Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Stories of Heroism Emerge in Poway Synagogue Attack; Five Men Trapped in Virginia Cave Rescued; Interview with Rep. Scott Peters (D- CA); Trump Denounces Anti-Semitism after Synagogue Shooting; Rabbi: Trump "So Comforting" In Phone Call After Shooting; Biden Rebukes Trump's Charlottesville Response In Video; CNN: Barr's Appearance At Hearing Up In The Air; Religious Hate Incidents Hit U.S. And Abroad In Recent Weeks; FBI Chief: Russia "Upping Their Game" With Election Interference; Kim Jong-un Visits Putin For First Time; Measles Quarantine Issued At Two California Universities. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 28, 2019 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:31] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for being with us.

Tonight, another community, another shooting, another day of grieving here in America.

In the days ahead, many questions will be asked and answered about a gunman and the hatred that drove him to open fire inside a synagogue near San Diego. And even more questions still about why attacks like this keep happening.

But tonight, what we do know with certainty is that there were heroes during those horrible moments inside the Chabad of Poway synagogue. Now, people who put their own lives in jeopardy to save others like 60-year-old Lori Kaye, killed when she stepped between the shooter and the rabbi. Her husband, rushing over to perform CPR without first realizing who it was, that it was his wife who had been shot.

The rabbi who was saved, Yisroel Goldstein, lost part of his hand in the shooting. But even while wounded, he tried to comfort his congregants by continuing his sermon.

And then there is this 34-year-old Almog Peretz, recovering after being shot in the leg helping children evacuate. His niece, 8-year- old Noya Dahan, the youngest victim injured, hit by shrapnel, but still managing to smile.

You'll hear from her and her father coming up, but, first, you must hear from the rabbi, the man who founded Congregation Chabad 32 years ago. Just one day after he was shot inside his temple, he recounted coming face-to-face with the gunman. Despite what he endured, Rabbi Goldstein says tomorrow will be the hardest day of his three-decade- long career as a worship leader, when he buries his beloved congregant and dear friend, Lori Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RABBI YISROEL GOLDSTEIN, CHABAD OF POWAY: I walk two, three footsteps when I hear a loud bang. I thought Lori may have fallen or the table tipped over in the lobby right here. I turn around and I see a sight that I can't -- indescribable.

Here is a young man, standing with a rifle, pointing right at me. And I looked at him. He had sunglasses on. I couldn't see his eyes. I couldn't see his soul. I froze.

My first concern was, what's with Lori? Where did this noise come from? What's happened to Lori? And as soon as I did that, I took a look, and more shots came running right at me. And I lifted up my hands -- I lost my index finger on this hand after four hours of surgery yesterday, trying to save this finger on the left hand.

I turn around and I saw the children that were playing in the banquet hall. I ran to gather them together. My granddaughter, 4-1/2 years old, sees her grandpa with a bleeding hand, and she sees me screaming and shouting, get out and get out. She didn't deserve to see her grandfather like this.

And I walked into the lobby and I see Lori laying on the floor unconscious. And her dear husband, Dr. Howard Kaye, who is like a brother to me, is trying to resuscitate her. And he faints and he's laying there on the floor next to his wife. And then the daughter, Hannah, comes out screaming, daddy and mommy, what's going on?

It's just the most heart-wrenching sight I could've seen. I was frozen in time. I grabbed a prayer shawl, wrapped my arm and fingers with it that was just hanging, dangling, and bleeding all over the place.

My congregation was gathered outside here, and I said I got to do something. I got up on a chair right there, and I looked at our congregation. And I said, Am Yisrael Chai. We are the Jewish nation that will stand tall. We will not let anyone or anything take us down. Terrorism like this will not take us down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Wow. As part of his defiant passion, the Rabbi also urged all Jewish people to show solidarity at the next Shabbat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:04:59] GOLDSTEIN: We need to battle darkness with light. No matter how dark the world is, we need to think of light. A little bit of light pushes away a lot of darkness. A lot of light will push away much more.

And the Rabbi would say, we all need to teach everyone. No matter what religion you're from, we need to do random acts of kindness. We need to tilt the scale. There's so much darkness now in the world, but you and I have the ability to change.

