Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Man in Custody After Two Dead, Nine Injured in Brown University Shooting; Father and Son Suspects in Attack Targeting Australia's Jewish Community; Australia's Bondi Beach Shooting Declared Terror Incident. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 14, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:01]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Tonight, we're following two major breaking stories in Australia, a terror attack on Sydney's Bondi Beach. At least 15 people are dead following the targeted shooting. Police say the suspects include a 50- year-old father and his 24-year-old son.

On the other side of the world, we have breaking news on the deadly shooting that took place on Brown University's campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Multiple law enforcement sources telling CNN the person of interest detained in connection with the shooting has now been identified as 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson of Wisconsin. However, authorities have not publicly identified the person in custody. Two people were killed in the shooting and several others were injured.

Also tonight, the Providence community gathering for what was originally supposed to be a Christmas tree and menorah candle lighting ceremony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH MACK, SENIOR RABBI, TEMPLE BETH-EL: No matter what our faith, tradition, no matter what we believe, each and every one of us can share that light. We can use our light to kindle other lights, to care for one another. And that is how we get through this dark moment. One step at a time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN's John Berman is on the ground for us in Rhode Island. He's watching what's going on on the campus of Brown University.

What's the latest there, John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the temperature is going down here. The campus really has emptied out as final exams have been canceled, and people try to make their way home. But the big news came just minutes ago with CNN hearing from several officials that the person of interest, who has been in custody now for several hours, has been identified as 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson of Wisconsin.

This comes again from multiple law enforcement sources to CNN, although they haven't said this out loud yet at any kind of news conference, that information, the public information, has been sparse and frankly rare over the last 24 hours. We will wait and see now that he has been identified by our CNN and other news sources, if they come out and tell us more about this individual.

But this person of interest, Benjamin Erickson, was taken into custody at a hotel about 25 minutes away from where I am, Brown University, in the town of Coventry, Rhode Island. He was at a hotel at 3:30 a.m. And when they took him into custody, they found him with two handguns, revolver and a Glock, in his hotel room. Now that Glock did have a laser targeting system on it, which makes it fairly unusual, although a lot of people do know that these exist out there, but they're wondering why he may have had that.

One unanswered question still remains why this 24-year-old individual, who was not a student at Brown, chose to come from Wisconsin, his last known residence, to this campus, to the building that's on this street here right behind me on a Saturday. Why on a Saturday? Did he know, if he knew, that there were classes taking place? It's unusual for classes to be taking place at a Saturday in any college, but there was a review session in that building with some 60 people inside. Did the shooter know that that room would be full of people at the time?

Right now, authorities, they have these weapons, they have the shell casings. They have the person of interest in custody. And the work is to try to tie all three together, to connect the shell casing to the weapons themselves, and maybe find traces of DNA on either the shell casings or the weapons. That is what investigators are doing now. And maybe that's what we will hear from them again when they talk next.

In the meantime, the governor has ordered flags at government buildings lowered to half-staff to mourn those two students who were killed. And it is a prayerful moment for the nine others who were wounded there. Seven in stable condition, one last we heard in critical but stable condition right now.

And as I said, the temperatures really are going down here. It's quite cold here in Providence after the snow fell. So we're not seeing many people here if they are still on campus. The students we've talked to have said it's a priority, frankly, to get home at this point since classes and finals have been canceled.

One area where people have been gathering is a park not too far from where I am. That's where CNN's Leigh Waldman has been. She's talking to people there and also covering the very latest on the investigation.

We can still people -- see people still gathered behind you, Leigh. Why don't you give us the very latest?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, you mentioned it's cold here. It was a quick gathering for this community. But just moments ago, hundreds of people were inside of this park, leaning on one another during what is a heartbreaking time more than 24 hours now after this shooting happened, not far from where we are, where you are on Brown University's campus.

[18:05:13]

Now, you talk about CNN sources naming that person of interest as Benjamin Erickson, a person who traveled from Wisconsin here to Rhode Island to allegedly commit this act. That's who sources are saying is detained at this point.

