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Two Israeli Embassy Staff Members Killed Outside Jewish Museum In Washington, DC; Jewish Museum Shooting Suspect Is Detained; House Rules Committee Advances Agenda Bill For Vote; U.S. Pushes South Africa On "Genocide" Claims; Two Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed in D.C. Shooting; Interview with Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon: Israeli Troops Fire Warning Shots at Diplomats in West Bank. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired May 22, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:01:30]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm MJ Lee live in Washington. We are following breaking news here in Washington where two staffers from the Israeli embassy have been shot and killed outside an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum.

The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. says the victims were a young couple about to be engaged. Police say the suspect is in custody. An eyewitness tells CNN the man pretended to be a witness to the shooting and waited for police to arrive before claiming he did it for Gaza. Here's what D.C. officials told reporters at a news conference earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF PAMELA S. SMITH, D.C. METROPOLICAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Both victims succumbed to their injuries. The preliminary investigation indicates that both victims were exiting an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum, located in the 500 block of 3rd Street Northwest, when the shooting occurred. We believe the shooting was committed by a single suspect who is now in custody.

Prior to the shooting, the suspect was observed pacing back and forth outside of the museum. He approached a group of four people, produced a handgun and opened fire, striking both of our decedents.

MURIEL BOWSER, WASHINGTON D.C. MAYOR: I will say up front that there is no active threat in our community. What I do know is that the horrific incident is going to frighten a lot of people in our city and in our country. And I want to be clear that we will not tolerate this violence or hate in our city. We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism. And we're going to stand together as a community in the coming days and weeks to send a clear message that we will not tolerate antisemitism. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And President Trump posted his condolences to the victims' families on social media he says the killings are, quote, obviously based on antisemitism, which must end now. Our senior U.S. justice correspondent Evan Perez joins me now. He was at the news conference authorities held last hour. He joins me now on the phone.

Evan, so we now have preliminary information from the authorities. We also have eyewitness accounts that are coming in. Walk us through the most important pieces of information that law enforcement is going to try to gather right now as they piece together what happened, including, of course, from the suspect himself.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, MJ. Look, the statements that the police said he made after he was detained there at the scene, which was free, free Gaza, and according to another witness for Gaza, those are the statements that he said obviously are going to be key parts of this because it gives at least an indication of perhaps his motivation.

Look, this event happened. This was an event that scheduled from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. so this happened shortly after the event was finished. And according to the police, he was pacing back and forth. So he was laying in wait. He was waiting for the event to be over. And one of the things that I found interesting was if you look at the event listing on their website for the AJC, they that -- they were hosting this event at the museum, it doesn't give a location.

It said the location is provided after registration, meaning that the only way you knew that this event was happening there tonight was if you registered.

[01:05:08]

Now, obviously there's other ways perhaps that the information could have come to the suspect. So those are things that the police are going to be certainly focusing on. How did they know, how did he know that this event was happening there? It wasn't widely advertised that it was there, it appears. And also they say he's from Chicago. What ties does he have to DC? Did he travel here specifically to carry out this crime?

And of course, the fact that, you know, he fired shots at these two people and then the other two people appear to not have been injured and that he entered the museum where he possibly could have carried out more killing, I suppose, based on whether he had more bullets or not. We don't know.

But certainly that's going to be all part of this investigation. Right. To establish a motivation. Obviously, they're looking at the terrorism angle. They want to see whether he has any connection with an international or a sanctioned group, any terrorist organization that sponsored this, or whether he was doing this on his own. So, you know, this raises a lot of fear in the community for Jewish citizens and also for Muslim citizens. Because, you know, what we know is from when things like this happen

is that there's sometimes copycats or people who try to do reactions. And so the police are going to be very, very concerned about making sure that this doesn't turn into something more than just than what it already is which is horrific.

LEE: Yes, horrific. And Evan, all of the images that we are watching right now as you are on the phone, I mean, they are all scenes from downtown Washington, D.C. Talk to us about what is going to make an incident like this unique because it happened in the nation's capital and the security ramifications.

