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Secret Service Kills Gunman Who Fired At Them Near White House; Kyiv Cleans Up After Russia Launches Massive Missile And Drone Attack; Pope Leo XIV Addresses AI In Letter Titled "Magnificent Humanity." Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 25, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:27]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: We're learning more this morning about the deadly incident near the White House that sent the complex into lockdown. The Secret Service says a gunman approached the security checkpoint Saturday and just began firing at them while President Trump was inside the White House.

The shots sending an ABC reporter ducking for cover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SELINA WANG, ABC SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And that President Trump has said a deal is close only for the two sides to remain far apart.

(Gunshots)

WANG: (Ducking for cover).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: It takes a second to realize that those were gunshots and then it became clear, without a question.

The Secret Service says officers returned fire and struck the suspect as they identified the sources as a 21-year-old man who later died at the hospital.

A bystander was also struck and remains in critical condition, according to a law enforcement official.

I want to bring back CNN's Betsy Klein who is live this morning at the White House. What is the latest on that investigation?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, Omar, that investigation is now underway after an individual just steps away from here approached U.S. Secret Service officers at a security checkpoint and opened fire. This person approached that checkpoint just before 6:00 p.m. on Saturday evening. U.S. Secret Service officers returned fire and hit the suspect who later died at an area hospital.

Now we know, as you mentioned, a bystander was also struck by the gunfire. What is unclear and part of what this investigation is going to look into is whether that person was struck by the suspect or by the subsequent gunfire that was exchanged. That person remains in critical condition, according to a law enforcement official.

Now, our colleagues who were working this weekend heard dozens of gunshots. White House press immediately put on lockdown and told to shelter in place. Secret Service personnel we are learning, were not injured. And President Trump was here at the White House. He was not affected but he was briefed by U.S. Secret Service.

Now, the suspect is 21-year-old Nasire Best. He has had multiple previous encounters with the Secret Service. He has also made multiple incendiary posts online.

I want to read to you a statement from the Secret Service. They say, "Secret Service training, vigilance, positioning, and immediate actions were instrumental in saving lives. Our officers continue to operate heroically in a heightened political threat environment."

Now referring to that, of course, this comes just weeks after that shooting incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

President Trump once more this weekend reiterating the need for his ballroom. We also saw a Justice Department filing in that ballroom case that said that this incident underscores the critical need for state of the art security here at the White House.

JIMENEZ: All right. A scary situation.

Betsy Klein, I really appreciate the reporting.

All right. Meanwhile this morning, both U.S. and Iranian officials are signaling progress in talks to end the war. The emerging agreement though is a framework, and the two sides have both presented differing descriptions of what exactly it would entail.

So far, it appears this memorandum of understanding may reopen the Strait of Hormuz, gradually end the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, and allow for another 60 days to reach a final deal. The framework would also require Iran to make commitments not to pursue a nuclear weapon while pushing talks on its nuclear program further down the road. But there's a lot we don't know.

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Gabe Amo. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs committee. Thank you for taking the time, Congressman.

As I mentioned, we still don't have a finished framework of any potential deal, but it sounds like if it happened it would start with the getting -- with getting the strait fully reopened and then get to the core issue of nuclear enrichment and material.

How confident would you say you are in the current direction of any deal?

REP. GABE AMO (D-RI) (via Webex by Cisco): Well, first off, I wish all of your viewers a reflective Memorial Day as we highlight the cost of war. Thirteen U.S. service members, in addition to tens of billions of dollars spent on this war, and the fact that Americans are paying the price at the gas pump and at the grocery store.

So my confidence level in Donald Trump's ability to execute a deal here is not high. The fact of the matter is we have seen a strategic set of blunders, whether the rationale was for regime change or to stop nuclear weapons, or to stop the attacks of Iranian proxies. All we have seen is more chaos from Donald Trump and a new front -- a new position of strength for Iran with their ability to close the Strait of Hormuz. So while the framework is out there it is very much just that.

[07:35:10]

I appreciate a turn to diplomacy, but we need more as soon as possible.

JIMENEZ: You're the vice-ranking member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. How often would you say you all are being briefed on the latest with Iran and so you believe it's enough?

