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Suspected Gunman Elias Rodriguez Charged with Murder; Trump Administration Bars Harvard from Enrolling Foreign Students; Iranians Weigh in on Nuclear Talks; Kim Suggests Punishment Coming Over Botched Ship Launch; Girls Learn to Skateboard Amid War and Hunger. Aired 12- 12:45a ET
Aired May 23, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
M.J. LEE, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm M.J. Lee, live in Washington.
[00:00:39]
Ahead this hour, a so-called manifesto and online political activism. Details on the alleged gunman's motive in the D.C. Jewish museum shooting.
The Trump administration hits Harvard University with another major blow, and it could have serious impact on the school's student body.
Plus, North Korea's leader is furious after one of his brand-new warships capsizes.
New details are emerging about the deadly shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington. Suspected gunman Elias Rodriguez is now facing federal murder charges, one of which carries the possibility of the death penalty.
The shooting is being investigated as both terrorism and a hate crime.
This is the young couple that was killed: Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. She was a volunteer at an organization called Tech to Peace that provided training, including conflict resolution, to young Palestinians and Israelis.
According to court documents, surveillance video shows the suspect shooting them from behind, then leaning over them and firing several more times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN J. JENSEN, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE: Make no mistake. This attack was targeted antisemitic violence, and it won't be tolerated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Investigators are scouring the suspect's apartment, online presence, and writings. He's from Chicago and was visiting Washington for a conference.
CNN's Brian Todd picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eyewitness Yoni Kalin says he was inside the Capital Jewish Museum the moment shots were fired just outside.
YONI KALIN, EYEWITNESS: Inside, we could hear about ten, 15 shots.
TODD (voice-over): Kalin says just seconds later, in the chaos, a man entered the museum and appeared to be a witness. He sat down, Kalin says, and appeared pale and unwell.
Bystanders offered him water, and another witness says she spoke to the man, who she believes was the alleged shooter, not realizing then who he was.
KATIE KALISHER, WITNESS: Then I'm talking to him and I'm like, "So, do you like the museum?" Just kind of trying to relax him.
And -- and he's like, "Oh, what kind of museum is this?"
So, I told him, "It's a -- it's a Jewish museum."
And he asked me, "Do you think that that's why they did it?"
TODD (voice-over): Then Kalin says police entered the museum, and there was a bizarre, chilling encounter.
KALIN: As soon as the cops came in, he walked right up to them and said, "I'm unarmed. I did this." He pulls out a red keffiyeh, and he says, "Free, free Palestine."
TODD (voice-over): A chant the suspect repeated as he was handcuffed by police.
ELIAS RODRIGUEZ, SUSPECTED SHOOTER: Free, free Palestine.
TODD (voice-over): The two victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two staffers at the Israeli embassy in Washington who the Israeli ambassador says were about to become engaged.
An Israeli official tells CNN at the moment Lischinsky and Milgrim were shot, there were two young women right next to them, also staffers at the Israeli embassy, who were uninjured.
The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago. Multiple law enforcement sources tell CNN a lengthy letter that authorities are investigating as potentially being authored by the suspect was posted to social media, advocating violent retaliation over the war in Gaza, calling it, quote, "the only sane thing to do."
The letter was posted shortly after the shooting. It's not clear who posted it or if the post was prescheduled, set before the incident. On Thursday, the suspect was charged with multiple federal murder
counts, firearms charges, and murder of foreign officials.
Court documents detail the horrific acts of violence allegedly perpetrated by the suspect. According to the documents, officers on scene viewed surveillance footage showing the suspect walked past both victims before shooting them.
Then, as the victims lay on the ground, the suspect was seen, quote, "leaning over them with his arms extended and firing several more times." According to the documents, as Sarah Milgrim tried to crawl away, he followed behind her and fired again.
The documents say the suspect traveled to D.C. from Chicago one day before the shooting, with a nine-millimeter handgun in his checked baggage, which he purchased March 6, 2020.
JEANINE PIRRO, INTERIM U.S. ATTORNEY FOR WASHINGTON, D.C.: This is a horrific crime, and these crimes are not going to be tolerated.
