.

0:31With channels like Fox News, NFL Network, FX, and more, starting at$19.99 a month. There's even some 4K content. And in select markets, subscribers get local broadcast networks too. No long-term contract, no hassle. Just the live TV you love. Sling lets you do that. Visit sling.com to learn more. Restrictions apply. Welcome to The Beat. I'm Antonia Hilton in this evening for Ari Melber. Today, the shooting outside the White House Correspondents Dinner is renewing scrutiny of America's political climate, from partisan rhetoric and conspiracy theories to the very boundaries of free speech. We start with the shooting suspect in federal court today.

1:1031-year-old Cole Thomas Allen charged with three counts, the most serious, an attempt to assassinate the president of the United States. Allen also facing two weapons charges, including discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The assassination charge could carry a penalty of life in prison. Allen did not enter a plea. He's going to be back in court on Thursday, the hearing today taking only about 15 minutes. Late today, top DOJ officials gave a press conference and said they expect more charges to be filed in this case. The New York Post, obtaining over a thousand pages attributed to the suspect, apparently laying out some of his alleged motives, including calling himself a friendly federal assassin.

1:56It also contains apologies to loved ones and lists so-called rules of engagement with Secret Service agents, guests and Trump administration officials, making it clear the latter are his primary targets, with one curious exception, the director of the FBI, Kash Patel. In his writings, the suspect critiqued security, mocking what he described as lax precautions and expressing surprise, he was able to enter the hotel armed without detection. The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration provided a lower level of security for the dinner than it has for other gatherings of high-ranking officials, even though the president and many cabinet members were in attendance.

2:35The Wall Street Journal reports that guests were able to access the hotel's lobby and lower levels without going through security scans and only pass through magnetometers before they entered the ballroom. Quote, it was easier to get into the dinner than many big sports events and concert venues. Despite that, top Trump officials, including the attorney general, have been quick to declare this a, quote, security success. While also suggesting the shooting shows exactly why Trump's$400 million ballroom just needs to be built. Take a listen to Blanche a day ago and then today. To the contrary, it was a massive security success story.

3:16I mean, if you think about what happened as far as what we know right now, this suspect barely breached the perimeter. We absolutely believe that there is no better example of why this ballroom is necessary, aside from all the very positive things the ballroom will bring to this country and to Washington, D.C., than what happened on Saturday night. Can those two statements be true at the same time? It's all left people wondering why the GOP has been so quick to use the shooting as an excuse to back a ballroom that one poll found only 28 percent of Americans support. Trump also igniting concerns that he's going to use the shooting as a reason to crack down on free speech, issuing a new demand that late night host Jimmy Kimmel be fired.

4:00We're going to get into all of that, but we are going to start with what we're learning about the suspect, the charges, and security lapses. Joining me now is Rob D 'Amico, MSNOW National Security Intelligence Analyst, also a former FBI supervisor and former member of the FBI's hostage rescue team. His latest article for MSNOW is titled, There's No Excuse for the Secret Service Failures We Saw Saturday Night. And then I also have Jeff Mason, White House Correspondent for Bloomberg and former president of the White House Correspondents Association. He was there on Saturday night. It's great to have both of you guys.

4:33Rob, I'll start with you, though. You say there's no excuse for the Secret Service failures seen on Saturday night. When you heard Todd Blanche, the acting AG, speak earlier today, did you get the sense that he's taking all of those failures seriously? No, I think the default of the administration has never meant that anything's wrong. And when you look at it, like the individual agents, it's like me as a platoon commander in the Marines. If I left a gap in my defense overnight and the enemy got in and one of my Marines jumped on a grenade, saving another Marine, he still deserves a medal. He still performed with valor, but it's my fault that I set up a defense that was inadequate to stop someone.

5:15And that's what happened here. It wasn't those individual, uh, secret service agents that did what they had to do. It was whoever set this up. Then it follows simple, simple security principles of slow down people's path to the entryway, a serpentine, even something as simple as what you see at TSA, where you just go back and forth, back and forth, because if someone came up to that, they'd have to jump over or knock them down, giving that secret service agent an additional 30 feet to figure out that they're doing something nefarious and they'd be able to engage him better. It would have been a success if he walked out of the stairway with the weapons, a secret service agent saw him, stopped him, arrested them and they slowly notified the president and vice president like look there's been an incident we should probably take you back and didn't have to climb on them so the fact that they're saying it's a success they're not looking at it they're not secure enough in themselves to say wait we had heroic action but we did something wrong in setting this up rob was there one single failure something you saw on one of the videos that you've seen in the images that we've we've all watched since that just stood out to you as the most glaring, confusing of all the failures present that night?