AMO: I think it has been woefully in sufficient. Look, this administration pursued under Donald Trump's leadership a war of choice with regard to Iran. They did not lay out a rationale.

Did not have Congress execute its functions laid out in the Constitution in Article 1, Section 8 where Congress has the ability to declare war. And frankly, they have done everything it could possibly do to stop a war powers resolution from proceeding in the House and the Senate. As we saw just last week, Speaker Johnson pulling a war powers resolution from a vote because it was going to pass and force the president to stop this war, asserting Congress' real world.

So we need a whole lot more from this administration.

JIMENEZ: Well -- and we have seen what has become growing Republican support even in some of those efforts for those -- that war powers vote, for example, that didn't even happen last week.

But one thing that's interesting is Republican Sen. Thom Tillis told CNN that any potential deal would be doomed to fail without congressional oversight. Do you agree?

AMO: I think the senator is right. Congress has a role because we are the voice of the people. The same Americans who empowered us to operate on their behalf in the Congress are suffering because of Donald Trump's policy of war here. They are paying $40 billion more at the gas tank. They are seeing their grocery prices continue to rise because of the cost of diesel. This is inflicting real harm on the lives of the people that we work for on top of the 13 service members who lost their lives who we remember this Memorial Day. JIMENEZ: You know, when -- looking at this moment there's a -- there are a lot of comparisons to the JCPOA that obviously was created during President Obama's term. And at the time the JCPOA also didn't have congressional ratification, which did seem to anger Republicans and some Democrats at the time.

And I wonder, did you support that deal? And if so, would you feel better about one without congressional oversight here if the terms were different?

AMO: Well, I wasn't in Congress at the time, but as someone --

JIMENEZ: Sure.

AMO: -- who was supportive of that deal, I think it is essential to have Congress play a leading role, including my colleagues and I on the Foreign Affairs committee who have requested briefing after briefing from this administration. We have asked our Republican chair and fellow members on the committee to assert and make those requests, and they've refused.

So the fact of the matter is Congress has an essential role to play and that role is to stopping the chaos and stopping the prioritization of things like slush funds instead of the high cost of living that our constituents are facing when they're struggling at the grocery store. When they're struggling at the gas tank. We can't merely say that power lies in the executive. Congress has to lead and this is a moment for us to step up.

JIMENEZ: And I was going to say those latter things are obviously going to be top of mind for Americans as they go to vote this fall -- already so in the primaries that we've seen as well.

And on -- along those lines, I want to ask you about this 2024 autopsy that the DNC released last week and while a lot of the data in it wasn't fully verified in the version that was released.

Before you became a member of Congress you served as special assistant to President Biden. And one of the things it mentioned was that President Biden's campaign and the White House failed to set Kamala Harris up for success even in the unusual abbreviated campaign.

I know you were already in Congress at the time of the campaign, but how much do you buy into that -- that the White House was not, I guess in some sense, spreading the wealth to set up someone like Kamala Harris to succeed in the way that Democrats hoped she would?

AMO: Well, from my vantage point, Vice President Harris was an active, engaged partner of the president on so many issues. I had a specific portfolio working with mayors and governors around the country and the vice president had a very key role in making sure that we unlocked the potential of the investments from the administration in communities in cities and states across this country.

[07:40:00] Now, when I look at the autopsy and I think we have a lot of challenges that refer to the process -- to how it was carried out -- that's all the details. Because the clear contrast right now that we have to lay out and that, frankly, we have with great success in elections since 2024, is that Donald Trump does not care about you. That Donald Trump is not focused on Americans.

He's focused on $1.8 billion slush funds for people who attacked the Capitol on January 6. He's focused on self-enrichment and focused on wars of choice. That is a clear contrast.

So we can look backwards but what's more important is that we put an affirmative vision of change from Donald Trump's chaos and a focus on making people's lives better by lowering their cost of living. That's what any autopsy I believe needs to focus on is the future.

JIMENEZ: Well -- and one of the things that the autopsy said was also that Democrats were too anti-Trump and not so much pro-Democratic policy. But I know that's something that we will likely see from you all as we head into these midterm elections coming up very soon as I'm sure you know.

Congressman Gabe Amo, appreciate you taking the time. Good to see you.

