Why couldn't security stop a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner?

Here & Now Anytime

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4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2026

⏱️ 25 minutes

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Summary

On Saturday night, a gunman gained access to the ballroom where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was being held and President Trump and top administration officials were present. MSNOW reporter Carol Leonnig explains whether there were holes in event security that night.

Then, the Supreme Court is hearing a case about Monsanto's powerful weedkiller, Roundup, which has lost lawsuits from people who say the product’s ingredients caused their cancer. John Wesley Boyd Jr. from the National Black Farmers Association and Ben Riensche from Crop Life America weigh in from different sides of the issue.

And, lawmakers are divided on extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before it expires Thursday. Former intelligence analyst Javed Ali explains the provision, which allows intelligence agents to surveil terrorism suspects abroad without warrants, even though some information about Americans is captured in the process.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:05.8	It was very, very difficult for anybody to move or do anything to protect themselves other than dive under tables in an enormous room.
0:15.1	How was a gunman able to breach a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondence Dinner?
0:28.6	Yeah. breach a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondence Dinner. It's Monday, April 27th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR Boston.
0:35.6	I'm Shiko Tha Uri.
0:38.6	Today on the show, the Supreme Court hears a case about Monsanto's powerful weed killer
0:43.3	Roundup, which some health experts claim causes cancer.
0:47.0	I don't think there's been enough research and development in the harmful causes of what this
0:51.8	chemical does to the human beings in a long run.
0:55.5	And a provision that allows the government to spy on terrorism suspects expires this week.
1:01.1	Lawmakers are split on whether to extend it.
1:05.8	But first, the suspect in the White House Correspondence's dinner shooting was arraigned today.
1:11.2	Authorities say 31-year-old Cole Allen was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and several knives when he charged through a security checkpoint before he was stopped and arrested.
1:21.7	One Secret Service agent was shot and not seriously injured.
1:25.4	Today, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is convening a security meeting about the shooting.
1:30.7	Carol Lenig is a senior investigative reporter with MS Now and shares the latest with Scott Tong.
1:36.7	What do we know about the level of security Saturday night at the Washington Hilton?
1:42.0	You know, I spoke with a lot of former and current Secret Service
1:46.9	agents late Saturday night after the event when we were, you know, subjected to shotgun fire
1:53.5	outside the ballroom door and evacuated. And here are the things they pointed out to me.
1:59.3	There's a playbook, if you will, for how to work security at the Hilton. And it hasn't changed a lot over the years. It was certainly heightened for this event at the Hilton in some small ways. But in many ways, it is identical to other presidential visits for White House correspondence dinners.
2:19.7	And the threat climate is actually a lot higher.
	...

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