I will never forget yesterday. My missing finger will forever scar me physically. But it's going to remind me how vulnerable we are and also how heroic each one of us can be. We're all created in God's image. We are all partners in creation.

No matter what faith and religion you're from, we all have to make this world a better place to prevent this from ever happening again.

I'm appealing to all of our fellow Jewish, members of our faith and others. This Friday night, this Saturday, go to your synagogue. We need to fill up those rooms. We need to show them that terrorism, evil, will never prevail.

Let's fill up the synagogues. Let's stand tall. Let's dance together. And for our Jewish people who haven't been to the synagogue in a long time, this is the time to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And then a really powerful and touching moment right after he spoke. You can see the Rabbi being held by his supporters in a long embrace.

Now, I want you to hear an interview that's first here on CNN. We're hearing from the youngest victim who survived the shooting, 8-year-old Noya Dahan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOYA DAHAN, 8-YEAR-OLD SHOOTING SURVIVOR: My uncle, he was holding my hand. And he was, like, grabbing me and stuff. And the person who was shooting, he was aiming at him. So he -- it hit him and the, like, bullets, like, went like that. It hit me too.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So you got hit with shrapnel.

DAHAN: Yes.

SIDNER: Little pieces.

DAHAN: No. Like, this one is pretty big, but these are the little pieces. So -- look. So this was like a pretty big piece and then it went back here.

SIDNER: So the piece of shrapnel went in your leg and then came out the other side?

DAHAN: Yes.

SIDNER: What were you thinking then? Did it hurt?

DAHAN: In the first place, when it was like gushing blood, I didn't even feel it. And then after, like, they wiped it and then, like, the blood was off and it was like -- it felt like I had the giantest bruise ever. It was just hurting bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Such a brave little girl. And CNN's Sara Sidner also spoke her father who was inside the synagogue as well, and here's what he had to say about the terrifying ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISRAEL DAHAN, FATHER OF NOYA DAHAN: The second I saw the Rabbi running into the shul with his fingers been -- cutting and bleeding all over the sheet, and then I saw him shooting, you know, our lady that -- she passed away.

Terrible feeling. What can I say? It's scary that we need to live like that. It's just unbelievable. Like, there is no one really to protect us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Stay with CNN for continuing coverage of this story. We are also following breaking news out of Virginia, and this time it's good news.

CNN has learned all five men who were trapped in a cave in southwest Virginia have now been rescued. Four were taken to a local hospital, the fifth was flown to a trauma center in Tennessee.

The men have been stuck in what's known as the Cyclops Cave since Friday. They're just exploring, and their initial plan was to camp inside the cave through the weekend. But that all changed once the weather conditions worsened.

CNN's Ryan Young joins us now. And, Ryan, what more do we know about the conditions of these men?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Ana, one of the things that stands out to me is the desperation these men must have felt when they got down in that cave because, apparently, cell phones didn't work down there. And the conditions got worse with the rain and then the temperature dropped. Apparently, it was below 50.

But we now know all five men have been rescued, and we're still waiting for an update in terms of conditions. But I think we can glean something from the news release that we did get. Four men have been taken to a regular hospital, apparently, and one man has been airlifted today a trauma hospital.

We do know that rescuers were concerned about hypothermia. And you see the men here who were getting ready to go down into the cave, these brave first responders. That's a very narrow hole, and that's what made it tight for them to get back out of.

[19:09:53] In fact, the youngest member of the team who went down there originally on Friday -- there were six men who went down, one was a 22-year-old. He was able to get out after the conditions turned for the worse. It was lucky that he was able to because he was the one who notified everyone about these changing conditions.

We do know, though, that there's a lot of people in that area who are trained to deal with these cave dives. Now, these men, apparently, went on to the private property, were planning to camp down there, and then everything took a turn when the temperatures dropped.

In fact, one of the men, apparently, went down there with just a t- shirt on. So once they stopped moving around, they were concerned that their temperatures dropped, they would be dealing with hypothermia.

