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Attack Suspected in Boulder Charged with Hate Crime; DOGE Cuts go to Congress; Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is Interviewed Democratic Criticism, Revoking Visas and the Rescission Package; Former Hotel Guard to Testify in Combs Trial; Ukraine Says it Struck Bridge in Crimea. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 03, 2025 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

GLEN VAN PESKI, AUTHOR, "TAKE LESS. DO MORE": Focus on, well, to be happy, to be fulfilled, we need to get more stuff. You know, another car, another vacation house, more stuff for the kitchen. Whatever the stuff is. But ultralight backpacking reminds me like how little I actually need.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Right.

VAN PESKI: And that the things that make me happy isn't the stuff, it's the places.

Weir: It's the experience.

VAN PESKI: It's the experiences.

WEIR: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Amazing. The lessons and the visuals and the place. A new episode of "My Happy Place" airs this Sunday, 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New details in that horrific Anti-Semitic attack in Colorado. Authorities say he'd been plotting it for a year and planned to kill all Zionist people. What officials are revealing about the suspect's plan and why he waited for months to carry it out.

Plus, a major test for President Trump's agenda. The billions of dollars in DOGE cuts the White House wants, now headed to Congress.

And a man who appears to be a Louisiana escapee showed up on social media and pleaded for help from two rappers and President Trump.

I'm Sara Sidner, with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, hate and horror in Colorado. We

are learning a lot more about the suspect in the Anti-Semitic attack in Boulder that injured at least 12 people now. The suspect is now charged with a federal hate crime in 16 counts of attempted murder. Officials say he used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to turn a peaceful march in support of the hostages in Gaza into a scene of shock and chaos.

Now, according to court documents, this attack was the culmination of a year of planning. The suspect can be heard on camera shouting, "Palestine is free" and "end Zionists." After the attack, the DA said 16 unused Molotov cocktails were recovered.

The suspect is an Egyptian national. He made his first court appearance. Homeland Security says he was in the U.S. illegally. And according to the arrest warrant, he was denied buying a gun and that is when he learned to make or decided to make the Molotov cocktails.

Let's get right to CNN's Whitney Wild, who is on the ground in Boulder with all the latest developments.

What are you learning this morning, Whitney?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, let's talk a little bit more about this attempted gun purchase. What law enforcement says is that he -- he took a lot of steps here. He had actually taken a concealed carry class and learned to shoot the gun because he was, you know, he was intent at that time on using a gun to carry out this attack. As you said, he was denied that purchase because he is not a citizen.

We are also learning more about what led up to this. as you said, he had planned this attack for years. He wanted to wait until one of his five children, his daughter, graduated high school before actually carrying out this attack.

As this day unfolded, he drove from Colorado Springs to Boulder. He dressed as a gardener so that he could get close to this group. He actually bought flowers to -- to try to make -- you know, make his effort look more realistic as he tried to get closer to this group. And that's when he threw those two Molotov cocktails and began to carry out this attack.

As you mentioned, there were 16 more Molotov cocktails he intended to throw but did not. Taken together, law enforcement is looking at all of this, and they are listing a very long list of charges here.

Let's talk about the federal charge first. This is a hate crime charge. The acting U.S. attorney for Denver says that the hate crime charge with an attempted murder charge combined could result in life behind bars. That's the maximum sentence for that.

The state charges, there are 42 in total, John. Sixteen counts of attempted first degree murder, eight counts of first-degree assault, two counts of a use of an incendiary device, and then 16 counts of an attempted use of the incendiary device. The district attorney here listed the maximum sentence for those

crimes. In total, John, if he gets the maximum sentence, that could be more than 400 years behind bars.

As you had mentioned, the list of victims is growing now. We had been reporting it was eight. We now know that the total list is 12. Law enforcement wants anyone who believes that they were a victim of this crime to come forward because they do think it's possible that there are even more victims here. The ages range from 52 to 88 years old. Horrifyingly, John, one of those victims is a Holocaust survivor.

Here's what a witness told CNN about how he's feeling now and what he saw that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON BROOKS, WITNESSED ATTACK: I don't want to just move on. I want to make sure that the truth is told, you know? I want to make sure that people know clearly, this was an anti-Semitic attack. I was here. I heard what he said.

[09:05:01]

I heard him clearly say, you're burning my people or you burnt my people.

I immediately saw this guy standing here. The guy here. Smoke here. Blood over here. Smoke coming -- literally coming from a human being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: John, as you mentioned, the Department of Homeland Security says he was in the country illegally. He came in August 22 on a non- immigrant visa. He got a work authorization in March of 2023. That work authorization expired in March 2025. He is still in custody here in Boulder and he is expected to make his next court appearance on the state charges Thursday.