TODD: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the reinforcement of security at Israeli missions around the world in the wake of this shooting, which Netanyahu says was committed by a, quote, "vile, antisemitic murderer."
[00:05:03]
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Netanyahu that President Trump is, quote, "personally involved" in managing the response to this attack.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: And joining me now is Brian Levin. He is the founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Brian, very good to have you on this conversation.
You know, your work is all about getting to the root of hate and extremism in this country. I mean, first of all, I have to ask you what your reaction was when you learned that two people who work for the Israeli embassy were shot and killed, and that this happened outside of a Jewish museum?
BRIAN LEVIN, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HATE AND EXTREMISM: I think if the documentation that I'm seeing is accurate, that the person who did this was in a milieu of hostile and aggressive, bigoted content online, both as consuming and spreading it. So, this is something that we have a homegrown person.
That being said, since 2018 through 2024, the most common type of fatal extremist in the United States, both in general and particularly with respect to anti-Jewish, were white supremacist, far-right and neo-Nazi. And when we disaggregated with folks from other universities, what we
found was the worst months for anti-Jewish hate crime, in the 1990s, March '94 corresponded to bloodshed in the holy land.
Similar, October 2000, that was the decade high. That was when the Intifada was taking place.
And we've seen that time and time again, including the most recent Gaza conflicts.
Overall, anti-Jewish hate crime, a record in 2024, up 12 percent. Anti-Muslim, not at a record, but up 18 percent. And both had similar double-digit increases of around 50 percent the year prior, 2023.
LEE: OK, interesting. And -- and Brian, White House press spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that the Trump administration has done more than any administration in history to crack down on antisemitism. I wondered what you say to that.
LEVIN: I look at the fact that the federal government just cut yesterday hate crime training grants and projects for police; also eliminated the domestic terrorism training and projects for police.
Two -- two studies I were on was defunded.
It's a complete fabrication. The -- the civil rights division of the Justice Department has been cut by about two-thirds. The community relations service, part of the '64 Civil Rights Act called America's Peacemakers. They do mediation. They've been virtually eliminated.
So, the bottom line is states like ours, California, have to fill in that void. The sad truth of the matter is the federal government, in what they're saying is combating antisemitism, is deporting people who are exercising their First Amendment rights, like Ms. Ozturk, who merely wrote an op-ed, one that I disagree with, but one that shouldn't result in some kind of authoritarian deportation.
LEE: So, I mean, on that note, Brian, I mean, what in your opinion would be the most effective way of curbing the rise of antisemitism, Jewish crimes, crimes against Jewish people? You know, is it more federal funding that is needed? Is it better public education?
You know, I think fair to say that there are plenty of people here in this country that feel like that's kind of a lost cause in the current political climate.
LEVIN: Whether it's a lost cause or not, the time that you need the fire hose fully engaged is during the firestorm. And what we've been seeing is FBI agents being taken off domestic terrorism.
Remember what I said? The No. 1 cause of extremist fatalities in the United States over the last eight years, seven years has been far- right white supremacists, neo-Nazi. And what we've seen is -- including threats against me. And what we've seen is that kind of funding, research, personnel has been eliminated or diverted. So, calling -- calling going after people, some of whom might be
offensive, but immigrants or students, to deport them, eliminate their due process rights, and impose laws from either the 1790s or an expansion of a 1952 law that virtually gives carte blanche to anything the administration wants, that is not fighting antisemitism.
Peace can begin here. And one of the things that we have to do is model peace, interfaith, fund research, and make sure our universities are not cauldrons for either antisemitism or the destruction of the First Amendment. Abject failure by universities in the last couple of years on both counts.
[00:10:14]
LEE: All right, Brian Levin, thank you so much for joining us.
LEVIN: Thank you.
LEE: The Trump administration says Harvard University is no longer allowed to enroll foreign students. It comes as the school's officials refuse to bow to the administration's policy demands.
As CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports, this move could impact more than a quarter of the -- of Harvard's student body.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration is dramatically escalating its fight with Harvard University, saying on Thursday --
ZELENY (voice-over): -- that all international students will be banned from continuing their education at Harvard, saying all students must change their enrollment to another university or lose their legal status to be in the United States.