You add on the fact that they wanted to make sure, when the rescuers got down there, they could get them warm enough and then fed to get their energy level back up because the rescue operation would change if they had to do pulleys to get them out. I'm not sure exactly how but they -- they wanted those climbers, the people in the cave, to be able to climb out themselves.

So the good news, though, right now is after being there since Friday and knowing that this operation was going on all day, all five men have been pulled out. But that one person has gone to a trauma unit, so, Ana, we'll keep watching this story.

CABRERA: OK. Ryan Young, thank you.

Coming up, the politics of hate. After being tested by violent attacks, several times during his presidency, a look at Trump's tone now in the wake of the shooting in Poway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:47] CABRERA: Welcome back. There will be a service tonight for the community and the victims of the synagogue shooting in Poway, California.

Joining us now in the phone is Congressman Scott Peters whose district includes Poway, California.

Congressman, apologies that we have to meet under these circumstances tonight. Our condolences to you and your entire community and district. Describe your emotions for us when you heard about this synagogue shooting.

REP. SCOTT PETERS (D), CALIFORNIA (via telephone): Well, thank you for having me. You know, it's easy when you're to -- when you're -- you see one of these things happen from far away, to think that this is some part of -- a part of some national trend and that it's not going to hit you.

But when it hits you and you lose someone like Lori Kaye, it literally brings it home. And, you know, I think -- I do want to mention that Lori was a mother, a daughter, a valued member of this congregation. A loving, giving member of the Poway and San Diego community, both the Jewish and the community at large.

And that's, I think, what really hurts. And so, you know, my first thoughts are with her husband and her daughter and their family and the family of the people who have been shot and the congregation and the community of Poway.

CABRERA: Do you have any security concerns tonight about other houses of worship in the Poway area?

PETERS (via telephone): I feel that the sheriff, Sheriff Gore, our city's -- city of San Diego police chief, Chief Nisleit, and the FBI have been working well together to watch out for this. I think, generally, San Diego and Poway are very safe communities.

And I think we can -- we believe that this is an anomaly. It's a horrific one. And, you know, I think we ought to view this kind of White supremacist activity as terrorism and respond to it with the same kind of vigor. But I'm very confident in our -- the ability of our local law enforcement to work well with the FBI to protect our citizens.

CABRERA: And on that note, does law enforcement, or maybe it's the Homeland Security Department, need to beef up security at houses of worship, do you think?

PETERS (via telephone): You know, I -- it's not right that anyone should be in a synagogue or a church or a mosque worshiping the -- their God as they choose, under the First Amendment, the most basic of American rights, in fear that they might be subject to this kind of horrific violence.

I don't think it's just a matter of protecting houses of worship. I think it's a matter of changing the way we're thinking about this and removing this -- and speaking up against this hatred that we seem to see.

For some reason, Americans have pitted themselves against Americans. We've got this awful anti-Semitism movement, you know, going on through the Internet. It's filled with rage and hate and leads to violence, and we ought to all be speaking up, too, against it wherever it is.

And it's got to stop. And we have to say, you know, leaders in government and business and communities have to say that this is not right. It's not just places of worship. It's bars, it's movie theaters, where we see these kinds of guns.

And to the extent that it's a matter of dealing with having these kinds of weapons on the street, these weapons of war on the street, I think the government has a role in pushing back against that as well. And we started to do that in Congress. We have a lot more work to do.

CABRERA: There's a lot been said -- that's been said about gun control in California and how there are quite a few regulations. The suspect is just 19 years old and California does not allow him or somebody that age to buy certain weapons. So what specifically do you think needs to happen? Is tougher gun control the answer here?

PETERS (via telephone): There's sort of a false narrative or false choice that you hear in D.C. that it's not guns. It's mental health. It's mental illness. It's really both, Ana.

It's -- there's plenty of responsible gun owners who don't go shoot up houses of worship. But they're -- and they're sane. But you have these people who are insanely violent who, when they have a gun, go and shoot up these houses of worship. They maybe shouldn't have guns.

[19:19:55] And that's what the idea of universal background checks would address. We passed something finally in the House. I mean, I've been involved in this since I was in -- first in Congress. I was the person who filmed the sit-in and broadcast it after the Orlando shooting from the House floor.