We spoke just moments ago with the mayor of Providence, Mayor Smiley, and we asked him about the identity that our sources are telling us when it comes to this alleged gunman here. And he was quick to say that they are not releasing that information right now. They are working with law enforcement trying to piece everything together.

They're trying to get all of their ducks in a row here so that they can have a successful prosecution of the person who was behind this horrible act that happened when students were studying for their finals on Brown University's campus. The mayor is sympathetic to his community, who you can tell there's some frustration, why are you not telling us the name of the person who has been detained for hours now.

And he says he understands that. He's hearing that from his own neighbors, but says they want to take this as carefully as they can because they don't want any kind of error. They want to piece every piece of evidence together that we know law enforcement is seizing and combing through so that they have a successful prosecution at the end of all of this.

And, John, I asked him what it meant to him to see hundreds of people braving the cold temperatures here in this park, leaning on one another. And he said, that's what people in Rhode Island do. He says there's two degrees of separation between every single person in the state. It's a small but such a mighty state, and everyone seems to know someone who was impacted by the shooting at Brown University.

And he says because of that, he's not surprised that people are standing out here in the wind, in the snow, wanting to be together, because that's who they are. They show up for one another. And we saw it firsthand here, and we've continued to see that from the students at Brown University.

BERMAN: You bring up a couple really good points. I mean, first of all, Providence is a city of just under 200,000. But greater Providence is basically the whole state of Rhode Island, which isn't big. Everyone knows everyone here. It takes 25 minutes or so people always joke to drive almost anywhere in this state. So there are so many connections here.

One other point you brought up that I should have said at the top, charges have not been filed yet on this person of interest. That is notable, but as you say, it's probably to tie up as many loose ends as they can to make the case as tight as possible, or to decide what charges to file to hold him in detention.

But one important note, and I'm sure you could speak to this, too, Leigh, is that the posture, the security posture in Providence has changed, you know, a 180 degree change, from early this morning when this person was taken into custody from before that. It's clear they do not consider there to be any kind of current threat here now.

So while they haven't charged this person of interest, while they're not using the word suspect, clearly the fact that they have him in custody has led to some kind of security posture change. I do think it's important to note that. I mean, you haven't seen the law enforcement presence doesn't seem to be nearly as big as it was 12 hours ago. Correct?

WALDMAN: Absolutely. So, John, we were about 2:00 a.m. last night, not far from where you are, just kind of down the road actually. And even at 2:00 a.m., you know, we were watching these officers getting out of cars, searching through bushes, driving past with spotlights on vehicles, K-9 units driving through. It was state police, Providence Police, Brown University Police, all combing the neighborhood and those buildings there at Brown University. Like I said, very close to where you were.

We're not seeing as much of that now. So you can feel like a weight has almost been lifted when it comes to the security presence, the law enforcement presence that was around. It's definitely a change from what we saw yesterday to now. We're even looking around, yes, there's law enforcement that's here. We can see an ambulance that's here, firefighters here. But it's more of a reassuring presence rather than a presence that they're searching for someone.

BERMAN: It's such a great point to make. They no longer consider there to be any threat to the community, even though the language they're using is a person of interest now in custody.

Leigh Waldman, great work. Thank you so much.

So, Wolf, now it's just a matter of time before we hear more from officials as they try to piece this case together to decide if and when to press those charges -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, I assume we'll be getting a lot more information from authorities. That's presumably coming up. John, thank you very, very much.

[18:10:04]

I want to break all this down right now with our chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller, and CNN law enforcement analyst and former U.S. Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow.

John, we're learning more about this so-called person of interest. According to their LinkedIn profile, Erickson is a decorated U.S. Army soldier who had served in a position at Arlington National Cemetery. What do you make of that? JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE: Well, he

joined the Army between high school and college. He took online courses coming out of high school, joined the Army. And then at the end of that, finished full time courses at the University of Wisconsin. But in his Army assignment, he was assigned to Fort Myer. He was part of this elite Honor Guard that we often see at these formal events, and worked with a horse brigade that they have but was not deployed into combat.