All right. Meanwhile this morning, the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv is cleaning up after a massive Russian missile and drone attack over the weekend. The attack on the region included a rare and powerful hypersonic missile and it was one of the biggest bombardments since the war began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(Missile and drone attack on Kyiv).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: You can see the devastation there. At least four people were killed in the wave of strikes and Ukraine says at least 87 people were wounded in Kyiv, and dozens of buildings were damaged or destroyed.

I want to bring in CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau who joins me now. So what is the latest that you are seeing and hearing right now?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. You know, 600 drones and 90 missiles among them -- that super-potent hypersonic missile. Now what's really unique about that is that it has the capability to carry both nuclear warheads and conventional warheads, and it's the third time that Russia has used it in this now 4-year-old war.

And one of the other things we're really hearing about is just the types of targets. There were so many civilian targets -- schools, museums, you know, residences.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had this to say about it. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: And this is civilian goals when museums, schools, just apartments. The museum of Chernobyl, which was built, by the way, on the 40th anniversary -- it was build just one moth ago. And so they attacked. They saw this museum and they attacked this exactly to the museum. It was just crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NADEAU: And, you know, Omar, when -- Omar, when you think about all the attention right now that's being given to the war in Iran it's very easy to forget about the war in Ukraine.

And certainly here in Europe the leaders -- leadership is calling this an escalation -- a reckless escalation. And it looks like no end in sight for years. You know, it's been devastating for so many people in Ukraine but has also had ripple effects all across Europe here -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Wars have come and faded in the time that Russia and Ukraine has still gone on for years now, as you point out.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, I really appreciate the reporting.

All right. Meanwhile in the United States, millions across the East are facing a flood threat on this Memorial Day holiday. The chance for heavy rain extends from Florida up to New York.

I want to get right to meteorologist Derek Van Dam who is tracking all of it for us. What are you seeing?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Omar, I think I'm speaking on behalf of everybody who had holiday weekend plans -- Mother Nature, just make up your mind. You step outside in Atlanta, for instance, where I'm based, and it's either spritzing with rain, a deluge, or threatening thunderstorms. And that's really the case across much of the eastern third of the country.

But we do have flood watches that are in place, so we need to be extra cautious today as many of us are coming home from our extended holiday break.

Look at this. We have flood watches in place for portions of Alabama into Georgia, the Gulf Coast, including New Orleans, and even into West Virginia. Look at Charleston.

The moisture in the atmosphere is off the charts. The atmosphere is really juiced up, primed, and loaded for rain to fall from the sky. This is what's called precipitable water. I won't get into the details but basically, it's a measure of how much moisture is in the atmosphere. You see a lot of the yellows and the pinks. That means the atmosphere is primed and ready to produce rainfall.

And the radar here lighting up like a Christmas tree. You can just see it blanketing the I-95 corridor. So let's focus in on the Northeast, right? So here's Boston. There is Burlington. You're wet this morning. New York, you're getting showers right now as we speak through Baltimore into D.C.

[07:45:00]

But look what's coming off of the Gulf Coast. This is a low-pressure system and it's riding along what is called a stationary boundary, and exactly what it says is what it means. It doesn't go very far so it sticks into the same area. That's why we have the flood threat. And that rain is going to eventually move across the greater metro Atlanta area.

Look at the next three days. Some of these pockets of areas that could see repeated rounds of rain picking up anywhere from two to four inches. This is on top of what's already fallen. Yeah, we've had drought over the past few months across the Southeast, but a little bit too much too quickly can, of course, lead to localized flash flooding.

Just to put it into perspective, this is the next five days -- the excessive rainfall risk -- and I want you to see some of the areas as I advance this included in the excessive rainfall locations. So when we see that kind of line up over the same location day after day you know that means the potential for flooding exists.

And even into the extended outlook, the rain continues. With a cloud cover overhead it keeps the temperatures cool. Here's a quick glance at your Monday -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Not exactly the unofficial start to summer that a lot of people were hoping for.

VAN DAM: Yeah.

JIMENEZ: But hey, we'll get there. We will get there.

VAN DAM: Yes.

JIMENEZ: Derek Van Dam --

VAN DAM: I promise.

JIMENEZ: -- thank you so much.