We finally passed the bill in the House to close loopholes so that if you buy a gun on the Internet or at a gun show, you have to have the same background check as if you bought it at Walmart.

You know, it's a step in the right direction. I still think we have to have a conversation about whether we want these weapons of war on our streets. I don't think we do. I think we should act against that.

And, you know, of course, we have to deal with mental health. And there's all sorts of instances where, in our health care system and the way we deal with veterans and so forth, we have to provide better support for people. And in this instance, for kids in school.

I guess I'd also just remind the community, if you see something, say something. This person had things on the social media networks that would have caused concern. I think we'll find out in the coming days and weeks, you know, what the response was to that. But people shouldn't be shy about speaking up. It's better to be safe than sorry.

CABRERA: And finally, I know you know Rabbi Goldstein personally. He was so powerful in his remarks this afternoon.

PETERS (via telephone): Right.

CABRERA: What do you think needs to happen for this community to start to heal?

PETERS (via telephone): Well, I mean, it's -- I was delighted to go to Chabad's 30th anniversary within the last few years. It's a very warm community. This is a very strong community.

This community will come together as I think will the community of Poway and all of San Diego because we do care about each other. And this is an unfortunate way to remind us about how fragile life is and how much we lean on each other, you know, for our community.

And I think that, over time, that this will help strengthen the community, strengthen our awareness. And I just want -- I want Lori's -- Lori Kaye's life to be -- to have that kind of meaning.

CABRERA: Yes.

PETERS (via telephone): That from this awful tragedy might spring more love and understanding and compassion among us all. And I hope not just in San Diego but beyond.

CABRERA: Sure. PETERS (via telephone): This kind of American versus American hatred

and -- it's just got to stop, this anti-Semitism. This is the week of the remembrance of the Holocaust.

CABRERA: Right.

PETERS (via telephone): This kind anti-Semitism has no place in the post-Holocaust world.

CABRERA: Right.

PETERS (via telephone): And, you know, this is a reminder that we have work to do.

CABRERA: OK. Congressman Scott Peters, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

PETERS (via telephone): Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:26:34] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America's heart is with the victims of the horrific synagogue shooting in Poway, California. Just happened. Our entire nation mourns the loss of life, prays for the wounded, and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community.

We forcefully condemn the evil of anti-Semitism and hate which must be defeated. Just happened. Must be defeated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That was President Trump condemning the hateful acts inside a synagogue in Poway, California. It is a theme he has been forced to confront several times since he took office but with varying degrees of success, particularly in the wake of Charlottesville. But tonight, he's receiving praise from the rabbi hurt in yesterday's attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOLDSTEIN: As I was in my house, I received a personal phone call from our President, Donald Trump. I was amazed to answer the phone and say the Secretary of the White House is calling. And he spent close to 10, 15 minutes with me on the phone.

I mean, it's the first time I've ever spoken to a president of the United States of America. He shared with me condolences on behalf of the United States of America, and we spoke about the moment of silence. And he spoke about his love of peace and Judaism and Israel. And he was just so comforting that I'm really grateful to our President for taking the time and making that effort to share with us his comfort and consolation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Joining us now, CNN's senior political analyst and former adviser to four presidents, David Gergen; CNN political commentator and former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings.

David, do you think, after all the criticism that this president has received for his response to the violence in Charlottesville or questions about the rise of White nationalism, do you think he has struck the right tone now?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I think he did. I think he deserves credit for that, special credit for calling the rabbi and spending time with him. I think that shows sincerity we haven't sometimes seen from this president.

Having said that, you know, the -- we should agree that Donald Trump is not directly responsible for these shootings in the synagogue or in Pittsburg six months ago. He's just not directly responsible.

But the responsibility is, first and foremost, with the White House to set a tone for the country and to deal seriously with the fact that we have a gun culture with too many guns in the hands of mentally retarded -- they're mentally unbalanced individuals.

And we now have, increasingly, in our politics, led by the President who has poured his vitriol onto this culture, has divided people -- has, in effect, given light, I think, that has been seen by some of the crazies. He's giving more license. And he just hasn't been serious about trying to clean this up or trying to deal with it.

