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Minneapolis in Mourning After Two Children Killed in School Shooting; 15 Killed in Russian Strikes on Ukraine, Including Four Children; Trump Looks to Make His Mark on the Federal Reserve. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 28, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, we're getting new reporting in from Minneapolis on the moments just before the shooting at the Catholic school and what we are learning about the young, innocent victims.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Officials in Florida said the immigration detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz could be empty in just the next few days, even as the Trump administration fights a judge's order to shutter the facility.

And the White House moving to fire the brand new director of the CDC, but she's now refusing to step down, warning instead that Robert Kennedy Jr. is trying to weaponize public health for political gain.

Sara and Kate are out today. I'm Erica Hill along with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: And the breaking news, this tragic beginning to the school year. We've got new reporting on what led up to the shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, and new information about the victims. Overnight, the community held a vigil, two children, ages eight and ten, they were killed. 17 other people injured, including 14 children and 3 adults.

The children were in church pews celebrating their first mass of the new year, and those pews, they turned from seats into shelter. Police say the shooter began firing through the windows and barricaded at least two of the doors to keep people from escaping. A fifth grader who survived said a friend saved his life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WESTON HALSNE, FIFTH GRADER AT ANNUNCIATION CATHOLIC SCHOOL: The first one, I was like, what is that? I thought it was just something. Then I heard it again. I just ran under the pew and then I covered my head. My friend, Victor, like saved me though, because he laid on top of me, but he got hit.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: My friend, Victor, saved me. Police say the killer died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Minneapolis Police chief says the shooter posted a hate-filled manifesto on YouTube. Investigators have executed four search warrants as of this morning, at least, including three at homes linked to the shooter.

Let's get to CNN's Whitney Wild on scene in Minneapolis this morning for the very well latest in what you're hearing now. Good morning, Whitney.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. What we are learning now is that the firearms that the shooter used were purchased legally, and they were purchased recently. Police are now trying to figure out how and why he did this. And what they're doing to try to bring that into greater focus is they're looking through videos that are apparently linked to the shooter online, which show anti-Semitic, anti-black, anti-religious sentiments.

Further, John, some of these videos and writings show an obsession with mass shooters. One of the videos shows a diagram of the church. Horrifyingly, John, what we have learned is that the shooter put 2x4s through the door handles of two of the entrances to the church. Here is more from Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: Many of them are expected to survive. You know, what we've seen so far is just a variety of hate, you know, just really deranged comments and almost like an idolizing of previous active shooters. So, right now, we don't have a clear motive to establish for why he did this at the church today, we are obviously open to every possibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: What happens quite often in these cases, John, is the writings reveal quite a twisted mind and it's difficult to nail down exactly a specific motive here because the line of thinking is so scattered and illogical. But more details from some of those videos, John. Some of the writings include, you know, written on pieces of the magazines, include phrases like, psycho killer, suck on this, another one said, kill Donald Trump. So, investigators working through quite a volume of evidence here, John.

BERMAN: It really is awful to read, awful to see his face given what we know about who was lost, those young children and so many others, wounded.

Whitney Wild in Minneapolis this morning, thank you very much.

With us now is CNN Analyst Jonathan Wackrow. Jonathan, great to see you this morning.

[07:05:01]

Look, we talk about what was in the writings on that video, deranged writings, including what the police chief in Minneapolis called the idolization of past mass shooters. What do you see there?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, good morning, John. You know, as more information emerges about this shooter, the details become even more shocking and deeply disturbing.

And what they reveal is both the deliberate nature of this attack and the extent to which the suspects has this, you know, disturbing motivations that we're talking about. And central to all of this is the discovery of this lengthy manifesto, which is just filled with hate speech and references to past shooters, all of which just underscores how premeditated and calculated this attack was.

Now, let me be clear. This content -- the content that we're talking about in this manifesto is not random. It was actually carefully curated, you know, to actually understand the shooter's motives here. And at the end of the day, what he's talking about in his personal despair and fascination with mass violence is really in the manifesto his justification, his justification for mass violence. So, you know, it is revealing. It's revealing around who this suspect was and why he actually started to engage in what we refer to as this pathway to violence that behaviorist and law enforcement has long known. It all starts with a grievance.