On the other hand, that's an elite unit because they are highly trained in these formal drills. And they are sent out at some of the most high-profile formal Army ceremonies. But he's also an infantry soldier, which means in the course of basic training, the Army would have taught him how to shoot a rifle and then how to shoot a handgun which may explain some of his proficiency during this deadly attack where he had at least one, where the shooter, who was allegedly this person, although he's not yet been charged, had at least one of those weapons described by people as a semiautomatic pistol with a laser sight attached to it.

BLITZER: Important information. And, Jonathan, let me bring you into this conversation. As John Miller just noted, the profile that we've now all seen says that this person of interest served as an infantry soldier in the U.S. Army, that he passed sniper training, had experience with firearms instruction and served as a rifleman between 2021 and 2024. What does that tell you?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Now, as, you know, Commissioner Miller had just stated, it shows a level of proficiency that this individual had in not only the attack, but how to, you know, potentially evade detection after the attack. So again, there's a higher degree of competencies here of this person of interest that law enforcement is actually going to key in on.

And all of this, Wolf, really speaks to the attack dynamics. Was this individual using any of his military training to really learn how to, you know, you know, target this specific building? I think what investigators are really leaning into now and sort of codifying around is that this is an act of targeted violence, not a random crime. And that's going to help them lead to what type of motive this individual who's now in custody had to launch this attack.

We know that there is intent with the weapons that he had and the fact that he most likely is not from the Providence, Rhode Island, area that he traveled into that area. That's a key behavioral threat indicator suggesting really, you know, planning and goal directed intent. So, you know, his training, his background, and then the attack dynamics and the behavior afterward all bring this mosaic of who this individual is to really understand the means, opportunity, intent for this individual to cause harm.

And it all leads to the investigative, you know, you know, process, which is, you know, to bring charges against the suspect in custody.

BLITZER: And, John, authorities tell us that this so-called person of interest, Benjamin Erickson, is not a current student at Brown University, but law enforcement sources indicated to CNN that he might have been enrolled there at one point. What does that say to you?

MILLER: Well, it says, when they were asked, is he a student here, they said no. But according to his LinkedIn page, he says that he started at Brown University for the fall 2025 semester. Now, other sources have told me that there was some kind of change. The word suspended was used. The word expelled was used, but without precision. And as you know, city officials aren't commenting on that. University officials aren't commenting on that. But if you put that together, which is if he was, as he told friends and as he posted on his social media page, a student there, and ran into some kind of problem that made him not a student there that could pull together the entire set of questions as to what was he doing in that hotel 20 minutes away?

Why would this person have a motive to attack a school he was proud to be attending? That's where we're going to need to ask a lot more questions and wait for authorities, but also school officials to shed more light.

[18:15:09]

BLITZER: All right, John Miller, Jonathan Wackrow, to both of you, thank you very much.

I quickly want to go back to John Berman, who's in Providence, Rhode Island, watching all of this unfold -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, Wolf, I'm here with Ethan Schenker, who is a junior here at Brown University, also a journalist who has been writing for the last 24 hours for the "Boston Globe" and others.

You file a piece. You spoke to a student who was in the room at the engineering building here during the shooting, while it happened. What did you hear from that student?

ETHAN SCHENKER, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: So it was a really harrowing experience. I think everyone is still processing it, but this student was at the front of the classroom. She usually sits in the back. Just by chance, she decided to sit in the front and she heard a loud bang. And she told me that she thought it was maybe a student slamming down a desk. They're collapsing desks and it wasn't.

Then she heard another bang and another one, and people all ran towards the front. They ran everywhere. She was towards the front where there was a desk where the instructor normally would kind of deliver a lecture in this stadium style exceeding classroom. And she kind of hid as she heard. I mean, it was really a harrowing experience.

BERMAN: I can only imagine. How did she get out?

SCHENKER: Eventually police came in and she said that at that time, you know, they were split up between who was shot and who was not shot. And, you know, there were people, it was really a very fluid situation because they didn't know where the shooter was or what happened. And they were also trying to care for the people who were injured and at that point, I believe, killed. BERMAN: So you've been reporting on this for the last 24 hours, which

my own personal experience, I can tell you in some ways, makes it easier to process because it gives you something to do for the day. Right?

