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Two Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed In D.C. Shooting; Aid Trucks Begin Dispersing Food Supplies In Gaza; Two Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed in D.C. Shooting; House Rules Committee Advances Agenda Bill for Vote; U.S. And Japan Talk Trade, Global Security on the Sidelines of the G7 Summit; Trump Ambushes Ramaphosa With Claims of White Genocide; Rubio Not Pointing Fingers Over Putin's Alleged War Crimes; Pentagon Accepts Boeing 747 Jet From Qatar. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired May 22, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:26]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

We are following breaking news out of Washington, D.C. where two staffers from the Israeli embassy have been shot and killed outside an event at the capital 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 told 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. Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters at a news conference earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURIEL BOWSER, WASHINGTON, D.C. MAYOR: 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 anti-Semitism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: President Donald Trump posted his condolences to the victims' families on social media. He says the killings are, "Obviously based on anti-Semitism, which must end now."

The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. spoke about the young couple killed, saying they were planning a future together. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YECHIEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: The couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of free Palestine.

So, young couple about to be engaged. The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. They were a beautiful couple who came to enjoy an evening in Washington's Cultural Center.

I will say this, we are a resilient people. The people of Israel are resilient people. The people of the United States of America are resilient people. Together, we won't be afraid. Together we'll stand and we're going to overcome moral depravity of people who think that they're going to achieve political gains through murder.

On the way in, Miss Bondi was kind enough to hand me the phone on the other line with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who told me that his administration is going to do everything can possibly do to fight and end anti-Semitism and the hatred that's being directed, the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel.

Together with President Trump, our Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will stand, we'll stand together, tall and firm, and we will confront this moral depravity without fear and with determination. Now, we'll turn to taking care of the families of these two victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: We're told the ambassador was not at the location of the shooting when it happened. CNN's Senior U.S. Justice Correspondent Evan Perez, was at that press conference in Washington earlier, and he explained what information investigators are looking for right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Statements that the police said he made after he was detained there at the scene, which was 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 was 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 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.

[02:05:08] Now, obviously there's other ways perhaps that the information could have come to the -- to the suspect. So, those are things that the police are going to be certainly focusing on. How do 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 he has to D.C.? 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 appeared to have -- to not have been injured, and that he entered, 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 the international or a sanction 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.

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, the 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, all of -- 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. 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is shocked by the horrific anti-Semitic murders in the US, and says he has instructed that security arrangements at Israeli missions worldwide be reinforced.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog posted his condolences to the victims' families on social media, and he condemned what he called a despicable act of hatred and anti-Semitism. Herzog says, America and Israel will stand united in defense of our people and shared values, terror and hate will not break us.

Joining me now Avi Mayer is the former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post and founder of the Jerusalem Journal. Appreciate you joining us.

AVI MAYER, FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, JERUSALEM POST: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: I do want to start by getting your reaction to what we're learning about the suspect involved in this horrifying shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in D.C. According to an eyewitness account, the D.C. shooter pretended to be a witness and waited for police to arrive before claiming he did it for Gaza and police say he shouted Free Palestine while in custody. What does all this reveal to you?

MAYER: Well, Rosemary, I think for many Jews and many Israelis, this may be shocking, but it's certainly not surprising. Jews have been targets of terror attacks for many years now, and we know that the threat has only increased during the course of this war.

When you have protesters chanting globalize the Intifada in the streets of major cities, this is what they mean, and it was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, something like this took place. Your correspondent mentioned that Jewish events are publicized without their location for exactly this reason.

And so, this is, of course, devastating. It will require even greater security measures going forward. But as the ambassador said early on, we are a resilient people. This will not stop us from celebrating our Jewish identity, our connection to Israel, and I'm sure that that is something that we will see in the weeks ahead as well.

CHURCH: And Avi, what questions do you want answered in the wake of this horrifying and deadly shooting?