John.

BERMAN: All right, that's a lot of new information. And, obviously, the investigation continues.

Whitney Wild, in Boulder, thank you very much for that.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also happening today, the White House is sending part of its long awaited package of DOGE cuts over to Congress, kickstarting a process to really formalize the cuts made by Elon Musk's team targeting federal spending. The $9.4 billion package includes cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS and NPR, and almost the entire elimination of USAID, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House following this and, well, obviously so much more, because it's just the beginning of the day for you, Alayna. What are you learning? What more are you learning about this package now that's going to be headed over to Congress.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, never a dull day here at the White House, Kate.

But this rescissions package is really coming after a kind of intense internal battle here at the White House over what to really do and how to properly and formalize the cuts that Elon Musk and DOGE had laid out over his time here in the Trump administration.

So, as you mentioned, it's $9.4 billion. It does include cuts to NPR and PBS, among others. But it also includes cuts to a lot of those agencies, the foreign agencies, really, that have already been gutted by the Trump administration. You laid out USAID as one example.

Now, of course, $9.4 billion falls well short of some of the cuts that Musk and DOGE have really, you know, slashed while he's been here. But it also falls very well short of the trillion dollar aspirations that DOGE had laid out and ones that the Trump administration argued could still be to come, despite Musk now having departed in his role here at the -- in the Trump administration.

But look, we heard from the president's budget director, Russell Vought, on this. He essentially said that he believes that they will try to push this through, as well as potentially other packages related to rescissions in the future when it comes to sending this to Capitol Hill and trying to muscle it through Congress.

Take a listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL VOUGHT, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: I want to see if it passes. I think we're very interested in making sure it passes both the House and the Senate. But we're very open to sending multiple bills. We want to send up general rescissions bills to use the process if it's appropriate, to get them through the House and the Senate. We also have pocket rescissions. So, there's a lot of things that we're looking at. All of them geared towards figuring out how to make these cuts permanent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, all of this comes, Kate, not only, of course, as they're so focused on trying to see how they can really make some of these DOGE cuts more permanent. They're also looking at, of course, trying to get the broader, big, beautiful bill as the president and his team like to call it through the Senate. It already passed the House, but a lot of Republicans in the Senate have their own new slew of things that they're taking issue with. And that's really what I'm hearing from White House officials is going to be the key focus over the next four weeks because, remember, Republicans have now set a self-imposed July 4th deadline to get that broader budget bill passed through all of Congress and signed into law. When I talk to White House officials, they say they recognize there's

still an uphill battle to get to in passing that. But for them, the big priorities that the president cares about, you know, when it comes to no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, not cutting Medicaid, et cetera., as long as those are in the bill, the president will be happy. So, that's really going to be a key focus over the next few weeks.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Great to see you, Alayna. Thank you so much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of California. Thank you so much for being here this morning.

We're going to get to the DOGE cuts in a bit. I know you want to chat about those. They are very important. I do want to talk to you, though, about what we're hearing from a member of the Democratic Party. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman had this to say about Democrats basically saying they have not handled anti-Semitism correctly and they have not handled the border correctly. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Building tent cities on a campus and terrorizing and intimidating Jewish students, that's not free speech. And now we really lost -- we've lost the argument in parts of my party.

Our party did not handle the border appropriately, not --you know, look at the numbers. 267,000, 300,000 people showing up at our border.

[09:10:02]

Now that's unacceptable, and that's a national security issue, and that's chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: How do you answer Fetterman's criticism first on the idea that the Democratic Party has lost its way when dealing with anti-Semitism, and then conversely with the border as well?

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): We all need to be louder in our condemnation of anti-Semitism. What happened in Colorado and what happened two weeks ago in D.C. was awful. And we can't be a country where Jewish Americans don't feel safe in public. We can't be a country where Holocaust survivors who thought they saw the worst of humanity see something that mirrors, or images, or mirrors or mimics, you know, the horror that they saw decades ago. We can't be that country.

I will say personally myself, during the reconciliation process in the House, in the Homeland Security Committee, I put forth a security funding grant for $300 million-plus just for anti-Semitism security because it's been on the rise, to fund Jewish community centers, to fund synagogues, because that funding had been taken out so that the wealthiest among us could get tax cuts. Republicans took that out.

So, you know, our actions in Congress have consequences because it is on the rise. We do need to do more. But I think we need to speak with one clear voice that we will not tolerate anti-Semitism in America, and that we have to separate whatever feelings you have about policies in the Middle East, that you cannot allow those feelings to migrate to a place where they also lead to attacks on Jewish people.