PEREZ: Right. You know, one of the things that MJ and you and I have been covering everything since October 7th, the attack in Israel. And we know that one of the concerns for both the White House, you know, and the previous administration and the current administration is to make sure, is to try to make sure that the violence didn't spread to this country because there were threats against obviously Jewish citizens, against Muslims.

And so that's the significance here, is that this is, I can't think of another, you know, attack that at least appears to be connected to that conflict that has done anything like this. And obviously attacking people who are connected to the Israeli embassy, again, goes to a, perhaps a political motive.

All of those concerns which have been top of mind for, you know, both administrations that we've -- that you and I both covered and for the FBI, all of that are coming to fruition. Right. And so that's one of the huge, one of the big concerns.

This is -- this happened literally across the street from the Washington field office for the FBI. There are cameras everywhere here. There's courts, all the federal courts, local city courts are all right here in this -- in just these few blocks. The Metropolitan Police is like a block away and of course, Congress is just a very short walk, about a five minute walk from here.

So for all of those reasons, you know, there was a lot of police presence here. The Georgetown Law School is right another block away. So there's a lot of police here.

And so to do this in a place that is so protected is really brazen. And that's what I think, you know, it goes to show you know, if you can put all the security you want, but if someone wants to do something terrible like this, it is still possible.

LEE: All right, Evan Perez, thanks so much. And joining me now is Ron Halber. He is the CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. Ron, this is such a tragic event. I'm sorry that you are joining me under these circumstances. I wonder what your reaction was when you first heard the news and specifically the details that the victims were members of the Israeli embassy.

RON HALBER, CEO, JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL: Well, it's -- it was horror. It's a complete assassination is what it is. Either assassination based on the fact that they're Jews, Israeli, or both. It was a young couple about to get engaged and spend the rest of their life together. And some depraved individual thought that shooting down two innocent young Jewish people, Israelis, in the middle of Washington, D.C. were somehow going to accomplish an objective 6,000 miles away is just horrible.

[01:10:00]

And while we're glad the police got this is just an indication of what happens when you're constantly barraged in the media with antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric and it ends up self-radicalizing people and they think they can commit acts of violence.

And unfortunately we've seen this, these acts of violence manifesting and growing in the United States. And unfortunately, I don't know if this is going to be the. This is going to be the last one.

LEE: Yes. And you know, this is going to be incredibly devastating and jarring and scary news for a lot of Americans to wake up to. What is your message to the Jewish American community who will once again feel fearful? I mean, you said you don't think that this is going to be the last time that something like this is going to happen.

HALBER: No, it's not going to be the last time it's going to happen because people are getting a constant dose of anti-Israel garbage and antisemitism. What happens is it builds up in people who have a tendency to become self-radicalized and then they want to take matters into their own hands. But as far as the Jewish community is concerned, it's the same message that I delivered today at our annual meeting, which is that the Jewish people are resilient, the people of Israel are resilient. And we cannot allow fear to dictate how we're going to live our lives.

And we have to live proud, open Jewish lives, take the necessary security precautions. But the one thing I will say is that government at the federal, state and local level has made money available for capital improvements. But that's not enough.

The money needs to start coming in large amounts so that Jewish institutions can start hiring and using this money to help pay for security folks, armed security folks to provide at all of our institutions. And anything less is unacceptable.

LEE: And we saw a little earlier a message of condolences from President Trump. I'm wondering if there is anything you would like to hear from President Trump. But everyone on down in the American political leadership, what kind of message would be helpful at this point?

HALBER: That antisemitism and hatred directed against Jews is unacceptable in any form. And because they're Jewish, there are -- you can criticize Israel like we can criticize our own government for issues, but when you start using terms and flipping it around like Israel's committing ethnic cleansing, which is absolutely outrageous and unsubstantiated, all it does is fuel radicalism. So that type of language has to be condemned and rejected in American society by our leaders.

LEE: All right, Ron Halber in Washington. Thank you so much for joining us.

HALBER: Thank you.

LEE: And we'll be right back.

