Andrew Smith

One small state-of-the-culture observation on last night…. Shortly after leaving the Hilton, where a gunman attempted to enter the room in which the President, Vice President, several cabinet members, congressmen, dignitaries, business executives, and hundreds of America’s leading journalists were gathered, I went to a bar with a small group of colleagues to touch base, get our bearings, and, ideally, watch the news coverage. When I lived in Washington a decade ago, bars like this one usually had at least one TV tuned to CNN or Fox News. These TVs were on a hockey game, and no one in the bar seemed aware of what had just taken place mere blocks away. We asked a bartender to change the channel to CNN so we could watch the president’s briefing with captions, which they did. But then, a few minutes later, the bartender said he’d been informed by the manager that the bar had a policy against showing political content, and he’d have to go back to sports. I tried to imagine what this bar might have looked like on March 30, 1981, an hour or so after Hinckley fired shots at Reagan at the very same hotel. I imagine every television would have been on CNN or the wall-to-wall special coverage on the broadcast networks, and that passers by would have come in to watch, as well. The media is giving this the ample coverage it deserves. But it’s unnerving how desensitized so many people have become—to shootings, obviously, but also to political violence and the abnormality of the moment. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe we just picked the wrong bar. But I doubt it. Pew Research recently reported that attention to news in the U.S. has declined across all age groups since 2016, and that young adults (ages 18 to 29) have consistently had the lowest levels. Even as the news itself intensifies—in politics, geopolitics, technology, etc—more and more people seem to be tuning it out. And I suppose this is how you find yourself in a bar in the nation’s capital, an hour after crouching behind a chair as secret service members evacuate the President of the United States from the room, being told that you’ll have to watch Penguins vs. Flyers.

Tonight CNN journalists leapt into action to cover the worst kind of breaking news. Love so many of my colleagues and proud of our team at the White House: @kaitlancollins @KristenhCNN @alaynatreene @AlejandraJMillo @JuliaBenbrook and Riane Lumer, Peter Morris and Khalil Abdallah

CNN's Wolf Blitzer details a firsthand account of the shooting and the immediate aftermath live from inside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner tonight

Video of the scene inside the WHCD

A shout out to CNN's entire team as I accept the WHCA award for excellence in presidential news coverage under deadline pressure tomorrow night.

Reality check on today’s “automatic draft registration” story

NEW: @nytimes & @Delta have stuck a unique multi-year distribution deal that gives SkyMiles members access to all of NYT's journalism and products via its via seat-back screens and their personal devices for 24 hours More on @axios: axios.com/2026/04/02/nyt…

Another question: is this a reasonable use of finite military resources and personnel during wartime?

MLB's 'robot umpires' have officially arrived - how could they change the game? Rob Friedman joins @Phil_Mattingly on Opening Day to discuss

A public service from @cnn. Awesome. Just used it to time my departure to airport.

Darrell Issa made a beeline to a nearby stairwell when I saw him today and his aide tried to shut a stairwell door on us. He’s considering the highly unusual move of running for a House seat in Texas, even though he represents a district in CA. He does not want to talk about it.

For one of the first times since the 43-day government shutdown began, the FAA’s airspace plan shows no ATC facilities with short staffing. Here’s the FAA’s update from 10 a.m. ET.

Overlooked and undercounted, New York City’s homeless youth fight to sur... youtu.be/CyKQy53vA-A?si… via @YouTube

@smerconish You need to watch Little Buddha! youtu.be/p7xFK3GGj4I?si…

families may have been divided but the world is united

The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration is warning residents about a text message scam targeting drivers with fake traffic violations and demands for money and threats of legal action. fox5dc.com/news/maryland-…

@DrewDisneyDude So they both close for the season on 9/7??

BREAKING: Walt Disney World’s Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon Water Parks will open at the SAME TIME from May 21 to September 7, 2025. Blizzard Beach will temporarily close from May 1 to May 20 to prepare for the summer. This is NOT an April Fools’ Day joke. 🙌

Hey @united. You sent my kid’s luggage to Dublin while the rest of the family arrived here in LA. How do I talk to human to fix this quickly?

@ResidenceInn is there an email for the Residence Inn New York Manhattan/Central Park?