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The Situation Room

Small Plane Crashes in San Diego, Setting Homes and Cars on Fire; Two Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed in D.C. Shooting; House Passes Trump Agenda Bill After Marathon All-Night Session. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired May 22, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, outrage and shock. Two Israeli embassy staffers killed outside a Jewish museum here in D.C. The U.S. ambassador to Israel is calling the shooting a, quote, horrific act of terror.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And fiery crash, a very small plane slammed into a San Diego neighborhood setting multiple homes and cars on fire. We're going to bring you the latest on this breaking story.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

[10:00:00]

And we begin with the breaking news just out of San Diego. A small plane crashed into a neighborhood and has sent multiple homes and cars on fire. Officials say there was a direct hit to multiple homes and jet fuel is, quote, all over the place. We're expecting a news conference shortly. We'll bring that to you live.

Right now, though, let's go to our CNN Correspondent Polo Sandoval who's on the scene for us. What more are you learning, Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, what we know is that this was a pre-dawn plane crash in a neighborhood there in San Diego, which is being described by fire officials on the ground as a, quote, direct hit when it comes to some of the homes in the area.

Just look at these pictures. I mean, the closest thing would probably be like a bomb going off where you see just charred debris scattering what is a suburban neighborhood. What we know is that this was a small private plane that crashed earlier this morning, and with that, affecting at least 15 homes, probably the worst of them you see here with not only vehicles, but also at least one structure there destroyed.

What investigators and what officials have been doing for the last hour or so has been going door-to-door and car-to-car and making sure that there aren't any rescues that need to happen. They're also calling on people who live in the neighborhood or in the area to keep an eye out for any potential plane debris and to call the FAA or local police and report that, especially if they smell fuel as well. We do not yet know exactly where this plane was going or where it was coming from, and authorities have not said anything about any potential injuries or worse. Certainly, there are people on the ground that do fear the worse when you look at some of these pictures because of just how widespread the damage is. It could certainly speak to the impact, or at least the force of the impact when you look at these pictures from our affiliate, KGTV.

But, again, authorities still on the ground right now after this very early morning plane crash, that small aircraft crashing in that neighborhood in San Diego, as we wait for officials to offer a press release, only minutes from now Wolf. Whatever we learn, we'll get it straight to you.

BLITZER: All right, Polo. Thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Now, to our other top story, Israel says It is bolstering security at its missions around the world after a deadly attack on two embassy staffers right here in Washington. Witnesses say a man was seen pacing outside the Capitol Jewish museum and then opened fire as people walked out.

The victims, a young couple. The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. says they were about to be engaged next week.

CNN has obtained video of that suspect being arrested at the scene and yelling to the horrified bystanders. The suspect is now identified as a 30-year-old Chicago native.

BLITZER: CNN's Chief National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt is at the scene of last night's shooting. Alex, tell our viewers what you're learning this morning.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Wolf and Pamela, this horrific killing taking place in downtown Washington. A lot of these buildings around me are official office buildings were not too far from the Capitol. In fact, the shooting took place right across the street from the Washington Field Office of the FBI, right outside that red brick building that you see behind me. That is the Capitol Jewish Museum.

And we are hearing from the number two at the FBI this morning, Dan Bongino, the deputy director, who writes on X the last night's act of terror, as he calls it, has the full attention of your FBI. Targeted acts of anti-Semitic violence are typically carried out by spineless, gutless cowards, and the penalties will be harsh.

Wolf, this comes as we are learning more about not just the suspect who carried out the shooting but the young couple who died as a result.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT (voice over): Shock and outrage after two staff members at Israel's embassy in Washington, D.C. were shot and killed on Wednesday evening. 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky and 26-year-old Sarah Milgrim were an Israeli couple. They were exiting an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum when a person opened fire. Eyewitnesses say that he later pretended to be a witness.

CHIEF PAMELA SMITH, WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN POLICE: We believe the shooting was committed by a single suspect who is now in custody. Prior to the shooting, the suspect was observed pacing back and forth outside of the museum.

MARQUARDT: Eyewitness video obtained by CNN appears to show the suspect as he's taken into custody. Police have identified him as 30- year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, who they say turned himself in and shouted, free, free Palestine while being handcuffed, as seen in this video.

The FBI and D.C. Police have launched their investigation. The Israeli embassy is assisting. The NGO IsraAID, whose members were keynote speakers at the event, said the gathering was focused on humanitarian aid, including for Gaza.

