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Three Killed In Shooting At San Diego's Largest Mosque; Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) On Trump Saying New Iran Attack Called Off At Request Of Gulf States; WHO Chief Raises Alarm Over Scale, Speed Of Ebola Outbreak. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 19, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning we now know the name of the security being hailed a hero after being killed in the attack at a San Diego mosque. He is Amin Abdullah, a father of eight. He is one of three people killed in the shooting now being investigated as a hate crime.

Police say two teenagers, ages 17 and 18, were behind the attack. They were found dead in a nearby car from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Law enforcement officials tell CNN hate speech was scrawled on one of the weapons they found and one of the suspects left a suicide note about racial pride.

Joining me now is Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the national deputy director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Good morning to you.

First of all, can you give us some sense of how the community is doing after all this and what you're learning this morning about children that were there and taken out -- we saw them being taken out in a line -- the staff and the families who frequent the mosque?

EDWARD AHMED MITCHELL, NATIONAL DEPUTY DIRECTOR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN- ISLAMIC RELATIONS (via Webex by Cisco): The Islamic Center of San Diego is one of the most prominent mosques in the state of California. It's well-known across the country. It's not only a place of worship, it's a place for school. As you noted, they have elementary school kids there throughout the week who are learning and studying.

So this is a horrific tragedy, and it could have been much worse if not for, thank God, the brave actions of Amin Abdullah who did what he could to protect everyone inside and sacrificed his life in the process.

You know, every mosque in America is aware of anti-Muslim hate, of the threats to mosques, and what happened to mosques in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and Canada. But we never, you know, expected it to happen here but we prepared for it. This mosque prepared. It was ready. And it should not have had to do this.

You know, anti-Muslim hate is out of control in this country. This was the predicable result of it, and it's just a horrible tragedy for that community and for American Muslims, and I think for our whole country.

SIDNER: What can you tell us, if anything, more about Amin Abdullah? We just saw -- brought up a photo of him. And his close friend said he can't imagine him doing anything other than what he did, and he believes that he sacrificed himself so that more people were not killed or injured. Do you know anything more about him at this hour?

MITCHELL: Yeah. The leadership of our San Diego chapter has been at the scene on the ground, and what I've heard is that Amin Abdullah was respected and beloved in the community. As you said, a father of eight.

And what's fascinating is the last post he made on Facebook was expressing the Islamic belief that dying for the sake of God and doing something righteous is a wonderful way to end your life if you have to. And so he ended his life saving the lives of children. Saving the lives of people who were worshiping God in that mosque.

And so, you know, he was beloved before. He's even beloved now. We pray for him. May God grant him peace and comfort his family. And the community right now is rallying to support his family and the other victims. Two other people were murdered at this mosque by these anti- Muslim extremists and so the community is standing with all of them today.

SIDNER: Have authorities given you any more details about these two teenagers -- a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old? They're saying they believe that this is a hate crime. Have you gotten any more details as to why they believe that and what is it that they -- that was with them that leads them to believe this very thing?

MITCHELL: The public reporting is the same as what we understand, which is that one of the weapons had some sort of hate speech scrawled on it. That one of the perpetrators left behind a suicide note that had some sort of anti-Muslim writing on it. We don't know any more detail than that. But obviously, you know, no one will be surprised if this was, indeed, as it appears, an act of anti-Muslim hate.

You have seen mosques attacked in very similar ways -- Christ Church New Zealand, Quebec, the United Kingdom. We've had mosques firebombed in our country. A mass shooting is a first though and given the climate of the anti-Muslim hate.

You've got prominent politicians calling for the literal destruction of "mainstream Muslims." You've got politicians saying that Muslims are not welcome in America. You have politicians who are, you know, targeting Muslim private schools saying they're a danger to our nation. When you have all of that rhetoric it is no surprise that someone -- in this case, potentially two teenagers -- would act on that hate.

SIDNER: What does it tell you that it is teenagers? These are young people, young minds involved in this. And then they took their own lives. We also know that the mother of one of these young people noticed that he was gone and had weapons, and that there was a suicide note. But what does it tell you about the way in which young people might be learning about the Muslim faith that they would do something like this?

