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At Least 4 Killed in Michigan Church Shooting and Fire; Interview with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA): Former FBI Chief James Comey Indicted After Pressure from Trump, Trump Accuses Wray of Lying About Agency Actions on January 6; Government Shutdown Looms as Lawmakers Battle Over Funding Deal. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 29, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: At least four people are dead this morning after a mass shooting and arson attack and a place of worship. This also this morning, several people are still missing as the FBI is taking lead in investigating this horrific attack on a Mormon church in Michigan.

And Tropical Storm Imelda is expected to intensify into a hurricane. It is not going to make landfall on the United States, but the impact to Americans could still be life-threatening. I'm taking a look at the track and the forecast for you.

And do not look down. China opening the world's tallest bridge. It's more than 2,000 feet above the river level, above the canyon floor. It is amazing. It's also cutting down on traffic when you're crossing the canyon.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news, an urgent search for victims still missing at the site of the deadly church shooting and fire in Grand Blanc, Michigan. At least four people now confirmed dead, eight others wounded. The source tells CNN that as many as seven people remain unaccounted for.

Authorities say a gunman rammed his pickup through the front of the church, began shooting and set a fire that consumed the building. There were children inside at the time, and police say churchgoers rushed to shield them. For the first time, we're hearing the 911 calls from when it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an active shooter at the church. I need manpower up here ASAP. I have people trapped in the building. Repeat, people trapped in the building. We got children inside too.

BERMAN: This took place in the middle of a large service of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Survivors described the scene. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't know what was going on and I didn't know if we were going to have to get down because we couldn't see anybody. To worship my Savior Jesus Christ, and I didn't expect this to happen, of course. And I've lost friends in there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm so sorry to hear that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And some of my little primary children that I teach on Sundays.

I joined the church 38 years ago in that building, and now it's gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The shooter has been identified as a 40-year-old man killed at the scene while exchanging gunfire with police. He was a Marine veteran who served in the Iraq War. The FBI is now in charge of the investigation into what it is calling an act of targeted violence.

They're still searching for a motive, and we are expecting an update from authorities at a news conference this morning.

With us now, Daniel Brunner, a retired FBI special agent. Thanks so much for being with us.

So the FBI is taking the lead in this investigation. What should that tell us?

DANIEL BRUNNER, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, that indicates to me that they've found something that will definitively show that there's a violation of federal crimes. A domestic terrorism incident, you know, a violation of someone's civil rights, burning of the church. A lot of things -- a lot of people will recall back to the 60s, the church burning. So those fall under FBI jurisdiction.

So if this individual targeted that church, had a specific reason to attack that church because of its religious background, then that would indicate that that would most likely be a violation of someone's civil rights, thus triggering an FBI federal investigation and having them be the lead agency in the investigation, working alongside Michigan law enforcement as a parallel local investigation at the same time.

BERMAN: There are search warrants being executed right now with the suspect's residence. Authorities are working to obtain warrants for digital media as well. What do you think is being looked for right now? What are they hoping to find?

BRUNNER: Well, obviously, the number one thing they want to look for is if there are anyone else that was co-conspiring with him, working alongside him. That would have been probably determined within the first few hours to see if there was any additional threats that were out there. Right now, they want to figure out where his pathway to violence began, at which point he made the decision that this incident had to occur.

They're going to determine -- they're going to look at everything. So there really isn't anything that they won't look for. They're going to look for every single piece of evidence along the way, and they're going to also look for if there were other people that may have helped him or could have raised a red flag, could have made a phone call to local authorities and notified him, saying this individual is troubled.

This clearly, to me, anyone that conducts these type of attacks has a mental issue, has a mental problem, because violence is never the answer. So determining where this individual made the decision, the pathway to violence, where it began, and that's where they're going to determine what red flags were missed and where, you know, where it could have been stopped.

[08:05:00]

BERMAN: The fact that there was a fire set in addition to the shooting to take that extra step, is that anything -- is there anything in that that gives you clues into the thinking or the motivation of this person?

BRUNNER: To me, that immediately determines that he was -- it was against the church itself. The fact that he wanted to burn the building down and obviously conduct the acts of violence, shooting individuals that were in church on a day of worship, to me, indicates that there was a, for me, it was targeted violence.

He wanted to destroy the building. He wanted to destroy the, you know, what was in there. He wanted to destroy everything about that church, the religion, and that is me making a conclusion based on evidence that we're seeing right now.

Obviously, the FBI and Michigan State Law Enforcement they're going to look at everything. They're going to look at all the evidence that motivated this, but to me, this indicates a possible, you know, reason as to why. I find it very curious that the director of the FBI hasn't put out information like previous investigations we've recently seen where there's a lot of information put out on the internet, so I'm curious to see what information we'll be getting in the next couple days.

BERMAN: That's a good point. There is a distinction between the treatment of this case and some of the others recently. Daniel Bronner, thank you so much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. President Trump says he plans to attend that highly unusual gathering of hundreds of generals and admirals called in from around the world to Virginia tomorrow. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the meeting last week, the reason we're told, a pep rally of sorts to instill a warrior ethos.

