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- [00:00]
Donald Trump
Foreign.
- [00:06]
Jane Coaston
I'm Jane Coaston, and this is what a day. The show that is not rooting for the Dallas Mavericks. If you know, you know. On today's show, financier Kevin Warsh is one step closer to being confirmed as Federal Reserve chair. And President Donald Trump backs out of negotiations with Iran in Pakistan. But let's start with the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner. President Trump was preparing to give his remarks in front of hundreds of journalists and political figures on Saturday when guests heard gunshots fired outside the ballroom. As of the time of this recording Sunday, law enforcement has a suspect in custody, a California man who traveled to Washington and was staying in the hotel where the dinner took place. According to police, he sent his family messages that indicated he was planning to take violent action against members of the administration. But there's still a ton we don't know. Namely, how on earth did someone with a gun get so close to the president again? Typically, an event featuring the president has incredibly tight security. But according to the New York Times, there were no metal detectors at the hotel entrances. Other journalists noted that security at the hotel seemed weirdly lax. So did the shooter, according to his alleged manifesto published by the New York Post. He wrote that there was, quote, no damn security and that, quote, this level of incompetence is insane. But Acting U.S. attorney General Todd Blanch defended law enforcement's actions on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday.
- [01:47]
Todd Blanch
We don't have all the answers on to how he got far, but the perimeter is the perimeter. So necessarily, if somebody's outside the perimeter and they try to breach it, assuming they don't get very far, that's what we want. That's what we want law enforcement to stop. And they did.
- [02:03]
Jane Coaston
The Washington Post also reported that the Trump administration did not designate the White House Correspondents Dinner to be a, quote, national special security event, despite the President, the vice president, and most of the cabinet being in attendance. And Trump has been weirdly calm. Here he is on CBS News 60 Minute Sunday recounting his experience with Secret Service agents at the dinner.
- [02:26]
Donald Trump
I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn't making it that easy for him. I 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. And I was surrounded by great people, and I probably made them act a little bit more slow.
- [02:53]
Jane Coaston
He was also impressed by the speed of the alleged gunman.
- [02:57]
Donald Trump
He ran 45 yards, they say. And he just went to it, and then boom, He. He popped through it. I mean, he ran like. I think the NFL should sign him up. He was fast.
- [03:08]
Jane Coaston
Interesting. But again, how was the shooter able to get so close despite the perimeter? Was security more lax than it should have been? I still have a lot of questions. So to take us inside the room Saturday night, I spoke to Eugene Daniels. He's a senior Washington correspondent at msnow and former president of the White House Correspondents Association. Eugene, welcome to What a day.
- [03:30]
Eugene Daniels
Thank you so much for having me.
- [03:32]
Jane Coaston
You were at the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday night First. I hope you're doing okay. I'm so glad that you are safe.
- [03:40]
Eugene Daniels
Thank you. I'm shaken up, if I'm going to be honest. It was like, we cover these things all the time, right? We cover gun violence in this country. We cover people who were, you know, hiding under things, texting their family members, holding, pulling their friends, people holding hands. But you, you know, and everyone says this, you never think that it's going to be you on the side of the other side of that equation. And so that. I think a lot of folks, I've been touching base with a lot of other reporters and sources that were in the room. Everyone's trying to work through what it feels like when a bubble that typically feels so safe should be very safe, gets pierced like this.
- [04:22]
Jane Coaston
Yeah, I think that's something I've been hearing from people just like, you know, this is supposed to be a very. It's like a very elite space, a very safe space. But I wanted to ask, like, what were you doing when it became clear that there had been a breach in security, There were gunshots. What. What were you doing?
- [04:41]
Eugene Daniels
Yeah, we had. We had kind of just started, right? Like, the whole table was just talking. We're having fun. We were talking about what we were expecting that day. We were talking about what would the coverage look like of Donald Trump and his speech and what the party, the msnow party that we were having that night that was celebrating the First Amendment and all the folks that are in that room, what that was gonna look like. And I was far back enough close to the door that it was very clear very quickly to me and some folks around me that it was like gunshots. We never. There are a lot of folks, especially folks that were toward the front, who, when you talk to them, they thought it was a pop dropping or someone, you know, dropped a tray and all these plates went everywhere. But immediately, to me, it sounded like A gun. And the first thought I had was, no, no, no, no, no. Never been in that situation. And so I'm thinking like, this is not. Like this can't possibly be actually happening in this room. And so we just dropped to the ground. And you can see folks kind of realizing it throughout and especially when they started running in. We started seeing Secret Service and U.S. marshals running in and then we all started taking out our phones and recording, essentially because it became very clear to us that like other people are going to need to know what to do. And frankly, it was quite cathartic to have something else to focus on. And I've been working a lot today as well, and that's also been helpful was like other people need the information of what happened and you're able to take yourself out of it.