SCHENKER: Yes.

BERMAN: But in addition to reporting, I mean, you were in the Rockefeller Library about five minutes that way, right? You were studying, I'm sure, for your own situation, and you ended up sheltering in place for how many hours and what was that like?

SCHENKER: I mean, I got back to, like, like, many students got back in the very, very early hours of the morning. But when this happened, I was studying for an exam I was supposed to have on Tuesday with my friends. There were a lot of people in the library because it was finals season. It was packed and we get a text on our phone and everyone immediately picks up, like shuts the doors and immediately calls their loved ones and text their friends.

And it just was a flurry and a barrage of texts in those initial hours. Are you OK? Where are you? And that sense that, you know, you might be forgetting someone or someone is not responding. Are they OK? It's a really scary thing. And I think, you know, just now students are starting -- the reality of this is really just starting to set in because it was so scary at the time.

BERMAN: Do you feel safe now?

SCHENKER: I think there's a lot of law enforcement around here. I think, yes, but there's still a part of me and I think a lot of other people that I've talked to and the students that I've talked to who still feel on edge. They feel that there's something off about campus. They did want to get out of here. They want to go home.

BERMAN: I would tell you, I can't blame them. But there's also a sense of emptiness because finals were just canceled. Everything you've been working for, the snap of a finger went away. And I imagine you're left with wondering, what do I do now?

SCHENKER: Yes, I mean, I think that there's a lot to kind of occupy that space where finals were in all of our minds. But it really, I think a lot of people are focused on if they're able to leave.

BERMAN: Right.

SCHENKER: Finding a way to just, you know, go home with a friend's parents or book an earlier flight. Students I talked to, especially international students. I mean, it's very difficult to get home. They're traveling long distances, and it's really difficult.

BERMAN: The train station coming in, I saw a freshman from Canada who just wanted to get out. He just went to the train station to go to Boston to get out as soon as he could. Didn't know exactly what flight he'd be on. But --

SCHENKER: Yes.

BERMAN: Listen, Ethan, thank you for being with us. Thank you for the work that you're doing, the journalism that you're doing. It's important to get the information out as you can and just know that, you know, this is a good time to reach out to those around you, your friends and your loved ones. Ask for help if you need it. And we wish you all the best. Thank you so much for being with us.

SCHENKER: Thank you so much.

BERMAN: We're going to have much more on the breaking news, both from here at Brown University, where we're learning a lot more. The name of the person of interest now in custody, plus a new report from Australia, new information coming in on the mass shooting there as well.

This is CNN special live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:24:25]

BLITZER: Tonight, we're getting new details about a deadly attack in Sydney, Australia, targeting the Jewish community. Authorities now say at least 15 people are dead. Dozens more remain in hospitals. The suspects are a father and son. The father was killed in the attack. His son is hospitalized right now. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is calling it a very dark day in the nation's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores.

[18:25:01]

We will do whatever is necessary to stamp out antisemitism. It is a scourge, and we will eradicate it together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN's Angus Watson is joining us now live from the scene in Bondi -- at the Bondi Beach there.

Angus, you've been covering this since last night. It's morning now there in Australia. What's the latest on the ground?

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Wolf, here people have gathered in the community at Bondi just to try to make some sense of what happened today. As the prime minister said, one of the darkest days in this nation's history where two men with guns turned their weapons on a Hanukkah party, a festival to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, targeting Jewish people, targeting families, targeting young children and the elderly, while they were innocently celebrating the holiday. Now we're learning a little bit more about the people who were killed

in this horrific incident, Wolf. The age ranges run from a 10-year-old girl to an 87-year-old man, a Holocaust survivor by the name of Alex Kleitman, who came to Australia from Ukraine after the Second World War. That little girl, 10 years old, died overnight from her injuries in hospital. Over 40 people remain in hospital in a range of conditions, including two police officers.