MAYER: Well, look, I don't know very much about the suspect. I've seen various reports. I would want to know how this individual has been so radicalized, I am interested, as your correspondent said, and whether there are ties to international terrorist groups and what drove this individual to engage in an act of such senseless hateful violence, which, of course, is something that we see being incited for across the country and around the world.

[02:10:16]

But what is it that was the tipping point for this person? How did this person get to be so deeply hateful that he was able to take the lives of a young couple leaving a Jewish event in Washington D.C.?

Anti-Semitism is a very, very real problem, and we have to get to the root of it. It has nothing to do with the policies of this government or that. It is about pure hatred of the Jewish people. This was not, it should be noted, an Israeli event that was targeted, it was a Jewish event. We don't know whether the individuals themselves were targeted because of their connections to the Israeli embassy, but we do know that anti-Semitism has manifested itself in the most violent of ways, and that is something we must all stand firmly against.

CHURCH: And Avi, police are asking how the suspect knew where this event was being held, because it was only once people had registered for the event that the venue was divulged. So, there's a big question there as to how this happened.

And of course, it gets back to needing more security, doesn't it, and being even more careful about events.

MAYER: I'm not going to speculate as to how this suspect may have known that a Jewish event was taking place at that venue at that time. I'm sure that investigation is ongoing. It is possible this individual simply registered for the event. I understand it was an event for young professionals in Washington. I myself have attended many events. I used to work for the organization that hosted the American Jewish Committee. These are events in which deep and important policy discussions are had in a social environment. And this individual may have portrayed himself as someone who was just interested in figuring out how to bring peace to the Middle East, as so many of the attendees were.

But again, I have no further information about that. I'm sure, as you said, those security precautions will be looked at and perhaps tightened in the weeks ahead.

CHURCH: And what more security do you think is needed to be put in place for events like this and basically to protect Israelis, to protect Jews living in the United States and indeed around the world?

MAYER: Well, again, the individuals, the group that was targeted was a Jewish event. It was a Jewish target. And that, I think, is the -- is the really operative term here.

As to in terms of what security measures can be put in place. I'm sure, again, that is something that local law enforcement and communities across America and around the world are going to be taking a closer look at.

As the Prime Minister said, Israel will also be tightening security around its mission, seeing as individuals who were murdered were linked to the Israeli embassy. And I think that, of course, is a concern as well.

But a much deeper concern is the environment of hatred and anti- Semitism that produced this violence. I think that's something that requires a much deeper look in the depths of the American soul. How did we get to a point in which an individual can walk up to a Jewish event and just murder people?

This is something that is taking place across the world. There have been warnings of this sort of thing for a very long time. Now, of course, it's manifested in the most violent and tragic and horrific of ways. How do we prevent the next one? I think that is the operative question here.

CHURCH: Avi Mayer, thank you for joining us from Jerusalem. Appreciate it.

And still to come, Republicans are one step closer to passing the president's domestic policy agenda. What's next for Donald Trump's big, beautiful bill, that's just ahead.

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[02:18:19]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. An update on the deadly shooting outside a Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. that claimed the lives of two Israeli embassy staff members.

The suspected gunman is 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 Palestine.

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

The American Jewish Committee said the organization was hosting an event at the museum ahead of the attack. President Trump said the killings were, "Based obviously on anti-Semitism."

Well, meantime, on Capitol Hill, House Republicans are getting ready for a vote on the bill that will fund President Trump's domestic policy agenda. The House Rules Committee voted to advance the legislation after lengthy discussions.

President Trump himself even stepped in on Tuesday in an effort to persuade lawmakers to get on the same page. But it appears those issues have been resolved for the moment, and House Speaker Mike Johnson remains confident Republicans can get the job done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): You never know until the final book tally, but I'm convinced we're going to pass this bill tonight. We may have one or two nos, you never can be certain. I mean, we -- 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)

CHURCH: Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have finally started delivering the first food and supplies to Gaza in more than 11 weeks.

