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Car with Explosives Rams Detroit-Area Synagogue; Interview with Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA): Suspect Dead, Security Guard Hurt After Car Rams Detroit-Area Synagogue; Iran's New Supreme Leader Delivers First Purported Message; Oil Benchmark Crosses About $100 Per Barrel, First Time Since 2022. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 12, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're still following the breaking news out of Michigan, a suspect dead after ramming a car into the Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield. We just learned that first responders found what appeared to be a large amount of explosives in that vehicle, and police say security responded immediately, and the suspect is now dead. And they are actually having a difficult time identifying this suspect because their cadaver is badly burned.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Yes, you can see the smoke coming out of the synagogue there where that fire happened. Now, there's also a school that is affiliated with the synagogue, and we have learned no children or staff members were hurt in all of this. We do know a security guard was injured after being hit by the car.

That security guard was taken to the hospital, and law enforcement says is expected to be OK. This, of course, comes at a very uncomfortable and scary time for Jewish people around the world amid a global surge in anti-Semitism, and this attack is something, sadly, police say they've been preparing for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF MICHAEL BOUCHARD, OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN: Actually, the chief and I have been communicating for almost two weeks. Every time I've gotten some intelligence from the national level, I've been sharing. We've been talking for two weeks about the potential, sadly, of this happening, so there was no lack of preparation.

In addition, all Jewish facilities in the area are going to have a lot of extra presence around it until we figure this out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Jason Carroll is tracking the latest for us, and Jason, we keep getting, you keep getting these just new details. What are you learning now?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, again, as you know, Jessica and Boris, the focus is going to be going forward with the investigation. Was the suspect acting alone, or was the suspect a so- called lone wolf? Part of that is going to be obviously trying to ID the suspect. And Boris, I heard you talk there just a short while ago what we were talking about earlier, which is that the suspect's body is so badly damaged that immediate identification is certainly going to be challenging, but it is clear from what the sheriff, Sheriff Michael Bouchard, has been saying from on the ground that this is a person who was traveling with purpose.

[15:35:00]

I mean, if you think about this, he -- this person was able to drive his car through the doors of that temple there and make his way at least partially down some sort of a hallway before he was stopped.

Fortunately, you had security there on the ground that was able to engage with the suspect. This is a suspect who had a rifle in his possession. This is a suspect who may have had a large amount of explosives in his car. That according to law enforcement officials.

It just gives you more of a sense of the sinister nature of what was at hand here. And you think about who was there at the temple. I keep saying this, but not only was this a temple, it was also an early childhood center.

So you had a kindergarten, you had daycare center. When you looked at -- when we were looking at some of the wide shots, the aerial shots of the temple and surrounding buildings there, you could see people sort of running in and out. Imagine just being a parent and hearing about this initial reports of shots being fired and a car being driven into Temple Israel and you've got a child there.

And so your immediate reaction is to get down there and find out whether or not your child is safe. You think about that. You think about the environment that many people here in the United States, Jewish people here in the United States are living with this rise in anti-Semitism, this type of environment that they're dealing with.

And so all of these factors sort of coming to play as this investigation moves forward and this community tries to get their handle on exactly what has happened here.

SANCHEZ: Jason, thank you so much for the update. We will come back to you as we get more information.

Let's now bring in CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen. Peter, obviously there is going to be an investigation, and detectives will detail exactly what triggered this incident, what pushed this suspect. But I think this does have the hallmarks of Islamist terror. Does it not?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It does. I mean, what's interesting, what Jason's been reporting about the body being burned possibly beyond recognition. You know, the attack obviously involved a high degree of premeditation between the fact that there was going to be a vehicle ramming, a rifle and also some form of explosives.

In this kind of attack, it would be typical for the assailant to do some surveillance of the target. Obviously, he knew the layout of the building pretty well. If he managed to get his car into a particular doorway and down a hallway, that suggests he may have visited the site before or maybe driven around it.

He may have even done some kind of rehearsal. All those things would be hopefully caught on video. The other thing, Boris, I would be looking at is there were three shootings in Toronto, not too far away from West Bloomfield, just in the past week at synagogues.

Is there any relationship between these shootings at synagogues in Canada, not particularly far from this particular synagogue? That would be something else I would certainly be looking at.

DEAN: And so, Peter, in terms of your mention about what you would be looking at in the investigation, how it moves forward, how would you assess the threat level at this moment in time?

BERGEN: I think it's high and will continue to be high as long as the war in Iran continues, which right now there is no end insight. So the threat level has been elevated. I mean, thankfully, nothing happened here in Michigan in terms of injuries or fatalities.