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[01:17:29]

LEE: An update on the deadly shooting outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. that claimed the lives of two Israeli embassy staff members. Authorities say the suspected gunman is now in custody and is believed to be the sole attacker. He's been identified by police as 30 year old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago. We're told after he was detained, he showed security where he had discarded his weapon and chanted free, free Palestine.

The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. says the two people who were killed were a young couple about to be engaged. The head of the American Jewish Committee said his organization was hosting an event at the museum ahead of that attack. President Trump said the killings were based obviously on antisemitism.

We have new details now on the US President's massive domestic policy bill as well. The House Rules Committee has voted to move Donald Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill to the House floor for a vote. House Republicans have been feverishly working on changes to the legislation, which the president needs in order to make good on his campaign promises.

But infighting within the party slowed its approval. New changes were announced late Wednesday in an effort to appeal to hardliners. Those changes include removing attacks on gun silencers, adding work requirements to Medicaid by the end of 2026, among others. House Speaker Mike Johnson remains confident that they can get the job done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE JOHNSON, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: You never know until the final vote tally, but I'm convinced we're going to pass this bill tonight. May have one or two no's. You never can be certain. I mean, this is a massive piece of legislation with lots of moving parts, so we'll see what happens. But I think we're going to get this job done and we're going to do it by Memorial Day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And a visit to the White House by South Africa's president quickly went sideways as President Donald Trump ambushed his guests with claims of genocide against white South African farmers. Cyril Ramaphosa was hoping to discuss trade and other geopolitical issues with the president. Instead, he was met with a highly orchestrated presentation put on by the president's team, complete with articles and a video President Trump said backed up his claims of white genocide.

He also repeated a fringe and widely debunked allegation that he has been amplifying for months, that white farmers in South Africa are having their land seized and are being killed in massive numbers.

[01:20:00]

More details now on the Oval office meeting from CNN's Alex Marquardt in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAE)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Turn the lights down.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): An ambush in the Oval Office. Trump out of nowhere surprising the South African president with a video montage alleging to show incitement, persecution and murder of white South Africans.

TRUMP: These are burial sites right here. Burial sites. Over a thousand of white farmers.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): The stunning video featuring that misleading claim and an opposition figure from a minority party not in the government, President Cyril Ramaphosa gently pushed back against Trump's extraordinary attacks.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: We have a multi-party democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): But Trump relentlessly pushed his administration's falsehoods.

TRUMP: Death, death, horrible death.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): Which have included unsubstantiated accusations of stealing white farmers land and genocide.

TRUMP: But you do allow them to take land.

RAMAPHOSA: No, no, no.

TRUMP: You do allow them to take land nobody can take. And then when they take the land, they kill the white farmer. And when they kill the white farmer, nothing happens to them?

RAMAPHOSA: No, there is quite nothing happens to them. There is criminality in our country. People who do get killed, unfortunately through criminal activity are not only white people, majority of them are black people.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): There's no evidence whites are killed disproportionally. And when it comes to land, more than 80 percent of South Africans are black, but they only own 4 percent of private land, while whites are just 7 percent of the population, but own 72 percent of the land. Several white members of the South African delegation, including

professional golfer Ernie Els, came to their president's rescue.

ERNIE ELS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: We want to see things get better in our home country. That's the bottom line.

RAMAPHOSA: If that was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here, including my Minister of Agriculture.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): Afrikaners who led the apartheid regime are white South Africans, descendants of colonialists, many of whom now claim to be targeted. This month, a first group of 59 Afrikaners arrived at Washington's Dulles Airport, greeted personally by the Deputy Secretary of State.

CHRIS LANDAU, U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: The President made it clear that Afrikaners in South Africa who were the victims of unjust racial discrimination would be welcome to come to the United States.

MARQUARDT: One of them was Charles Kleinhaus, who told the BBC he's a farmer who fled to the U.S. for safety.

CHARLES KLEINHAUS, FLED TO U.S. FOR SAFETY: If you're right, you're wrong. In South Africa, I didn't come here for fun, but my children are safe.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): The Afrikaner's arrival coming as the Trump administration has halted all other refugee resettlement, including from places torn apart by war and devastation. As the tension grew in the Oval Office, Ramaphosa tried to defuse it by joking about the jet that Trump is acquiring from Qatar.

