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NBC Nightly News Full Episode - April 26, 2026
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00:03the frightening moments inside a Washington ballroom the dinner to
00:09celebrate the free press turning violent an attacker rushing past security
00:14charging toward the ballroom firing at agents then tackled it was a chaotic and
00:23somewhat frightening situation in here the president and vice president rushed
00:27out I heard a noise I thought it was a trade going down cabinet members
00:32lawmakers journalists taking cover and now the FBI descending on the suspect's
00:39neighborhood in California we're still investigating motive what we're
00:43learning about the man's writings and what his family describes as bizarre
00:47behavior the collection of weapons investigators say he had and his
00:52cross-country trip ending at the Washington Hilton with a terrifying
00:56security scare in the nation's capital our coverage begins right now
01:02this is NBC nightly news with Hallie Jackson good evening we are coming on
01:08the air tonight with that fast-moving investigation into the shooting at the
01:11White House Correspondents dinner new video out today you see it here
01:15showing the moment the suspect was taken down not long after this his sprint past
01:21security with multiple weapons according to investigators inside the ballroom secret
01:26service rushing the president away guests ducking under tables while Trump
01:31administration officials were escorted out now new pictures released late today
01:35show them huddling with the president in the Oval Office in the aftermath of the
01:38shooting tonight some of the suspects writings just obtained by NBC News suggest a
01:44loathing for both President Trump and his administration as
01:47investigators question neighbors about the suspected attacker ahead of an
01:51arraignment tomorrow our team is covering every angle tonight we begin with
01:55Garrett Haake who was inside that ballroom when all of this unfolded
01:59tonight dramatic new video captures the moment secret service officers wrestled the
02:04alleged White House Correspondents dinner gunman to the ground 31 year old Cole
02:08Thomas Allen tackled and arrested after authorities say he charged through a
02:12security checkpoint armed with a shotgun a pistol and multiple knives and according
02:17to what a senior administration official says are Cole's own writings with a desire
02:22to kill the president and other administration officials a federal
02:26investigation in full swing tonight from the Washington Hilton crime scene to
02:30the suspects home in California we don't believe anybody else was involved but
02:34again we have a lot of work left to do and a lot of evidence left to invest to go
02:39through and to collect the annual Washington gala with President Trump the
02:43First Lady and Vice President Vance all attending for the first time in office
02:47seated on a dais in a massive basement ballroom just getting underway when at 835
02:53loud bangs could be heard in the ballroom
02:58Secret Service agents suddenly swarbed the stage the vice president pulled to his
03:03feet and out of sight the president and First Lady enveloped by agents and
03:07hustled to safety the president tonight on 60 minutes and I started walking with
03:12him I turned I started walking and then said please go down please go down on the
03:17floor so I went down and First Lady went down also
03:24across the ballroom mass confusion as attendees ducked under tables and more
03:29law enforcement officers rushed in top officials including the health and defense
03:33secretaries and House Speaker Mike Johnson all pulled from the room by their
03:38protective details all of it captured on phone cameras as a ballroom packed with
03:43reporters began covering the story developing around them it's still unclear what
03:47happened there are reports that there may be somebody down outside I think at this
03:52point it's clear that the president has been evacuated from the ballroom but not
03:56necessarily from the property at large from a secure location inside the hotel the
04:01president posted at 9 17 quote quite an evening in DC then at 9 36 that he and
04:07his cabinet were unharmed and at the request of law enforcement headed back to
04:11the White House for a news conference top White House aides sharing these behind
04:15the scene photos from the Oval Office moments before the president took the
04:19podium well thank you very much take a look at what happened President Trump the
04:24target of two previous assassination attempts as a candidate addressing the
04:28gravity of the moment we had some great work done by law enforcement but in light
04:34of this evening's events I asked that all Americans recommit with their hearts and
04:39resolving our difference peacefully we have to we have to resolve our
04:44differences the president also sharing this surveillance video of the moment the
04:48attacker charged through security a floor above the ballroom and was
04:52apprehended I heard a noise I thought it was a tray going down I was watching to see
04:58what was happening probably should have gone down even faster the presence of so