MITCHELL: No young person grows up hating their neighbor because of their race or their religion. Hate is learned. It is taught. And the fact that you had people this young who decided to engage in this horrific act of violence at their local Muslim house of worship is a sign that hate speech can lead to hate crimes.

[07:35:03]

If a young mind hears over and over again that Muslim Americans are a danger, that Muslim Americans are not welcome, that this is a country that does not welcome Muslims even though we've been here since before it was a country -- you know, there is a danger that someone will take that sort of hateful rhetoric seriously. And we have seen again and again that hate speech can lead to hate crimes.

All of the mass shootings at mosques that I noted to you earlier -- the killers in those situations all had either liked or followed or platformed and shared content from prominent anti-Muslim extremist.

So, you know, I understand that some politicians think that Muslims make a good political football, but their rhetoric has real consequences.

The American Muslim community is not going to tolerate being put in danger like this -- having a bullseye on our back. This is our nation too. Everyone has the right to worship peacefully and safely in our nation and we're going to keep doing that in San Diego and across the country, God willing.

SIDNER: Edward Ahmed Mitchell, thank you so much. I know this is a really difficult time for you as well. I do appreciate you taking the time with us this morning -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So President Trump is putting Iran on notice now but also saying that he is holding off on resuming any attacks for now. Yesterday in a social media post the president threatened to attack Iran and attack Iran today, Tuesday, but then pulled back all in the same Truth Social post. The president says that he was holding off on said attack at the request of three Gulf Nations and also as negotiations he says are growing more serious.

Iran, though, still insisting in new comments on the right to enrich uranium, which has been a major redline for President Trump.

So where are things at this moment?

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House for us this morning with much more. It's like the definition of going to make a move, promising to make a move, and in his next breath literally saying I'm not making that move.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Exactly. And look, Kate -- I mean, we have seen the president, you know, issue these broad threats previously to Iran, saying that if they did not come to a deal soon then he would, you know, blow the country to pieces essentially. But this was different. And I will tell you now, over the last week I have been reporting and talking to you guys saying that my sources have been telling me that Trump was closer than he had been throughout this entire ceasefire about wanting to resume major combat operations in Iran. That is because he has hit this level where his patience has essentially worn thin.

He is frustrated with the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz and that impact, of course, on the global economy, and oil prices, but also with what he argues is that perceived division in Iranian leadership that many people now in this administration believe is preventing them from being able to come to a serious compromise on a potential deal.

And so the president had made plans to move forward with a military attack that would have been today as you mentioned. That is after the Pentagon, we're told, had given the president a series of different options, laying out different targeted strikes that they believe could hopefully force the Iranians' hand.

However, the president kind of showed his cards yesterday in announcing that he was going to be holding off on that. He said he talked to three countries -- Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirate -- who essentially urged him please do not attack. We believe that diplomacy is still viable at this point.

Now, as you mentioned -- you have it here on the screen -- Iran did come out today -- their deputy foreign minister -- laying out what their latest response is to the U.S. proposal. A lot of these things in this -- you know, their right to enrich uranium, wanting to lift sanctions and release these frozen funds, and the big one, you know, this idea of, you know, not really significant concessions on this idea of a nuclear deal -- that isn't enough to address the president's red lines.

And so we have to see where this will lead. Now, Trump did argue yesterday that he does feel like this time, you know, them saying there are positive developments. He said that he feels like it is a little bit different this time. We'll have to see. Otherwise, he could move forward with that planned attack, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Alayna, thank you so much for trying to make sense of it right now -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now is Congressman Stephen Lynch, a Democrat from Massachusetts. He's on the House Oversight and Financial committees. Congressman, good to see you this morning.

What's the impact of the president threatening to bomb, pulling back, threatening to attack, pulling back? What the impact of that pattern?

REP. STEPHEN LYNCH (D-MA) (via Webex by Cisco): Well, there hasn't been direct communications with Congress, so we haven't had briefings and, you know, classified, you know, gatherings where we get information. We're getting things off of Truth Social, which is not the -- not the way to operate, first of all. The president has this pattern of threatening to bomb and then backing off. It's something that we've seen perhaps a dozen times for the president. So I'm not sure our adversaries believe what he says when he reverses himself so often.