RAMAPHOSA: I'm sorry I don't have a plane to give you.

TRUMP: I wish you did. I take it. I would take it. If your country offered the United States Air Force a plane, I would take it.

MARQUARDT: This was supposed to be a visit about trade relations, and President Ramaphosa said that was more of the focus in the private meeting that followed. He said he was pleased with how things went, that a reset was needed because the relationship had been contaminated, in his words.

Elon Musk, who was in that Oval Office meeting and is originally South African. He's been one of the louder voices around Donald Trump alleging this white genocide in South Africa. But CNN has looked at the data from the South African police and really has found no evidence of what they're claiming. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: All right. Let's now bring in Sithembile Mbete. She is the executive director of the Public Affairs Research and joins me now live from Johannesburg. It's great to have you. I'm hoping that we can start off with a bit of a fact check from you on what President Trump is saying here. He is claiming that there is genocide of white South Africans, that they are being racially persecuted. There's widespread land seizures and massive killings, claims that have been debunked. You are there. What do you say to these claims?

SITHEMBILE MBETE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS RESEARCH INSTITUE: Thanks so much for having me. I mean, as was said in the clip that played just before, these claims are completely untrue. South Africa does have a very high level of crime. We have a high level of violent crime, around 45 murders per 100,000 people. But these are disproportionately affecting black communities in urban areas.

In terms of farm murders, there are about 40 to 50 a year out of the around 27,000 murders that take place in a year -- in any given year in South Africa.

[01:25:07]

And those murders affect the farm murders affect not just white landowners in some cases, but also black farm workers, and are often linked to robbery and property crime and are not in any way a targeted attack of white people, of white Afrikaners or of white landowners.

LEE: And give us a sense of how people in South Africa have been following this story and reacting to it. I mean, is it on a lot of people's radar that the American president is insisting that there is this kind of genocide of white people in your country?

MBETE: Well, for South Africans, it's kind of absurd, you know, or many South Africans are frustrated about crime, about, you know, the cost of living crisis, that many countries are facing. And South Africa is certainly not immune to that, and we have very high levels of unemployment.

But this idea that there's a targeted attack against white people or against Afrikaners is absurd and is considered to be quite strange for most South Africans who don't quite understand why this has become such a big talking point and an issue for the U.S. President.

I think there are also concerns, of course, around with America being such a powerful economy and a powerful country, that these false claims put a spotlight and a target on South Africa that people are concerned might affect our own national security.

I think there has also been a great deal of anger at the white South Africans that. And it's a minority of people that are spreading this lie all over the world because it just does not reflect the reality that all of us are living with.

LEE: And, you know, as far as Oval Office meetings go, this was quite stunning. You know, Trump started playing video. He had a pile of printed articles that he said were all stories showing persecution, all while President Ramaphosa was sitting a few feet away from him. How did you think the president handled the situation? That's President Ramaphosa. MBETE: Well, I think he handled it as best as he could. We've seen from the experience of previous heads of state and government that have been in the Oval Office with President Trump that, you know, this -- the being with President Trump on his own turf is a really difficult place to be. It's very difficult to get out of it in a dignified way.

And so I think that President Ramaphosa handled it as well as he could with this ambush of the video. And I think that the presence of actual white South African landowners in the form of some of the people that were in the room with him to debunk some of these myths, I think really was helpful.

And, you know, President Trump, who sort of showed all of these articles that he was saying aren't in the mainstream media, many of those articles are from fringe outlets that aren't backed by any statistics at all. And even those images of the white crosses on the sides of the road, there is no site like that in South Africa.

A lot of these, you know, bringing out the crosses, are used in protest. South Africa is a democracy. Many people can protest and say what they want to say about what's happening in the country. And so these are props that are used in protests, but aren't actually a reflection of any real sites, of burial sites or grave sites of thousands of Afrikaners, as the President Trump has said.

And so I think the President Ramaphosa, you know, dealt with falsehoods as well as he could. But of course, no one can ever be prepared for that kind of ambush.