All right. New this morning Pope Leo launched the first-ever Vatican manifesto on the risks and impacts of artificial intelligence. How he says we need to protect humans.

And speaking of man versus machine, we'll show you how a quick- thinking police officer managed to get this kid out of a claw machine. It's a good prize.

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JIMENEZ: Right now a live look at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery this Memorial Day, which honors fallen soldiers and unidentified American service members who died in war. You can see the solemn scene in the rain. But this remembrance is especially important for the families of 13 U.S. service members who have died in the war with Iran -- the true meaning of this day.

[07:50:05]

All right. We've been also following news over the course of this morning. New this morning Pope Leo taking on the rapidly advancing world of AI, laying out a pretty stark warning that technology this kind is fueling world conflicts. He spoke about his concerns just moments ago from the Vatican.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV: Artificial intelligence already touches many areas of our lives and affects decisions that shape human coexistence. It is also dramatically changing how war is waged. Artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So this is Pope Leo's first encyclical, a theological document that goes out to all bishops in the church. Interestingly, the 235-page document was written with the help of one of the co- founders of Anthropic, the AI company in a legal dispute with the Trump administration over the use of its technology and military and defense operations.

I want to bring in CNN Vatican analyst Katie Prejean McGrady. So I think one, the AI portion is interesting, but what are your biggest takeaways from this encyclical?

KATIE PREJEAN MCGRADY, CNN VATICAN ANALYST, HOST, "THE KATIE MCGRADY SHOW," SIRIUSXM, SIRIUSXM HOST, THE CATHOLIC CHANNEL (via Webex by Cisco): Well, encyclical is a letter. It's this circular, essentially, that is sent out to people of goodwill and people of faith.

So the first thing that really stood out to me is that the Holy Father is making this appeal to the world as a pastor and as a shepherd, and he wants everybody to read it. The people who are coding AI, the people who are using it, and the people who are completely and totally unaware of what it's actually doing in our day-to-day-lives.

But he doesn't come at it as a AI bad or humans better. He comes at it as a humans are magnificent and we're called to more. The desire to create AI clearly indicates we think and value transhumanism, posthumanism type things. And what we really should, especially as people of faith, is pursue a relationship with God, work towards the common good, recognize the goodness of all, and not allow AI to overtake us.

So it's hefty, it's deep, it's quite beautiful.

JIMENEZ: You know, the pope, as part of it, calling for rigorous ethical constraints on AI. And I think some might look at the pope and say well, he's commenting on something that's so modern and so new almost in the sense that you would talk about on a podcast or a show like this as opposed to what I think people typically think of the Catholic faith is, like, deep-rooted ideals that have existed for centuries.

And I just wonder for you just based on how you have followed the Vatican and beyond how unique is it -- this tone, this specificity of Catholic ideals, of what Pope Leo's ideals want to be is it? How -- I guess the word I'm trying to say is how unique is this dynamic right now?

MCGRADY: So I'm happy to report that while it's certainly significant, popes have been doing this for a really long time -- since 1891, in fact. His namesake, Leo the XIII, wrote Rerum Novarum, which is also a very hefty document that was addressing the revolution of that particular moment at the turn of the century -- the Industrial Revolution and how was it impacting humanity.

And now in this age of AI what are we doing to safeguard the human person? And so Pope Leo is really -- he's in the line of his predecessors. It's quite cool.

I'm not sure that we've ever seen an encyclical launched with a trailer, but they launched it with a four-minute video that brought us through the golden thread of all the popes and how they've addressed the social doctrine of the church. How they've met the moment the world presents to remind us here's our pastoral approach, here's a prophetic voice in the world.

What the Holy Father is doing is saying AI technology is not morally neutral and therefore the church stands at the ready to respond and to invite a deeper consideration.

And it was huge that he had the Anthropic co-founder just a few seats away from him and said I take up your invitation to engage with Silicon Valley, and I hope Silicon Valley takes up our challenge to consider humanity in the way this intelligence is being crafted beyond our understanding.

Pope Leo shows a mastery of the topic. He's not old man yells at cloud. He is an engaged Holy Father who wants to be a prophet and a pastor to the world.

JIMENEZ: Hey, don't knock old man yells at cloud.