Now, the backstory to all of this. This comes as the fight with Harvard began earlier this year, initially, the administration blocking some $2 billion or so in funding, federal funding to Harvard programs.
This comes as the administration is trying to get Harvard to change its curriculum. They say that the university has been dominated by DEI programs, antisemitic protests, and the like.
The White House, in a statement, saying this: "Harvard has turned their once-great institution into a hotbed of anti-American, antisemitic, pro-terrorist agitators." The White House says, "Enrolling foreign students is a privilege, not a right."
Harvard University, of course, pushing back strongly on this, saying the government's action is unlawful. Harvard says, "The retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community, our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission."
ZELENY: So, the bottom line to this is the -- this will certainly end up in a legal proceeding. Add it to the list of administration proposals that have been challenged by court.
ZELENY (voice-over): But this is a lot of students we are talking about here. Some 27 percent of Harvard's entire student body, about 6,700 students, would fall under this.
So, of course, this has a big fallout for those students already here in the U.S. as the school semester nears an end.
ZELENY: Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: A judge has denied a request to end deportation proceedings for Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born lawful permanent resident of the U.S.
Attorneys for the Palestinian activist argued that he was arrested illegally and without a warrant over two months ago.
The Trump administration is trying to deport Khalil, who is a Columbia University student, after he helped organize pro-Palestinian rallies on campus.
His attorneys tell CNN he got to hold his newborn baby for the first time on Thursday at the Louisiana detention center where he is being held.
This bakery in central Gaza is baking again for the first time in 11 weeks. That's because a limited amount of food is trickling into Gaza for the first time since March 2.
But U.N. officials say it is nowhere near enough to tackle the humanitarian crisis there and feed the hungry population.
Israel ended its blockade this week. Previously, Israeli officials claimed Hamas was stealing aid sent into Gaza and selling it.
On Wednesday, roughly 100 trucks delivered food to Gaza, but aid agencies warned that Gaza will be on the -- on the verge of famine without still more supplies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM FLETCHER, U.N. UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: It's utterly dire, and this is one of the problems. You know, we're getting in this baby powder, and it needs to be mixed with fresh water, and there's no fresh water. So, we're having to get in water in those first convoys, as well.
You know, I have complete trust in my team on the ground to work out what's needed when and how to prioritize it.
Those first trucks that went in, it was mainly baby food. We were focused on saving those -- those kids, and we've started to save them.
Many of the next 80 trucks have been food. Almost half of it, really. World Food Programme doing amazing work, getting the bakeries back open, five bakeries open again today, getting the community kitchens open, 70 community -- community kitchens back open again today.
In the next phase now, much, much more medicine. A lot of that is what's on the border right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing some Western leaders of being on the wrong side of history.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this week that he and leaders of France and Canada were horrified by Israel's escalation in Gaza. They're calling for a new ceasefire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I could never understand how this simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others. They're now proposing to establish a Palestinian state and reward these murderers with the ultimate prize.
[00:15:06]
You're on the wrong side of humanity, and you're on the wrong side of history.
Now, these leaders may think that they're advancing peace. They're not. They're emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever. And they give them hope to establish a second Palestinian state, from which Hamas will again seek to destroy the Jewish state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Netanyahu called back Israel's negotiating team from ceasefire talks happening in Qatar. Some Israeli and families of hostages in Gaza protested the decision on Thursday.
And another round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are set to begin soon. And still ahead, we'll hear what people in Tehran think about a possible nuclear deal.
Plus, a North Korean warship designed to send a message to the West is crippled even before it ever set sail. And those responsible may now pay a heavy price.
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LEE: U.S. envoys will discuss a potential nuclear deal with Iran in Rome in the coming hours. A source familiar with the matter tells CNN the talks are hitting crunch time as both parties approach a 60-day deadline for a deal set by President Trump back in March.
Iran says it will not relinquish its rights to nuclear energy, including uranium enrichment, despite warnings from the U.S. that Israel is preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. While Iran will attend, two Iranian sources tell CNN they are skeptical of the Trump administration's intentions.
