Special Report: Suspect in WHCD shooting charged with attempting to assassinate Trump

[0:00] And good day. We are coming on the air as the suspect in the shooting outside of Saturday's [0:05] White House Correspondents Dinner. What the White House is calling an assassination attempt [0:09] is making his initial appearance in a Washington, D.C. courtroom right now. Authorities say 31-year-old [0:14] Cole Thomas Allen rushed past a security checkpoint outside the dinner armed with [0:19] multiple weapons, and he is accused of shooting a Secret Service agent. This video capturing him [0:23] as he ran through a security checkpoint. His intended targets allegedly the president and [0:28] top Cabinet officials. We expect to learn what the charges Allen will face shortly. Cameras are not [0:33] allowed inside the courtroom, but our reporters inside will be sending us notes in real time [0:38] that I will bring to you and our team will bring to you as soon as the hearing gets underway. So far, [0:43] we know that Allen has been walked in to that courtroom right now. He is sitting. He is wearing [0:47] a blue jumpsuit, and he is flanked by two U.S. Marshals that are on each side of him. [0:52] We understand that the matter is now unsealed. That, according to the judge, who has just announced [0:56] that in court, and the pretrial services are about to begin right now. Kelly O'Donnell joins [1:01] our coverage now. Kelly, a quick question to you, because the night, Saturday night after this [1:06] happened, there were some announcements of two initial charges. Do we expect to hear those [1:10] formally today, or will there be additional charges as well, do we expect? [1:14] Well, in the appearance today, when they say the matter is unsealed, they are now unsealing the charges [1:19] against this 31-year-old California man. So this will be the first time we get a sense of [1:25] those charges. Saturday night, there were some preliminary expected weapons-related charges. [1:30] We think a lot of work has been done in the hours since then, going through the evidence, [1:34] both at the hotel where this event occurred, in his hotel room. He, of course, checked into the [1:40] Washington Hilton Hotel in advance of the White House Correspondents' Dinner as a part of the alleged [1:45] planning of this suspect. Also, he traveled from California on a train, a multi-day trip to get [1:52] to Washington. We know, based on the weapons that were recovered, those were purchased legally. [1:58] But as they explore his electronic footprint, they conducted searches at his California home [2:04] and at the hotel. They've been piecing together evidence. And included were some writings he sent [2:10] to his family that we have been able to review. They were provided to us by a senior White House [2:15] official. And that describes some of his intention and thought. And that's why the White House has so [2:21] comfortably labeled this an assassination attempt. We'll have to see if the charges bear that out in [2:27] the specific details. Clearly, the man was armed, was moving toward the ballroom where the president [2:33] and many other dignitaries were attending the dinner. 2,600 guests in a very crowded ballroom. Many [2:40] members of the cabinet, dignitaries, ambassadors from the U.S. and other countries were there. It was a [2:46] high-profile event, which in and of itself could have been a target. But we understand from what authorities [2:53] tell us was included in this writing to his family that he had intention talking about members of the [2:59] Trump administration. He did not name President Trump, but some of what he wrote seemed to indicate he was [3:05] alluding to President Trump and others who were serving in the administration. We will know much [3:12] more when these documents are available to us. They have not been available yet. We would expect to see [3:18] a FBI affidavit where an FBI agent swears to some of the initial evidence that's been brought before the [3:25] court that helps to support whatever charges come. These will certainly be felonies. They are at the [3:30] federal level. But this magistrate appearance today is the most beginning of these kinds of events. [3:36] He may not enter any kind of a plea. This is simply telling him what the charges are against him. He is [3:42] at this point supplied by counsel, federal defense counsel that is provided to him, public defender. [3:50] And so it's an early step. But when we get those charging documents, the specifics of the complaint [3:55] will have more information. This may ultimately go to a grand jury where still more will come out. [4:00] But this is a critical first step in what could be a long-time prosecution. In many of these [4:07] potentially violent or terroristic type attacks, the suspect is, in many instances, [4:14] is shot and killed or somehow loses his or her life in it. This is a more unusual case where the suspect [4:20] was not injured. He was subdued at the hotel. And now he has rights and a process that begins. [4:27] I'm being told three counts. Three counts. Okay, let's look at those counts to get the specifics here. [4:32] Yeah, the attempt to assassinate the president, three counts on that, Kelly. [4:36] The judge, when you were reporting, said there were several charges here. So this is going to be a [4:40] little bit till we get everything in. Our team, again, is reporting from inside the courtroom back to me [4:46] and Kelly. The cameras aren't allowed there. So far, all we know, he's been—here comes more—an attempt [4:52] to assassinate the president of the United States. It looks like