The suspect, who's still alive, remains in a critical but stable condition there in hospital, as police behind me comb this crime scene, trying to get more of a sense of what happened last night. Now we know that it was just the two perpetrators. According to police, these two alleged perpetrators. There was concern that there was a third person that didn't wind up being the case. Police have raided two residences in Sydney here, one where police believe the men were staying before they carried out the attack. Another was the family home where this father and son live.

The government said that they don't want to say exactly what their ideology was at this stage. But we do know, Wolf, that this was a terror incident targeting the Jewish community here in Bondi Beach. It's a proud, very visible, historic Jewish community here in Bondi that's become the victim of a tragic and horrific attack here on a Sunday afternoon in Bondi, when they were just trying to celebrate Hanukkah -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Awful situation. Angus Watson over at Bondi Beach in Australia for us, thank you very, very much.

We're also getting right now new information on the person of interest in that deadly shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. We have details and that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:32:12]

BLITZER: We're also following the breaking news out of Rhode Island right now. Two students are dead, nine other people are in the hospital after a shooting at Brown University. A vigil is being held as community members come together to offer their support. Meanwhile, the man being held as a person of interest has been identified as 24- year-old Benjamin Erickson of Wisconsin.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he served as an infantry soldier in the U.S. Army, where he passed sniper training and had experience with firearms instruction. On that same profile page, Erickson also claimed he planned to continue his education at Brown University this fall, but his current status at the school is unclear.

CNN's John Berman is joining us now from the Brown University campus. He's getting reaction from students.

John, update our viewers.

BERMAN: Yes, we've been talking to students all day long, most of whom are trying to figure out how to get home since final exams have been canceled, classes are over. Most now are trying to figure out frankly what to do next, and also just talking to each other to make sure that they are all doing OK.

I'm here with senior Tristan Kaiser-Parker.

Let me first ask you a bit about the breaking news. The person of interest has been identified as someone named Benjamin Erickson. His LinkedIn profile, in it, he apparently says that he was studying here this fall. Is that name or any of your friends you've talked to, has anyone said that they may have seen this guy on campus before?

TRISTAN KEYSER-PARKER, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I personally, I've never heard this name. No one I know seems to know him. He's 24 years old, right?

BERMAN: Yes.

KEYSER-PARKER: So I don't know if he was maybe a graduate student or --

BERMAN: I thought I would ask. It's a bit of new information. It's a mystery right now. We're trying to figure out if it's on his LinkedIn profile. We're trying to get confirmation from university if it was in fact the case.

Let's talk about you. You're a senior here now. You have taken a lot of classes in this building before.

KEYSER-PARKER: Yes.

BERMAN: You weren't there last night. Where did you end up spending the night?

KEYSER-PARKER: Yes. So after we all evacuated that building, we ended up staying --

BERMAN: You were -- so you were in the makerspace?

KEYSER-PARKER: Yes.

BERMAN: And did you hear shots fired?

KEYSER-PARKER: I personally didn't hear shots. People that were probably 200 feet from me, like, just outside the makerspace, heard the shots and ran in and basically yelled at us to run out of that space. So after we all evacuated there, I ended up staying most of the night in a friend's dorm that's next door to the building.

BERMAN: And when you ran out, did you have any idea what was happening?

KEYSER-PARKER: I, like I knew like someone said, shots were fired. I got a call from a friend. He was like, get out of there, I heard something, I heard, like, loud noises.

[18:35:03]

And so I knew something bad was probably happening. I didn't really know what. I saw a lot of police cars, police running into the building, but it was very chaotic.

BERMAN: When we last spoke to you earlier today, you weren't wearing this jacket.

KEYSER-PARKER: Yes.

BERMAN: You were just in a sweatshirt because you had to leave all of your stuff behind in that building. What's the latest on your belongings?

KEYSER-PARKER: Yes. So I was able to get this. My car is parked on the street, which earlier today we weren't able to access, but they've opened up the street, so I'm going to, after this, I'm going to take my car, drive it back to my house. And I'll be able to go home tomorrow thankfully. The rest of my belongings are still in the building. They've sent out a form to students with belongings left in the building that we can fill out so they can try to -- they have people trying to retrieve our belongings, and they're going to document and organize it in some fashion and try to get them back to us. So that's the latest I know.