6:28The most glaring was allowing him to run. You can't, action beats reaction every single time. If a person has a knife and they're 21 feet away from me and I have a gun in my holster, he will stab me before I can draw that gun and engage him. It's just a matter of law enforcement principles that you understand that. So the fact that there was no barriers, there was no serpentine, There was no physical thing for him to get by, to run by. And then why was the gate even open at that point? The president's in the ballroom, no one's allowed entry. So you have physical barriers that someone have to get over.

7:01That's the biggest one. Then you can go into all the little ones about not checking ID. And I think that's complacency having this event year after year. And as again, as I learned in the Marine Corps from a general, complacency kills. When you get complacent with what you've done, you did it before, that's when mistakes will happen and that's when you'll get killed. Jeff, how are you doing as you've processed all of this through the day yesterday, today? I know that you, like basically all the other reporters in that room, leapt back into work. So I'm not sure you've had the time to process what you were present for.

7:35But what's on your mind? I appreciate that question. I'm still processing, as I think a lot of us are still processing, what happened and what we went through. But certainly very, very glad that no one was hurt. But it's a dinner and it's an organization that I obviously care a lot about. And it was unusual to become part of the news and to experience what we did. And I think it's sad as well that it happened and that all the ramifications that will come from that for both the dinner and for the broader social questions that you've been talking about on your air today as well. But I appreciate your asking.

8:12I'm doing fine. And I'm just glad both as a person and as a journalist that no one was hurt. I have to ask you, too, Jeff, about this sort of push from the administration and figures around them, their supporters as well online, to basically show what happened on Saturday as the reason or at least one of the reasons they believe that Americans should get behind the construction of this$400 million ballroom. Look, I've never been part of the process of planning the White House Correspondents' Dinner, but you have. And can you imagine a scenario in which it is appropriate for it to actually take place at the White House?

8:50My understanding is the president is a guest. He is not the host. And so I just wonder if you can even envision a future in which that kind of arrangement would make sense and be appropriate for what this event is supposed to represent. Well, your understanding is correct. The White House Correspondents' Association is a private organization. I am no longer the head of it, so I don't speak for it. But I can tell you that it is a group of journalists who work for their own news organizations or themselves or our freelancers. We do not work for the White House, and we would not have access to the White House, be it a ballroom or be it the East Room, to plan an event like the White House Correspondents Association dinner.

9:31So it's definitely not an apples-for-apples argument, even though I've certainly seen that President Trump and his allies are using it as another argument for the ballroom. But the ballroom, just as I can't imagine that it will be available for parents to rent out and plan their sons and daughters' weddings there, it wouldn't be something that would be available that I can imagine for the White House Correspondents Association. And even if it were, that's not something that a private organization like ours, made up of independent and neutral journalists would be looking for as a venue for that particular dinner.

10:09Rob, the other thing that we've seen come out of this in terms of the arguments made by some folks in the administration, you know, is that the manifesto and what we've learned about the suspect at this stage seems to sort of justify an attack now or leveling blame specifically at the left, at Democrats. And when you look through his manifesto, it seemed incredibly complicated to me. And I want, I guess, your read on that. There are some biblical references in the manifesto, for example. And while at first the president described him as anti-Christian, it actually appears from his background that he is somebody who regularly attended church.

10:53He actually even mentions people who've gone to his church and his community in his manifesto. He mentions turning the other cheek, rendering unto Caesar. Those are all biblical references. And so it sort of struck me not as this sort of simple black and white case of a nihilistic person ready to burn it all down on the left, but as something more complicated. I'm curious, I guess, what your read of the story from that manifesto is. It's always complicated. Almost every mass shooter has some type of manifesto or some arc that they go down where they see something, then they get frustrated, and they feel they can't do something and that frustration leads to other things.

11:32And it's based on principles and it could be religious. And he thinks he has to do something to get somewhere. But almost all active shooters have that. And it's built on a frustration. And they just get into a very complicated space thinking that this is going to solve what their problems are. So as they pull this apart And they're going to see that for some reason he thought that on him and his obligation to whatever he was thinking as a religious or personal beliefs, that he had to do something in order for whatever he wanted to come out. And sometimes it's just to get his story out, to get people to pay attention, or in this case, vengeance on people he thinks are doing it.

12:21But it's a very complicated process that they're going through. And again, as that arc happens, when did he actually decide to do violence? There was some type of trigger that got him to that point. And you can say it may be a comedian making fun of something and the First Amendment. That's not it. I mean, that happens all the time. People get frustrated all the time. They listen to comedians. They listen to other people. And they don't go on shootings. There's something else in there. But it's easy to blame someone like that when you're against them. And it certainly seems like people are trying to find easy answers and places to point and blame right now.