Still, the United Nations is warning that that is not enough. More than 90 trucks carrying flower food and baby supplements have begun dispersing aid into southern Gaza. This the first time any suppliers have entered the enclave since Israel imposed a complete blockade in March, the trucks headed to distribution points after entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

[02:20:25]

Late Wednesday, a U.N. World Food Program spokesperson said its food supplies will be taken to Gaza's bakeries.

Well, joining me now from London is Jasmine El-Gamal, a former Middle East adviser at the Pentagon. Appreciate you being with us.

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, FORMER PENTAGON MIDDLE EAST ADVISER: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: And I do want to start with our breaking news. Two Israeli embassy staff was shot and killed near the capital Jewish Museum in D.C. Wednesday evening, the single suspect is now in custody, and police say he shouted free Palestine while in custody and told them he did it for Gaza. What's your reaction to this horrifying incident?

EL-GAMAL: Horrified. I mean, exactly as you said, it's a horrifying incident. I woke up to this news and I was extremely disturbed, Rosemary, because, you know, the fact is, this is an act of violence that should be unequivocally condemned. There's no two ways about it.

We don't know exactly what the gunman's motives were. He shouted free Palestine. Obviously, there's a lot of conjecture going on in D.C. right now, a place that was my home for 12 years. People are talking about whether this was an Iranian plot, whether this was about anti- Semitism, whether this was about the war in Gaza and just that.

But the fact is, these were people who are targeted either because of their nationality or their religion, and both of those things are entirely unacceptable. And I think it says a lot about the really dehumanizing and divisive rhetoric that we've seen over the last two years, but especially ramping up recently, around what's happening in Gaza, around what the Israeli government is doing, and it's unhelpful.

People's lives are at risk when that type of dehumanizing rhetoric is used against anyone because of the religion or nationality.

So, I hope we do get to find more information, but I hope that this is a warning. And this is not the first time this has happened. People have been targeted before. I think it was a 7-year-old Palestinian boy early on in the war that was targeted by someone who was talking about all Muslims, you know, being bad people and being worthy of being killed, basically.

So, this is a problem that's been ongoing, and I think whether it's politicians or the media, we really need to start being very careful about how we're talking about these issues and trying to avoid that rhetoric that dehumanizes entire people just because of who they are.

CHURCH: Yes. And as you point out, this deadly shooting in D.C. does come as international pressure on Israel increases with calls for the country to end its aid blockade and new offensive in Gaza, and while humanitarian aid trucks finally started delivering the first supplies to Gaza in more than 11 weeks, the U.N. says it's not enough. The U.K. and E.U. are threatening trade sanctions.

But will this be enough do you think to compel Benjamin Netanyahu to allow more aid trucks into Gaza and end his offensive?

EL-GAMAL: Unfortunately, I don't think so, and there's a couple of reasons why I say that. Now, first of all, I think it's important to clarify because I was speaking to colleagues of mine, people I know, who work in the humanitarian field and who are aware of the situation when it comes to this aid.

Now, this assistance has come in. I see that you're showing the pellets on the screen right now, it hasn't necessarily been able to be accessed by the international organizations and the U.N. on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom border, they have to get permission from the Israelis to access that aid and to take it to their warehouses and distribution centers for it to be then distributed to Palestinians in Gaza, and that hasn't happened yet.

I haven't checked with them this morning. It's pretty early here in London, but as of last night, they hadn't yet been able to access it.

So, I just wanted to make that point clear, because there's a difference between just allowing a few trucks to go in and actually having people be able to take that on the other side and then distribute it to people who need it.

So, not only are the trucks just a drop in the bucket, but the fact is that drop isn't even reaching the people who need it at the moment.

In terms of whether Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to shift his position, we haven't seen anything coming out of him so far that says that he's willing to shift his position.

Just yesterday, he was talking about how the war will not end until Hamas is completely eliminated, the hostages are all released, and the Trump plan is enacted. And that's a really dangerous statement to me.

[02:25:11]

When I hear that, I hear the prime minister saying that we're not going to stop until Palestinians are basically removed from Gaza, our ethnically cleansed.