BERMAN: It's got to be also disorienting and unsettling to be separated from your stuff, to have finals canceled and still to be processing the emotions that you must have had. And then the tragedy that everyone is feeling right now. I mean, how do you put this all together?

KEYSER-PARKER: I don't. I mean, I think I'm still a little bit in shock. It's just hard to process everything that's going on. All of last night, I think we all just felt really kind of lost and unsure what to do, how to feel. Now that especially with people are finding out who the victims were, everyone, it's a small community. Everyone knows someone who knew them. So we're all just feeling pretty sad and not really sure what to do with ourselves.

BERMAN: Well, you are a senior here. I know a lot of people looking up to you, and you're helping out a lot of people. Thank you for being with us. We're glad you got your jacket. We hope you get your belongings back soon.

KEYSER-PARKER: Yes. Thank you so much.

BERMAN: Get home safely, Tristan.

KEYSER-PARKER: Yes.

BERMAN: Thank you so much for everything you've done.

KEYSER-PARKER: Thank you.

BERMAN: Obviously, just one of the students now working through all this as new information comes in and people trying to figure out what it all means.

That's the situation at Brown. We'll have much more on the breaking news here, plus new details on the deadly attack in Australia coming up.

This is CNN's special live coverage. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:41:54]

BLITZER: Fifteen people were killed, more than 40 remain in the hospital after a truly horrific shooting in Sydney, Australia in what authorities are labeling as a terrorist incident that targeted the Australian Jewish community. One of the victims was an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, also a 10-year-old little girl was among those killed.

The attack began while more than a thousand people were gathered on Bondi Beach for an event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah. Police ran for cover after gunfire erupted. Witnesses described the chaotic moments after the shooting began. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just heard what sounded like fireworks going off, and it was multiple, multiple going off. So I sort of opened the blind to see what was going on, and I just saw an older lady get shot and she was on the floor. So an older guy get shot very badly injured on the left hand side, and I just saw a bunch of people screaming running towards me. I didn't know what was going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A few people helped, sort of helped a few old people get up and get out of there, but it was like there were lots of bodies on the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Australian police say the suspects were a father and son. The father was shot and killed by police at the scene. The son is in critical but stable condition, we're told, at a local hospital. Police recovered six weapons that the 50-year-old father owned.

Robert Gregory is joining us right now. He's the CEO of the Australian Jewish Association.

Robert, thanks so much for joining us. I know that earlier you said what happened was a tragedy, but in your words, entirely foreseeable. Why do you say that this was entirely foreseeable?

ROBERT GREGORY, CEO, AUSTRALIAN JEWISH ASSOCIATION: Well, that's right, Wolf. Basically what happened is the community is feeling so much shock. We've just seen images, terrible images. We've seen messages going around. People that can't find their children, they can't find their parents. And the shock is now turning into grief and to anger because this was foreseeable. Nobody in the Jewish community is surprised by what happened.

We know antisemitism has been surging in Australia like it's been surging in other countries in the world. And we've been warning the government that they needed to take action, that some of these radical hate preachers, these extremist mosques need to be looked into. But sadly, it's come to this and the government has not acted.

BLITZER: Why do you think we're seeing these antisemitic attacks rising, not just in Australia, but across the world, for that matter?

GREGORY: Well, we've seen thousands of people taking to the streets, particularly in Australian cities and in our landmarks in the Sydney Harbor Bridge, in the Sydney Opera House, chanting hateful chants, "From the river to the sea," calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state, calling to globalize the intifada. Well, these dead bodies on Bondi Beach, this is what globalizing the intifada looks like. It's now being -- these words are being carried out in actions.

BLITZER: So what message would you like to convey to the Jewish community in Australia?

[18:45:04]

GREGORY: Look, my community, the Jewish community is in mourning. I personally know several of the victims where the names are still coming out, and I'm sure we'll know even more people. It's a very small community, a very tight knit community, and we're just urging everyone stick together, stay strong. This is a terrible, terrible thing that's happened. We can't let it define us. And the Jewish community will continue to exist.