05:02many top government officials under one roof drawing scrutiny today I think the
05:07Secret Service needs to reconsider having both the president and vice
05:11president together like it's something like that you know Chuck Grassley would be
05:17the president had they all been taken out Garrett is joining us now from the White House so Garrett
05:24you've got the president praising the officer who was hurt last night who was apparently saved by his
05:28bulletproof vest right that's right Hallie DC's police chief says this was a uniform Secret Service
05:33officer who had the good fortune to take this bullet directly into his protective vest the
05:38president thanked the officer last night described him as being in great shape and high spirits Hallie
05:43Garrett Hague outside the West Wing thank you the suspected attackers writings could give federal
05:48investigators more clues about his motive as they searched a home connected to him today our Steve
05:53Patterson is there just 10 minutes before Saturday night's attack suspected shooter 31 year old Cole
06:01Allen sent a series of sprawling thoughts to family members a senior White House official told NBC News
06:07detailing his plan describing himself as a friendly federal assassin tonight federal officials
06:13shifting their gaze some 2500 miles away from the halls of the Washington Hilton to this last known
06:19address this quiet neighborhood in Torrance California just south of Los Angeles where FBI
06:24teams in tactical gear descended on the home overnight executing a search warrant today agents going door to
06:31door everybody says it don't happen in your neighborhood but it happens in everybody's neighborhood
06:35it's going to happen no matter where you're at officials say Allen traveled by train from LA to Chicago
06:41then to DC before checking into the hotel on the 24th we're still investigating motive and that's
06:47something that will necessarily take a couple of days at least in a transcript of the suspects writings
06:52Allen described his targets as administration officials his family saying they alerted police upon seeing the
06:58writings telling authorities he had a tendency to make radical statements and constantly referred to a plan to do
07:04something authorities say his weapons including a 12 gauge shotgun and 38 pistol were legally purchased well
07:10before the shooting in an interview with law enforcement his sister said he regularly trained at a shooting range according
07:16to a senior
07:17administration official his family said he had big difficulty maybe they should have reported him a little bit more strongly
07:23probably but it's a hard thing to do I guess according to Allen's LinkedIn profile he was a part-time
07:29teacher at a tutoring and test prep company where he was named teacher of the month in December 2020.
07:34According to social media he graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 earning a mechanical engineering degree the
07:42idea with us
07:43the idea with us is to prevent it from moving at all the year he graduated he appears in a
07:51local news segment during a tech conference demonstrating a prototype wheelchair break the wheelchair brakes tend to lock the wheels
07:59but don't actually walk the chair to the ground the question authorities say they are not working on the
08:04working to uncover how this promising academic may have wound up a would-be assassin
08:10Steve's joining us now from that neighborhood in Torrance and Steve we understand that the suspect has not been cooperating
08:15with police while in custody.
08:18Yeah Hallie first of all police say Allen was not shot but was taken to a local hospital he's expected
08:23to be arraigned on two preliminary charges use of a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a
08:28federal officer and you said it at least so far authorities say he has not been cooperative with this investigation.
08:35Hallie.
08:36Steve Patterson thank you let's bring in Tom Winter now and Tom the suspect himself wrote that he was surprised
08:41there wasn't more security at this hotel and the president raised questions about the building itself.
08:45What are you hearing from your sources about this footprint here?
08:47Yeah Hallie well right now the security plan could be deemed a success nobody seriously injured suspect in custody but
08:54was it too close for comfort hotels present unique security challenges think back to the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting
09:01and how a hotel guest Stephen Paddock was able to set up an arsenal from his room should hotel guests
09:07have had their bag search should there have been an additional perimeter further away from the ballroom last night.
09:13And there will likely be a discussion about having so many top members of the administration in one room in
09:18the middle of a war Hallie.
09:19So Tom what does this mean then for security plans for this big arrival tomorrow here in Washington with King
09:24Charles coming to visit?
09:26Well British authorities have been looking at a host of recent attacks and threats in the UK and just last
09:31night in Northern Ireland so British and US law enforcement will have to take a fresh look at the plans
09:35this week.