SIDNER: Yes. Let me ask you about DHS and this immigration issue. DHS says that the suspect in that violent anti-Semitic attack was actually here illegally because he had overstayed his visa. And Marco Rubio is sounding off about it, the Secretary of State. And here's what he said in his statement on X. In light of yesterday's horrific attack, all terrorists, their family members and terrorists sympathizers here on a visa should know that under the Trump administration, we will find you, revoke your visa and deport you. What do you make of his course of action that he is promising to take in these sorts of cases?

SWALWELL: Yes. Let's get rid of anyone who is suspected of terrorism, you know, who is here. We also know that many people who are here undocumented did overstay a visa. We do have a border crisis and the American people will not allow us to work on legal immigration issues, like, you know, job vacancies in agriculture, food and beverage, hospitality, childcare, something that many Americans live with, until they believe that we have security at the border.

However, what the American people are also saying is have a process as you deport people. Don't deport U.S. citizen children who are battling cancer. And that's where this administration, I think, is losing credibility with the American people. And now we're seeing that they can't deport the people who are threats to the community and instead they're getting rid of kids who are battling cancer.

SIDNER: Yes. There -- there has been a lot of discussion about that and the president's response to that as well.

I do want to ask you about this bill, the DOGE cuts that the $9.6 billion that they're trying to push through Congress, the White House putting that to Congress today. But I want to ask you about what we heard from JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who spoke over the weekend warning that the government spending will create a crisis in the bond market because it will sort of lower confidence and hit our economy because people won't believe that we have the ability in the United States to actually pay our debts. He's arguing cuts must happen.

So, I guess the question is, with these DOGE cuts heading to Congress, where would you be confident and comfortable cutting?

SWALWELL: Well, the report you just had, DOGE is asking for more money to make cuts, you know, that sounds like, you know, 20-year-old Eric Swalwell telling my parents I need more money, you know, for my college allowance so that I spend less. I mean, that math doesn't really add up. And, by the way, the cuts that they have undertaken, getting rid of cancer scientists, getting rid of NIH scientists, getting rid of the people who protect us, you know, from cybersecurity attacks at CISA. And, by the way, countries in Europe, also Canada, they are reaching out right now, as we speak, making phone calls offering visas to America's best. So, there's a brain drain that's happening.

Yes, we should get rid of waste and fraud wherever it exists. We should also look at the Pentagon, by the way, where so much of that waste and fraud sits today. But what they're doing right now is hurting our healthcare with, you know, these cuts that they're taking, and setting us back -- not just, you know, taking away healthcare, setting us back from cures that we need in our lifetime.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about Medicaid. There's a lot of -- on both sides of the aisle, senators in particular because they're sort of looking at that this big, beautiful bill, as Donald Trump ha has called it. And they are being criticized on both sides worried, people worried about Medicaid. In California, there are millions of people using Medicaid. What are your biggest worries there?

SWALWELL: In California, we call it Medi-Cal. And, frankly, this is a messaging issue because everyone calls it something different in their state. So, when you say you're losing Medicaid, it doesn't mean anything to you unless you say you're losing your Medi-Cal in California.

[09:15:06]

Forty percent of children born in California were born through Medi- Cal funding. And so this is an attack on families.

And if you're pro-family and you're Elon Musk or J.D. Vance and saying that we need to, you know, increase, you know, the birth rate in America, well, this will take us in the opposite direction. This is an anti-family program that's going to hurt millions of California families.

SIDNER: California Congressman Eric Swalwell, it's so nice to see you here in New York. I know you got big work to do back there in Washington.

SWALWELL: My pleasure.

SIDNER: Get back to it. I appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Testimony has resumed in the sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. A forensic video expert expected to examine the video of Combs attacking his then girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a hotel hallway.

And breaking news coming in. Ukraine says it struck a key bridge in Russian occupied Crimea with underwater explosives. Look at this new video just coming in. We have new developments we're learning about this story.

And one of the world's most active volcanoes erupts, sending tourists running as smoke shoots more than 20 -- smoke, soot, ash, rock, all sorts, shoots 21,000 feet into the air.

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[09:20:21]

BERMAN: All right, happening now, the racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking trial of Sean Combs is back in session. Prosecutors are expected to call at least four witnesses to the stand today. They include Eddie Garcia, a former hotel guard where Combs was caught on video attacking Cassie Ventura. He is testifying under immunity. A forensic video expert, also the head of the finance department for Combs and Bryana Bongolan are also expected to testify. She claims Combs once dangled her off a 17-story balcony.

This follows testimony from an assistant of Combs, a person known as Mia. She says Combs abused her for years. The defense challenged her story, pointing to messages where she said she loved him.