YONI RIVER KALIN, SHOOTING WITNESS: I'm still in a bit of state of shock, but, you know, what started off as a night of humanity and love and connection turned into this kind of horrific, atrocious nightmare.

[10:05:05]

MARQUARDT: Another eyewitness told CNN that the gunman went into the museum after the attack and then turned himself in, saying, I did it for Gaza. Israel's ambassador to the U.S. said the young couple who was killed was about to be engaged.

YECHIEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: 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.

MARQUARDT: President Donald Trump expressed his condolences to the victim's families, posting on social media, quote, these horrible D.C. killings based obviously on anti-Semitism must end now. Hatred and radicalism have no place in the USA.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the killings, saying, we are witnessing the terrible cost of anti-Semitism and the wild incitement against the state of Israel. Netanyahu added that he has ordered reinforced security at Israeli diplomatic missions worldwide following the killings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT (on camera): Wolf and Pamela, Yaron Lischinsky, 30 years old, he was both a German and an Israeli citizen. His soon to be fiance, Sarah Milgrim, she was American. We've seen an outpouring of love and grief from friends and colleagues. This was from the ambassador of Israel to Germany, Ron Prosor, who notes that Lischinsky was born in Nuremberg, Germany, and, in fact, that he was an Israeli Christian. He goes on to call him a true lover of Israel, who served in the IDF and chose to dedicate his life to the state of Israel and the Zionist cause.

Now, Wolf and Pamela, this was an event that was being hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capitol Jewish Museum. But we're told that this was an interfaith event, that there were young Jewish professionals with young diplomats there. And the focus was about humanitarian aid, bringing peace to the Middle East and getting aid specifically into Gaza. Wolf, Pamela?

BLITZER: All right. Alex Marquardt on the scene for us, Alex, thank you very, very much. Pam?

BROWN: So sad. Let's continue this discussion now. Joining us is CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller. John, where does the investigation go from here?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, right now, they're going to be digging very deep into the background of the shooter. Alex told us a little bit about him. You know, what we seem to know at this stage is he has no criminal record. He has been part of the Palestinian -- the pro-Palestinian protests in the Chicago area, but, apparently, according to the records not arrested in those protests. And they'll be looking to figure out his social media, his computers. They're going to want to see, was he inspired by a particular website to go and allegedly commit this act of violence? Was he in touch with other people? Did anybody else know?

One of the things they're looking at, according to law enforcement sources, is a manifesto that they believe is likely written by him, which explains that he's been a part of the protest movement, was gaining -- was becoming frustrated as the body counts and Gaza continued to rise and the protests seemed to not be having any marked effect, and that this was, he said in a funny way, a crazy thing to do, but it was the right thing to do. Foreshadowing this act, it's something they're still examining, but they believe it is more likely legitimate.

BROWN: It raises the question about the threat level, right? I mean, this attack comes amid an alarming spike in anti-Semitic incidents being reported in the U.S. is real, is tightening security at its missions around the world. How should U.S. law enforcement agencies respond right now?

MILLER: Well, what you're seeing in New York is additional police units and presence either in fixed posts or increased patrols around any Israeli locations that have to do with the government, but in a much larger sense, the Jewish community. You're going to see similar things in Washington, D.C., and cities like Los Angeles, where they have the resources to increase those patrols.

But we also got to be mindful of the idea that from the New Year's Day attack in New Orleans inspired by ISIS to the Passover attack on the Pennsylvania governor's residence, while he and his family slept, and a man scaled the fence and set fire to the home allegedly in protest of what's going on in Gaza, that 18 separate planned attacks of either American or Israeli embassies across the globe, that this has been in the offing. [10:10:07]

The threat stream has been busy. The threat picture and assessment has been high. And a number of these plots have been prevented. Last night, somebody emerged out of the darkness who just wasn't on the radar.

BROWN: Yes. I mean, I think for a lot of us learning about this, it was really shocking, right, this young couple killed in cold blood. But from what you just laid out, it sounds like, in many ways, you saw something like this, this horrific act, coming.

MILLER: Well, I spent some time in the last three weeks in a Terrorism Conference in Dublin, the Global Threat Conference in Qatar, and then this week, the Terrorism Conference in New York City. And the themes have been the same, which is these are the attacks we've learned about, these are the attacks we've prevented, but there's a drumbeat of propaganda from foreign terrorist organizations that are encouraging attacks that would be low tech, low cost, and yet high yield, encouraging people to step forward and do things like shooting attacks, see last night, ramming attacks, see New Year's Day, and rudimentary either fire or IED attacks.