LEE: Yeah, I don't know if anything could have prepared the South African president for this kind of meeting. Sithembile Mbete, thank you so much.

MBETE: Thank you very much.

LEE: And we'll be right back.

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[01:34:22]

M.J. LEE, CNN ANCHOR: And back now to our breaking news.

Police say two Israeli embassy staffers have been killed in a shooting near the Capital Jewish museum in Washington.

Authorities say a suspect is in custody. He had been seen pacing outside the museum before the attack. The D.C. police chief says the suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago chanted "Free, Free Palestine" after being detained.

[01:34:49]

LEE: Danny Danon is the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations. He joins us from New York. Ambassador, I am so sorry to you and the entire Jewish community for this horrific news. What went through your mind when you first learned that there was a shooting and that the victims were Israeli embassy staff?

DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: It is very difficult night for all of us here in the United States tonight. It was an attack against Israel, an attack against the Jewish community, but also an attack against the U.S. itself. You know, a terror attack in the capital of the United States, very close to the White House.

It's unfortunate. And we know the incitement all over. We have seen what happened on the campuses in the last few months. You know, calling for the destruction of Israel. Death to the Israel.

I think what we have seen tonight is the outcome of the incitement. And I expect that the authorities will take strong measures not only against this terrorist that was captured, but also against those who incite for violence against the Jews or against the state of Israel.

LEE: Its morning now in Israel. You know, these killings happened in the middle of the night there. Have you had a chance to speak with anyone back in Israel? Friends and families? Do you have a sense of how the community back home is reacting to this news?

DANON: Absolutely. We have been in touch with our colleagues in the embassy in Washington, D.C., with our colleagues in Jerusalem. You know, all of our embassies, you know, are on high alert after this attack.

And it's unfortunate. You know, this event wasn't like a major event. It was a small event for young people who were involved with diplomacy and wanted to be more involved with diplomacy. And they attended the event of the American-Jewish committee.

And this terrorist stopped them and waited for them to get out. The couple was murdered, walked in our embassy in Washington, and they were supposed to get engaged next week in Jerusalem. And unfortunately, that will not happen.

I think the message is that words matters and incitement should not be allowed. And, you know, many leaders worldwide, they condemn anti- Semitism. They condemn hate crimes. But they don't do enough to enforce it. And we expect actions, not only declarations.

LEE: And Mr. Ambassador, a guest I was speaking with earlier in the hour said, regrettably, they believe that this is not going to be the last time that something like this happens. Is that what you believe too?

DANON: Well, I certainly hope so. And I think that, you know, if we will deal with incitement, then we can improve the situation. But, you know, in the last few weeks, I have seen the lies from all over. I'll give you an example. I see that the U.N., every day and I hear the allegations against Israel.

And it's legitimate to criticize Israel. But what I have seen in the last week and a half that, you know, leaders spreading lies, a senior U.N. official, you know, blamed us for committing a genocide, which is -- which is a lie.

And then he went and said that we are killing Palestinian babies. That was another lie. So when people hear those lies, it can bring to actions like we saw tonight in Washington, D.C.

LEE: And you're talking about people in leadership positions. We've heard from President Donald Trump. He said on social media that he was sending his condolences. He said this incident was clearly motivated by anti-Semitism.

I wonder, at this moment in time, what is the message that you would most like to hear from leaders like President Trump and everyone on down?

DANON: Well, we thank President Trump for his strong words. And also, Secretary Rubio put out a statement. I'm sure tomorrow we will hear from many leaders, from all political parties condemning the attack, which is against American values.

And as I said earlier, attack against the American people, not only against the Jewish people in the U.S. But words are not enough. I think the federal government should think about, you know, practical actions, what they are doing, you know, to stop the chaos in the universities.

You know, we have seen what happened in the campuses when students cannot study, where Jewish students were not allowed to come to classrooms.

So I think the federal government should take more steps in order to make sure that, you know, you have freedom of speech, but you don't have freedom of incitement and violence.

LEE: And we are going to be learning a lot more information in the coming hours, in the coming days, as authorities investigate what exactly happened here. More about the suspect and their motives and how exactly they were able to do what they did.