Listen to these statistics. The FBI in 2018 came out with a report saying, in the previous 12 months -- in the previous 12 months, in 2018 -- that hate crimes against Blacks had increased by 16 percent. Hate crimes against Latinos had increased by 24 percent. Hate crimes against Jews -- hate crimes against Jews -- went up 37 percent.

[19:30:04] Where are the efforts by this White House and by Republicans -- the Republicans need to choose. Is Donald Trump going to be their role model or in fact is it going to be a fellow who died today, Dick Lugar, who was so, and I think Scott Jennings would agree with this, so bipartisan. A statesman and tried to bring us all together. Which way is this President, which way is this party going to go?

CABRERA: Scott, do you think that this administration is doing enough on this issue of white nationalism?

SCOTT JENNINGS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, first of all I agree with Mr. Gergen. The President got it just right on this statement. I think calling the rabbi was perfect and I'm glad the rabbi then talked about that, because it, I think, reinforce this issue of anti-semitism, the issue of violence has reached the highest levels of our government and the highest levels of our government are engaging with the people who are directly affected. I think that sends a powerful signal. I also agree. I don't think

the President is responsible for people who make violent actions. Frankly, I think we have anti-semitism on the rise around the world not just in the United States, but there is a global rise in anti- semitism. The roots of it, I don't know. I also think right here in the United States we're still grappling with a lost generation of young white males, this cohort of age between 18 and 24 who seem to be off the grid with nothing to live for and therefore willing to engage in violence for terrible, terrible reasons against their fellow citizens.

So no one has a silver bullet answer for this, no one has a magic answer. There's not one way to wave a magic wand here, Ana. But I think the President's statement today in his engagement is a step in the right direction, but clearly we have a long way to do.

CABRERA: I hope he's turned a corner, because I mean just two days ago he said in his response after Charlottesville when he was questioned about his 'very fine people on both sides' comment, he said it was a perfect response. He also just recently about a month ago said that white nationalism wasn't a big problem or didn't see it as a big growing threat. But to your point in his credit seems to be taking it very seriously and say the right things that are helping to heal in this case.

David, let me pivot to --

JENNINGS: Ana, I think you raised a good point, you raised a great point. What is required in these moments is unambiguous messaging. You have to have clarity. You have to have clear statements that aren't clouded by superfluous words and phrases and that's exactly what the president on this instance.

He's done it before. He did it after the Congressional baseball shooting as well. He has it in him to get this right and all we can hope for is that he continues to get it right and continues to improve and then we hope that our politics then affects our culture. But I was proud of the President on how he handled it this weekend because of the clarity of the statements.

CABRERA: I mean as we look ahead to 2020, we know Joe Biden sees this as a potential vulnerability for this president using his entire announcement video to rebuke the President's response to Charlottesville. Here's a bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT: He said there were, quote, some very fine people on both sides. Very fine people on both sides. Those words the President of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with a courage to stand against it. And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: In talking a strategy here, David, was that a smart play?

GERGEN: Was that a smart play by Joe Biden?

CABRERA: Yes.

GERGEN: Yes, absolutely and, look, I don't think it's the beginning or it's only the beginning of a campaign, he's going to have to have a much broader narrative about why he should win and why he should be the next president, and he has, but was that a decent place to start? Absolutely. There are some people who think we shouldn't politicize things like Charlottesville or politicize the synagogue.

Scott will remember we went through years when Republicans banged on Democrats and I thought was some justification that they were too soft on crime. And now it is the Republicans who bear that responsibility and I agree with Scott that the messaging is important, but what is also important and in fact more important in many ways is whether actions are taken to really change the culture.

And a president who is really sympathetic and wants to deal with this would call in leading rabbis from around the country with the law enforcement, he would call in leading advocates for Latinos and African-Americans. How do we deal with these hate crimes in a more constructive way? How do we actually act and not just talk.

CABRERA: David Gergen, Scott Jennings, thank you both. Good to have you with us.

GERGEN: Thank you.

