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Suspect in the Israeli Embassy Shooting in Washington Charged with Murder; Trump Administration Blocks Harvard Enrolling Foreign Students; Aid Delivered Into Gaza After Delays; Russia and Ukraine Largest Prisoner Swap Expected; Verdict Expected Soon In Paris Trial Of Accused Robbers; Rapper Kid Cudi Testified Combs Damaged His Home & Car; U.S. Mint Will Soon Stop Making New One-Cent Coins. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired May 23, 2025 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BRIAN ABEL, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to all of our viewers watching from around the world and streaming on CNN Max, I'm Brian Abel in Atlanta. Ahead on "CNN Newsroom." The suspect in the shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington D.C. facing murder charges. But we are learning about the lives of the two victims.
Another round in the Trump-Harvard spat, this time the administration moves to ban the university from enrolling international students.
And we are keeping an eye on a major prisoner swap expected today between Russia and Ukraine. Hundreds of prisoners could be headed home even as the war drags on.
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 a death penalty. The shooting is being investigated as both terrorism and a hate crime.
Rodriguez is accused of killing this young couple, 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.
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STEVEN JENSEN, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTIR IN CHARGE: We are also executing search warrants for his electronic devices, reviewing his social media accounts and all of his internet postings. Regarding some internet postings, we are aware of some writings that are purported to have been authored by the subject. We're actively investigating to determine both the authorship and the attribution of these writings, if they belong to this subject or not. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: The suspect is from Chicago and was visiting Washington for a conference. CNN's Brian Todd picks up the story.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eyewitness Yoni Kalin says he was inside the Capitol Jewish Museum the moment shots were fired just outside.
YONI KALIN, WITNESS: Inside, we could hear about 10, 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 he's like, oh, what kind of museum is this? So I told him 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, said, I'm unarmed. I did this. He pulls out a red coffee and he says, free, free Palestine.
TODD (voice-over): A chant the suspect repeated as he was handcuffed by police.
ELIAS RODRIGUEZ, SUSPECT: 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 Milgram 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 pre-scheduled, 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 walk 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 9mm handgun in his checked baggage, which he purchased March 6th, 2020.
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JEANINE PIRRO, INTERIM U.S. ATTORNEY FIOR WASHINGTON, D.C.: This is a horrific crime and these crimes are not going to be tolerated.
TODD (on camera): 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 anti-Semitic murderer." 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.
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ABEL: Earlier, CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller, spoke about the events leading up to the attack and how it unfolded despite security measures and a certain level of secrecy.
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JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT & INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: The event he targeted at the Jewish Museum was an event where you had to apply online in order to find out the time and the location of where it was going to be. So he had registered for the event and then the location was revealed to him and, as Brian reported, that's when he showed up and started stalking with this really unusual approach of, I'm going on a trip, I'm going to declare my firearm to the airline and TSA as I'm putting in my checked baggage, not my carry-on, I'm going to pick it up in Washington and then go forward with this crime.
Since October 7th, as you pointed out, you've had a lot of a real spike in anti-Semitic crimes, but you have also had a number of plots similar to the one we saw last night involving terrorist activities, plots against embassies, plots against Jewish targets, people traveling towards New York and other cities that have been stopped by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, by the NYPD, with help from the Canadians. It's been a global effort. The fact that it took this long for one of this nature to carry on has been really a testimony to the number of those that have been prevented.
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ABEL: Before the attack, the victims had been attending an event on how multi-faith organizations can join forces to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, but the young couple fell in love while working at the Israeli embassy, where their relationship was well known.
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TAL NAIM COHEN, SPOKESPERSON, EMBASSY OF ISRAEL TO U.S.: They were the cutest couple. It was like, you know, a homemade romantic comedy of the embassy, Israeli embassy version. Sarah joined the embassy a short while after Yaron, and I don't know exactly how it started, but pretty soon we started seeing them having lunches together and, you know, smile at each other. It was pretty obvious, you know, they really like each other, and they were the cutest couple.
