Secret service stops armed Suspect : Trump speaks after apparent assassination attempt

[0:00] service agents who had taken part in securing the president tonight. If I can just quote what he [0:09] said, we saw exactly what our brave men and women do each and every day to protect our protectees. [0:15] I believe we have Alan Fisher standing by for us. Alan, so just talk us through some of the [0:20] highlights of what we heard here. We are now starting to get a few more details about the [0:25] gunman himself. A very unusual night here at the White House. We don't often get the president [0:31] stepping from an assassination attempt, which is what it appears like on the face of it at the [0:36] moment, into the briefing room to give the media an update with everyone in their finest clothes with, [0:42] as he said, evening dresses and tuxedos. The president made it clear that he wanted to continue [0:48] in the event, but the Secret Service wouldn't allow it. They weren't sure that this was a lone gunman. [0:53] They weren't sure that the hall was completely secured, and therefore they urged him to return [0:58] to the White House, which he did. What it appears is that this heavily armed man raced towards [1:04] a Secret Service checkpoint, and you can see that on the grainy video on the left-hand side of your [1:10] screen. He was stopped in his tracks by Secret Service. He was not shot by Secret Service. They [1:17] took him to the ground. They arrested him. Now, clearly shots were fired. That's what was heard in the [1:22] hall. A number of people started scrambling under tables. We had the incredible moment [1:27] of Secret Service agents rushing onto the stage, speaking to the president. The president seemed [1:32] quite taken aback by the news. He himself initially had thought a tray had been dropped, [1:37] or it was gunfire. Well, it was gunfire. And the Secret Service agent spirited him out of the [1:42] hall along with the First Lady and other members of the Cabinet. And on the stage of the White House [1:46] Correspondents' Dinner, we saw Secret Service agents armed with guns standing, looking out [1:52] over the hall in case there was another threat. Behind the scenes, Donald Trump, as I say, [1:57] was keen to see the event continue. But Secret Service insisted that he return here to the [2:02] White House, which he did. He said that he didn't believe that the building was very secure. [2:07] We're hearing from the police just in the last few minutes that the man who carried the guns [2:12] was in fact a guest at the hotel. He comes from California. That we got from the president. [2:18] And he says he must have been slightly deranged to do what he did. This is the third time that [2:23] someone has tried to kill Donald Trump. The third time that they've failed because of the smart, [2:29] clever work, fast work by the Secret Service. And Donald Trump is back here in the White House [2:34] tonight to be able to tell the tale. Absolutely remarkable series of events, Alan. We also heard [2:41] from the U.S. Attorney for Washington, Janine Pirro. She said the suspect would now face two counts [2:48] for using a firearm during crime of violence and assault on federal officers using a dangerous weapon. [2:55] But as you said, that remarkable detail that we got from security officials a little earlier, [3:00] that this man, this California man that we know, was actually a guest at this hotel. That's going [3:08] to raise a lot of questions. The security around these events is normally incredibly tight. Security [3:14] around the president is normally incredibly tight. And there will be inquiries. How did this happen? [3:20] Why was this allowed to happen? Were there any failings in the system? Could this have been [3:25] foreseen? But that is all for another day. At the moment, they're trying to piece together [3:30] exactly what happened in those frantic few minutes in the Washington Hilton this evening. [3:36] At this Hilton Hotel, believe it or not, was the scene of an assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan [3:42] by John Hinckley. And here we have, what, 40, 50 years later, a similar attempt on the life of a [3:49] sitting president. That attempt by John Hinckley led to a radical overhaul of the way the Secret [3:55] Service guarded the president. This may well be another occasion where that happens now. [4:00] Donald Trump says he wants the White House Correspondents' Dinner to go ahead. He hopes [4:04] to host it or hopes to be there at some point within the next month. That seems to be the idea [4:10] of the White House Correspondents' Association as well. It's interesting to point out that in his first [4:14] term, Donald Trump never attended this dinner. Obviously, there has been a tension between him [4:19] and the media. He decided he would attend this year. He said he had a zinger of his speech ready [4:24] to go. But his attitude changed slightly in the briefing room. He was very conciliatory towards [4:30] the press, particularly to the president of the White House Correspondents' Association for this [4:35] year, Weijia Zhang, who works for our colleagues at CBS News. And he was perhaps a bit more understanding [4:41] that sometimes the press do a difficult job as well. But the intention is that this event will be held [4:47] in a month's time. But you can bet your bottom dollar that security at the next event is going [4:53] to be ten times as strict as it was this evening. No doubt, Alan. And for viewers who might be just [4:59] joining