(Laughter)

Katie Prejean McGrady, good to see you. Thanks for coming on.

All right. This morning a frantic search and rescue is underway after a multistory building collapsed in the Philippines yesterday. At least three people are dead and 17 others still missing. Crews are using dogs, sensors, and heavy equipment to search through the rubble. More than two dozen people have been rescued but officials say the building was under construction.

[07:55:00]

In China, China launched three astronauts on a mission to its own space station this weekend where one of them is going to live for the next year. This is video of crew members greeting each other on the Shenzhou-23. China is currently working toward its goal of a crewed moon landing by 2030.

And then an off-duty police officer was able to save a child who got stuck in a claw machine. How does this keep happening? According to the St. Charles County Police Department, Officer Brown was bowling with his family when he noticed inside it wasn't a prize. There was a little girl inside the machine. And then after some quick thinking and about $4.00, he was able to get her out and reunite her with her parents.

Officials say this is at least the third incident of a child being stuck in a claw machine this year in the St. Louis area. What is going on out there? How does that even happen? All right, more details on that. We'll follow up on that story and get you those important details.

All right, another important thing. Tomorrow, soccer fans are going to find out who made the squad for Team USA in next month's FIFA World Cup. The team's journey leading up to this moment is showcased in a new docuseries on HBO Max, which shares the same parent company as CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't get much bigger than playing in a World Cup on home soil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-six brothers doing anything it takes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're representing something much bigger than yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ride together and die together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: The excitement is already building for the first men's World Cup on U.S. soil in more than 30 years. The tournament is going to happen across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. And by the way, we already know Team USA's opponents in the group stage -- Paraguay, Australia, and Turkey.

CNN's Danny Freeman and Fredricka Whitfield spoke to U.S. Men's national team defender Tim Ream about the anticipation leading up to the tournament.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment for so many players.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah.

FREEMAN: Not just the World Cup but on home soil.

What's going on through your head as we approach this roster decision?

TIM REAM, USMNT DEFENDER Uh, anxiously awaiting. Um, there's been so much put into this. So much put into this. So much work, so much time. And, you know, I think everybody is just excitedly and anxiously awaiting, you know, the final decisions.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. And so you do have a few more matches, you know, in the lead-up to the World Cup. So, you know, what -- I guess what will be the focus, you know, over the course of the next few days and weeks just to make sure that, you know, everyone feels 150 percent?

REAM: Yeah, that's exactly it. That will be the focus. The focus will be to make sure that everybody -- you know, the guys who are finishing their seasons in Europe come back and they're healthy, they're fit. And getting everybody on the same page in the next couple of weeks is going to be really important. I know we've had a lot of camps up to this point, but this is different. This is a World Cup and, you know, we all have to be ready to go and fully focused, and physically in a good condition to perform come June 12.

WHITFIELD: Right. And then I wonder as they try to, you know, kind of cultivate this roster, you know, what do you suppose is some of the -- you know, makes up some of the criteria of -- you know, of style, of positioning, of demeanor. I mean, all of those things come into play to try and build the best team so that everyone is working together and able to be their best.

What do you think some of that criteria will be?

REAM: That's an amazing question and I'm glad I'm not one of the coaches to have to make those decisions. We talk all the time about connection and, you know, having this togetherness.

And I equate it to a puzzle. There are so many different pieces and so many different things that go into it and you start to put these puzzle pieces together and all of a sudden, it has this feel of -- you know, of the end product, right. You have single pieces and it becomes this masterpiece.

So, um, you know, it's not always about the very best players. It's about the best -- the right players as Maurico has mentioned. It's about having the right attitudes, the right focus, and putting -- making those -- making sure those connections off the field translate to connecting on the field.

FREEMAN: All right, Tim. I'm going to ask the hard question now -- the painful one. You were eliminated in the round of 16 back in 2022. In 2018, the team did not qualify. But what has changed for this team from your perspective over the last eight years?

REAM: Uh, I think experience is the biggest change. Um, we had one player who had had World Cup experience in Qatar when we were there in 2022. Now everybody -- just about everybody who will be a part of this squad for 2026 is going to have more club experience. They're going to be a little bit older. They've played a lot more games at a -- you know, at a high level.