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Suspect in the Killing of Minnesota State Senator Arrested, Sen. Hoffman Survives the Attack; Israel-Iran Attacks Enter Fourth Day; Trump Attends G7 Summit. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 16, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

BEN HUNTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello, wherever you are in the world, you are now in the "CNN Newsroom" with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta.

We are beginning with breaking news in Minnesota, where a 57-year-old suspect in the killing of a state lawmaker has been caught and is now facing murder charges. Officials say investigators used helicopters, surveillance drones and infrared technology to find Vance Boelter. They say he crawled to law enforcement after search teams closed in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MARK BRULEY, BROOKLYN PARK, MINNESOTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: I'm very proud to tell you that we took the suspect into custody who was responsible for this. That was within 43 hours of the incident. There's no question that this is the largest manhunt in the state's history. Just down at the scene where he was taken into custody, there was 20 different SWAT teams over an extremely large area hunting this individual down to take him into custody.

I believe that the state of Minnesota and certainly the city of Brooklyn Park should be extremely proud of the police officers within the city of Brooklyn Park, but the partnerships that we had are unprecedented between the federal agents, the county, the locals, and others around. It is absolutely an incredible task what went on.

Essentially, the Brooklyn Park Police Department was turned over into an operations center. And that's all that hundreds of detectives worked on tirelessly for 43 hours. So while this has come to some conclusion where we've made an arrest, there is a ton of work that needs to be done.

So I encourage community members, if there's evidence, information, or other things, please continue to feed that information to the Brooklyn Park Police Department so that we can fully investigate this and present a complete case to both the federal jurisdiction and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Boelter has now been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder. That is according to a criminal complaint obtained by the "Minnesota Star Tribune." He is the suspect in two separate shootings targeting Minnesota state lawmakers in their homes.

Melissa Hortman and her husband were both killed early Saturday morning. She was the top Democrat in the Minnesota House. Officials say state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot, but they survived the attack and are now recovering.

Well, CNN's Whitney Wild has more on how authorities zeroed in on the suspected gunman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: This is a remarkable moment in Minnesota.

There were dozens of law enforcement agencies who were engaged in bringing Vance Boelter into custody. What we know is that law enforcement says there were 20 SWAT teams alone who worked on bringing him into custody. And it was the Minnesota State Police who finally put the handcuffs on Vance Boelter.

This night unfolded rapidly once they were able to figure out where he was. And so let me take you back to the beginning of the day Sunday when law enforcement had identified a vehicle in Sibley County, Minnesota.

This is an area that is very rural. It is 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis. And law enforcement had spent much of the day Sunday combing that area, combing through that car.

They were able to bring into custody pretty critical pieces of evidence. And so it was in that area by that car that they knew that he was somewhere in the area.

And that was based on a tip from the public. And so once these tips started pouring in, law enforcement says that there were at least 400 tips that came in.

Law enforcement was able to narrow in on where he was and then in effect used all of their tactical units. They used an air wing element from the Minnesota State Police, infrared technology, you know, other law enforcement technology to find out exactly where he was. Then bring those law enforcement officers as close to him as possible and basically surround him.

And then they were able to through, you know, really tactful, impactful negotiation, bring him into custody without incident. He is facing multiple charges. Law enforcement here listed a few.

I mean, obviously, he's facing murder charges for Representative Melissa Hortman. The attempted murder charges for the shootings of state Senator John Hoffman and his wife. So those are just a few of the charges.

It is highly likely that he may see more. There may be federal charges in the future as well. They're working with their federal partners to figure out what federal charge, if any, would be applicable here.

But the most important thing here in Minnesota is that through the work and the cooperation of a long list of law enforcement agencies, they were able to bring Vance Belter into custody without injuring himself, without injuring an officer and without injuring any member of the public.

Whitney Wild, CNN, Blaine, Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:05:10]

HUNTE: More breaking news out of Israel, where at least eight people have been killed and dozens injured in the latest round of missile strikes launched by Iran.

Israel's National Emergency Service says multiple locations were hit on Monday morning. Explosions were seen in the coastal city of Haifa, where missiles hit near an oil refinery. Central Israel's power grid was also damaged in the latest of the back and forth strikes over the weekend.

Israeli officials say at least 23 people have now been killed since Iran's retaliation began.

Meanwhile, in Iran, at least 224 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since Friday. That's according to the country's Ministry of Health.