We always used to say that they would have the most beautiful children because both of them are so, you know, young and smart and, you know, the world was at their feet.
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ABEL: 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 Harvard's student body.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration is dramatically escalating its fight with Harvard University, saying on Thursday 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, anti-Semitic 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, anti-Semitic, 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.
So the bottom line to this is this will certainly end up in a legal proceeding added to the list of administration proposals that have been challenged by court. 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.
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So of course, this has a big fallout for those students already here in the U.S. as the school semester nears an end. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House. ABEL: 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 activists 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 graduate, 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.
Still ahead, desperately needed food and humanitarian aid is now in Gaza after nearly three months of Israel's blockade. But the U.N. says it's just a drop in the ocean of what's needed.
Plus, Russia and Ukraine agreeing to a major prisoner swap at this meeting last week, and now hundreds of POWs could be just hours away from heading back home. Stay with CNN.
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ABEL: A limited amount of food is trickling into Gaza for the first time since March 2nd, but U.N. officials say it's nowhere near enough to tackle the humanitarian crisis and feed the hungry population. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports from Tel Aviv.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, more than 11 weeks after Israel began its total siege of the Gaza Strip, humanitarian aid has finally begun to reach Gaza's population once again. Last night, trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, including flour, baby food, and nutritional supplements, they began to make their way through the Gaza Strip to distribution points.
Bakeries in Gaza were baking bread all night long and throughout the day to try and get bread to people who need it the most. This aid was distributed in central and in southern Gaza, but there are still major questions that loom over the new entry of this aid and whether or not it will be capable of stemming what is a true hunger crisis that is still roiling the Gaza Strip.
That's because, first of all, it's not clear whether this aid is going to make it to northern Gaza yet, where there are hundreds of thousands of people who are in dire circumstances, particularly as the Israeli military escalates its offensive in northern Gaza and Israeli troops are beginning to advance in those areas and direct the population to evacuate.
Then, of course, there is the issue of how many trucks is Israel going to allow in and for how long. We have seen so far that Israel appears to be authorizing about 100 trucks of aid per day, which is still short of what humanitarian aid officials say is needed. Humanitarian aid officials say the aid that has entered so far still represents just a drop in the ocean of the need that exists in Gaza, but certainly this is at least a ray of hope for the people of Gaza, although it's clear that the hunger crisis has yet to be fully solved. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
ABEL: 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 the leaders of France and Canada were horrified by Israel's escalation in Gaza. They are calling for a new ceasefire.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: 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 murders with the ultimate prize. 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)
ABEL: Netanyahu called back Israel's negotiating team from ceasefire talks in Qatar. Some Israelis and families of hostages in Gaza protested that decision on Thursday. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says it is disappointed but will keep fighting for the safe return of their loved ones.
Russia's military is moving ahead with a plan to create a so-called security buffer zone on the border with Ukraine. So says President Vladimir Putin after visiting the Kursk region earlier this week. He has floated the idea of a buffer zone before, but his new statement came after Russia claimed it had pushed out Ukrainian troops from the region where they launched a cross-border incursion last year. Ukraine says it still holds a foothold in Kursk and the nearby Belgorod region.
Hundreds of prisoners of war from both Russia and Ukraine could be headed home later today. The two countries are expected to swap up to 1,000 POWs from each side. The exchange was negotiated during their first face-to-face talks in three years which were held in Istanbul last week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the agreement was perhaps the only tangible result from the meeting which did not yield a ceasefire agreement.
For more we are joined by Steven Erlanger in Berlin, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for "The New York Times." Thank you for being with us Steven.
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You had U.S. President Donald Trump working the phones with both presidents individually this week. Later that same day the Ukrainian president tweeted in part if Russia refuses to stop the killings, refuses to release prisoners of war and hostages, if Putin puts forward unrealistic demands this will mean that Russia continues to drag out the war. Now we expect part of that equation to happen with the exchange of
roughly the 1000 soldiers from each side and this came out of those direct talks in Turkey last week that we mentioned was the first direct talks in years. So, between the significance of that meeting Stephen and this prisoner swap, are we not seeing some progress here that has seemed so elusive in recent past?