[01:39:50]

LEE: I wonder, Mr. Ambassador, given your role at this moment in time, have you gotten any notices about the need to heighten security measures that are already in place for you?

DANON: Well, once the event took place, you know, my detail, my security, you know, approached me and we absolutely had to take more measures. And also, we want to thank the local authorities, you know, the Washington, D.C. police, NYPD and all those security officials that are working very hard tonight. But we have to understand you cannot protect everybody. You cannot put a guard next to every synagogue or next to every Jewish student.

That's why we have to deal with the messages. We have to deal with the level of incitement that we have in Europe, and in the U.S. today.

LEE: All right. Ambassador Danny Danon, thank you so much for joining us. And again, our condolences to you and the entire community.

DANON: Thank you very much.

LEE: We are following breaking news out of Washington, D.C.

We will continue our coverage after a quick break.

[01:40:58]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEE: An update on the deadly shooting outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. that claimed the lives of two Israeli embassy staff members.

Authorities say the suspected gunman is now in custody and is believed to be the sole attacker. He's been identified by police as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago.

Were told after he was detained, he showed security where he had discarded his weapon and chanted "Free, Free Palestine".

The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. says the two people killed were a young couple about to be engaged.

The head of the American Jewish Committee said his organization was hosting an event at the museum ahead of that attack.

President Trump has weighed in, saying the killings were, quote, based obviously on anti-Semitism.

And there has been swift international condemnation after Israeli troops fired warning shots at foreign diplomats on an official visit to the West Bank.

The gunfire caught on this video, obtained by CNN.

Our Jeremy Diamond has the details from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, quite a remarkable situation unfolding in the Occupied West Bank today.

Israeli soldiers opening fire in the direction of a diplomatic delegation, a group of diplomats from more than 20 countries were in Jenin, going around the Jenin refugee camp to get a sense of the humanitarian situation on the ground, when suddenly Israeli troops began firing what the Israeli military is describing as warning shots.

In one of the videos from the scene, you can hear at least seven shots are fired by these soldiers who aimed their weapons above the diplomats, who were all gathered in one area.

Now, the Israeli military says that yes, the diplomats did coordinate their plans for this visit today, but they claim -- the military claims that these diplomats went to an unauthorized area. And that's why those troops fired those warning shots.

What they don't explain is why using live ammunition was necessary to convey a point that could have been conveyed with words.

What is clear, though, is that this has sparked quite a diplomatic uproar already. We have seen France and Italy both summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their countries for a formal explanation. The European Union, for its part, calling for an investigation by the Israeli military into this incident.

Now, also today, we have heard from the Israeli prime minister directly as these ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations are still underway. The prime minister making clear that he is willing to go for a temporary ceasefire that secures the release of some hostages under the right conditions. He's also making clear, though, that he will not end the war, at least not unless Hamas agrees to his litany of demands, some of which have become clear red lines for Hamas.

The Israeli prime minister saying that he would only end the war if Hamas releases all the hostages, but also if it disarms -- if Gaza is demilitarized, and a new condition that he added to the list today is if Trump's voluntary migration plan for Gazans is carried out -- effectively, the mass displacement of a large share of Gaza's 2 million plus population.

The Israeli prime minister also talking about the recent Israeli strike targeting Mohammed Sinwar, Gaza's -- Hamas' de facto leader in the Gaza strip. The prime minister saying that it seems that Sinwar was probably killed in that strike. Still, no official word from the Israeli military.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN -- Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: And joining me now is Paige Siegel. She's an eyewitness that was on the scene at the D.C. shooting that took the lives of two members of the Israeli embassy.

I want to make sure that we have Paige on the phone. Paige, can you hear me?

PAIGE SIEGEL, WITNESS TO THE SHOOTING IN WASHINGTON, D.C. (via telephone): Yes, I can hear you.

[01:49:48]

LEE: Thank you very much for being here. I can't imagine the evening that you just had.

First of all, just give us a sense of what you saw, what you heard. Were you attending the event at the Jewish museum?