- [06:22]
Jane Coaston
So you and I have both been at events where Secret Service is present, where either a sitting President or a recently sitting president or vice president was due to be. This is potentially the third attempted assassination on Trump in less than two years. Did you notice an increase in security at this year's dinner with the President being in attendance?
- [06:47]
Eugene Daniels
So I can really talk to this because I've planned it, right? I've planned this dinner last year. And there is a difference between what it sort of looks and feels like when the President is there and when he is not there. One, it's in who is leading it. If the President is there, Secret Service takes charge, right? They are the ones that are coordinating with mpd. They're the ones that are coordinating with the hotel and telling the WHCA what's going to happen when things are closing, that kind of thing. When the President isn't there, it's the WHCA that, you know, hires a security firm to handle it all. And frankly, it looked similar and felt similar to how it's been in the past. Now, a lot of people, including myself, have questions about what that means in the future and if changes need to be made. But folks that are saying that it felt lax compared to other years. For those of us that have gone a lot and that have been involved in this, it kind of didn't. It felt very similar, right? Walking in to the hotel and especially just getting into the perimeter, you have to have certain things and that's why you feel safe. You have to have hotel key card, usually you have to show a ticket, you have to show that you have a pre reception invite because some people go to the receptions and don't go to the actual event. So there's all these different types of credentialing that makes you feel safe. But the magnetometers are much closer to the actual event than where the red carpet is. And when folks watch the red carpet, what they don't know is that is the entrance, like right there at that door. When you walk in, you are on the red carpet and no one asked to see id. There wasn't a list. And that is not. That has not been abnormal. But it is clearly, and I have not talked to the folks that are leading this on the WHCA about this this morning, but knowing them and having served with many of them, they're having those conversations as they move forward. Forward.
- [08:47]
Jane Coaston
Now, what struck me about this besides my immediate concern about all the people I knew at this dinner? And just like I, I know that there's a lot that you're contending with thinking about this, but I've also, I'm also sure that you've seen that the first reaction I seem to see online was an intense number of people saying, oh, this was staged, this was a false flag. What do you think about these conspiracy theories? I mean, you were there, this all did happen. And already you're seeing this divide between a room full of media whose first thought is, how can we get this news out? And the world outside of that room where their first thought is, it's fake.
- [09:29]
Eugene Daniels
It screws with your head to have it, have experienced something like that. And then immediately folks doing exactly what you're saying. And I think it shows a couple of things. One, it shows the increasing distrust in this country of just like everything, right, people don't trust the government. And government, both Democrats and Republicans have for years like, denigrated the trust of the American people. Right? They have destroyed that. The media has a lot to contend with about the reasons that the folks don't trust us. And in the media environment and the social media world we live in, getting that back, both the government and the media and just kind of like human being to human being, trusting each other or giving at least each other the benefit of the doubt or waiting for some kind of investigation instead of the second, something happens, saying that it didn't happen, that it's fake. I don't know how we as a country come back from that. But what I saw in that room was like, as American as it gets. You have people celebrating the First Amendment, which we all say that we like. You have people who immediately got up and reported so the American people could see what was happening to their elected leaders. But also gun violence and then the distrust, like all of those things yell and scream. The current American environment to me, and I don't know how we as a country pull back from that. We have to figure out how, but I don't know what it looks like.
- [10:56]
Jane Coaston
Yeah, I think. I wish I knew. And to talk briefly about Trump. Immediately after the shooting, Trump held a press conference where he seemed unfazed. He was more concerned with rescheduling the dinner and the security of his new ballroom. At the same time, his popularity is at an all time low. How do you think Trump will try to use this moment and do you think it'll work?
- [11:23]
Eugene Daniels
I think it'll, it will work with certain aspects of his base. I think it will work with, you know, certain Republicans. I think when you talk to even people who are like, you know, Bush Republicans, you know, they've said, you know, this is possibly the third time that this man's life has been in danger over the last two and a half years, so something must be wrong with the other side.
- [11:46]
Donald Trump
Right?