And you don't have to have a lot of subscribers take you up on that encouragement to have an impact as we're seeing again.

BROWN: Awful. John Miller, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Pamela. President Trump is also commenting on the shooting here in Washington, saying it's based, obviously, his words on anti-Semitism.

I want to go live right now to our White House Reporter Alayna Treene. Alayna, what else is the president saying about the shooting? I know he is very, very angry about it.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Wolf. I mean, obviously the president and his top administration officials are condemning this horrific killing. The president posted publicly about this for the first time, just after midnight. He wrote this. He said, quote, these horrible D.C. killings based obviously on anti-Semitism must end now. Hatred and radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the family of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen. God bless you all.

Now, Wolf, we also know that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, she did arrive on the scene fairly quickly for a news conference. And during that she said that she had spoken to the president multiple times throughout the night. She also said that the new U.S. attorney for the District of Washington, Jeanine Pirro, would be the one prosecuting this case.

And she also said, and we heard this from the Justice Department in a statement, that she had spoken Pam Bondi directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And she said, quote, that the president is, quote, personally involved in managing the response, the attack, and that the United States will ensure the murderer is brought to justice.

But, Wolf, we also heard, again from a, a number of different key players in this administration, people like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said that this was a brazen act of cowardly, anti-Semitic violence. Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, he called it a horrific act of terror. Again, just everyone in this administration kind of unifying to condemn what had happened here. And, clearly, they are very motivated to try and get to the bottom of this and throwing the full weight of the Justice Department behind this investigation.

BLITZER: As they should. All right, Alayna Treene reporting for us, Alayna, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Still ahead, after hours of debate President Trump's agenda bill passes the House. Next stop, the Senate where it's expected to hit some roadblocks.

You're in The Situation Room.

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[10:15:00]

BLITZER: New this morning, after a long night of very intense debate on the house floor, lawmakers have finally passed President Trump's sweeping tax and spending cuts bill. That was in the House. Now it goes to the Senate.

Republicans in the House unveiled a slew of changes to the massive legislation to win over several GOP holdouts. But they didn't convince everyone. Two GOP House members still voted against the measure while another voted present.

It's a big win for the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, who had vowed to get the bill passed before Memorial Day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The media and the Democrats have consistently dismissed any possibility that House or Republicans could get this done. They did not believe that we could succeed in our mission to enact President Trump's America first agenda. But this is a big one. And, once again, they have been proven wrong.

Today, the House has passed generational, truly nation-shaping legislation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And now it's up to the Senate to see what they decide.

Let's go live to Capitol Hill right now. CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju is standing by. Manu, what's, first of all, in this House, bill, and how will it affect Americans? MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a sweeping bill, really dealing with a wide range of issues, everything for changes on immigration laws, more money for the border security measures, as well as more money to try to increase the U.S. defense posture, but very significantly a massive overhaul of the United States tax code. It would permanently extend the 2017 Trump era tax cuts, but also add new provisions dealing with taxes on tips, changes how state and local taxes are deducted, and then spending cuts, major spending cuts to domestic programs, including on issues like food stamps, add new work requirements on for those food stamp benefits, new work requirements for Medicaid benefit recipients as well.

[10:20:06]

That would kick in at the end of 2026. A whole slew of changes that would actually did not go far enough for a number of those hardline members who wanted much more in terms of spending costs. They were concerned, Wolf, about the deficit impacts from this proposal. In fact, this proposal is expected to increase the deficit by nearly $4 trillion over the next several years. That is according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

And that was what a number of these card line members had said to me going into the vote, said that they could not support something like this, but they ultimately changed their mind, because under pressure from Donald Trump and from the speaker of the House and facing this vote, they decided that they were going to accept what they ultimately could get in the bill and accept the fact that they couldn't get everything. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC BURLISON (R-MO): We have been focused on this moment for a long time, and I think that there's a moment where you just kind of take a collective pause and say, we've accomplished a lot. And so we just have been -- we've been heads down in this fight for so long.

RAJU: What about the impact on the deficit? I mean, CBS suggests this could be trillions of dollars in the next several years.

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): Now, that's accurate and I don't like that one bit, but I don't know what else, what the other option is right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, where does this go from here? That is the question facing Republicans because now it passed the House by the narrowest of margins, the United States Senate will have its turn to move ahead. Republican senators have their own ideas. Some of them are concerned about those cuts on Medicaid. Some of them are concerned about the -- how it's dealing with so-called green energy tax credits. It would phase out a lot of those green energy tax credits that were enacted under the Inflation Reduction Act. That has caused actually ample concern from some members who are worried about the impacts in their states and their districts. Look for Republicans to try to change that as well.