So, how do people in Iran feel about the nuclear talks with the U.S.? CNN's Fred Pleitgen got some answers in Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here on the streets and markets in Tehran, of course, the negotiations between the Iranians and the Trump administration --
PLEITGEN: -- is the talk of the town. Of course, those negotiations have been fairly difficult. The Iranians have threatened to walk away several times --
PLEITGEN (voice-over): -- because of some of the things that members of President Trump's negotiating team have said, especially that the U.S. would not allow nuclear enrichment inside Iran by the Iranians.
The Iranians say for them, that is an absolute red line. They say they've worked hard for their civilian nuclear program, and they have a right to enrich nuclear fuel.
The Iranians are, however, saying if verification is necessary, they are willing --
PLEITGEN: -- to make compromises there.
Folks that we've been speaking to here on the streets of Tehran say they do hope that an agreement can be reached.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a situation. They're going to put you into a corner. And there's going to be so much demand that Iran cannot give. And it's going to fail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Iran, the economic situation is not good for people, and we are an angry nation (ph). And I hope -- I think most of the people, we hope that maybe it's possible.
PLEITGEN: Do you think there's a chance of success still?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think so, because our decision is clear that we should have our nuclear power. Not for using it for, I don't know, weapons, for -- I don't know -- killing people. We just need it for our power. I don't know, for our energy.
PLEITGEN: So, as you can see, a pretty complicated situation. What are the Israelis going to do? What's the Trump administration going to do?
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Can a compromise be reached?
Now, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader and final authority on everything here in Iran, he says he's not confident that these negotiations can come to a successful conclusion.
PLEITGEN: And he's urged specifically the American negotiators to try not to talk any nonsense.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: North Korea's leader is furious after a blunder involving the launch of the country's newest warship, and he's signaling to those responsible: fix the problem quickly or else.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:28:08]
LEE: Welcome back. I'm M.J. Lee. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The man suspected of gunning down two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington is now charged with murder. Police say 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez shouted free Palestine as he was detained.
The U.S. Justice Department says it's too soon to say whether they'll pursue the death penalty.
The Trump administration is barring Harvard University from enrolling international students. School officials have been in a dispute with the White House over federal funding, and they have refused to bow to the administration's policy demands.
This move could impact more than a quarter of Harvard's student body.
Rapper Kid Cudi testified in the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial on Thursday. He accused Combs of breaking into his home and being involved in setting fire to his Porsche.
A makeup artist also testified. She described Combs becoming violent with his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in 2010.
North Korea's plans to bring its navy to the 21st Century took a big step backwards. Things went horribly wrong during the launch of a new warship on Wednesday. Our Will Ripley reports those responsible are now facing Kim Jong-un's wrath.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were supposed to be North Korea's double threat. A pair of brand-new 5,000- ton destroyers, heavily armed. A massive upgrade from their aging Soviet-era fleet. Modern warships designed to strike fear and project power far beyond North Korean shores.
But only one made it off the dock.
New satellite images reveal the aftermath of a catastrophic launch failure. The second destroyer lies partially capsized in the water, one side submerged, sections of the hull draped in blue tarps.
[00:30:02]
This was that ship just days earlier, before the botched launch left it on its side, half sunk, dead in the water.
Worse still, Marshal Kim Jong-un was watching from shore. North Korean state media quoting Kim, calling the warship launch a criminal act that brought shame to the nation. Kim blaming "absolute carelessness" and "irresponsibility" of shipbuilders, scientists, and military leaders.
RIPLEY: What's going to happen to these people that were -- that were directly involved with this?
MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, there's no doubt he will hold everybody responsible for this. And anybody who is tangentially responsible for this, he'll hold them accountable.
And without being graphic, he'll put a bullet in everybody's head if he has not already.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Retired General James "Spider" Marks served on the Korean Peninsula. He believes Kim will punish what he sees as a national betrayal swiftly and brutally.
Over more than a decade in power, Kim has built a reputation for exactly that, ordering the trial and execution of his own uncle. North Korea denies Kim also ordered the assassination of his half-brother.