09:36And it all comes as US authorities face a series of major security challenges this summer from the FIFA World
09:42Cup to the America 250 celebrations all in the midst of deep political strife here at home and complex terrorism
09:49threats streaming from the Middle East Hallie.
09:52Tom Winter thank you very much Monica Alba is joining us now from the White House and Monica we're seeing
09:57a push today from the president's team to try to make the case that what happened last night shows why
10:01they need to build that controversial ballroom at the White House even though of course the press dinner is considered
10:06a private event and not a government function.
10:08Exactly Hallie president Trump very quickly pivoted to why he says his 400 million dollar ballroom project is critical insisting
10:16that the attempted attack would never have happened in his proposed space which is currently tied up in court acting
10:23attorney general Todd Blanche today posting a letter to the group suing the Trump administration to halt the construction with
10:30the DOJ calling the Washington Hilton demonstrably unsafe and arguing that the new ballroom would be essential for the safety
10:37of the new ballroom.
10:46And this as members of both parties are now pushing for the ballroom to be built with some GOP lawmakers
10:53even calling for legislation that could accelerate that process.
10:58Hallie Monica Alba at the White House thank you for the president and for the country the shooting has intensified
11:04the spotlight on the rise of targeted political violence in America.
11:08Our Kelly O'Donnell reports.
11:12In that tightly packed ballroom chaos and confusion was quickly all too familiar.
11:20Threats of political violence are stress testing security and society from Butler Pennsylvania in 2024.
11:32To this black tie dinner evacuation the president asked about the heightened risk environment is that just the cost of
11:41doing business do politics in America anymore.
11:43Well what does that say about our country too?
11:45We're not the only country you look at this great violence with all countries.
11:49Targeted political violence is up dramatically more than 30 percent from 2024 through last year according to university researchers including
11:58arson at the Pennsylvania governor's home.
12:01An attack on Minnesota legislators.
12:04The Charlie Kirk assassination Kirk's widow Erica Kirk affected again as a dinner guest.
12:13As security details swarm dignitaries photographer Andrew Harnick who was seated at the head table picked up his camera.
12:22And by the time I was able to press record the vice president was being yanked off the stage as
12:29you see in the dramatic video that I was able to capture.
12:32What we contribute to the press corps is capturing what happens in the moment and obviously that happened very quickly
12:40last night.
12:42Kelly is with us now here in Washington and Kelly the president says he wants this event this dinner rescheduled
12:48what would that even look like?
12:49Well the president's idea is to try and get this done within 30 days he described not wanting to allow
12:54offenders to derail a high profile event like this honoring the first amendment but it is unclear what comes next.
13:01There are costs, logistics and a variety of considerations at issue and the dinner is run by the non-profit
13:07White House Correspondents Association and its board will need to figure out its own next steps.
13:13The president may encourage a quick do-over but we do not know when, if or how that would even
13:19happen.
13:20A lot of questions still there. Kelly O'Donnell thank you very much.
13:23We're going to have more on that story here in Washington as it develops.
13:26But we are also tracking tonight the intense and dangerous weather emergency affecting millions of people across the country, including
13:32in Texas, reeling after deadly storms today.
13:35Ryan Chandler is covering it all.
13:38Dangerous storms tearing across North Texas overnight, bringing intense lightning, heavy rain, flooding roads and tornadoes.
13:46Northwest of Fort Worth, the city of Runaway Bay, battered.
13:50That's not even where that's supposed to be.
13:52Video from the sky this morning showing the scope of the damage.
13:56Homes shredded, some flattened, roofs ripped clean off.
14:00County leaders say one person there died and 40 families are displaced.
14:05Just half an hour away in Springtown, eerie video of a glowing light.
14:10Holy ****.
14:12After officials say lightning hit a gas storage tank, a tornado there also turning deadly.
14:18Nope, not going that way.
14:20Trees down, completely blocking roads.
14:24Before these strong storms hit Springtown last night, a mobile home stood right here.
14:29Now it's a pile of rubble 50 feet away.
14:32And officials tell us a woman lost her life inside.
14:36Meanwhile, extreme drought in the south, fueling devastating wildfires.