With us now is defense and trial attorney Misty Marris.

I want to focus on today for a second here, where one of the witnesses expected to be one of the guards at the hotel where we've seen that video. Why does the prosecution keep going back to this video?

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, they want the jury to look at all of the evidence through the framework of this video. And that's why we keep hearing corroborating witnesses who talk about the violence, the control. And they're using the video as an example of that to corroborate that he is a person, that Combs, is somebody who engages in this pattern of conduct, of physical, verbal, emotional abuse and control in order to coerce women into doing what he wants them to do.

And this -- this applies not only to his romantic relationships. Now we've seen it also apply to his employment relationships as well. So, that's why we see the prosecutors keep going back to this video.

BERMAN: Yes, does it get to the sex trafficking and racketeering charges, though?

MARRIS: Well, John, this particular witness is interesting because Garcia is a security guard at -- at the Intercontinental Hotel. And he's testifying under an immunity agreement. So, why?

BERMAN: Why, exactly.

MARRIS: You have to ask why. Well, remember, in the opening statement of the prosecutors. They said, somebody was given $100,000 to make this video disappear. My guess, that's likely what we're going to hear from Garcia. Either he's that individual or he knows who that individual is. How does that play into racketeering? There you have obstruction of

justice. There you have bribery. You have the underlying predicate crimes that get you to that criminal conspiracy.

So, my guess is, of course the video, this keeps coming up, but his testimony is going to go a bit farther than just corroborating what we see.

BERMAN: And that a bit farther. How different is that in terms of -- from what we've seen in the past. Is this bit that we could get now what some people say has been missing from the prosecution.

MARRIS: So for me, the prosecutor, the prosecution is really thin on RICO. We've heard about predicate crimes. Meaning, what's the racketeering activity? What crimes is this criminal enterprise committing? So we've heard false imprisonment. We've heard forced labor. We've heard arson. And presumably we'll hear obstruction of justice.

But what we haven't heard, what is this criminal enterprise? What are the methods and means? That's how it works in layman's terms. So, I'm looking to hear from Derek Ferguson, another witness today, who's the head of finance for the Combs enterprises and held that position. And remember, we have to go back to the operative document. That's the criminal indictment where prosecutors say all of Combs' businesses were really fronts for this racketeering conspiracy. So, will that piece, what is this criminal enterprise, be built with the witnesses we hear today?

BERMAN: Yes, again, that's why the list today is so interesting because you have someone under -- always -- always interesting when someone's testifying under immunity.

MARRIS: Absolutely.

BERMAN: But also because you get to the money and the enterprise aspect of it.

Misty Marris, thank you very much for all that.

MARRIS: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: We do have some breaking news that we're tracking right now. Ukraine says -- and we're showing you this -- this is new video and this comes from Ukraine. They say it shows the nation hitting a key bridge connecting Russia to Crimea with underwater explosives. Just days ago, you'll remember, Ukraine struck deep inside Russia, thousands of miles from the front lines, using drones to hit key Russian air bases in multiple regions.

CNN's Nic Robertson joins us right now with much more on this. This new video, this new strike, what are we learning about this from Ukraine right now, Nic? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, they're

saying that this was an underwater explosion, 1,100 pounds equivalent of TNT. So, a massive explosion aimed at one of the concrete pillars that supports the Crimea bridge. This was the bridge that Russia built at great expense, $3 billion rail and road bridge linking annexed Crimea, which is an important part of Russia's war front against Ukraine today, with mainland Russia.

Ukraine has been trying to target it and has targeted a number of times in the past, 2022, blowing up part of the -- the road section that closed the bridge briefly.

[09:25:01]

Then again trying to hit it with water borne drones. Again, innovative technology. 2023 hitting it at water level, if you will.

But this is different. This gets the big, concrete pilings that go nine meters deep into the water. The -- the rock bed is very low. There's a lot of silt there. But this appears to be a very strategic effort by Ukraine to deny Russia this vital bridge from mainland Russia to Crimea, and therefore blunt its war effort in Ukraine. Very strategic targeting. Very important for Ukraine.

BOLDUAN: Fascinating it's happening on the heels of that unprecedented attack, very ambitious attack, drone attack launched by Ukraine deep into Russia. And as those talks just happened in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine. A lot happening right now.

Nic, thank you so much.

Coming up for us, disturbing new details are emerging from what authorities say was a targeted anti-Semitic attack in Boulder, Colorado. How the city now plans to combat the rise in anti-Semitism.

And we are moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street where pre-market trading -- pre-market -- pre-market trading is mixed right now after being slightly down all morning. Let's see what the market brings today.

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