STEVEN ERLANGER, CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I'm not sure we are. We've had prisoner exchanges before which is a good thing but prisoners are expensive to keep and you have to devote resources to holding them. I think it is a gesture between the two militaries of a sort of respect and good faith but I think we're very, very far from a settlement partly because President Trump has washed his hands of trying to push Russia toward at least a ceasefire if not toward final negotiations. We're still talking about talking about talking so, I think we're really quite far away. It seems clear that Putin does not want to end the war.
ABEL: Well, and to your point, for months the U.S. has threatened to walk away from the negotiating process if significant progress isn't made. If the U.S. does bow out, who if anyone or what if anything can get Vladimir Putin to agree to end this war?
ERLANGER: I think that's a very good question and I have no answer except the continued resistance of the Ukrainian people and military toward Russian invasion and aggression. The only way the war will stop right now it seems is if Vladimir Putin decides the costs of this war are not worth continuing it. Now that's not to say he's about to retreat or that Ukraine is about to retreat.
I mean, I think in some ways the Ukrainians feel no deal right now is better than the deal they felt Donald Trump was pushing on them. If they can hold the line, if they can create a seriously strong defensive line, then the war kind of settles into a kind of ceasefire anyway and maybe that's the best outcome for now. Everyone would like peace but it is quite clear that Vladimir Putin thinks he's winning the war and that the west will divide. He's very encouraged that President Trump has kind of given up trying to pressure him so he feels time is on his side.
ABEL: Steven, my CNN colleagues Wednesday had exclusive reporting on obtained intercepted radio chatter and drone footage that appear to capture Russian orders to kill surrendering Ukrainian troops, a clear violation of international law. I do need to add that the radio traffic was obtained from a Ukrainian intelligence official and CNN has not been able to independently authenticate it or confirm it was directly linked to that drone footage but a forensic expert who analyzed the audio file said they did not appear to have been manipulated.
So, as Ukraine investigates, what does a moment like this on the battlefield do for the prospects of diplomacy and the willingness of Ukraine to negotiate?
ERLANGER: Well, I think it certainly can undermine it. I mean, as you know, it seems so banal to say it but war is really cruel. It's vicious. It brings out often the very worst in people and if you're told on either side that you're in a fight for the death, that you're defending your homeland, that the stakes are very high, people who are not well commanded will commit murders and atrocities. This happens in every war.
So, I think it will only, you know, push the resolve of Ukrainians to keep defending their country because they feel they can see what the results would be if they fail.
ABEL: Does either country at the moment have an upper hand whether it be negotiating or in the war itself and is there a breaking point here?
ERLANGER: It's also a very good question because, you know, right now I don't think either side has much of an advantage. The Russians in the last year have gained only one percent of Ukrainian territory. Ukraine is a very big country, at the cost of thousands and thousands and thousands of dead. Now the Russians are preparing a summer offensive which they hope will break Ukrainian lines, will break Ukrainian will.
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But I think if Ukraine makes it through this summer offensive without too much damage, I think we can see ourselves settling into a kind of stasis, but it will be very important to see what the Trump administration does. Will they continue to share intelligence with Ukraine even if they're not providing money? Will they be willing to sell weapons to Ukraine and to its European allies even if the U.S. isn't providing them? These are really important questions and we don't know the answers yet.
ABEL: All right Steven Erlanger in Berlin. Steven thank you for your time.
ERLANGER: Thank you.
ABEL: Well, nearly nine years after Kim Kardashian was robbed in Paris, we'll soon learn the verdict in the trial of the men accused of stealing millions from her.
Plus, rapper Kid Cudi tells a jury about the damage he believes Sean Diddy Combs caused in his home and his car. The latest on the Combs trial after the break.
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ABEL: The verdict is expected within hours in the trial of the men accused of robbing Kim Kardashian in Paris nearly nine years ago. The reality TV star testified last week that she thought at the time that the men were going to kill her. Kardashian was robbed of nearly $10 million in cash and jewelry, including a $4 million engagement ring. Of the 12 original suspects, dubbed the "Grandpa Robbers", one has since died and another was deemed unfit to stand trial due to Alzheimer's disease.