us right now, Alan, tell us a bit more about what exactly the White House Correspondent Dinner [5:06] is all about. As you said, this is the first time that Donald Trump has attended the dinner [5:13] as president. In previous years, he's boycotted this event. There are a lot of prominent figures [5:19] in the media, prominent figures from Washington, celebrities who attend this event. How... I believe [5:27] there were up to 2,000 people who were gathered in this one place to attend this dinner. [5:33] It's a big event. And many people trace Donald Trump's determination to run for president back [5:40] to when he was a guest for NBC before he even thought about running for president. He was roasted [5:46] from the top table by the comedian Seth Meyers and then by then-president Barack Obama. He quietly [5:53] seethed as he was sitting in his table. And many people believe that stoked with him a fire to run [5:58] for president. The White House Correspondents Dinner represents all the White House Correspondents. [6:03] They host an annual dinner every year. As you say, about 2,000 people there. Tables are very expensive, [6:09] but the money raised goes to providing scholarships for young people, those involved in journalism. It [6:15] also acts as an awards night for those who are represented by the White House Correspondents. [6:20] So it really is a gala evening, and it tends to break off afterwards into numerous after-parties. [6:26] It is known in Washington, D.C. as nerd prom, where the Oscars... You know, people who work in journalism [6:32] could never get into the Oscars. The line is that journalism is the Oscars for ugly people. [6:40] Then they tend to break off and go and celebrate. But it raises a lot of money. It does a lot of good [6:45] work. And the president is often the guest of honor at these events. It was a surprise when Donald [6:51] Trump accepted the invitation. And certainly during the last couple of days, he's talked about how he [6:56] had a great speech, how he was going to be quite combative towards the press, which we expected, [7:00] how he was going to call them out on some home truths, how he was going to be direct with some [7:05] of his criticism. He never got the chance to deliver the speech because of those grainy pictures [7:10] we have seen of someone running towards a Secret Service checkpoint and being stopped by Secret [7:15] Service. They say he wasn't shot, but clearly someone fired a weapon that resulted in a Secret [7:22] Service agent being wounded. He, as you have said, is currently in hospital in relatively good [7:27] spirits. The president says he's actually spoken to him. And then we have the sight of the president [7:32] in a dinner jacket standing at the podium in the White House briefing room, giving a full briefing to [7:38] the media, many of whom were standing and sitting in dinner jackets, evening dresses. And some people [7:44] even grabbed what they could just to get out the door as soon as they heard the news. [7:48] It's interesting, Alan, that we are raising this point about the security questions that will have [7:55] to be asked now in the hours and days ahead. But Geoffrey Carroll, who is the interim chief of the [8:04] Metropolitan Police Department, when he was speaking to journalists earlier, said the fact that the shots [8:11] were fired does not mean this was a security failure and that the checkpoint where the suspect was [8:17] apprehended, was there for a reason, and it worked, which is an interesting take on how this panned out. [8:26] What happens next, Alan? What exactly is going to be thought about at this point? [8:34] Well, remember, this is a hotel and it's a working hotel, and that means there are people staying in [8:38] the rooms who are not associated with the White House correspondents, who are not associated with the [8:43] White House itself. They are going about the normal business in Washington, D.C. But there will be questions [8:49] that someone with a shotgun and several knives was in the hotel in the first place. And that will put a huge [8:55] question mark over this event being the venue for the White House Correspondents Dinner in the future, if the [9:02] president is expected there. The fact that he was stopped by a security checkpoint is a plus. But the fact he even got as far as [9:10] a security checkpoint will pose questions. There will be independent investigations ongoing. There'll be [9:16] obviously an inquiry by the FBI where he encountered terrorism, may investigate it. There will be the local [9:22] inquiry as well. Then there is the Secret Service, who guard the president. How close did he get to the [9:28] president? How much danger was he in? And then there'll be other inquiries as well. They'll all have to be [9:34] overseen and they'll all report. Now, we suspect that Congress will want to know what happened. Where [9:39] were the security failures? Anyone who gets within 50 yards, as the president says, with a shotgun and several [9:46] knives and a handgun, then despite what the police say, that will be regarded as a security failure. So there'll be many [9:52] inquiries ongoing. Hopefully someone will tie together all the leads. And we expect there to be recommendations as there [10:00] inevitably is after an event like this. There was after Butler. Remember, that happened in Pennsylvania almost two years ago. There will be [10:07] there will be after this as well, with questions to be asked and answered, conclusions to be drawn and very probably changes to be made.