SIEGEL: Yes. So, what's really interesting is that the event was a panel about Israeli organizations, multi-faith organizations and Palestinian organizations working together to get people in Gaza the aid they need and not fall into the hands of Hamas.

The event was ending, and I hear a batch of gunshots. And then a pause and then another batch of gunshots. And I walked to the front door to notify that the security should lock all the doors because the gunshots were so close.

And as I'm doing that, a man runs in through the front door acting as if, you know, he's like escaping the gunshots from the street himself. And he runs in and he seems so flustered and so out of whack.

So I go up to him and I say, are you ok? And he's muttering, call the police, call the police. And he goes, yes, I'm ok. I said, were you shot? And he goes, no, I was not shot. Call the police. Call the police.

And you know where the museum is, the FBI is right next door. The police are close by. So the police sirens have already started. And he's sitting on a bench amongst us for 15 minutes.

Until he comes up to me again with two of my other friends. And one of them is -- helped organize the event, and she offers him a glass of water just because he seemed so off. And he takes it, he drinks it.

And I say to him, like, I'm surprised they let you in, because, I mean, you just ran through the door and this is an event, you know, they had our names, we had to register. They do a security check, we get wanded at the front, like you just ran right in. I say, do you know where you are?

He doesn't say anything. And I say, you're at, like, a Jewish museum. And immediately he takes a few steps back and he starts yelling, "I did it, I did it." Talking about shooting and killing the innocent people outside who had just attended the event, who had just left.

And he's screaming, I did it, I did it, I did it for Gaza. I did it for Palestine. Free Palestine, free Palestine.

And I'm like, yelling in the background, get him out, get him out. Because he's opening up a backpack. And in that moment, a second feels like an hour. I feel like we're all about to die.

And he takes out a red and white Jordanian keffiyeh. And just continues chanting. And I think people don't realize that senselessly killing people who have just attended an event at a Jewish museum is what Hamas supporters mean when they yell, globalize the intifada.

LEE: Paige, that is just incredible that you not only spoke with this man, but you asked him if he was ok. Somebody else you said brought him a glass of water. You said he sat there for about 15 minutes on the bench before this scene took place. So he was just with you all before he was apprehended.

I mean, how are you processing that? And have you spoken with law enforcement to share all of this?

SIEGEL: Yes, I've spoken to the detectives a lot. I mean, it's just crazy to think that he tossed his gun in a bush right outside the building. Like, just an absolute loser from a to z.

Like you come in, you sit amongst us in an attempt to kill us as you have us pooled in a room. And he -- he just sat there. And when we're checking on him, it's just a joke, under false pretenses, he enters and we take him as someone who's trying not to get shot on the street. Unbeknownst to us, he's doing the shooting.

It's really, really, really unfortunate. And truly an anti-Semitic attack. I don't know how he targeted the two people who worked at the Israeli embassy. It's just so sad.

And I, you know, I feel for their families. And unfortunately, this isn't news to, you know, the Jewish and Israeli community, but (INAUDIBLE) --- we're going to were going to push through.

LEE: And Paige, I feel for you the fact that you, were at this event where two people were killed, the fact that you had this interaction with the suspect as a Jewish person.

I just want to ask you, you know, when you wake up tomorrow morning, how are you going to feel about your own safety, knowing that you are a Jewish person walking down the street? What does all of that mean for you now?

[01:54:52]

SIEGEL: Yes, I mean, obviously this is the closest to home it's hit, but I will tell you that I will wake up almost no differently than I've woken up every day since October 7th.

LEE: All right. Paige Siegel.

SIEGEL: This is just our reality.

LEE: I so appreciate you getting on the phone, especially just after this horrific evening and night that you have had. Thank you so much. And take good care of yourself.

SIEGEL: Thank you.

LEE: All right. We have been bringing you over the last two hours details of this horrific shooting in Washington, D.C., where two members of the Israeli embassy were killed.

We will continue, of course, following all of the developing details as we get them.

I'm M.J. lee in Washington D.C. We will continue our coverage of breaking news out of D.C. after this quick break.

[01:55:47]

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