- [11:47]
Eugene Daniels
Like, that's what you hear quite a bit. And yet, like, Donald Trump understands how to utilize a moment. So people who were surprised that he immediately had that press conference have not been paying attention. They have not been paying attention to Donald Trump and who he is. In his heart of hearts, he's a showman at Butler. He gets up, ear bleeding, and despite the protocols that all of us that cover presidents, vice presidents and those who used to be them or candidates, nominees, he gets up and puts his fist up in the air while he's supposed to be getting in the car, right? Knowing it seems that a moment is gonna come out of that. And so him standing in front of cameras, his team will tell you that it was about, for them, educating the public about what happened. We did get quite a bit of information, but also showing the people who are behind these kinds of things who want to do something like this, showing the suspect that you can't scare us from wanting to continue. He really wanted to continue the dinner. Right when they were coming on the speakers and telling us, you know, our program will continue shortly, we were all like, huh? But when, how, like, how is the mentalist coming out here? Like, I'm not in the movie, you know. And so it was like such a weird, like all of us trying to kind of figure it out. But Donald Trump is back there, according to all reports, telling his team he wants to get back on stage, that he, that he is not going to be kowtowed by this, he's not gonna be scared of this. And so all of that milieu tells you a lot about how Donald Trump operates and whether or not it's gonna work. I think people are hurting so much. There's only so much you can do to use anything, no matter what it is, as a distraction from the pain folks are feeling, especially when it comes to the economy. There's Iran war. There's still the frustration around the Epstein files and the release or the not for release of those files and a million other things the American people are dealing with and trying to figure out and so trying to use anything to say we need to move forward and just focus on this one thing. You can't trick the American people when they know what pain they're feeling. So I think it maybe works for a couple of days, but eventually we all kind of go back to normal when these happen. We've been through this before, right? We see kids get killed and the country just moves on. And there's no change in the law. There's no like real conversation about how this happened, why this happened for longer than a couple of weeks. And so I think like the. Whether it works, who knows? Probably not. Whether it changes anything in this country also, probably not, unfortunately.
- [14:43]
Jane Coaston
Eugene, thank you so much for joining me and again, I'm glad you're okay.
- [14:47]
Eugene Daniels
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
- [14:50]
Jane Coaston
That was my conversation with Eugene Daniels, senior Washington correspondent at msnow. There's somehow more news to talk about. Thanks for being here. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What a day is brought to you by Aura Frames. Gifting is hard. What do the people you love want? No, what do they really want? No wonder we sometimes just give up and get them a gift card. Or maybe that's just me, but I've figured out auraframes is the perfect solution. With Aura Frames, you get free unlimited storage. Add as many photos and videos as you want and you can preload photos before it ships. Keep adding from anywhere, anytime, oriframes the Perfect Gift every time. Named number one by Wirecutter, you can save on the Perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com for a limited time. Listeners can get $25 off their best selling Carver mat frame with code WAD. That's auraframes.com promo code WAD. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. This podcast is brought to you by Wise the app for international people using money around the globe when it comes to sending money abroad, many providers claim to offer free fees and competitive rates. But don't be fooled. This can be code for inflated exchange rates. With the WISE account, you can send, spend and receive money in over 40 currencies without ever having to worry about hidden fees. Sending pounds across the pond. Most transfers arrive in 20 seconds or less. Spending reals in Rio. The wise travel card gives you the mid market rate on every purchase. No costly markups on your bill. Getting paid in dollars for your side gig. Avoid hidden fees and get the real exchange rate every time. With 24. 7 access to life support, your international transactions with WISE are quick, transparent and safe. Plus, WISE runs over 7 million daily checks to catch and prevent fraud. 15 million people already trust WISE to manage their money internationally. Be smart. Get Wise. My husband and I use WISE when we travel and it couldn't be easier. Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com Terms and Conditions apply.
- [16:58]
Eugene Daniels
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- [17:19]
Jane Coaston
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Eugene Daniels
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- [17:29]
Jane Coaston
Here's what else we're following today. Head of Lines hey, remember how last week Vice President J.D. vance was supposed to travel to Pakistan to negotiate an end to the Iran war? That didn't happen. And on Saturday, Trump said that special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would not be traveling to Pakistan because it's too much travel time. Like anyone who really, really wants someone to call them but also wants to seem cool, he added that Iran, quote, can call us anytime they want. On Sunday, Trump called into Fox News to talk about how actually he could totally destroy Iran if he wanted to. But he doesn't want to. But he could.
- [18:07]
Donald Trump
We've wiped out, largely wiped out the opposition if we ever had to keep going, would wipe them out very quickly. The rest have a it the remainder and I hope we don't have to do that, but it may be possible that we do.
- [18:20]
Jane Coaston
But he also saves some time to yell about America's allies.