The IDF vows their strikes will only get more intense from here. But Iran's President says the country's response will escalate as well, putting more innocent lives at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Israel knows no boundaries. They intrude wherever they want, with permission from America.

We are by no means seeking to expand the war, but naturally, as our army, our powerful IRGC and our dear people have shown, appropriate responses have been given so far. The more they try to escalate, naturally, the responses will become tougher and more severe. More innocent people may lose their lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Jeremy Diamond was at the scene of one missile strike in Tel Aviv and filed this report just a short while ago. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: I'm at the site of an Iranian ballistic missile attack in central Tel Aviv. This ballistic missile struck this area in the early hours of this morning, severely damaging three residential buildings right behind me.

As you can see, this whole street is littered with debris as rescue crews move in and out, still trying to assess the damage to find anybody who might be trapped under the rubble and also to get people out of their apartments. There are also folks who have arrived here to try and get back inside to get some of their belongings and to make sure that their loved ones are OK.

This is one of four ballistic missile attack sites in central Tel Aviv alone. In addition, there was a ballistic missile attack in northern Israel in Haifa as well. More than 70 people were injured in these attacks, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's national rescue services.

And, of course, we are seeing that these attacks are continuing to escalate and concern is rising here in Israel about the number of casualties and how many more may come.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Let's dig deeper. CNN's Paula Hancocks is now joining me from Abu Dhabi. Paula, thanks for being with me again, we appreciate it.

Things are moving so quickly across the region. Tell me, what is the latest that you're seeing now?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ben, we are seeing the casualty figures going up in Israel, for example, now at 23. The early hour barrage of hundreds of missiles from Iran did hit a number of different areas.

Tel Aviv, as Jeremy was showing you there, and also central Israel and some of the coastal areas as well. Now, we know that in Haifa, for example, alongside the coast, that city, there are still fires burning in some areas. There were some missiles that hit or at least one hit close to an oil refinery in Haifa itself.

Now, a number of residential buildings across the country have been impacted. We understand from authorities that most of these missiles are being intercepted, but we are seeing that a number are getting through. Certainly, Tehran, by firing hundreds of missiles at the same time, is hoping to overwhelm and overpower the missile defense systems of Israel.

Now, when it comes to what is happening in Iran, we are seeing panicked residents in Tehran try to get out of the city. We have seen gridlock on the roads heading north, a more rural and isolated area many people are trying to get to. Gas stations are overcrowded as well, as many are trying to escape the areas they believe may be more dangerous.

Now, we have heard from the Israeli military that Iranian residents should move away and evacuate if they live anywhere near a weapons production facility, because they say that that is a target. This was announced on Sunday, and then just a matter of hours later, an announcement came from the Iranian authorities telling Israeli residents to move and evacuate if they are anywhere near the Israeli military.

So, both sides still claiming that they are targeting the military infrastructure of the other country, but clearly we are seeing residents and civilians are being impacted. Ben?

[03:10:09]

HUNTE: And what is your sense of Israel's genuine, real endgame here? Is it a clearly defined military goal, or is it something bigger? And, is it actually achievable in the short term, or do you think we are looking at a much longer confrontation?

HANCOCKS: Well, the public message that we are hearing from Israel is that they want to degrade the nuclear program of Iran. They say that they had come to a point where they realized Iran really posed an existential threat to Israel. They haven't specified exactly the intelligence or what led them to believe that, but they do say publicly that this is the reason that they are targeting, specifically the nuclear program and uranium enrichment facilities in Iran, and also the top military leadership, clearly trying to lessen the impact and the retaliation that they knew would come once they had started to target that nuclear element of Iran.

Now, we have seen a very significant amount of military leadership being killed by Israel, and yet there are still hundreds of missiles, ballistic missiles and drones that are being fired towards Israeli territory.

So, it is a good question. Do they have the ability to be able to degrade the nuclear program sufficiently or even destroy it?

The overwhelming feeling is that it would be very unlikely without the help of the United States, without the help of the so-called bunker buster bombs, which are able to penetrate the underground facilities that we know that Tehran has when it comes to its nuclear program. Ben?

HUNTE: Okay, Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Thank you for now, I appreciate it.

U.S. President Donald Trump is calling for a peace deal between Israel and Iran and says calls are underway to work towards that goal. But he's preparing for the worst, telling reporters on Sunday, quote, "sometimes they have to fight it out."