Trump telling NBC, quote, it's really just a very nice meeting, talking about how well we're doing militarily. We have some great people coming in, and it's just an esprit de corps. Several sources, though, have expressed concerns about the cost of

getting hundreds of senior military officers and their aides to Virginia on such short notice.

All right, this morning, the FBI has fired 15 agents linked to a 2020 protest over the killing of George Floyd. Some agents were photographed kneeling with demonstrators, and there were some furious reactions, some support when these photos first surfaced all those years ago, but an earlier review determined no policies were violated by those agents.

Though, after President Trump was reelected, the FBI decided earlier this year to reassess the incident. The FBI Agents Association confirmed the dismissals and blasted Director Kash Patel, saying he violated due process and weakened the Bureau -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Today, top congressional leaders are heading to the White House to meet with President Trump with the deadline to avoid a government shutdown just a day away now. Will they make a deal? We will find out more.

And the Marine veteran accused of opening fire from a boat and shooting and killing three people at a North Carolina waterfront bar, he is set to appear in court today. We have the very latest on that investigation.

And the body of a stowaway found in the wheel well of an American Airlines flight that landed in Charlotte from Europe.

[08:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So this morning, GOP leaders are defending President Trump as he is facing some big and growing criticism over the criminal indictment of the former FBI director, James Comey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: A grand jury that is not, you know, a nonpartisan, non-biased grand jury that was assembled looked at the charges and they agreed. They voted to bring an indictment of James Comey. Not President Trump, not the DOJ, but a grand jury.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): You know, the president says a lot of things in public and he has through the years. He's not a fan, as we all know, of James Comey. Neither is James Comey a fan of President Trump.

But I think at the end of the day, it's about the justice system and them settling this one way or the other.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This isn't about what he did to the president. It's about lying to Congress and obstructing justice. And that's what he was indicted for.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BOLDUAN: And now, is there maybe more on the way? On Saturday, President Trump now accused another former FBI director, Christopher Wray, of lying about FBI agents and their presence during the January 6th Capitol riot. The president claiming, without evidence, that the FBI, quote-unquote, secretly placed agents into the crowd to act as agitators and insurrections rather than law enforcement officials in what he called the January 6th hoax.

And here's what he also wrote. This is different from what Director Wray stated over and over again. And he continues on with that, also saying that, suggesting that he's going to hold dirty cops accountable.

Let's talk about this right now. Joining me right now is Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of California with more on this.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Good Morning.

BOLDUAN: So the president does this on Saturday, congressman, accusing the former FBI -- another former FBI director, of lying about January 6th. Again, claiming this without evidence.

An inspector general report showed that the FBI agents were doing their job. Kash Patel, the current FBI director, also later clarified that the agents that were sent in, they were sent in after the riot had begun for crowd control purposes.

But add this all up and trying to not miss the forest for the trees here, is Christopher Wray next?

[08:15:00]

SWALWELL: It looks that way. Donald Trump seems hell-bent on not going after the physical threats to you and to your viewers but rather going after his perceived political opponents. So I don't want to set aside because it's not who we are as a democracy. I mean, he is weaponizing the Department of Justice, going after his political enemies.

But what does it mean to everyday Americans? We're seeing an escalation of mass shootings. Again, obviously we had the Kirk assassination and a political assassination on an ICE facility last week, shootings over the weekend in North Carolina and in Michigan.

And so if law enforcement is pulled off the case to work on the president's political opponents, what does that mean for the rest of us? That's what concerns me. And then Kate, just as the senior Democrat overseeing the January 6th committee, what is being put out there and what Donald Trump is trying to tell people is not what happened.

FBI agents, of course they responded to January 6th, just like every other law enforcement agency was asked to respond that day. They weren't there ahead of time. They responded to do their jobs.

And so we're not going to let him erase the heroism of every officer that showed up on January 6th. BOLDUAN: When you say you're not going to let them. I also heard in relation to this was James Comey. You say last week that your committee, judiciary, has the power to step in and kind of stop some of this.

But how, Congressman, especially being in the minority?

SWALWELL: Well, first, we are making it clear that we're going into the majority a year from now. We have every intention to do that. And so we will bring oversight, accountability.

We will subpoena the Department of Justice, but also private actors who have done these drug deals with the administration, college campuses, entertainment companies, law firms. And so accountability is coming.

And so one, it's all coming out. Two, I hope that deters people from doing more of these deals, these one-offs with the president.

One other point, though, on Comey, Kate, this happened when Donald Trump was president. So if you're trying to tell me this is not politically motivated, the statement that they're referring to where he allegedly lied, Donald Trump was president.

So why didn't you indict him then? The fact that he's indicting now just makes it look even more politically motivated. And so I'm pretty confident that this will either be dismissed or Mr. Comey will be acquitted by a jury of his peers.

BOLDUAN: Come Wednesday morning, you are looking at a government shutdown. Do you want to see Senator Schumer stand up here, even if it means -- stand up and stand against making a deal, even if it leads to a government shutdown?