13:01Rob D 'Amico, Jeff Mason, good to see both of you. And thank you so much. Coming up, Trump World launching a new attack on the free press and the First Amendment, including another round of attempts to get Jimmy Kimmel fired. Plus, Maya Wiley on how Todd Blanch may ramp up Trump's abuse of power at the Justice Department. and later in the show, nationwide protests against ICE and Trump's deportation agenda. We're going to be back in just 90 seconds. Say you've always wanted to have a backyard oasis. Here's the thing. If you get smart with your money, you can do things like that. With Empower, you can start making the most out of your money so you can go out and live a little.

13:39Isn't that why we work so hard to have some fun with our money? So use Empower and get good at money so you can be a little bad. Join their 19 million customers today at Empower.com. Not an Empower client paid or sponsored.

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15:04And in a certain way it did. Because the fact that they just unified, I saw a room that was just totally unified. It was, in one way, very beautiful. For a moment, some thought there might be a reset. In the hours following the shooting at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner, Trump struck a somewhat somber tone. But then within 24 hours, Trump reverted back to usual form, and any restraint seemed short-lived. He was back in a combative posture by Sunday. In an interview with CBS 60 Minutes, Trump repeatedly attacked the anchor, Nora O'Donnell, personally, and the media more broadly, for the act of asking straightforward questions about the shooting suspect.

15:51He writes this quote, administration officials, they are targets. And he also wrote this, I'm no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. What's your reaction? Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you're horrible people. You should be ashamed of yourself reading that. You're a disgrace. But go ahead, let's finish the interview. The other thing that he wrote in the end— You're a disgrace. I'm not a king. What I am, if I was a king, I wouldn't be dealing with you. We have some great people in the press, some very fair people, and people that are just on my side.

16:25But for the most part, it's a very liberal or very progressive—let's use the word liberal press. You'll recall that in the days leading up to the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the reporting suggested Trump had already planned to lash out against the press. According to the Daily Beast, quote, Donald Trump will launch a revenge attack on the White House media when he confronts them in person at a Washington dinner on Saturday night, then flee before there can be revenge. The event was, of course, evacuated before any such speech could take place. In his remarks following that evacuation, Trump admitted he had planned to be inappropriate and rough.

17:04I was all set to really rip it. And I said to my people, this would be the most inappropriate speech ever made if I said so I have to save it. I don't know if I could ever be as rough as I was going to be tonight. And Trump already announcing that he wants to reschedule the event. The organizers aren't so sure that's going to be possible. Earlier today, press secretary Caroline Levitt blamed Democrats and the media. This political violence stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters, by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party and even some in the media. Missing from that press conference, any moment of self-reflection from the press secretary serving a president who has described political opponents as garbage, scum, demonic, animals, the enemy within, and low IQ, whose election-related conspiracy theories have led to death threats against election workers, whose administration pushed rumors that Haitians were eating cats and dogs.

18:09This as Trump is now reviving his feud with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, calling for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel over a segment that aired Thursday night in which Kimmel staged a parody White House correspondence dinner, roasting the president and the administration, as comedians have done at past events. Here's the portion that Trump and the First Lady seem to be referring to.

18:34Our First Lady Melania is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow. You know, Melania's birthday is on Sunday. That's right. She's planning to celebrate at home the same way she always does, looking out a window and whispering, what have I done? That joke was obviously written and performed before the events of Saturday night. But it's now landing, of course, in a very different political and social environment. Trump calling for ABC and Disney to immediately fire Kimmel, calling the segment, quote, far beyond the pale. I have two guests to break down all of this after a very quick break.

19:18this so-called White House press secretary wants to lecture America and lecture us about civility. Get lost. Clean up your own house before you have anything to say to us about the language that we use. That was Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries responding to Caroline Levitt's criticism after Saturday's shooting. And joining me now is David Folkenflick, media correspondent for NPR, and Molly Jong-Fast, contributing opinion writer with The New York Times, and MSNOW political analyst. It's great to have both of you guys. So Molly, I want to start with you. You were at the dinner for part of that evening, but you weren't there when the shooting unfolded.

20:00But you have a sense of the room, the history of this event, the tension, of course, leading up to that night. When you see the president's rhetoric that we've seen, and there There have been shifts in it just in the past 48 hours. What is the impression that you are left with here? Is there a serious grappling with the nature of political violence and everyone's role in it right now? Well, I think there are two problems that are separate. One is the problem of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, which is at best looks very, the optics on it are pretty terrible. And they always have been pretty dicey.