This all comes amid claims from a U.S. official that the president rejected a plan from Israel to kill Iran's supreme leader over the weekend. That is something that Israel has denied. And CNN's Betsy Klein has more details on the President's response to

the escalating conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: The White House has been closely monitoring those back-and-forth missile attacks between Israel and Iran over the weekend. But President Trump has been making clear both publicly and privately that he does not want the U.S. to get into the fray for now.

Of course, the U.S. has been providing Israel with some defensive support efforts to intercept those missiles. And we've also learned that President Trump rejected a plan by Israel to target Iran's Supreme Leader, according to a U.S. official.

Now, a second senior U.S. official tells me that Israel had the opportunity over the weekend to kill Iran's Ayatollah. President Trump communicated that he was opposed to that plan, and it was ultimately not executed. But we should also note that an Israeli official denied these reports, calling them fake.

But President Trump has made clear he does not want a prolonged conflict in the region. And sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that Israel has approached the Trump administration about getting the U.S. involved militarily in this conflict. There are, of course, some in the Trump administration who would like to see the U.S. get more involved, who believe that Israel could achieve its objectives more quickly with U.S. involvement.

And President Trump left the door open himself, telling ABC News' Rachel Scott in an interview on Sunday morning, quote, "it's possible we could get involved, but we are not at this moment involved." Now, in that same interview, President Trump told ABC he's open to Russia President Vladimir Putin playing some sort of a mediating role here in this conflict.

But for now, President Trump calling on both sides to make a deal in a post to social media. He said, quote, "Iran and Israel should make a deal and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make in that case by using TRADE with the United States to bring reason, cohesion and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and stop." He went on to say "We will have peace soon between Israel and Iran. Many calls and meetings now taking place."

Now, President Trump has also indicated that the U.S. would get involved if American facilities or personnel are attacked.

Betsy Klein, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Donald Trump is in Canada for the G7 summit where leaders are expected to address the growing crisis between Israel and Iran. More on that ahead. Stay with CNN. [03:15:05]

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

The Israel-Iran conflict is expected to be the top issue at this week's G7 summit in Canada. U.S. President Donald Trump has just arrived there, and the White House says he will meet with the leaders of Canada, Mexico and Ukraine during the trip.

CNN's Kevin Liptak has the latest for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The G7 this week here in Canada will be the first international summit of President Trump's second term, and it will be a good window into how he plans to use these international gatherings to address some of the world's stickiest issues, the biggest of which is this conflict between Israel and Iran. That will really be the overhang.

I think a lot of the world leaders who are gathering here want to hear out and suss out President Trump on exactly how he sees that conflict going. Of course, he says that he thinks there is still room for diplomacy, but there are a lot of questions about how exactly that would proceed. And in fact, earlier Sunday, President Trump said that he thought the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, might be able to mediate this conflict, but already at least one other G7 leader, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said that he doesn't think that that's a workable option.

[03:20:06]

So already you see some differences emerging even before this summit begins. You know, discord and acrimony really colored these kinds of summits during President Trump's first term in office, and I'm thinking specifically back to the last time Canada hosted a G7 back in 2018. Kind of the enduring image of that summit was of President Trump sort of glowering with his arms crossed, and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, sort of leaning over him as they tried to hash out this joint statement that President Trump later tore up as he left the summit site.

The hosts of this week's gathering do want to avoid that open level of acrimony, and to that end, they don't plan on releasing a joint communique. They'll release some shorter individual statements instead. And instead of sort of these large, lengthy group meetings that sort of go on and on, they're planning more one-on-one time for the president to meet some of his counterparts.

Of course, Ukraine will be a big topic at the G7, just as it has been for the last three years. President Trump has made clear his differences with some of the European leaders, particularly when it comes to applying new sanctions on Moscow. Of course, trade talks are the other big topic that have caused divisions between President Trump and his counterparts, and we are approaching that July 9th deadline that the President has set to negotiate all of these new trade deals in order to avoid some of the harsh new tariffs. And there are leaders here that are in active conversations with the president about trade, whether it's Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, or Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who is an invited guest of this year's G7.

Now, whether President Trump is actually able to make progress on those trade deals or whether this will continue to be a point of contention I think remains to be seen, but certainly it is a very stacked agenda for President Trump and his counterparts as they gather here in Canada for the G7.