three counts of that, Kelly, as we [4:56] know. That, of course, you know, if he is convicted of that, up to life in prison if he were to be found [5:02] guilty. We're going to wait some more of this. We also learned he's 31 years old. He's a grad—he has a [5:07] graduate degree, a master's degree, I should say. He pronounces his name Cole Tomas Allen. And as you [5:13] said, he has asked the court to appoint him an attorney. He's an educated suspect, Tom. [5:19] He is. Count two, transportation of a firearm and ammunition through the interstate commerce [5:23] with intent to commit a felony. You were talking about that train trip. We know that he took a [5:27] train from California all the way to Washington, Kelly? That's correct. And that would account [5:32] for taking firearms across state lines, lawfully purchased firearms, but taking them across state [5:39] lines with an intent to commit a crime. That's its own kind of felony. So that explains that. [5:44] The three counts of attempted assassination, I'll be curious to see if that ties with discharging his [5:51] weapon. If he fired his weapon multiple times, that could constitute— [5:54] That's count three. It just came in. It just came in. That's count three. Yeah, [5:58] so you're right about that. That one just came in. He has been fully briefed on these charges, [6:02] and he says that he is aware of the charges against him. [6:05] And that will be a part of determining that he is capable of being in this process. We have seen, [6:13] in some instances, where the mental acuity of a defendant is at issue. He is saying he [6:19] understands his rights. He understands the charges against him. That's an important part of the [6:23] process. At this point, these are very serious charges, of course. And it is against the backdrop [6:31] of growing political violence in the country, Tom, something that President Trump has personally [6:35] experienced with multiple attempts on his life. And many other figures across the political spectrum [6:42] have had criminal acts against them for being in the political space. This is certainly a very [6:47] notable case, one that stands out, as we're learning more about the specifics here. [6:52] And as you mentioned something earlier, it sparked a reminder here. Initially, [6:56] when this hearing started, the judge had asked him if he had taken any drugs, any medication, [7:00] or any alcohol in the last 24 hours, he said he had not. And that is part of the procedure here to [7:06] make sure he understands the charges against him, Kelly. [7:09] And we know from investigators that they spoke to his brother and to his sister in authorities having [7:15] interviews with investigators. The brother, when he received that emailed message to the family, [7:20] did alert police in New London, Connecticut. And there was a connection from that local police [7:27] department forwarding that information sort of across to federal partners and ultimately getting [7:33] to the command center here in Washington that was dealing with the event at the Washington Hilton [7:38] Hotel. So the family cooperated in that way. Authorities also tell me that the sister spoke about [7:45] escalating rhetoric from her brother and that the family was concerned about the way he talked about [7:50] world events, a variety of world events and national political events. We know from what others [7:57] describe, he was engaged in a lot of that, had concerns about what was happening. And according to [8:03] the document that we reviewed, had a sense that he needed to be the one to take action. More of that [8:10] will play out. We'll have to learn more about the specifics, any mitigating facts that may come forward. [8:14] Kelly, we're now learning exactly what he was holding. According to the assistant U.S. [8:18] attorney who's reading this now to the judge, a 12 gauge pump action shotgun, a 38 caliber semi-automatic [8:25] pistol, three knives and quote, other dangerous paraphernalia. The assistant U.S. attorney now [8:31] asking the judge and requesting that there'd be no chance at bond for this suspect as it speaks [8:37] because of the severity of the crimes. And speaking to that, this was premeditated. It was planned [8:43] before he got on that train from California to Washington, D.C. And that his intended target [8:48] was to assassinate the president of the United States. And that will be a case they will have [8:54] to outline with specific information as they learn more from his writings, his social media profile, [9:01] interviews they conduct with family members, those who know him, some of the facts on the scene. [9:06] There's ballistic evidence that is being processed. There were bullet holes in a wall at the hotel. [9:12] And a reminder to our audience, this suspect did not get to the ballroom level where those 2,600 [9:18] guests were assembled, including the president, vice president, first lady, and many dignitaries. [9:23] He was on a floor above that in a public space that had been used as part of the general reception [9:29] for all of those guests. And there were layers of barricades and metal detectors and those kinds of [9:36] steps. He was seen on video running through one of those metal detectors. After the event had [9:41] begun and all other guests were assembled inside, he was subdued by a variety of officers there. [9:48] There was a discharge of weapons. I'm told he fired his weapon and that there was return fire [9:53] from law enforcement. And that is when the Uniform Division Secret Service officer was struck in the [9:58] vest by some projectile. And he thankfully was