[07:40:05]

BERMAN: Do you think it will have an impact not just necessarily in Iran but perhaps in future dealings between the United States and others around the world?

LYNCH: Well, I think it makes it more difficult for us to be taken seriously around the world.

You know, we saw yesterday that the president has reversed a policy to deploy troops to Poland in support of at least the security of those nations that border Ukraine. So it appears that we're retrenching from that longtime commitment to a free and democratic Europe.

So I think -- I think a lot of our allies really question our commitment to democracy itself and to those institutions like the U.N. and NATO. I think this president has undermined our credibility around the globe.

BERMAN: Congressman, we learned yesterday that the administration is creating a $1.7 billion fund to compensate people who have been --

LYNCH: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- investigated in the past during past administrations who very well might be political allies of the president.

What's your opinion of this taxpayer-funded now account and what, if anything, does Congress have in terms of a role toward it?

LYNCH: Well, it's another scam. It's another scam, plain and simple, where the president is using his power and his influence to reward people who may have violated the law but supported him in violating the law.

And, you know, we saw this with the -- with the, you know, thousands of pardons -- the blanket pardons that he gave to people, some of who were avowed, you know, white supremacists. So unfortunately, it's not new. It's still shocking that the president would do something like this.

So I'm sure the congressional caucus will get together and bring forward legal cases to try to challenge what the president is suggesting.

BERMAN: Congressman, we speak to a lot of Republicans on this show. I had one on just the other day from South Carolina talking about redistricting there and these efforts to redistrict mid-decade.

LYNCH: Yeah. BERMAN: And one of the things they point to -- they say hey, you know, we may be getting rid of Democratic seat here but look at Massachusetts. They have nine congressional districts, all Democrats. Donald Trump got about 36 percent of the vote in Massachusetts in 2024.

Why is it fair for Massachusetts to have nine seats of one party and us not to have that? What's your response?

LYNCH: Well look, we have -- we have a system that's run by the state legislature. They try to make sure there's comparability between the districts. Some of the districts are in the western part of the state. They're very rural. They try to cluster those because they have similar economies and similar interests.

So, you know, we're not hearing complaints from here in Massachusetts in terms of that whole process. It's only become recently when this whole midterm or mid-decade redistricting has actually arisen. You know, there's a lot of Democrats and Independents here in Massachusetts and they -- it's a very blue state. But it's not by carving things up.

I have five or six towns in my district. It's one of the more moderate districts that voted for Trump over Kamala Harris. That's the way it goes. There's just not enough.

You know, there's some down the Cape that are all split up -- some of these communities. Some of them, you know, very affluent; others are not. So it's matter of geography, not of carving people up in terms of, you know, trying to get Republican representation.

I think -- I think the people of Massachusetts are responding to ideas. And lately, in Massachusetts, the Republican Party has not had good ideas, you know. They've been a disaster here. So it's understanding that they would not have representation in Congress, you know, based on what they offer to the people of Massachusetts.

BERMAN: Congressman Stephen Lynch from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John.

Well, drivers across the country already dealing, of course, with rising gas prices ahead of the busy summer travel season, and they are about to get hit in another way. The car -- the war with Iran has created a perfect storm for a motor oil supply crunch. Now, some industry experts are warning shortages could be coming very soon.

[07:45:05]

CNN's Matt Egan joins us. A shortage of motor oil. Did not think about that derivative of oil.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Sara. Look, this is just the latest domino to fall because of all the supply chain stress set off by the war. So we're seeing wholesale motor oil prices skyrocketing and yes, some industry executives are warning of an imminent shortage.

This is happening because base oils, which make up most of the bottle of motor oil -- a lot of that gets imported from the Middle East. And as you know, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. And not only that but a key facility in the region that produces those base oils was damaged earlier in the war.

And refiners -- they're not focused on making base oils. They're trying to make as much diesel and jet fuel as possible to capture historically high profit margins.

So as you mentioned, this really is a perfect storm.

I talked to the CEO of the Independent Lubricants Manufacturers Association, and she told me she has no doubt that shortages of motor oil are on the way here in the U.S.