Kevin Liptak, CNN, near the G7 site in Alberta, Canada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Earlier I spoke with Julien Barnes-Dacey, he is the Middle East and North Africa Program Director for the European Council on Foreign Relations. I asked him whether G7 leaders plan to lean on Trump and press the Israelis to de-escalate the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIEN BARNES-DACEY, PROGRAM DIRECTOR FOR MIDDLE EAST AND NORTHERN AFRICA, EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: I think everyone understands that Trump is the only figure here who can put pressure on the Israelis to stop. If there is a desire to get the Israelis to stop, and frankly I'm not sure there is, there does seem to be a lot of international backing for what the Israelis are doing here and we should be clear about that.

But even if there is a push to get Trump to try and lean on the Israelis, I don't think anyone really knows where Trump himself is. One day he says he didn't know about the attacks. The other day he seems to suggest that the Americans were partly behind this.

One day he's calling for a political deal. The next day he's saying they need to fight it out. I think everyone is fairly lost and I think that's why there is a lot of concern here.

The Israelis are pounding away but they don't seem to be having much success in terms of the nuclear capabilities. There's a risk that Iran could continue to escalate with more ballistic missiles and the Americans seem to be floating above this without much sense of a clear strategy. HUNTE: Well on that, how close are we to the U.S. being fully dragged into this and what does the G7 hope to diplomatically do to avoid that?

BARNES-DACEY: Well I think the Israelis are now putting public and private pressure on the Americans to get involved. It seems that there is a need for U.S. military capabilities to help target some of Iranian nuclear capabilities, some of these bunker bombs that only the Americans can deploy usefully. So I think people are very wary from the other side, from the other countries, that actually the Americans are going to get sucked into a wider conflict here.

Trump himself doesn't seem to want that right now. That seems to be one firm line for him not to have the Americans pulled in and clearly there's a lot of pressure within his MAGA base not to draw the Americans into a new regional war.

But it's a slippery slope and now that the Israelis are moving in and in and in but unable to deal with the nuclear capabilities it would seem so far, there will be potentially mounting pressure on Trump to get involved militarily.

HUNTE: And we've seen Trump mention how negotiations are key here but do you think there actually is any pathway back to diplomacy or has that door firmly shut for now?

BARNES-DACEY: Well right here and now it seems shut but I think the reality is that there's a good chance that these strikes are going to push Iran to make a strategic decision to potentially weaponize its nuclear program more so than was previously the case.

So if the military strikes are unable to get rid of and firmly kill off Iran's nuclear program then you're going to have to get a political deal to address that threat.

[03:25:02]

And I think eventually we're going to circle back around to that point. I think the question is how much damage, how much civilian casualties and how much of a wider regional war are we going to have to push on through before we get back to that point. I mean negotiations were supposed to happen on Sunday between the Americans and the Iranians and I think one of the Israeli strategies here was actually to kill off those negotiations.

My view is that we need concerted international pressure to get us back to the political table because if not there's a real risk that Iran will choose to weaponize its nuclear program.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Our coverage of the conflict between Israel and Iran continues after the break. Israelis wake up to a scene of destruction after a barrage of missiles hit areas around Tel Aviv. All of the latest just ahead.

Plus police catch the suspect in the Minnesota shootings. The latest on the arrest and the charges that he's now facing. Those stories and so much more after this break, stay with CNN.

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

Foreboding words from Israel's Defense Minister after eight Israelis are killed in Iran's latest missile strikes. He posted on X that the residents of Tehran will pay the price and soon.

A barrage of missiles fell in multiple sites around Tel Aviv overnight. Residential areas were among the locations hit and a total of 23 people have been killed in Israel since the strikes began.

And new satellite images reveal the damage done by Israeli strikes since the conflict started. Israel says it struck command centers belonging to the Quds Force, a special intelligence unit inside Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. Earlier, Iran's state-affiliated news agency confirmed that the intelligence chief of the guard and his deputy were killed.

[03:30:03]

At least 224 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since Friday, according to Iranian authorities.

Let's dig deeper now with Gideon Levy. He's a columnist at "Haaretz" and served as an adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. He joins me live now from Tel Aviv.

Thank you so much for being with me, Gideon, let's get into this. You have been a vocal critic of Israeli policy for a while now. And after a weekend like this, with death and destruction in both Tel Aviv and Tehran, do you believe Israel's current military strategy is making its citizens safer or putting them in greater danger?

GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, "HAARETZ", AND FORMER ADVISER TO SHIMON PERES: I invite you to the streets of Tel Aviv or some other locations in Israel and please tell me if this looks like a safe place. Not only it's not safer, it's much more dangerous. I understand the need to sacrifice -- some sacrifice in terms of life and destruction for a bigger goal.

But what is this bigger goal and is it achievable? I have my doubts. I have my doubts that the great goal of really neutralizing Iran from its nuclear weapons is an achievable goal. And if it isn't, then what for is all this war for?

HUNTE: I've got some questions about that. We're definitely going to get into it.

Iran says at least 224 people have been killed by Israeli strikes. Israel says its targets were military and intelligence centers. In your view, has Israel crossed a line with these operations?

LEVY: Look, after 20 months of almost genocide in Gaza, it's very hard to analyze the military operation in Iran. Because whatever Israel does in Iran, as precise as they try to be, there are also many, many victims, obvious, but I don't think this is the issue here. The issue here is, is it clever to go for this war and not if it's justified or moral?

Morality still awaits us in the battlefield or in the ruins of Gaza. There is the real question about morality and legality, by the way. In Iran right now, it's a war between two states and it's cruel and ugly and it will become more cruel and more ugly in both sides.

HUNTE: Let's talk about President Trump. So President Trump said last week that talking can still work. In your view, is that realistic at this stage? Does anybody believe that that still has potential?

LEVY: Sure, it is realistic, but for this, Donald Trump has to do something. And he seems to not do anything.

Like all the former American presidents, he could put leverage on Israel to stop the attacks over Iran and to condition it in front of Iran in getting back to the negotiation table. I heard already some sources in Iran who say we are ready to get back to the negotiation table if the bombing in Iran will stop.

So he could do something, but he seems to stay aside and watch the two parties. And until now, he didn't take any measures. And I think that's not an American right policy.

The policy should be now to do anything possible to stop this war and to get back to the diplomatic table. And I'm not sure Donald Trump is doing it.

HUNTE: How much pressure is Israel under from its Western allies, both publicly and privately, to avoid dragging the whole region into a full-scale war?

LEVY: No, I don't feel this pressure. I must remind you this pressure even didn't work over Gaza when it was very clear that the West was against continuing the war in Gaza. And still Israel could easily ignore it because it was quite hollow.

Now you hear more and more that the West is about to support Israel and even maybe to send troops, but military aid. I think that deep in their heart, some leaders in the West are very happy to see Israel trying to neutralize the nuclear power of Iran, which threatens the whole world, by the way, not only Israel.

The problem is, as I said before, is it achievable? And if we know it's not, why for God's sake did we go for this war?

[03:35:00]

HUNTE: And with all of that being said, what do you genuinely think is going to happen next? When will all of this end?

LEVY: The problem here is that I'm not sure it's going to end so soon. Iran will not surrender. Israel will continue as much as it can.

I don't know how long can Israel go on with it because life in Israel right now is not sustainable. It's not, that's not normal life and it cannot go on for long. Israel is totally paralyzed.

The airports are closed. Economy is closed. People are dying on a daily basis.

People live under fear. I don't know how long Israel can stand it. But in any case, Israel will continue and Iran will continue. And if

the Americans will continue to be as passive as they are, this might last for weeks and, God forbid, maybe even months. I must remind you and your viewers that the war between Iran and Iraq lasted over ten years, God forbid.

I mean, Israel is not prepared for this. No other country is prepared for this. And really, I wish I could give you an optimistic scenario.

I right now don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. And unfortunately, Israel didn't think about this light when it went to this war.

HUNTE: My goodness. Well, like you say, this could just be the beginning, it could go on for some time. So I'm sure we'll be speaking again very soon.

For now, Gideon Levy, thank you for joining me. I appreciate it.

LEVY: Sure. Thank you for having me.

HUNTE: Okay. An update now on the breaking news in Minnesota. Police have arrested the man suspected of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses.

One lawmaker and her husband were killed. Another lawmaker and his wife survived. The "Minneapolis Star Tribune" reports that Vance Boelter is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. Police say Boelter was caught in the largest manhunt in the state's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. JEREMY GEUGER, MINNESOTA STATE PATROL: The Minnesota State Patrol, along with countless other partners, were responsible for this arrest. The collaborative effort, I cannot stress enough how outstanding that was, helped ensure the suspect's arrest did not result in the injury of any law enforcement that was down there and in the area.