[19:34:50] CABRERA: Coming up, will he or won't HEA? Attorney General William Barr warning Democrats he may not show up for a highly anticipated hearing this week, so what's behind the tension?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:38:37] CABRERA: Attorney General William Barr has two dates with Congress next week. On Wednesday, he is expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and on Thursday, it's his turn in front of the House Judiciary Committee. But there's a showdown brewing right now between Barr and House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler.

Bar objects to Nadler's proposed format for exactly how he'll be questioned. This is just the latest skirmish in this ongoing battle between House Democrats in the White House. CNN's Sarah Westwood has the latest from Washington. Now, Sarah, what exactly does Attorney General Barr object to?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Ana, obviously all of this is going to ratchet up tensions between Democrats and Congress with Barr now threatening to pull out of that Thursday hearing with the House Judiciary Committee if he and Democrats aren't able to come to terms about what that testimony will look like in the next few days. Barr has a couple of objections. One, Nadler has asked to have committee counsel question Barr in addition to lawmakers and two, Nadler has requested that Barr have a closed-door meeting with Members of the Judiciary Committee after that hearing to go over the full unredacted Mueller report.

Now, Barr has said no to having committee counsels question him. The Justice Department has argued this is a congressional hearing, Members of Congress should be conducting the questioning and Bar has also rejected giving Democrats access to that full Mueller report. He has offered to give a select smaller group of House Democrats access to a less redacted, but still not fully unredacted version of the Mueller report.

Democrats have said they want to see the whole thing and they want to see the underlying evidence. Nadler has even issued a subpoena for that and the House Judiciary Chairman is also saying he doesn't want the Attorney General to be setting the terms of this hearing. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): He is not going to dictate the format of the Judiciary Committee. We'll use all legal mechanisms to get them to comply with the subpoenas and they will comply, because ultimately the law says they have to comply. What the administration is doing is just seeking to draw it out and waste time and they can draw it out, they hope, for months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now, this comes as House Democrats in the White House has been sparring over a request for documents and testimony. The White House has argued that these demands are just partisan in nature. Democrats have argued that this is just all part of their oversight efforts and Barr is still scheduled at this moment to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Sarah Westwood at the White House, thanks for that update. Vladimir Putin offers to mediate the recent tension between President Trump and Kim Jong-un. Could the Russian president really be an honest broker? Your Weekend Presidential Brief is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:45:06] CABRERA: It appears no corner of the world is immune to hate crimes. Yesterday's synagogue shooting near San Diego, potential arson at a mosque in Escondido and the torching of three black churches in a Louisiana parish. Overseas, there was the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka last Sunday that killed 253 people, including Christians attending Easter services. Before that, 50 people were gunned down at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

That brings us to your Weekend Presidential Brief and with us now is CNN National Security Analyst, Sam Vinograd. She helped prepare the Presidential Daily Brief under President Obama. Sam, from a national security perspective, what do you think is going on in the white house right now?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I know what I hope it would be going on, Ana. Typically in these situations when there is a threat that repeatedly results in mass casualty events, there's a process that the team goes through. Presidents have historically asked their teams for comprehensive intelligence reviews of the threat, who it's targeting and how. And then experts present the president with options for how to mitigate it.

Unfortunately, when it comes to hate crimes and domestic terrorism, this administration is not following standard operating procedure. Attorney General Barr was on the Hill just a few weeks ago testifying on the Department of Justice's 2020 budget request. He did not ask for more resources to combat white supremacy despite a surge in attacks.

The Department of Homeland Security is disbanding its domestic terrorism intelligence unit, again, despite a surge in attacks. And President Trump sometimes tweets about these incidences, he calls some of the leaders of impacted communities, but that isn't going to keep us safe. And Ana, what else is it going to take? Jews Christians, Sikhs believed to be Muslims, Muslims have all been targeted in the last month alone.

And instead of treating this like the emergency that it is perhaps for political reasons President Trump is downplaying this threat and that really means that all Americans of any religion are exposed to more risk.

CABRERA: Let's talk about another threat. The FBI also has resources right now devoted to combating Russian election interference. In fact, we heard from the FBI Director Christopher Wray just this past week saying that Russia is a persistent threat to our elections.