We've been through terrible, terrible times before, but this is just something where everyone needs to reach out to their neighbors, to their friends, to their family, and just hold them close because this is truly, truly shocking.

BLITZER: As you probably know, Robert, officials across the world right now are going to be stepping up security situations around Hanukkah right now, including here in the United States. Do you think enough is being done to keep these Jewish communities safe, especially during this Hanukkah holiday?

GREGORY: Well, the Jewish community already lives under extreme security measures. In Australia for many years now, we've had armed guards at our kindergartens, at our preschools, and I don't know of any other children that live this way. So this is not a way to live. It's reacting after the fact. We need to deal with some of this incitement, some of this antisemitism at its source, not just by protection, which obviously is a necessary measure.

And obviously we call on governments and across America, across the world to support the Jewish communities, because the burden of securing the community is immense. Every little event we hold now in the Jewish community needs armed guards. And it's just extraordinary.

BLITZER: Yes. Even here in Washington, D.C., in the area around Washington, if you go to synagogues or Jewish schools, you see police cars outside on a routine basis that's going on even here in the United States.

How will having law enforcement surrounding these events impact the mood and the ability to celebrate these important Jewish holidays?

GREGORY: Well, it has a very chilling impact. I think most people watching couldn't imagine attending Christmas carols, you know, attending Christmas events and needing to have armed guards just to be safe. It's terrible that in this world that the Jewish community is so hated that that this is necessary. And of course, it will impact the mood. But we know that Jewish festivals are frequent targets of these kind of attacks.

Of course, October 7th itself was carried out on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. So we can expect that these attacks will continue to happen unless we deal with some of the root causes of why they're happening.

BLITZER: Robert Gregory is the CEO of the Australian Jewish Association.

Robert, good luck to you. Our hearts go out to all the Jewish people in Australia who are suffering right now as a result of this horrific, horrific mass murder. Thanks very much for joining us.

GREGORY: Thank you. Appreciate it.

BLITZER: And coming up, how the Jewish communities here in the United States are reacting to the horrific shooting overseas. We have details. That's next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:52:52]

BLITZER: The attack at Bondi Beach hasn't just impacted the Jewish community in Australia. It has set off a wave of grief and anxiety in Jewish communities around the world, including right here in the United States.

Joining us now is CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones.

Julia, I know you had a chance to speak earlier with people at a Hanukkah event in Los Angeles. What did they tell you?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, they're telling me that there are using this opportunity, this celebration to show that this community is staying together, that lighting the candles tonight will be even more symbolic, given everything that the Jewish community has gone through worldwide. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NINA SILVER, DIRECTOR OF NOAH'S ARK AND FAMILY PROGRAMS, SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER: When I came here today, I was greeted with a lot of determined faces that we are the antidote when we celebrate the joys of our people and the tradition and the history, that we are able to come together and be a light in the darkness to everyone. Jewish joy is important, and we're here to be with each other and be in community with each other. And that makes me feel hopeful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And Wolf, that message is what we're hearing from people who decided to come to this celebration to overcome that fear of congregating. They're saying, yes, Jewish joy is important. We have to show that. But the organizers of this event and of many others have heeded some of the advice of the Jewish Federations of North America. They have issued a series of potential measures, increased security measures.

That include, for example, not sending out invites wide into the community at large, to have people sign up and screen them, have invitation only events for the next seven nights of Hanukkah. There are still to come. And the organizers here said that they did already have some of these in place. And the other measures, having increased security presence, a larger perimeter around these organizations, around the Skirball Center.

[18:55:07]

They're trying to do that in a way that is discreet as to not scare people away, to actually invite people to continue to celebrate and be a place where the community can be together on this difficult day. Still finding a little bit of joy.

BLITZER: Julia Vargas Jones in Los Angeles for us. Thank you very, very much.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. I'll, of course, be back tomorrow morning in "THE SITUATION ROOM" starting at 10:00 a.m. Eastern with Pamela Brown.

Our special live coverage of the tragic shootings in Providence, Rhode Island, and at the Bondi Beach in Australia, will continue with Jessica Dean right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)