14:40Schools already closed in Georgia's Brantley County after hundreds of people either lost homes or had to evacuate.
14:48And winds ripping through Stagecoach Music Festival in California.
14:52We are evacuating festivals due to severe weather.
14:56Forcing tens of thousands of festival goers to flee at one point Saturday.
15:00Back in Texas tonight, this part of the state is still in the risk zone for more severe weather on
15:05the way.
15:08Ryan's joining us now from Springtown, Texas.
15:10And Ryan, people cleaning up there, like the folks whose place you're standing in front of,
15:14they may not have a ton of time to get ready for the next round of storms.
15:18No, you're right, Hallie.
15:19And you see the debris surrounding me.
15:21It will certainly be a long road to recovery for so many here.
15:24And that comes as the risk extends through tonight.
15:27Some 19 million people from here in Texas all the way to Iowa at risk for damaging winds,
15:32possible tornadoes and hail.
15:34And the risk extends into the Midwest for millions more come tomorrow.
15:38Hallie.
15:38Ryan Chandler, thank you.
15:40Still ahead for us tonight, the fading hope for a U.S. peace deal with Iran with talks suddenly called
15:45off.
15:46Turns tonight about the fate of U.S. peace talks with Iran after President Trump called off
15:51the American delegation's trip to Pakistan this weekend.
15:53Keir Simmons is there.
15:56Tonight, Iran trying not to appear isolated.
15:59Its foreign minister here in Pakistan for the second time in as many days after meeting the
16:05Emir of Oman and phone calls with France, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
16:10But there'll be no face-to-face with the U.S. for now.
16:13This week's high security in Islamabad dismantled today.
16:16Iranian officials had said no direct U.S. negotiations were planned.
16:21But President Trump says he called off a meeting.
16:24We're not going to spend 15 hours in airplanes all the time going back and forth to be giving
16:30a document that was not good enough.
16:33And so we'll deal by telephone and they can call us anytime they want.
16:38At meetings this weekend, Iranian state media says the foreign minister argued the U.S.
16:44military should leave the Middle East, while President Trump insisting after last night's
16:49security incident.
16:50It's not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran.
16:55For now, that means a stalemate in the strait of Hormuz.
16:59CENTCOM saying tonight it intercepted an oil tanker serving Iran and sanctioned by the U.S.
17:05While from Iran tonight, new images of two cargo ships it seized last week.
17:10Meanwhile, renewed strikes between Israel and Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, despite
17:16a three-week ceasefire.
17:18This is a fragile peace with no diplomatic resolution in sight.
17:22Tonight, Iran's foreign minister has left Islamabad for Moscow, where he will meet with President
17:28Putin.
17:29The Russian foreign ministry telling state media the purpose is negotiations.
17:34Haley.
17:35Keir Simmons in Islamabad.
17:37We are back in a moment with the wild ride for a police officer here after he falls into
17:42the car of a suspect who then takes off.
17:47We are learning more tonight about a deadly shooting inside a Chicago hospital that left
17:50one police officer dead and another in critical condition.
17:53Police say it happened while the officers were bringing this suspect to the hospital to be
17:57checked out after he was arrested on something separate.
18:00The officer who was killed was 38 years old, a 10-year veteran of the department.
18:04And some dramatic moments out in California where surveillance video, look here, shows
18:08this police officer responding to a reported robbery.
18:11So there he is.
18:11He reaches into the car.
18:13But that's when the driver takes off.
18:14The officer falls inside.
18:17Body cam video shows the two fighting for control of the car.
18:20You see it here as it's going racing down the road.
18:22Listen to this.
18:24Stop the car.
18:25I'm going to go down.
18:26Stop the car.
18:27I will shoot you.
18:29The suspected thief was later arrested.
18:31And that officer managed to walk away from this whole thing unhurt.
18:35And finally, a record shattered at the London Marathon today.
18:39Sebastian Sawi from Kenya finishing the race in one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.
18:45Now becoming the first person to ever run an official marathon in under two hours.
18:51A huge deal and a big congratulations to him.
18:54When we come back, there is good news tonight about a new attitude in this new spring season,
18:58giving everyone something to look forward to.
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