The trade group was warning of an imminent shortage of some of the low viscosity grade motor oils that are really popular on the roads today. Specifically, OW-8, 16 and 20. That last one -- that is really the go- to motor oil in new cars right now and they are concerned about supplies of those motor oils.

And this supply chain crunch -- it's already causing prices to go up significantly. Wholesale prices for some motor oils are going up six times faster than in a normal year. That's according to Tom Glenn. He's the publisher of an industry publication called JobbersWorld. He told me he has been in the business since 1979, and he's never seen anything like the frequency and the magnitude of these price increases.

I talked to the White House. The White House says the president and his team were aware of the risk of short-term disruptions. They do have plans. The Energy Department says that they are willing to step in, if necessary, as well.

But look, Sarah, you can have a situation where people who need motor oil -- they're not able to get it when they need it or the kind they need. And, of course, that could damage some of the engines our there as well.

SIDNER: Right. And with the few -- little supply, you're going to pay more in the end too. Another sort of pressure point on people's wallets.

Matt Egan, thank you so much.

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: I do appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. Urgent evacuation orders have been issued for tens of thousands of people in Southern California as a wildfire is just tearing through there. A new concern today, the changing wind patterns which would further fuel these flames.

And what caused this plane to make an emergency landing right on the beach?

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:51:55]

BOLDUAN: The chief of the World Health Organization now says he is deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the Ebola outbreak now. The WHO declared it a global health emergency this week -- the first time a director general has declared such an emergency without convening an emergency committee first, something he says he does not do lightly.

The death toll has increased. More than 130 deaths linked to the outbreak in central Africa now. An American doctor working in the Democratic Republic of Congo is among those who have tested positive. He and his family who are there -- they are being closely monitored while in the DRC.

Back in the United States the Trump administration has now banned travel to the U.S. from affected countries, invoking an emergency public health rule to kind of seal off American borders to those who have recently been in these threatened zones.

Joining me right now is Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. It's good to have you back. Thanks for being here.

You add all of this up and what we're hearing from the World Health Organization today, what do you see here so far?

DR. AMESH ADALJA, SENIOR SCHOLAR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY (via Webex by Cisco): I see an outbreak that has kind of sprawled. That there was a delay in diagnosis for, which is going to be harder and harder to contain. But again, this is Ebola. This is spread through blood and body fluids, not something that spreads through the air. So this will be containable but it's going to take a lot of logistical support.

The outbreak -- we should expect it to get bigger. We should expect the number of deaths to go -- to go up. And we should see -- we may see more cases in neighboring countries around the DRC.

BOLDUAN: No approved vaccine. No proven treatment for this strain. But you also see this as possibly a less deadly form of Ebola. That could mean what as WHO tries to tackle this?

ADALJA: So there are six different forms of Ebola and the one that we always worry so much about is Ebola Zaire, which is responsible for the majority of breakouts. It was responsible for the West African outbreak in 2013 and 2014.

But there are other strains like Ebola Sudan, which there recently was an outbreak of in Uganda. And then this one, Ebola Bundibugyo that don't have vaccines and don't have treatments for -- specific treatments for. But these ones tend to have a lower case fatality ratio, meaning less people die from them. There's still going to be a lot of deaths and it's still a high mortality, but it is something that is going to be treatable through supportive care.

So a lot of the mainstay of Ebola is finding cases, isolating them, and then just -- and then just getting them simple care, like IV fluids, electrolyte monitoring and electrolyte replacement, and making sure people have personal protective equipment to care for them, and then safe burial practices. That's kind of the playbook for any strain of Ebola.

And, you know, it's unfortunate that we don't have vaccines for this strain, but it is something that can still be contained just like we've contained Ebola Sudan, for example, in Uganda not long ago.

BOLDUAN: What do you think of when you talk, especially leaning on the important part of your title when you talk about health security. What do you think of the Trump administration's response to this? This invoking this emergency health rule here to basically seal off American borders to those coming from these zones.

[07:55:05]

ADALJA: It's not surprising because President Trump, before he was president, advocated that during the 2013-2014 outbreak. Although when he was president and there were Ebola outbreaks that occurred, he didn't invoke Title 42 for those Ebola outbreaks.