VINOGRAD: Well, Director Wray is saying in public what President Trump reportedly does not want to hear in private which is Russia is attacking our democracy and our adversaries are adapting. They're getting increasingly sophisticated. And while our enemies change, President Trump unfortunately stays the same and remember he plays two roles in this drama. He's the President of the United States and he's also a 2020 candidate.

Regardless of which part he's playing on any given day, he could actively combat the threat from foreign election interference instead of amplifying it. As president, he could be hosting election security briefings and making sure that everything that he says and does, defense and deters against these kinds of election attacks, instead he's spreading paranoia and urging paranoia about election security results down the road and doesn't want to hear about Russia.

As a candidate, he could be urging his team to take every precaution not to repeat the mistakes they made in 2016. Instead Rudy Giuliani is on TV saying that it's OK to take information from Russia. This all signals to our enemies that President Trump puts winning first and U.S. National Security second. He's really opening the door to more attacks down the road just as long as it helps to usher him back into office.

CABRERA: And in the meantime, we have Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting with Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea. VINOGRAD: Yes.

CABRERA: How significant - what's the meaning of this?

VINOGRAD: Well, it was a well-executed and well-planned summit which may in fact make someone at 1600 Pennsylvania very jealous. From Kim's perspective, the timing of the summit was probably very well planned. He's playing the field quite literally. He's frustrated with how negotiations are going with the United States and he's showing that he has options other than the United States. Putin is inserting himself into what was a bilateral process between the U.S. and North Korea, because he's trying to degrade our influence in these negotiations just like he did in other conflicts like Syria.

CABRERA: Sam Vinograd, thank you very much.

VINOGRAD: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: Coming up an outbreak of the measles now the largest in 20 years. How did we go from the disease being eliminated to now cases in 22 states? Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:52:58] CABRERA: An outbreak of measles in the U.S. is getting worse. It has become the largest measles outbreaks since the disease was considered wiped out in this country nearly 20 years ago. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are now 695 cases across 22 States. President Trump is now urging parents to get their children vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have to get the shot. The vaccinations are so important. This is really going around now. They have to get their shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Right now hundreds of students, faculty and staff at Cal State Los Angeles and UCLA are under quarantine amid an outbreak in Los Angeles County. Officials say both campuses were visited by people contagious with the disease which can linger in the air after someone coughs or just sneezes. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this outbreak.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The measles virus, it used to kill hundreds of Americans each year, and millions of people got sick. Then in 1963, a successful vaccine. This spotted van designed to look like the characteristic rash became a delivery vehicle for vaccinations. On it, a message, measles must go. And it did, cases plummeted.

But now, measles cases are at their greatest number in the United States since the disease was eliminated in the year 2000.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: I'm appalled, depressed and redetermined. We have to get measles back down to zero. It's as though we've turned back the clock, 10 years or more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: One large outbreak, New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY): We are declaring a public health emergency effective immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: Another, just outside Portland, in Washington State.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thinking that keeps me up at night is that we're going to have a child died from this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:54:50] GUPTA: So how did we get here from the elimination of measles to now the highest number of cases in 25 years? Public health experts blame misinformation about the virus and the vaccine, spread largely on social media.

On sites like this one, "Stop mandatory vaccination." It has more than 160,000 members on Facebook.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER HOTEZ, FOUNDING DEAN, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: The anti- vaccine lobby has been telling parents that children are getting injured from vaccines or they're getting autism. We know none of those things are true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: With anti-vaxxers sowing doubt, increasingly parents are exempting their children from vaccines required for school. For a community to be safe from measles, about 95 percent of people need to be vaccinated. But in Rockland County, New York, only about 73 percent of the children are. That makes containing the county's outbreak difficult.

On Capitol Hill, recently, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases warned, the nation needs to do more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS

DISEASES: I consider it really an irony that you have one of the most contagious viruses known to man, juxtaposed against one of the most effective vaccines that we have. And yet, we don't do and have not done what could be done namely completely eliminate and eradicate this virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Coming up faith under attack. New details about the moment when a gunman open fire inside of California synagogue and the heroes who stood up to hate and save lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:00:03] CABRERA: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I appreciate you staying with me. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.