Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears on ABC News’ “This Week” on April 26, 2026. (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that “the system worked” and kept President Donald Trump and other leaders safe from a shooting outside of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night that they were attending.
“The system worked; law enforcement and the Secret Service protected all of us. The man barely got past the perimeter. And so when you have a perimeter designed to keep people safe, like President Trump, and it works — that’s something that should be applauded,” Blanche told “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos when asked about the fact that the president and many members of the presidential line of succession were there.
“Secondly, as President Trump said, we are not going to stop doing what we’re doing. We’re not going to stop living; we’re not going to stop being out there,” Blanche added. “President Trump is going to continue communicating with the American people in public, and the fact that the vice president and other leadership were there last night in one room, is why we had such a robust security [operation] surrounding the place, inside the place, and it’s why we are all safe.”
Blanche spoke to Stephanopoulos the morning after a shooting incident outside the dinner.
The incident took place near the main magnetometer screening area at the event, according to the Secret Service. A suspect, whom law enforcement sources identified to ABC News as Cole Allen of Torrance, California, is in custody, officials said.
Blanche said the suspect was likely acting alone, although investigations are ongoing, and that “we believe that he traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then Chicago to Washington, D.C.”
Asked by Stephanopoulos how the suspect may have gotten a firearm into the hotel, Blanche replied, “It’s a good question. And listen, I’m not sure. It appears that he checked in on the 24th [of April] to the hotel, and we’re still looking at video surveillance and footage of where he walked and how he got in and how those firearms got in, but at the end of the day, I expect we’ll have a lot more about that in the coming days.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and other dignitaries were removed by security after an shooting incident outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night.
The incident took place near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, according to the Secret Service.
Trump and the other dignitaries who were evacuated were safe, according to the Secret Service. The Secret Service and the president said that a suspect has been apprehended.
Law enforcement is continuing to conduct the investigation.
This was the first correspondents’ dinner that Trump attended as president. He was scheduled to speak.
Other dignitaries who were escorted out included House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Vice President JD Vance.
Trump praised the Secret Service for their work.
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely,” he said in a social media post.
Trump added the he “recommended that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON” but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement.”
“They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again,” he said.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang told the crowd at the Washington Hilton ballroom that the program would continue at some point.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(CHICAGO) — Two police officers were shot at a hospital in Chicago on Saturday morning and one was in critical condition as the medical facility went on lockdown, local officials said.
The shooting was reported at around 11:00 a.m. local time at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital, according to the hospital.
The unidentified suspect is now in custody, according to Alderperson Andre Vasquez of Chicago’s 40th Ward.
“Please shelter in place if you are in the surrounding area or avoid the area,” he said in a social media post
Vasquez said that one of the officers was in critical condition.
The hospital said there was no “active threat” within the hospital and patients and staff are safe.
“The campus is currently closed while law enforcement leads their investigation,” the hospital said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Severe weather outlook for Saturday, April 25, 2026. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — A severe weather threat is shifting back to parts of Kansas and Oklahoma on Saturday after damaging winds, hail and tornadoes impacted the region over the past week.
A level 4 of 5 “moderate risk” has been added for southeast Oklahoma, including Ada and McAlester, for the potential for very large hail (larger than baseballs), strong tornadoes, and damaging winds.
A level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” is up for northeastern Oklahoma and far eastern Arkansas, including Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Broken Bow and Enid, in Oklahoma, and Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Damaging winds and very large hail are the primary threats with these storms, but a few tornadoes, some potentially strong, cannot be ruled out with these storms.
This will be a later day event, with storms not likely to begin firing off until after at least 3:00 p.m. CT. Once storms get going, the atmosphere will be very favorable for discrete storms to intensify across eastern Oklahoma going into the evening hours.
Storms will continue to fire off during the evening up to just after sunset and will continue through the overnight hours across eastern Oklahoma, far northeast Texas and western Arkansas.
Beginning Sunday, a potent storm system will form southeast of the Rockies and swing northeast across the Plains, bringing more severe weather to the Plains on Sunday before the severe weather threat spreads northeast and stretches into the Midwest on Monday.
Almost 50 million Americans will be on alert for severe storms on Sunday or Monday – almost 8 million for Sunday, and almost 40 million for Monday.
For Sunday, a level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” is up for much of Kansas as well as portions of western Missouri, including Wichita and Kansas City. Tornadoes, some being strong, as well as damaging winds and large hail are all possible with storms in this area.
A level 2 of 5 “slight risk” is also up for parts of northern Texas, northwestern Arkansas, western Missouri, far southwest Iowa, southern Nebraska, most of Oklahoma and much of the remaining areas of Kansas.
Like Saturday, severe storms will likely not begin firing off until the late afternoon. When storms do get going though during the evening, the atmosphere will be favorable for discrete thunderstorms to grow and intensify, producing tornadoes (some possibly strong), damaging winds and large hail.
For Monday, the severe weather threat spreads northeast and stretches from the lower Mississippi River valley up to the Midwest for Monday. A level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” is up for cities like St. Louis; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Evansville, Indiana; Paducah, Kentucky; and Rockford, Illinois.
A level 2 of 5 “slight risk” is up for cities like Memphis; Louisville, Kentucky; Chicago; South Bend, Indiana; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Mason City, IIowa.
While there is some uncertainty in exact timing and setup with Monday’s storms, the potential for tornadoes with some being strong, as well as widespread damaging wind gusts, large hail, and spotty flash flooding is increasing for Monday for these areas.
With any discrete supercell thunderstorms that form and maintain themselves in this atmosphere, the “tornadic potential could maximize, with a few long track, particularly damaging tornadoes possible,” according to the NWS Storm Prediction Center.
This will likely be a late afternoon and evening setup regardless, with discrete storms or clusters of storms tracking in a line from Milwaukee and Chicago down to St. Louis and into northern Arkansas around the evening commute on Monday.
These storms will sweep east into the overnight hours, with Indianapolis; Paducah, Kentucky; and Memphis likely seeing storms later in the evening.
This storm system will also bring heavy rain to the central U.S., with some of it possibly falling in a short time with the heaviest storms. Because of this, isolated flash flooding is possible with these storms into the new week.
Heavy rain will also come to the Great Lakes on Monday, which could reinvigorate the flood risk given how saturated the ground still is from the historic rainfall from a few weeks ago combined with rapid snowmelt.
For Tuesday, we can see the severe weather threat shift to parts of the South as this potent system continues to move east. Places like Memphis; Little Rock, Arkansas; Tyler, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Jackson, Mississippi, will have to watch for potential severe weather later in the day.
Some showers, humidity in the Southeast The drought in the Southeast continues to worsen as two wildfires continue to burn in southeast Georgia.
Some rounds of rain and possibly isolated thunderstorms will move into the region later today and late Monday into Tuesday, with each round bringing around 0.5 to 1 inch of rain.
The rain will not tame the wildfires alone, especially if it doesn’t fall directly where the fires are. If there are any isolated thunderstorms, there is the chance that lightning could ignite additional wildfires in the already dry region.
However, the increased humidities and any rain that does fall on the fires this weekend into early next week will help with controlling ongoing fires and quickly manage any new fires if any should occur.
The rain will not make much of a dent on the drought situation across the region. For example, Georgia needs between 12 and 18 inches of rainfall to end the current drought.
The two notable fires in southeast Georgia, the Pineland Road Fire and the Highway 82 Brantley County Fire, continue to burn.
Meanwhile, the fire threat will be in the southern High Plains this weekend. Parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, as well as the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma are under fire weather alerts this weekend.