not injured. He certainly took the full force of that, [10:06] but he was only briefly at the hospital and then released. So no injuries here. The suspect was [10:11] not injured. The president was safe as well. And Kelly, I understand now from the notes that [10:16] we're getting in court, there's going to be a detention hearing now at 11 a.m. this Thursday. [10:21] His public defender has said that Mr. Allen has no prior arrests or convictions. And of course, [10:27] he would say this as his attorney. He has presumed innocent at the time. It sounds like they will [10:32] have this detention hearing on Thursday as long as the judge signs off on it. So it sounds at least [10:36] in this case, things are moving pretty, pretty quickly in this case. Exactly. And that's what [10:41] we expected. This type of hearing, this first appearance is very brief. No entrance of plea. [10:46] The discussion of detention would come next. There would be a discussion. Is there bail? Is there not [10:52] bail? The government will present its request for no bail opportunity. His defense counsel will have a chance [10:58] to respond. He will now be in the custody of the U.S. Marshals. Prior to this, he'd been held by [11:04] Washington Metropolitan Police prior to being charged as a federal defendant. They were able to hold him [11:10] for a period of time simply on the suspicion of what happened Saturday night. There will be many [11:15] steps to come and so much more to learn, Tom. I want to bring in Tom Winter now who covers law [11:19] enforcement for us. Tom, there is so much evidence, at least from what federal investigators [11:26] and Secret Service and our own reporting show against this man right now. Talk to us about [11:31] some of the key pieces we have. There's been talk of this manifesto. There is a surveillance video [11:36] of him sprinting across that initial security checkpoint and then him, of course, on the ground [11:41] in handcuffs there at the scene with weapons allegedly on him. That's right, Tom. And that evidence is [11:46] pretty strong as it's been shared with us so far. It's three counts total here. So the key one is the [11:51] attempt to assassinate the president of the United States. That does carry a life sentence if he's [11:56] convicted to that up to up to a life sentence. There's also count three there, that discharge [12:00] of a firearm. That's a mandatory minimum if he's convicted of that. What they seem to have [12:05] extrapolated is some intent from that note that we've been reporting on that's very clear, as you [12:10] mentioned, a manifesto detailing the exact reasons why he was there. There's little room for [12:15] interpretation. He specifically references the Trump administration and his whole game plan for how [12:20] he was going to carry this out and his reasons for doing so. You've got this video that you're [12:25] looking at right now, which we're going to start to see be played out shortly, where he will come [12:30] running in from the left, going past the checkpoint. Here he is coming right now. You can see him dressed [12:35] in all dark clothing, presumably holding a rifle there, just the way that he looks. That was as they [12:39] were kind of breaking down the magnetometer and the checkpoint. Here he is lying on the ground [12:44] shortly thereafter, after he's taken into custody and stripped to make sure he's got no other [12:48] explosive devices on him. He is going to be held until that hearing. And one of the things that [12:53] we'll get, Tom, in the coming couple of days, presumably a lot of detail in today's complaint, [12:58] once that is publicly filed to the docket, we will know more about that. But they will also file a [13:03] detention memo from federal prosecutors where they can lay out some additional evidence that goes just [13:08] beyond the basic requirements to bring these charges against him. And sometimes we can get a lot more [13:14] information out of those filings. I will note, and some folks might point out that there's a [13:19] preliminary hearing scheduled for May 11th. That will almost assuredly not happen. He will likely [13:25] be indicted by a federal grand jury well before that date. But because he's being arrested on what [13:30] we call a complaint, they have to enter that date for there to be a hearing to see whether or not the [13:34] evidence, weigh the evidence, rather, on this complaint. But the most serious charge is the first one, [13:39] the attempted assassination of the president of the United States. This is now officially the third [13:44] attempted assassination against the president, Donald J. Trump. Two attempts, of course, while [13:48] he was a candidate for office. A third one now that he is in office that apparently occurred or [13:52] allegedly occurred, according to the Justice Department, on Saturday night. Those two previous [13:57] ones, one in Butler, Pennsylvania, Thomas Matthew Crooks, and then a second one near his golf course in [14:03] Florida with Ryan Routh, who was convicted several months ago, is a result of his federal [14:09] trial there. Crooks, of course, was killed by a U.S. Secret Service sniper, counter-sniper that was up [14:14] on the roof at that incident. Unlike that first incident involving Crooks in Butler, Pennsylvania, [14:19] we now have, Tom, to your point earlier, just a tremendous amount of evidence because we have a note. [14:26] With Crooks, we didn't have really any social media profile, no writings, nothing really left behind. [14:31] Crooks is very clear here, as I mentioned before, and also discussed the security at the hotel. [14:36] We