The shooter didn't wake up yesterday and decide, I'm going to go to this school and start killing people. This attacker shift towards violence was not sudden. It was a slow progression through various stages of grievance, ideations towards violence and planning and preparation and then launching the attack.

And, John, my point here is that as we see somebody go through this pathway of violence, there's multiple warning signs, you know, along this continuum. And what we have to do is actually get smarter to identify what those red flags are and then start engaging in early intervention. You know, what we're seeing from the manifesto, but also other reports of like this individual's behavior is that there were points where early intervention could have, you know, prevented this tragedy from happening.

BERMAN: Yes. When you talk about -- the question is who could have noticed. We're talking about family. We're talking about friends. We're talking about neighbors. It's difficult to align the timing because the guns were purchased legally. The government, local, you know, state, federal, what role do they have in examining potential writings like this, which I don't believe existed at the time of the weapons purchase, but, say, for instance, they did, would they have had any impact?

WACKROW: Listen, absolutely, they would've had an impact. Listen, this responsibility doesn't fall on one single entity to react to. This is a shared fate of an entire community that we have to be able to look at what these warning signs are and really investigate and engage in early intervention when we start seeing behavioral anomalies on the lower end of this behavioral continuum.

By the time we get to like planning and preparation stages in the pathway of violence, you know, it is almost go-time for these attackers. We need to back that up. We need to actually look at when somebody has, you know, a fixation with past attackers, imitates like behavioral patterns or, you know, idolizes, you know, previous you know, mass shooting suspects, I mean, right there and then, that is a point where somebody knew that there was, you know, this fixation, they should have, you know, raised awareness to officials, whether it's at school, law enforcement, mental health practitioners, anybody to, you know, signal that, you know, this individual actually needs help.

BERMAN: Yes. How many times do we see this fixation with past shooters? The follow-on effect here is just so tragic.

Jonathan Wackrow, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Erica?

HILL: The breaking news overnight, a member of top officials at the CDC resigning after the newly appointed director was removed from her post just three weeks after being sworn in. But she's now refusing to step down.

Also breaking overnight rescuers, racing to reach dozens of victims in Ukraine after Kyiv was struck with a massive attack overnight. That search for the survivors continuing at this hour.

And why some Chicago-area high schools are now removing the doors to the bathrooms.

Plus, a live look for you this morning at St. Louis where the sun is rising over that gateway arch, a beautiful shot.

[07:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Breaking overnight, the urgent search for survivors underway at this hour in Ukraine's capital after what is being described as a massive Russian missile and drone attack. Authorities say people may still be trapped in the rubble. CCTV shows the Russian strikes pounding Kyiv. Ukrainian officials say at least 15 people have been killed, including four children.

President Zelenskyy calling the strikes a, quote, clear response to everyone in the world who, for weeks and months, has been calling for a ceasefire and for real diplomacy.

[07:15:01]

Important to note too that this latest attack does come as Ukrainian delegation is set to take part in talks on ending the war.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is joining us now with more of the details from London. And we have seen these attacks growing in size, it seems, over the last several weeks, Salma.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And right now, Kyiv is absolutely reeling from this attack. There are 500 rescue workers on the ground and nearly a thousand police officers digging through the rubble of the targets of the strike, which included homes, residential buildings, a kindergarten, even a building belonging to the European Union and one belonging to the British Council, both of which have, of course, been condemned by those parties. And this comes just hours before E.U. defense ministers are supposed to be meeting in Europe to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.

You also mentioned the victims. Of course, among them, at least four children, the youngest is only two years old. And it was a horrifying night for those families, as you can imagine. Some of these air raid sirens went on for nine hours. Ukrainian authorities saying nearly 600 drones and more than 30 missiles were fired by Russia.

That's why you're hearing President Zelenskyy today saying, look, president Putin is choosing ballistic missiles over the negotiating table. And this is a strategy we've seen time and time again from Moscow. As these diplomatic efforts stall and seem to stutter and fail completely, Russia is increasing and intensifying its attacks on Ukraine, this attack on Kyiv today, of course.