And it's really, I think, Jessica, since you recall the Tree of Life Pittsburgh synagogue attack back in 2018, where 11 worshippers were killed in a synagogue. I mean, since then, synagogues around the United States have really upped their security game. And we saw that in practice today, thankfully.

SANCHEZ: Peter, I wonder what impact this shutdown on DHS, this partial government shutdown specifically impacting DHS, may have on the federal government's ability not only to protect soft targets, but also to monitor any indication that they're coming.

BERGEN: Well, that is a great question. I can't really give you a particularly good answer to that. I think, you know, there are lots of elements of the government that continues to look at threats, whether it's the FBI or joint terrorism task forces.

I mean, there are more than 100 around the country and they've clearly been an elevated state of alert over the past two weeks, as we've heard from the police on the ground here at this incident.

DEAN: All right, Peter Bergen, thank you so much. It is great to have you here. We really appreciate it.

BERGEN: Thank you.

DEAN: And still ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, we're going to speak to a member of Congress about the attack. That's next.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Back to the breaking news, a suspect is dead after ramming a vehicle into a synagogue with an on-site school near Detroit. Police say that fortunately, no children or staff were injured. We've learned that one security guard was rushed to the hospital after being struck by the vehicle, though they are expected to recover.

The suspect drove through the doors of the building. That's when security saw and engaged that person in gunfire. Sources tell CNN that emergency responders found what appeared to be a large amount of explosives described as mortars in the back of the vehicle.

[15:45:00]

We're joined now by Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. What is your reaction to this news?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Thanks for having me on. It's a horror and it is the nightmare that many of my constituents think about. I represent many synagogues, many Jewish daycare centers that have armed security precisely for this reason.

It's one of the imperatives to fund the nonprofit security grant program to provide them with the resources necessary to be harder targets. Regrettably, this doesn't surprise me, and I don't think it surprises my constituents. We have seen the surge of anti-Semitism globally and nationally, and we know that there are lone wolves or even state-sponsored actors who are trying to wreak havoc.

SANCHEZ: To that point, over the last few weeks, we've seen shootings at three synagogues in Toronto. There was a mass shooting in Austin, which officials have been investigating whether it may have been inspired by the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Also, we had two terror suspects that are accused of tossing makeshift bombs at a protest in New York City, attributing that act to ISIS, being inspired by ISIS.

I wonder what your assessment is of how capable the federal government is right now of responding to these level of threats.

AUCHINCLOSS: I think two things. One, I represent a district that's going to be hosting FIFA and the World Cup in less than 100 days. And this is a tier one event that absolutely could be a target.

And so there needs to be extremely tight and capable federal, state and local collaboration on security. And I intend to help foment that. Second, I think we all have a responsibility in this to not platform or publish the manifestos or the ideologies of these lone wolves because it inspires copycats and it actually makes this type of violence infectious.

And so I always try to suppress or discount kind of reporting on the motives of these sick individuals, because that's why they do these crimes is so that their motives are broadcast to the world that they don't deserve to be.

SANCHEZ: I appreciate that idea, but I do think it is important to let the public know that people are out there being motivated by propaganda, for example, from ISIS or other extremist organizations. And obviously, with the situation that we're in right now, the U.S. is at war in the Middle East and there are all kinds of accusations being launched toward Israel specifically and Prime Minister Netanyahu for being the cause of that war. There's all kinds of conspiracies online.

I wonder what your message is to leaders at every level, at the federal level, state and local about how they speak regarding this war, about the messages that they're putting out there.

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes, we all have an obligation to dial down the temperature. I think the social media platforms have a duty of care to not platform hate and toxicity, particularly targeted towards young people with advertising or with age inappropriate content. And that's something that we're working on my committee of jurisdiction.

And then I think politicians have an obligation not to chase clicks or likes with inflammatory rhetoric, but instead to try to, you know, unite Americans behind condemnations of the kinds of hate that we're seeing mushroom on these platforms and unfortunately manifest in acts of violence like we're seeing today.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder, Congressman, if you think that the shutdown, the funding shutdown of DHS allows the administration to adequately monitor threats and to respond to them.

AUCHINCLOSS: It's never good to have security apparati across the federal government shut down. I also think it's a mistake that Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are spending more money on the detention of immigrants who have committed no crimes than they are spending on the combination of crime, drugs, guns, corruption and counterterrorism combined. That is a misallocation of resources towards priorities.

I think Americans want the federal government wired in on counterterrorism and corruption and opioid and fentanyl trafficking and drug trafficking and gun trafficking and not creating these massive detention facilities with the sophomoric names that the administration has been gleeful about. So this administration owes the American public a better set of priorities for public safety.