We had special response teams on the scene near 200 streets in Sibley County. Several partner law enforcement SWAT teams positioned to form a perimeter at that point in time. The State Patrol also provided the air support that was talked about earlier today.

The suspect crawled to law enforcement teams and was placed under arrest at that point in time. There was no use of force by any member of law enforcement that was out there and the suspect was taken into custody without any use of force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Let's dig deeper into this. Steve Moore is a CNN law enforcement contributor and a retired FBI supervisory special agent, he's joining us now from L.A. Let's get straight into this, thank you so much for being with me. We saw the press conference just over an hour ago and we learned that

the suspect was taken into custody within 43 hours of the incident and officials called this the largest manhunt in the state's history with hundreds of detectives solely working on this case. What were some of your big takeaways from the press conference we saw?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR AND RET. FBI SPECIAL SUPERVISORY AGENT: -- were that he had planned the crime so well but he hadn't planned his escape hardly at all. I mean he had a second car that he could take away.

But he didn't do anything imaginative, he didn't do anything tricky and I believe that they had a line on him at least as far as people he was talking to early on. I'm kind of surprised at his lack of preparation for evasion.

HUNTE: Wow. Let's talk a bit more about that. What made this suspect so difficult to find?

MOORE: Well what happens Ben is you've got this huge area. I mean the attack happened in one area but logically once you haven't found him for 6 to 12 hours you have to assume that he's gone into a much larger perimeter which could include parts of Wisconsin, parts of Iowa, things like that and so what was crucial is finding the car and that was good police work.

They found the car and then you can again dial in to a focus in on a much smaller area which means you can bring immense resources into that small area. It's really not even useful to try to search an entire state with the equipment you have but I believe they had aircraft. I believe they had all sorts of electronic aids working with them once they found the vehicle.

[03:40:01]

HUNTE: And we were just seeing on the screen the photo of the moment that the suspect was arrested. Can you just talk us through what your first thoughts were when you saw that picture and what's going to happen to him next?

MOORE: Oh it brings back memories. What apparently happened is he was at least sighted. I'm suspecting he was sighted by airplanes using FLIR equipment and the FBI SWAT was brought in.

If you saw they were wearing night vision goggles. They probably used a lot of technology to locate him, then they called him out, that was the crawling part. Crawl to us, don't walk to us.

And what comes now is kind of tricky because it's whether you're going to prosecute him for murder under Minnesota law or you're going to prosecute him possibly for terrorism under federal law. The issue there is that Minnesota does not have a death penalty but federal terrorism does.

HUNTE: Wow and while the suspect for this incident is now in custody he did create a so-called kill list of other people who he could have targeted. So what happens to them now? Are those people now out of some sort of danger?

MOORE: You know I believe they are and you know I know that it's easy for me to say they're the ones whose name were on the list and I certainly can't imagine what that was like for them. But I think they've got him, I think the police and the law and FBI are going to go through and determine and assure themselves that there is no there are no accomplices that this was a lone wolf attack.

And -- but I will tell you this. I think this was a serious, you know obviously it was serious but I think everybody on the list was potential because he didn't have people in New York or Los Angeles or things like that where people who don't like progressives or leftists would have targeted. He had a functional list that was within driving distance basically of his house.

HUNTE: Okay, Steve Moore, we're going to be speaking to you. I'm sure a lot more over the next few hours, so for now I appreciate it. Thank you for being with us.

MOORE: Thank you.

HUNTE: We'll be right back, stay with CNN.

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[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: Welcome back.

The mayor of L.A. says the situation with protests there is under control and she says the National Guard should leave the city. CNN's Veronica Miracle is in L.A. with the latest for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says the curfew enacted in downtown Los Angeles will remain in place indefinitely as she says it is working.

Yesterday, tens of thousands of people showed up to protest all throughout the day in downtown Los Angeles as part of the No Kings rally and at the end of the day there were some skirmishes there was some confrontation with police as police were trying to get people to move out of downtown Los Angeles as they were slowly approaching the curfew and there were only however five arrests and about 20 or so citations handed out which she says it considers a success given that there were tens of thousands of people protesting peacefully all throughout the day.