And just yesterday, Ukrainian researchers saying two more villagers -- villages rather, were captured by Russia in Ukraine's east, those Russian forces continuing to push on those frontlines, while President Zelenskyy yet again is pleading with President Trump to move forward with his support for Ukraine, his attempts, President Trump's attempts to try to initiate a bilateral meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy has so far shown no signs of progress.

And in Ukraine, of course, those bombs, those missiles, those drones can continue to rain down and claim lives.

HILL: Salma, I really appreciate it, thank you.

Just ahead here, new stories of heroism after the devastating attack at a Minneapolis school and church. We will be joined by a neighbor who rushed into the scene to help injure children.

And the MAGA makeover that could soon be coming to the Fed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: So, new this morning, is the president eyeing a path to completely reorienting the Federal Reserve, a makeover that would give him unprecedented control? That is what many see as the seeds being planted by the attempt to ouster Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

Let's get right to CNN's Matt Egan for what's going on here. Like people look at this and say, this could be the first step at something much bigger.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, that's right. Well, John, as you know, the president's been on this mission to get lower interest rates. And while that mission has faced some significant resistance, Fed watchers say there is a path for him to get a dramatic makeover of the Fed that would help him achieve those lower interest rates. And it does start with Lisa Cook, the Fed governor that the president says he has fired.

Now, if that effort to oust Cook is successful, and that is a big if because there is a looming court battle over that, then the president would be able to claim a majority at the Fed's powerful Board of Governors. It would be Cook's replacement, plus his economic adviser, Stephen Miran, who he's nominated for an open seat at the Fed, plus the two Fed officials that he appointed last term.

Now, this is important because every five years, there's this little known and relatively routine process where the Board of Governors gets to vote on the Fed regional presidents. Now, the regional presidents, they're initially selected by local officials, but the board itself actually has to sign off on this. And guess what? Their terms all expire simultaneously at the end of February.

Now, these regional bank presidents, there's a dozen of them across the country from Boston to Atlanta, San Francisco, Kansas City. These are important roles in part because they all get to vote on the Fed's rate-setting committee. They rotate on that committee and New York gets a permanent vote here.

Now, analysts say that there is a world where the president could end up saying, look, the people who were appointing to the board only approve the regional president if they agree to lower interest rates. Now, this would be unprecedented and it would be a way for the president to get greater influence over an institution that so far has really resisted his demands.

One former regional bank president at the Fed, he told me that this would be crossing a line and quite troubling because, as you know, the Fed is designed to be independent from politicians. There's a number of obstacles here that may determine whether or not this is even possible, but I think it's telling that analysts, economists, former Fed officials were even talking about it, the former San Francisco Fed official Tim Mahedy, he told me that he does think this is a real possibility and he warns Congress this is a break the glass moment when it comes to Fed independence.

BERMAN: There is a path here, many people raising these alarms now.

Matt Egan, thank you very much for that.

All right, breaking overnight, political upheaval at the Centers for Disease Control, the brand new head ousted reportedly over a fight with Robert Kennedy Jr. on vaccine policy. Then more people quit after that. This morning, where is the dust settling?

[07:25:01]

And then high tension in the U.S. Open, a player accuses another of having no class and no respect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: All right. This morning, a rare statement from Melania Trump on the Minnesota school shooting. The first lady writes that the attack illuminates the need for preemptive intervention in identifying potential school shooters to prevent future tragedies. It is crucial we look into behavioral threat assessments across all levels of society, beginning in our homes, extending through school districts, and of course social media platforms.

Many Democrats this morning focused on guns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): When you see these innocent kids praying in a church and they get gunned down by a madman, you have to step back and think, what can we do better? What can we do better with background checks or with assault weapons, which may not have played in to this situation? But every situation is different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:30:02]

BERMAN: So, Senator Chris Murphy, who was the Congressman representing Newtown, Connecticut, at the time of the Sandy Hook shooting, writes.