This is a tool the politicians often will go to because it makes them look like they're doing something, but they don't actually think about the long-term consequences of doing it. They think OK, that's going to keep people out of the country, but they don't understand it makes it harder to get resources into a country if you're putting these type of travel restrictions and travel bans in place. And this is why they're not recognized by the international health regulations as something that's valid.

But they always occur during these types of outbreaks because it's the politicians that are running it, not sort of the experts. And they're looking at the short-term versus the long-term.

And what I hope doesn't happen is that this doesn't turn into a cascade of travel bans of other countries. They make it logistically harder to get to a place that's already logistically hard to get to.

BOLDUAN: Hmm. So that's really interesting when you think about the short-term gain but the long-term impact of even trying to get resources into these areas in order to try to do what the entire goal is, which is to contain the spread and help everyone involved.

Dr. Adalja, thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate your time -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning expert divers say they've recovered two of the four remaining bodies of missing Italians located in underwater caves off the Maldives. Officials say the Italian divers, along with their instructor, died during an expedition last week. Now, the instructor's body was found that day near the entrance to the cave.

Breaking overnight a deal to end a strike on the busiest commuter rail in the country. Unions in the Long Island Rail Road reached a deal after three days of talks. About 3,500 workers head back later today with train service resuming in phases. Union members still have to ratify the deal. If they vote it down the disruptions could start all over again. The morning already wasn't easy.

In Maryland, a plan -- plane made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff nose first right into the sand. Two people were on board the plane. Neither were injured.

Eight people were rescued on a beach near Santa Cruz after rising tides trapped them in a cave. Authorities say some of those people trapped didn't know how to swim so lifeguards swam out those who could. The Coast Guard lifted the others -- you can see right there -- to safety.

Caves -- the only thing good about caves is cave cheese, Sara. Everything else sounds dangerous to me.

SIDNER: I will let you keep and try that for yourself.

BERMAN: Cave cheese?

SIDNER: Yes.

Now to the ground. The fast and furious wildfire is scorching parts of California's Simi Valley. Tens of thousands of residents are being told to evacuate now. It has burned 1,300 acres already. Some local schools are closed. And fire crews -- they're battling intense winds as they try to stop these flames.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking all of this for us. It is moving fast and it sounds like the winds, which are always a problem, are making things much more difficult.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, that's fueling the flames 100 percent. Not only are there evacuation warnings but there are evacuation orders, meaning it is lawfully required for you to leave your home in some of these areas near the Simi Valley.

This is the Sandy fire. And I want to show you just how incredibly difficult it is on the ground for firefighters here. Lots of wind. This is a Santa Ana event so the firefighters there trying to douse the front lines. Of course, they're going to the mountains. Very difficult terrain. Remember how quickly fire spreads within this type of terrain. They've got large air tankers dropping fire-retardant on this.

And look how close the flames to these residential neighborhoods. Again, this is Simi Valley, California, Ventura County, just outside of Los Angeles. And this is interesting. You can actually see the fire erupt through the course of the day on Monday. Visible satellite loop showing the strong offshore winds in Southern California. There is Simi Valley.

This is really crucial as well. So a northeasterly wind -- that's the typical Santa Ana wind -- you'll see it right here -- picking up throughout the course of the morning. Then we get the daytime heating from the day. The temperature differential between the ocean and the land causes a wind shift, so we get an onshore shift later this afternoon. And then we reverse the process once again tomorrow.

So you can imagine with a change in wind direction and speed through the course of a 48-hour period, it makes it that much more challenging for firefighters to get a hold on the front line.

The other big weather story we're talking about was the severe weather outbreak from yesterday. This is a classic stovepipe tornado that dropped in Richardson County in Nebraska. This is part of the widespread severe weather event that occurred yesterday, especially across the Central Plains and into the Midwest. Nineteen confirmed tornado reports.

We still have plenty of rain ongoing across some of these hard-hit areas in Missouri. This rain has dropped between two and four inches. It's risen the river levels across norther Missouri. Look at this. Kansas City to St. Louis under flood watches right now.