Because the Trump plan, when he first decided that he was going to talk about this way back in the Oval Office, he was saying that Gaza should be a Riviera, and that, you know, people living there should go live somewhere else.

That's tantamount to ethnic cleansing. And so the fact that still today, Benjamin Netanyahu is saying, I won't stop this war until the Trump plan is enacted. To me, that sounds really dangerous, Rosemary.

And I think that the pressure from the -- you know, the U.S. government, the U.K. government, France, Canada, the Europeans, all of these announcements that we've seen recently, with trade deals being suspended, the E.U. Israel Association being reviewed, that still doesn't seem to be enough.

Because I think, as you and I both know, the real pressure, the only thing that could stop Prime Minister Netanyahu, unfortunately, is the U.S. government and is President Donald Trump, and we haven't seen that level of pressure increase to the needed point up until now.

CHURCH: And Jasmine, on a separate issue, U.S. intelligence suggests Israel is preparing a possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, despite President Trump making it clear he doesn't want a wider war in the region, and while his administration is still in talks with Iran over its nuclear program, what is going on here do you think?

EL-GAMAL: That's right. And that was a really interesting leap, because it could mean one of two things, Rosemary, and it's really unclear still. We know that the Trump administration has been moving in a different direction from Prime Minister Netanyahu when it comes to policy in the Middle East in general, we've seen Donald Trump move away from Israel when it comes to Yemen and the Houthis, saying that he will no longer -- that President Trump will no longer target the Houthis and they won't target U.S. ships, and you saw him move away from the Israeli government, and Prime Minister Netanyahu when it comes to Iran, choosing to favor diplomacy and talks over threats of military force.

Now, that tension is palpable. It's still there, and we know that Prime Minister Netanyahu has long wanted to strike Iran.

Now, this leak could mean one of two things. It could be a leak that was meant to warn the Iranians that if they don't move forward with the talks, if they don't move to advance the talks even further than they already have been advanced, that Israel may be waiting to strike them.

So, it could be a pressure tactic on Iran, or it could be a warning sign to Israel to say we know what's happening. We don't like it, and we're warning you not to do it. It really could go either way, that part of it is very opaque.

But the fact remains that the U.S. and Israel are not on the same page when it comes to this, and one hopes that President Trump can continue to advance these talks, along with his special envoy Steve Witkoff. There's no reason to believe that the talks won't continue to advance and that that would keep the Israeli prime minister at bay.

You know, I think when we look at the Prime Minister Netanyahu's actions in the region right now, he does -- he is feeling increasingly squeezed both by the international community and at home.

And while normally, one would hope that that pressure moves him to wind down the war in Gaza and start moving forward on how to move diplomatically across the board on these issues in the Middle East, it could actually end up doing quite the opposite, that when someone like that is squeezed to this extent that they just basically burn the house down, they just go and do whatever they want to do.

We know that Prime Minister Netanyahu feels that he is closer than ever to achieving things that he has long wanted to achieve but hasn't been able to. And this could be a moment when he says, you know what, the pressure is already on me. Let me just do what I want to do. So, really tense times, Rosemary, and I think we don't know exactly

what's going on behind the scenes yet, but one hopes that cooler heads will prevail at this point.

CHURCH: Indeed, Jasmine El-Gamal, many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

EL-GAMAL: Thanks so much.

CHURCH: And we have more on the deadly shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington, including new details on the suspect who's now in custody. That's just ahead.

Plus, President Trump welcomes South Africa's president to the White House, then ambushes his guests with false claims of genocide against white South African farmers. We're back in just a moment.

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[02:30:00]

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CHURCH: Back 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'd been seen pacing outside the museum before the attack. The D.C. Police Chief offered more details at a news conference just hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA SMITH, CHIEF OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: The suspect chanted "free, free Palestine" while in custody.