Top-ranking officials accused of failure have vanished. South Korean intelligence believes some were executed, others sent to forced labor camps for reeducation.
MARKS: This is going to be incredibly painful.
RIPLEY (voice-over): General Marks says the warship disaster also exposes deeper problems inside the North Korean military, well beyond the navy.
MARKS: What is the state of those nukes? How are they maintained? What does the inventory look like? Is this the possibility for a mistake?
RIPLEY (voice-over): The South Korean and U.S. militaries say Kim's crown jewel lies crippled, possibly damaged beyond repair, just weeks ahead of a major political summit in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, where observers say the reckoning will come.
RIPLEY: We're also learning North Korea's new destroyer, the one that did make it into the water, may lack a functional engine. Satellite imagery suggests the ship has never actually been sailing independently.
Experts believe it may be relying on tugboats for movement, raising some serious doubts about the ships real operational capability and undermining North Korea's claim, as if this accident didn't already do that, of advanced naval modernization.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: Some children in Gaza are finding ways to be kids despite enduring war and hunger. Ahead, you'll meet the girls learning to skateboard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:37:13]
LEE: Despite being hungry and living in a war zone, some young girls in Gaza have found a way to make life feel a bit more normal. Two days a week, they spend hours learning to skateboard.
CNN's Muhammad Darwish spoke with those girls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MUHAMMAD DARWISH, CNN FIELD PRODUCER (voice-over): On Gaza's shattered ground, young girls find a sense of freedom on four wheels.
RIMAS, SKATEBOARDER AND COACH: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I skate, and training the girls brings me so much joy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Come on, go, go!
RIMAS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: It's what helps us forget the bombings, the death, the war.
DARWISH (voice-over): Despite the dangers and Gaza's rising death toll, with about 53,000 people killed so far, girls like Rimas meet at the YMCA in Gaza City to skate.
They practice for five hours twice a week, even if it's on an empty stomach.
An Israeli siege of the strip, now in its third month, means food supplies are dangerously low, and many are at risk of malnutrition and famine. Israel says the blockade is a pressure tactic to force Hamas into releasing the hostages.
These girls, though, they're just here to skate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Yes, I skate, but this morning, I came without eating. Each kid gets one plate. People eat once every three days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Hello, there!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) GRAPHIC: Hello. I couldn't find anything. They had run out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Well, you were late! How do you think you'll manage today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: You'll be OK, God willing.
DARWISH (voice-over): Captain Rajab, as he's known, started skating back in 2014.
RAJAB AL-REEFI, SKATEBOARD COACH: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Good morning, everyone.
DARWISH (voice-over): A few years later, he began teaching, and now so many kids show up they have to take turns using one of the group's six remaining skateboards.
REEFI: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: We got these from under the destroyed homes. We dug them out of the rubble, so we could keep going.
Rajab, Rimas, and a handful of other volunteers are passing on the sport to the next generation, hoping normalcy will one day return.
RIMAS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: We've been through a lot. There were really painful days. There were a lot of days without food. Other times, tank shells fell on us. Right now -- here in al-Zaytoun -- we're under an evacuation order. But it's OK, we keep going. We put our trust in God.
REEFI: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I try not to let the kids feel it, but last time in training, when we were training the children, two girls, not just one, fainted. And I knew it was from a lack of food. I even feel it when I skate, while feeling totally exhausted from hunger. And this is a big problem.
[00:40:08]
Right now, we're facing death on so many fronts. Not just rockets, but starvation.
RIMAS (singing): Made it out alive, but I think I lost it. Said that I was fine. Said that I was fine, said it from the coffin. DARWISH (voice-over): Music, laughter, friendship. They're all part of the club's spirit, and their numbers are growing all the time, despite the risks.
REEFI: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: God forbid, if anything happens to me, I have a message to all the kids. My journey needs to keep going. This sport won't die. It's like the roots of an olive tree in Palestine. The sport will keep going, God willing.
DARWISH (voice-over): Muhammad Darwish, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: Thank you for joining me. I'm M.J. Lee. WORLD SPORT is next.
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[00:45:39]
(WORLD SPORT)