see him there flanked by officers. This image being put out by the president [14:40] on Saturday evening after he arrived back at the White House. But this is just a very different [14:46] case than that. And obviously, they will continue their investigation, presumably continue to get [14:51] surveillance video. Some, according to our colleagues, including Kelly O'Donnell, contains [14:56] him going in through the stairwell to get down there so he's not detected in the elevators. [15:01] Much more to come, Tom, I'm sure, as we continue to get these charges in. [15:04] And as we look back on those three assassinations attempts, this one marks the third one. [15:09] Tom, there's also that Pakistani man that is on trial. I believe he's still on trial, [15:13] saying that Iran had hired him to kill President Trump and other administration officials [15:18] as well. So there have been both plots and assassination attempts against the president's [15:23] life. Tom, in that manifesto, do we know if it was just an M.O., if you will, right, his [15:28] modus operandi? Or was there also a plan of attack in there as well? Did he lay out what he wanted to [15:34] do? Because I've seen some reporting out there about, you know, administration officials were [15:38] the targets in sort of an order of importance. That's exactly right. I mean, I think he understood, [15:45] based if you read this note, that this, in his eyes, was the best opportunity because he thought [15:51] he could get closest to the president. That's what he says in the note. He also talks about the fact that [15:56] he wanted to go after administration officials. I think he knew by the time he would get [15:59] to close to where Trump was, he would have been confronted by law enforcement, [16:03] but certainly was up for any sort of top officials. He, interestingly, we don't know why, [16:08] says that he was not going to go after the FBI director, Kash Patel, but he definitely seemed to [16:14] go after administration officials. And that, you know, big picture here, Tom, you know, you referenced [16:19] the charges against that Pakistani individual. We're not even talking about the threats that are [16:25] investigated by the Secret Service, the threats that are prosecuted, let alone plots. And so now, [16:31] if you have individuals that think, you know what, maybe I can't get to Donald Trump, [16:35] maybe I can get to other members of the Trump administration, the headache, not just for the [16:38] Secret Service, but for the diplomatic security service that covers the State Department or for [16:43] the military, for the secretary of war, just the security posture that we now have to be in. And oh, [16:49] by the way, we're in the middle of a war. It's a really complex picture here going forward. [16:54] I want to bring in Danny Savalos. Danny, there's going to be a detention here, [16:58] and we know this week. Do you see any scenario where this man is released from federal custody? [17:04] Zero. This is what you call a presumption case. And that even came up during the hearing, [17:09] the very brief hearing today. Normally, the Bail Reform Act says that people have a presumption [17:15] of bail while they, when they appear before the magistrate. But there are certain cases in which [17:20] there's a presumption that no set of circumstances or conditions will keep the public safe or ensure [17:26] the defendant's appearance at trial. So this is what we call a presumption case. You've got guns. [17:31] Those are usually presumptions. He will remain in custody, no matter what happens in three days [17:37] at the bail hearing. All right, Danny Savalos, we think. You want to get quickly to Gabe Gutierrez, [17:41] who's covering this from the White House. Gabe, the White House has come out today to highlight what [17:45] happen on Saturday night to talk about security and steps going forward. And it's really unclear [17:50] how this event changes the president's schedule going forward and the events he holds, whether [17:54] they be indoors or outdoors. Yes, that's right, Tom. Look, [17:58] the president has said that he wants to redo this dinner within the next 30 days or so. Right now, [18:02] it's very unclear exactly how that will happen, what venue it would happen at. The White House is using [18:07] this opportunity to try and make the case for why the president wants that massive ballroom that has [18:13] been very controversial and has been tied up in the courts right now. That ballroom proposed to be [18:18] 90,000 square feet. And the president is saying private donations would cover it. It would only hold [18:24] about 1,000 people, though. And as you heard earlier, the White House correspondence, there are more [18:28] than 2,000 people at that event. Now, just a short time ago, we heard from Caroline Levitt. She says this [18:34] week, Secret Service, DHS, and the White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, will hold a meeting to discuss [18:39] security moving forward, Tom. Gabe Gutierrez, first, I want to thank Gabe and Danny and Tom [18:43] and Kelly for their coverage. This is going to conclude this NBC News special report. A reminder, [18:48] we're going to be back here in about an hour for a DOJ news conference on this same incident. [18:52] And, of course, we'll have much more on our streaming network, NBC News Now, [18:55] online at NBC News.com, and a full wrap-up tonight on Nightly News. I'm Tom Yamas. We thank you for [19:00] watching. We thank you for watching. And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app [19:06] or watch live on our YouTube channel.