So, how does this ultimately play out? It remains to be seen because Republicans plan to change it. Can they get the votes out of the Senate? There's still concerns on the Senate side about how all this is dealt with, and then they have to kick it back to the House for final approval. So, there's some time left here, but no doubt about it, a big win for the speaker, a big win for the president, getting the first major step done after days and weeks of painstaking negotiations. Wolf?

BLITZER: Now, it's up to the Senate to see what they decide to do. That could be intense as well.

Manu Raju, thank you very, very much. Pam?

BROWN: And, Wolf, we are following breaking news out of the Supreme Court.

Let's get right to CNN Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid. What are you learning, Paula?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So, Pamela, this is one of the big cases that we have been watching, a question about Oklahoma's effort to stand up the nation's first religious charter school. And we did not get an opinion here because we saw something we rarely see, which is a 4-4 deadlock from the Supreme Court. Justice Amy Coney Barrett had to recuse herself in this case and the remaining eight judges split 4-4. So, when that happens you basically just are left with the lower court opinion that was appealed, which found that this proposed Catholic charter school was unconstitutional.

Now, we've been watching this case very closely because there has been a big push from a lot of conservatives in this country to try to get more federal funding for religiously-affiliated schools. This is something that a lot of folks have been working on in the Supreme Court. The conservative supermajority has handed this effort a series of wins, which is why we were watching this case so closely. But here, we did not get an opinion from the Supreme Court, so we don't know how exactly they would analyze this issue, which is why I would expect that this question will likely return to the high court in the coming years.

Now, some people may wonder why Justice Barrett recused herself in this case. We were told that she had multiple ties to some attorneys who were representing the religious school in this case. But we don't see this very often. They'll leave in place that lower court ruling. Pamela?

BROWN: Yes. You have to wonder what would happen had she not recused.

BLITZER: Our Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid, thank you very much for that update.

BROWN: And happening now, the former assistant as Sean Diddy Combs is back on the stand at the music mogul's sex trafficking trial. George Kaplan testified yesterday that he would set up hotel rooms for Combs and was asked on a couple of occasions to bring him drugs. Prosecutors say they plan to call several more witnesses today, including Rapper Kid Cudi. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

And if you look on the left side of your screen, you'll see information from our reporters right inside that courtroom. One of those reporters who's been very busy is CNN Anchor and Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates. So, Laura, bring us up to speed. What more do we expect from court today?

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: We are learning a lot today. We still have George Kaplan on the stand who is describing his strong affinity for Mr. Combs, having this sort of duality, on the one hand, talking about his respect for him as a business mogul, the unrealistic expectations that Sean Diddy Combs would know what was purchased for him and from where, but also painting a picture of his strong moral compass, not Diddy Combs, but instead the witness himself, describing an incident on airplane where he saw Cassie on the ground with her legs in the air to distance herself from Sean Diddy Combs.

[10:25:23]

He was hovering over her with a glass after having shattered her on the floor, her saying to a plane full of people, isn't anybody seeing this? He turned his back. He did not do anything to intervene. He describes the reason why, calling himself essentially a 23-year-old, very ambitious person who was trying to work out in real time what he was experiencing and seeing, and not wanting to have a roadblock to his success in this industry.

But he talked about ultimately being the last straw that he could no longer work for Sean Diddy Combs when he saw multiple instances of violence, including Cassie on a bed, having her head in her hands with Sean Diddy Combs in the bathroom asking him to go and get some sort of solution to deter the swelling on her face.

Another woman we're hearing about Gina for the first time really in this trial, another one of Sean Diddy Combs' girlfriends, who he says was the subject of violence as well. A commotion at a gate at that two-star island home, and apple's being thrown at her.

But they really launched in on cross-examination the idea of the use of corporate credit cards to buy different items related to what we now know, hearing testimony, as these freak-offs. He's describing that this was just the way it was that Sean Diddy Combs had no idea where things were coming from.

BROWN: All right. Laura Coates, thank you so much. I know you'll keep us posted.

And make sure to tune in tonight to Laura's show, Laura Coates Live airs every weeknight at 11:00 P.M. Eastern. Wolf?

BLITZER: Up next, we're following breaking news after two young Israeli embassy staffers were killed right here in Washington, D.C. We'll speak to the founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism on the rise of anti-Semitism here in the United States

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