- [18:24]
Donald Trump
They said we don't want to get involved. And frankly, when they said we don't want to get involved, as you know, UK said that, oh no, we'll send ships as soon as the war is over. And that's not good. That's not good. We just can't have that. We are not happy. Let me put it this way, just finish it up. We are not happy, happy with NATO. NATO did not serve us well. We've been serving them for many years, spending trillions of dollars. And when we wanted a little help, they were not there. So we have to remember that.
- [18:53]
Jane Coaston
Last week, President Trump indefinitely extended the ceasefire between the US And Iran. The Department of Homeland Security has been closed for almost 10 weeks, the longest partial government shutdown in history. And the department is expected to start missing paychecks in May. On Thursday, Republicans launched a new plan to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol without the help of Democrats. On Fox News Sunday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche used a shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner to demand an end to the shutdown.
- [19:22]
Todd Blanch
I hope this is a wake up call to Congress. I hope this is a wake up call that the games that they've been playing really with the lives of the men and women protecting them should end. And I don't, I do hope that they get to work now and get a deal done, which is what President Trump has been asking for for months now. And that the folks in that room, which included, included some of those congressmen and senators in addition to the press and the administration officials that were there, got a firsthand look at how great those men and women are and how using them as pawns in their political game is something they should not be doing.
- [19:56]
Jane Coaston
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, how House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pointed the finger at Republicans, saying that he also wants DHS employees to get paid.
- [20:05]
Todd Blanch
Well, we have to make sure that every single Secret Service agent continues to get paid. Every single TSA agent, the Coast Guard and fema, as well as the hard working men and women of the Department of Homeland Security.
- [20:17]
Jane Coaston
It's worth noting that Secret Service ICE and members of the Coast Guard have received paychecks during the shutdown. The Department of Justice has finally dropped its criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over alleged cost overruns on construction on two Fed buildings, which means that after months of wrangling, North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis will finally vote to support Powell's potential successor, Kevin Warsh. Tillis spoke to NBC's Kristen Welker on Meet the Press on Sunday.
- [20:45]
Donald Trump
So this will allow Mr. Warsh to move on with his confirmation on time. And that's the absurdity of this whole thing. If this investigation, which is now close, closed, had never occurred, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
- [20:57]
Jane Coaston
Tillis added that he believed Warsh would maintain the independence of the Fed. And just to be clear, are you confident that Kevin Warsh will act independently of the president if he is in fact confirmed?
- [21:10]
Donald Trump
Yeah, as a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the president doesn't get annoyed with them once or twice.
- [21:16]
Jane Coaston
So, yes, Thom Tillis is a yes. I just want to put a fine point on it because what you're saying is significance center.
- [21:22]
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- [21:29]
Donald Trump
That's right.
- [21:30]
Jane Coaston
The probe of Powell was for criminal activity and has continued despite a federal prosecutor telling U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro there was no evidence and a federal judge saying back in March that the grand jury subpoenas served to the Fed were to, quote, harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the president or to resign and make way for a Fed chair who will. But Pirro says she could reopen it if there's any new evidence of criminal activity. And that's the news. Before we go, if you've been following the headlines around policing, ICE and immigration enforcement and wondering how any of this actually got built, Empire City is the show that connects the dots. Hosted by Chenjerai Komanika, the podcast breaks down how these systems came to be, who they were built to serve, and why they still operate the way they do. Now Chenjerai Komanika is taking Empire City off the feed and into your living room. Well, your zoom screen with two people who've reported on and studied policing from different angles. He's joined by journalist and author Matt Katz and Yale professor Elizabeth Hinton for a live Q and A unpacking the roots of modern policing and where we go from here. Join them tomorrow, Tuesday, April 28th at 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern. Sign up@crookedideas.org EmpireCity that's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, wish all the players well at the Madrid Open and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about how a stomach virus has been making its way through the annual tennis tournament in Spain, like me, what a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe@cricut.com subscribe I'm Jayne Coaston and I could not watch tennis if I were nauseous, let alone play it and win. You go Coco. Golf. Water Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Foer, Erica Morrison and Adrienne Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Kanter. We had helped today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.
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- [24:25]
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Jane Coaston
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- [24:42]
Eugene Daniels
and varieties of Doritos, Lays, Cheetos, Sun
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Jane Coaston
Chips and Kettle cook chips are $1.99 each. Limit four member price. Hurry in.
- [24:49]
Eugene Daniels
These deals won't last.
- [24:51]
Jane Coaston
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