SWALWELL: Well, I don't want to fund this government as is. And so that's what's really on the line here. This government is not killing cancer. It's killing cancer research. This government is not lowering your health care costs. It's increasing it as people go into open enrollment.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: But you're having a short-term, long-term problem.

SWALWELL: Go ahead.

BOLDUAN: You're having a short-term, short -- this is kind of a short- term, long-term conversation.

Long-term, many Democrats would agree with what you're saying right there. Short-term, your option is, as we get to this every time, and I've covered these for, I don't know, I feel like I'm a million years old at this point. It's either coming down to you're facing at this moment, you're either going to fund the government as is, talk about the health care subsidies later, or the government's going to be shut down. Which option are you most comfortable with?

SWALWELL: I'm not comfortable with this Republican tyrannical government. So I'm not co-signing on that, Kate, and I don't think anyone should. Now, if they are, you know, going to, as I said, change their deportation policy and not get rid of innocent Americans who are contributing to our economy, if they're going to lower health care costs and not get rid of the subsidies and Medicare cuts that they put in place, and if they are going to, as I referred to earlier, put back in place cancer research, as 40 percent of Americans are going to find out this year that they have a cancer diagnosis, I would sign off on that.

But why would we want to continue to be, you know, co-signees on this madness that is hurting our friends and neighbors and making us look less and less like America?

This is a Republican-run government. They have the White House, the House and the Senate. They've had plenty of months to put forward legislation where they could work with us to get this passed. They waited till the very last minute. Donald Trump set a meeting, canceled a meeting, reset a meeting. This is entirely on them.

And as I said, I don't want to be a co-signee to this tyranny.

BOLDUAN: It is to be seen who this entirely ends up being on if the government shut down and who eventually is blamed. But for today, there's still time to figure it out. Congressman, thank you so much for coming in. I appreciate it -- John.

[08:20:00]

SWALWELL: My pleasure, thanks Kate.

BERMAN: Two tropical systems dancing very closely to each other off the coast. You can see it right there. This is a highly unusual weather event that could threaten parts of the Southeast.

And not for the faint of heart. How would you like to walk across this, the world's tallest bridge?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Happening now, tropical storm Imelda moving through the Bahamas, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. It's expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it moves off the southeast coast of the U.S. this week, fueling dangerous surf and rip currents from Florida through to the Carolinas.

[08:25:00]

At the same time, Hurricane Humberto, which briefly exploded into a rare Category 5 over the weekend, remains a powerful Category 4 right now.

CNN's Derek Van Dam joining us now with the latest on both of these hurricanes all at once.

You know, the season hasn't been as active or as you know, with these strong storms as we've seen in the past. But, man, that's quite a picture there.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It has been the most bizarre Atlantic hurricane season of my career. And speaking of my career, never in my career have I ever wanted and rooted for a hurricane to max out to a Category 5. Humberto did what we needed it to do to actually help save the southeast coast from direct impacts from this guy.

That's Imelda. Here's Humberto. Because it's strengthened so much, it's eroding the Bermuda high and allowing for a pathway out for Imelda.

Let me show you. I left the office on Friday evening, and we had most computer models in agreement with a landfall into the South Carolina coast. In fact, I'm supposed to be in Charleston this morning.

Pulled the plug on that at the last moment because look at the forecast track through the course of the weekend and how much it started to veer away. And it's all because of that delicate dance. We talked about it so much between Humberto and Imelda, and eventually Humberto has won.

And you can see the forecast track of Imelda as it moves away from the coast because of Humberto. We still have threats across the southeast coast, but they are minimized because of the influence of this large Category 4 hurricane now that's sitting well off the coast.

So we're still getting heavy rainfall. This is from Imelda kind of running into a frontal boundary here, wringing out the moisture, Wilmington to Charleston, Myrtle Beach. These areas will get showers today, maybe one locally, two, three inches of rain. Gusty winds even along the coast of Florida as well as Georgia.

But the point is that this is a far cry from what we were looking up against through the course of the early parts of this weekend, this past weekend. Look at all the winds. Well, yes, they're still gusty today, but no tropical storm force, no hurricane force.

This is great news. This is about the best possible scenario we could have from this impending storm system. We do have dangerous rip currents. Let's keep that in mind if you're heading to the beaches.

But again, Humberto has saved the day by becoming a Category 5 hurricane. Who would have thunked it -- Sara?

SIDNER: Yes, it does sound odd. It sort of sucked the life out of Imelda, sort of like what my alarm clock has to me at 3 a.m. Any who, thank you so much. I know you've experienced that before.

Derek Van Dam --

VAN DAM. Oh, yes. SIDNER: -- thank you so much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: The search is on to find the motive behind the deadly shooting and fire attack at a Michigan church. The very latest details that we are learning this morning, we're going to bring those to you.

And President Trump is set to send 200 National Guard troops into Portland. But how do Americans feel about sending troops into some of the country's biggest cities? We're going to run the numbers for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]