[15:50:00]

SANCHEZ: Congressman, we initially were going to have a conversation about the conflict in Iran before this breaking news occurred. I want to get your thoughts on this first message attributed to the new Ayatollah threatening the United States and its allies.

You've said that his ascendance should not be considered a win, in part because he is worse than his father. If the U.S. operation ends with the younger Khamenei in power, is that acceptable? What would be at risk for the United States and for the world?

AUCHINCLOSS: I think you're asking exactly the right question. I would add on to it. If the war were to totally end today, I think Donald Trump has actually moved the United States backwards strategically for two reasons. First, because he's replaced an 86-year-old terrorist dictator with a 56-year-old terrorist dictator. And second, because he has allowed Iran and this new Ayatollah to demonstrate that they have the whip hand over global energy markets through their ability to close the Strait of Hormuz. He has allowed Iran and its ally, China, to demonstrate that this axis of energy transit works to their benefit at their whim.

And this right before the president is scheduled to go to Beijing to negotiate on behalf of American interests. This is all the more reason why the administration has to come to Congress with a plan to demonstrate that it can clear out the Strait of Hormuz, because under international law, all peaceful transit should be allowed through the Strait, because right now, they've dug a hole and they have no plan to get out of it.

SANCHEZ: It sounds like you would support an escalation by the United States in order to unseat the new Ayatollah. Is that right?

AUCHINCLOSS: No, not necessarily. I think what I support is not allowing the new Ayatollah to think that he can close down the Strait of Hormuz at a whim. What I support is empowering the Iranian people to self-determine through freedom of assembly, through freedom of speech, through freedom of the franchise.

But that needs to be done through -- you can't bomb your way towards democratic transition. I think American publics saw that in Iraq and they don't need to learn that lesson again in Iran.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Jake Auchincloss, we have to leave the conversation there. We very much appreciate the time.

AUCHINCLOSS: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: More breaking news into CNN, oil prices surging today and Brent crude, which is the international oil benchmark, crossing once again above $100 a barrel.

DEAN: It comes as the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have thrown the global economy into chaos. We've got Vanessa Yurkevich joining us now. Vanessa, how alarming is this for international markets?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, markets have been moving for the last couple of weeks, as we know. Brent crude, which, as you mentioned, is the international benchmark for oil, did settle momentarily at $100 a barrel. Oil markets are nearly 24 hours, but they do close and settle for moments.

As you can see on your screen right now, markets moving yet again. But that $100 benchmark is critical because it settled for the first time there since 2022. That was when the Russia-Ukraine war got underway.

So we haven't seen a settling point yet at that level. Now, markets coming just off that $100 a barrel high. But of course, what this means is that there's still pressure on gas prices for people at the pump.

The national average still at $3.60, likely climbing, reaching almost upwards of $4, according to some analysts. And prices across the country have been rising. And people, Americans every day who are filling up at the pump, have been noticing.

You can see the Dow reacting now, almost about to close, tracking downwards of nearly 700 points, likely on that news that Brent crude, that international benchmark for a moment, settling at $100. Of course, these markets, oil markets, are nearly 24 hours. So that number could continue to move throughout the day and throughout the evening, guys.

SANCHEZ: Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much for that update on markets.

Before we go, we did want to leave you with more on our major breaking news this afternoon. Temple Israel in Michigan has just posted a message to Facebook about the attack on their synagogue today.

They write, "Dear Temple Israel family, everyone is safe. All 140 students in our Susan and Harold Loss Early Childhood Center, our amazing staff, our courageous teachers and our heroic security personnel are all accounted for and safe. As you have no doubt heard, Temple Israel was the victim of a terrorist gunman who was confronted and neutralized by our security personnel who are truly heroes. Our teachers followed their training and kept the children safe and calm."

DEAN: They went on to say, "We are deeply and humbly grateful to our teachers, staff, security, law enforcement and Shenandoah Country Club that welcomed us, fed us and sheltered our staff, teachers, children and parents. What incredible neighbors we have. What incredible police force we have. This note is coming to you before we know anything about our future programming or services or any investigation. We wanted you to know we are safe and we love you all."

And again, no teachers, no children, no victims in all of this, which is remarkable. Just that suspect is dead.

[16:00:00]

SANCHEZ: Now, we understand from sources on the ground, law enforcement officials, that a security guard was struck by the vehicle as it burst through the facility there. But fortunately, that security guard was rushed to a hospital and is expected to be OK. We're going to continue to stay on top of this breaking news.

"THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END