[02:35:00]

The suspect has been tentatively identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, Illinois. Our MPD case detectives are leading this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Gabe Cohen has more on what we know about the suspect in the shooting. Take a listen.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Elias Rodriguez, who is the lone suspect in this shooting, from Chicago, Illinois. We heard during the press conference that he was seen pacing back and forth outside of the museum just before the shooting, and just moments later, approached a group of four people who were leaving the museum and then fired those shots, killed a man and woman, a soon to be engaged couple, as you mentioned, then entered the museum and was detained.

Well, in just in the last few minutes, we've gotten an eyewitness testimony that's telling our CNN team that the shooter, the suspect in this case, pretended to be a witness in those minutes after the shooting, after he entered the museum and he actually waited for police to arrive for more than 10 minutes before eventually, claiming that he had committed the shooting.

This witness at the scene is telling us that people inside the museum heard shots, then they saw a man come running into the center. They -- this person said security guards offered the man water. They were trying to comfort him. He was -- they figured he had witnessed the shooting. It wasn't until minutes later, when police arrived, and by the way, according to this witness, that man actually asked security to call the police. And when those officers arrived, about 10 minutes later, the man took accountability for the shooting and said that he had done it and that he had done it for Gaza.

And as the police chief mentioned, he later said, "free Palestine; free, free Palestine." So, those are obviously, very profound details that are coming now in this early hour in the morning. And you also asked about this couple, because we heard the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. talk about them. They were employees of the Israeli Embassy, a couple that was soon to be engaged. They expected that the man had bought a ring and was going to propose in Jerusalem in the next week or so.

So, it really is this tragic story. And obviously, the -- there are a lot of investigative strands and details that still need to come out here. But I was really struck in that press conference, listening to the tone and the language of D.C.'s mayor and police chief. Because this is a city and an administration that obviously deals with a lot of contentious political issues, a lot of protest, and they tend to be very careful about their language, cannot speak too quickly, not get ahead of the actual facts of a case. And yet, we heard the mayor, right at the start of the press conference, come out and say that this was going to be an incident that would frighten people in the nation's capital and across the country. And she was quick to say that this city is not going to tolerate violence or hate, or acts of terror or anti-Semitism.

Those were specific words that she used, which spoke to the early details in this case. And we know that the FBI is looking into potential ties to terrorism and a hate crime.

CHURCH: And earlier, my colleague MJ Lee spoke with Danny Danon, the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, about the horrific shooting. Take a listen.

DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: It is a very difficult night for all of us here in the United States tonight, with an attack against Israel, attack against the Jewish community, but also attack against the U.S. itself, 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, 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.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: It's morning now in Israel. 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?

[02:40:00]

DANON: Absolutely. We have been in touch with our colleagues in the embassy in the Washington, D.C., with our colleagues in Jerusalem, all of our embassies on high alert after this attack. And it's unfortunate, 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 war matters and the incitement should not be allowed. And 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.

CHURCH: We're also keeping a close watch on Capitol Hill. 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 in-fighting within the party slowed its approval.

New changes were announced late Wednesday to appeal to hardliners. Those changes include removing a tax on gun silencers, adding work requirements to Medicaid by the end of 2026, among others. But Americans appear to be feeling anxious when it comes to the budget deficit, and the U.S. stock markets show it.

Well. G7 finance ministers will meet again in the coming hours in Canada. On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Secretary met with his Japanese counterpart on the sidelines of the Summit. The U.S. says they discussed important economic issues, including global security and the ongoing trade negotiations. The Trump administration has previously said it is close to setting up frameworks of trade deals with India and Japan.

A visit to the White House by South Africa's President quickly went sideways as President. Donald Trump ambushed his guest with claims of genocide against white South African farmers. Cyril Ramaphosa was hoping to discuss trade and other geopolitical issues. Instead, he was met with a highly orchestrated presentation put on by President Trump's team, complete with articles and a video, President Trump said, backed up his claims of white genocide. He also repeated a fringe, widely-debunked allegation he's been amplifying for months that white farmers in South Africa are having their lands seized and are being killed in massive numbers.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Turn the lights down

ALEX MARQUARDT, 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.