Kardashian says she forgives one of the men who wrote her a letter apologizing for the, quote, emotional damage he inflicted on her. If convicted, some defendants could face up to thirty years in prison.
In the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial on Thursday, rapper Kid Cudi testified that his home was damaged and his car was firebombed. He says it happened after Combs learned about Cudi's relationship with Cassie Ventura.
CNN's Kara Scannell has more.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rapper Kid Cudi was on the witness stand Thursday. He said he briefly dated Cassie Ventura in 2011, and he's told the jury about three distinct episodes. He said that when Combs had learned that he was dating Ventura, Ventura had called him and he agreed to pick her up. But he said that he learned from a friend who was with Combs that Combs was inside his home.
And so, Kid Cudi said he called Combs, asked him what he was doing there, and combs said he wanted to talk to him. So, Kid Cudi testified that he went to his home. When he got there, he said a security camera was dislodged, that his dog was locked into the bathroom, and that some Christmas gifts for his family members were unwrapped. But there was no sign of Combs.
Then he said in January that his car was on fire. He testified he was at someone else's house when his dog sitter notified him that his Porsche convertible was on fire in the driveway. He testified that when he got home, he saw that the roof of the car had been slashed. There was a Molotov cocktail on the floor. These images were shown to the jury showing that there's smoke damage in the driver's seat and on the driver's door.
Cudi said that he called the police in that instance, and they came and he filed a police report.
Now, he also testified that the following day, he reached out to Combs because Combs had been trying to meet him. They agreed to meet at the Soho House in Beverly Hills. Cudi said when he walked into the room, Combs was standing by the glass window, looking out with his arms behind his back. He said he looked like a marvel super villain that drew laughs from the jury and other spectators in the courtroom.
Cudi said that he had talked to Combs then about the relationship with Cassie, which had ended at that time for Cudi. He said that they were shook hands and he said to combs, well, what about my car? And combs said, I don't know what you're talking about. Cudi testified he believed Combs was lying.
Now the court is dark until Tuesday for the holiday weekend. Next week, prosecutors said they're going to call people that were all involved in this fire bomb of his car, including the woman who called him, as well as people from the Los Angeles Police Department and Fire Department.
Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
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ABEL: After talking about it for years, the U.S. Treasury says no new pennies will be produced. Just ahead, why the plan to save money could actually cost even more.
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ABEL: After floating the idea for years, the U.S. Treasury says it will stop producing pennies and stop putting them into circulation. People will still be able to use the 1 cent coins to buy things, but eventually businesses will have to round cash purchases up or down. And while each 1 cent penny costs more than 3 cents to produce, nickels are even more expensive, costing 13.8 cents to create. That could essentially wipe out any savings from eliminating pennies.
People interested in seeing one of the most remote archeological sites in Peru can now get a glimpse, without trekking into the Amazon. A new interactive exhibit in Lima gives museum visitors a chance to explore the Gran Pajaten site using virtual reality. Archeologists uncovered more than 100 structures belonging to the Chachapoyas culture at the remote location in the Amazon. The society was made up of a network of small settlements and fortresses built on mountain peaks in the cloud forest. The residents, they were conquered by the Inca Empire shortly before the arrival of the Spaniards.
Well, it was only a matter of time, right? China unveiling a pair of boxing robots. They faced off in action at a demonstration at a school ahead of the worlds first robot boxing tournament this weekend. They could throw punches. You see it there? Do sidekicks and even get up after falling over? Unitree robotics, which is the company behind it, says human controllers make robots move. But two new control modes will be revealed on Sunday.
I feel like we've seen a movie like this before, maybe with Hugh Jackman.
Well, thank you for joining us. I'm Brian Abel in Atlanta. "WORLD SPORT" is next. And then I'll be back with you more with more CNN NEWSROOM in about 15 minutes.
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