20:39the idea that you have members of the government and journalists and, you know, and lobbyists and all sorts of D.C. swamp all together in a room very dressed up. And then I think it's worth realizing, like, we are in a very heightened moment in American political life and people are mad, but people are mad at journalists and politicians and everyone. And so I think it's important to sort of pull back and say none of this is happening in a vacuum. And I think that the anger that the American people have towards politicians is also sort of spilling out on journalists and why it's so important that things like the White House Correspondents Dinner probably don't happen anymore.

21:25And that, you know, we raise that money for those scholarships in other ways, because I think that as much, you know, our job is to cover these people. And at this moment, it really needs to be as clean as possible. And I think that even just the mere optics of the dinner are so distracting. And I think they really undermine the fundamental premise of what we're supposed to be doing. I understand. You and I talked yesterday when I think so many people were still in shock. I was sitting with Eugene in our D.C. bureau who was there and who also has poured so much of himself into planning this dinner, and to mentoring young journalists and to the incredible things that this dinner is supposed to represent that people want it to be.

22:09But there is this tension right now between what we want it to be, what it traditionally has felt like, and just the reality of the moment that we're all living in. David, for you, how have you processed the imagery, the symbolism of that night? You know, one of the things Molly pointed out to me yesterday was just that there is the gratitude, of course, everyone is safe. But there is also the reality, too, that we as journalists, we've covered so many shootings at which poor school children in Uvalde didn't have Secret Service people leaping over tables to rescue them. And we and our colleagues did.

22:48And I guess after you see and you experience and you understand something like this, what obligation do we have as an industry, as a profession moving forward?

23:02Well, there's a lot of jumbled emotions. I don't think we have to create a hierarchy of tragedies to acknowledge both the terrible language, one feels even unrelated to what happened to folks at Uvalde or at other school shootings or other mass shootings, as well as acknowledging the terror and the terribleness of what occurred on Saturday night. I was not present. I don't think we've seen the president fully grapple with what it is to be engaged in political rhetoric, which is in some ways inciting or affirming the idea of violence, or at least violent political rhetoric as part of everyday norm in public life.

23:47I think there is something to what Molly's talking about with the question of this very event. I haven't gone in over two decades. I don't blame those who do. I think it can be useful as well as fun. But I do think that there's a time where there's a lack of trust in the elites in American society, sometimes so-called elites, sometimes actually, but powerful figures in media and commerce and business and entertainment and politics, the highest level of politics altogether on this night. You know, one was desperately hoping and gratified that there would be no actual violent acts occurred and the one officer who was shot was protected by his protective gear, as we understand.

24:30But this is a moment where I think, you know, it would be useful for rhetoric to be ratcheted down in all parts. And yet the idea that somehow some columnist somewhere, some blogger, somebody on Substack, somebody on cable news, on any of the networks, whatever flavor or variety you like, is responsible for this seems to me to be wide of the mark. I just think that there's far too much violent political rhetoric in public life right now. And I think it's become very accepted in kind of the conversational vernacular of podcasting and blogging and posting online and, you know, getting things viral on TikTok and everywhere else.

25:07And at the same time, you know, you've seen that filter down from the top and top echelons of government. And I think that, I don't know that I blame that for what occurred Saturday night, But I sure would feel a lot more comfortable if the people in prominent positions in all of these institutions would behave themselves in a way one would want to see emulated rather than avoided. Well, speaking of some of those implications and people in prominent positions, Molly, I want you to listen to some of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's remarks earlier, implying the reporters critical of the president may have a role here in all this.

25:43Many people in this room, if we're going to be honest about it, have done it, has done it as well. They're just as guilty as a lot of people on X. When you have reporters, when you have media just being overly critical and calling the president horrible names for no reason and without evidence, without proof, it shouldn't surprise us that this type of rhetoric takes place. Molly, are the people in that room, the reporters we know and we work with, are they just as guilty? guilty as a lot of people on X? I mean, well, we're at the very beginning of this investigation in the first place. I mean, there are so many problems here.

26:19I mean, one is that we do have a First Amendment and the idea that speech is somehow violence is, you know, pretty nutty. And remember, like we're in a country that has a major mass shooting and gun problems. So like that would be where I would start if I wanted to stop violence. Like that seems like a very easy one. But the second thing I would say is like he is standing next to a woman who was a host on Fox News. OK. And the there are numerous members in this administration who have been on Fox News. So the idea that somehow being a cable news host is somehow right. I mean, these are this is a government that's filled with people who are Fox News hosts.