JULIUS MALEMA, MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF SOUTH AFRICA: Is that what he said (ph)?

MARQUARDT (voice-over): 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.

RAMAPHOSA: 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, no.

TRUMP: You do allow them to take land.

RAMAPHOSA: No, nobody can take land. TRUMP: 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 disproportionately. 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, SOUTH AFRICAN PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: We want to see things get better in our home country. But that's the bottom line.

[02:45:00]

RAMAPHOSA: If there 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 (voice-over): One of them was Charl Kleinhaus, who told the BBC, he's a farmer who fled to the U.S. for safety.

CHARL KLEINHAUS, AFRIKANER REFUGEE: If you are white, you're wrong in South Africa. I didn't come here for fun, but my children are safe.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): The Afrikaners 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 diffuse 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'll take it?

(LAUGH)

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

MARQUARDT: This is 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 the 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)

CHURCH: Cornell Brooks is a Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Former President and CEO of the NAACP. He spoke to CNN about the message and the historical significance of President Trump's confrontation in the Oval Office.

CORNELL BROOKS, PROFESSOR, HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL: It sends a message that the president is continuing to rewrite history and in so doing, also dramatically and disastrously impact the president. So in other words, what we had in the White House today was a cinematic ambush, if you will, and an anything but diplomatic attack. And this is reminiscent, if you will, of 110 years ago, when President Woodrow Wilson showed a film called "The Birth of a Nation," which was a film that glorified the clan.

So here we have this film today, which is an attempt to rewrite history and adversely impact the present. And so, the country should be horrified because President Trump is literally using both racism, anti-black racism and xenophobia and anti-immigrant, anti-refugee hate to not only divide the country, but divide the globe. And what has been made bad and terrible in this country, he's globalizing and exporting in ways that are detrimental to the interest of the United States.

CHURCH: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:53:02]

CHURCH: This just into CNN, we have obtained new video that appears to show the moment the suspect was detained in the deadliest shooting of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington. This video was taken by an eye witness and you see several people working to detain the suspect. And once they do, you can hear what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIAS RODRIGUEZ, WASHINGTON D.C. SHOOTING SUSPECT: Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Police have identified the suspect as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago. They say the shooting took place near the Capital Jewish Museum, which was holding an event at the time.

U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio says that war crimes have been committed in the war in Ukraine, but he refused to describe Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal during a tense exchange on Wednesday before the U.S. Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, (R) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I think you can look at instances that have happened there and certainly, characterize them as war crimes, but our intent is to end the war.

REP. BILL KEATING, (D-MA): Is he a war criminal?

RUBIO: We can't end the war without talking to Mr. Putin.

KEATING: No, it is pretty simple. Is he a war criminal?

RUBIO: Well, that's a --

KEATING: This man we're negotiating with, Vladimir Putin. Is he a war criminal? That's not tough.

RUBIO: But what I'm -- I'm trying to answer your question by telling you that we're trying to end the war here.

KEATING: Answer, go ahead. No equivocating.

RUBIO: It's not a simple answer.

KEATING: You are equivocating, sir. Just answer the question.

RUBIO: I'm answering your question. And the answer is that war crimes have been committed, no doubt. And who's responsible for that? There will be time and place for that accountability. But right now, the job is to end the war.

KEATING: So, you won't answer the question?

RUBIO: If we don't end the war, people are going to get killed.

KEATING: Reclaiming my time, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Mr. Putin over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. Moscow describes that practice as a humanitarian measure.

[02:55:00]

The Pentagon says it has accepted that Boeing 747 from Qatar meant to be used by President Trump. The Defense Department plans to upgrade the plane to meet security requirements for the Commander-in-Chief. Current and former military officials tell CNN it could take several years and hundreds of millions of dollars to make the changes. CNN has learned the Trump administration first approached Qatar to inquire about the plane after Boeing said it couldn't deliver a new Air Force One for another two years.

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" after short break. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)