She also mentioned that she was flying in a helicopter all morning all afternoon watching from above and her perspective from the sky was that it was peaceful. She didn't see Marines out and she also says that the National Guard should leave as local law enforcement has it under control. Take a listen. MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: We don't want them here. They don't

need to be here. Our local law enforcement have complete control of this situation and I will tell you the 30,000 people were downtown L.A. There were protests in 15 different locations in our city, I flew over each one of them and they were overwhelmingly peaceful.

MIRACLE: In terms of what happens next it remains to be seen that curfew again remaining in effect. These protests all stem from ICE raids that have happened all across Los Angeles and continue to happen.

We have reports that there was actually another ice raid in the area on Saturday as those protests were happening. So will these protests continue throughout the week? That will remain to be seen.

Veronica Miracle, CNN, Los Angeles.

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HUNTE: At the U.S. Open, a storybook finish for J.J. Spaun whose stunning comeback delivered him the championship. Stay with us on CNN.

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[03:50:00]

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HUNTE: A state of emergency in parts of the U.S. state of West Virginia following heavy rains that triggered deadly flash flooding. At least five people have died according to the governor's office.

Emergency officials say at least four others are still missing. Rescue operations are underway in two counties. Up to four inches of rain fell over just 30 minutes on Saturday night.

J.J. Spaun won the 2025 U.S. Open thanks to a back nine for the ages. The American clinched his first major title on Sunday at Oakmont Country Club after clawing back from a chaotic final round and sinking a huge pot for a dramatic finish at the 18th.

CNN's Patrick Snell caught up with the brand new champion.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: J.J. Spaun U.S. Open champion. How does that sound?

J.J. SPAUN, 2025 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: It sounds amazing. I would have never kind of thought that in my life but you know I've kind of always had to battle and overcome adversity and you know just about a year or two ago I was struggling just to get into these championships but here I am with my own trophy.

SNELL: We have to talk about a certain putt. That putt, an amazing finish. Take us through your emotions and what were you thinking as you approached that putt to minute? What is surging through your mind?

SPAUN: So many things. I knew the importance of the putt. I didn't know exactly, I didn't want to look at the lead award because I still wanted to execute the putt how I would if it was you know during a practice day or on Thursday.

But it's funny. The last thing I said to myself before I stepped into my routine was this is a $100 make which you know me and my caddy do for fun during practice rounds. We go to random parts on the putting on the green during the practice round and you know they're long 50- plus feet and you make when you get 100 bucks.

So you know it was kind of like a fun little moment where I was like okay I've done this before because I've taken a few hundred bucks off of him making those putts.

SNELL: A fun little moment but a life-changing moment for you.

SPAUN: Yes, I mean, I think that's the best thing you can do in such a high intense pressure situation is just to try to dumb it down to get you to feel comfortable and to you know still want to perform how you'd like but the expectation can make things even more tough. So to have a little fun with it and have a nice little kind of thought before I ended up hitting the putt I think could have been the key.

SNELL: Tell us what you've had to overcome along the way because you once considered walking away from the sport. How tough did it get for you?

SPAUN: Yes, it's just such a mental grind you're trying to not only play good golf you're trying to be a dad trying to provide for your family you're on the road four to seven weeks in a row not seeing your family and it just takes its toll and you know sometimes you got to realize and have a good perspective on what matters most and you know eventually that can help you turn the corner on the things that you don't really expect which for me was golf.

SNELL: Your big win coming on Father's Day, how special to share the moment with your loved ones?

SPAUN: Yes, it was unbelievable it's kind of a story you know that you can't write any different script to see my girls there waiting for me at the end of the green running into my arms it's just everything that you've seen you know in past championships with fathers and their families so to have my own special moment with them is something I'll cherish forever.

SNELL: You're a major champion now, where do you go from here, the bar's high, what are your goals, what do you think?

SPAUN: Disneyland!

[03:55:04]

Who knows, I mean it's so great to be in this kind of realm of golfers that have achieved major history and I would have never thought that I would actually accomplish this. I've definitely dreamed it but I would have never thought I'd be here but I'm so grateful to be the U.S. Open champion.

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HUNTE: People in Lisbon Portugal took to the streets on Sunday to protest how tourism is affecting their city. This is the latest protest in Europe organized by the Southern European Network Against Touristification. The group tries to raise awareness of how tourism can have adverse effects on local communities.

Britain's secret intelligence service MI6 will be led by a woman for the very first time. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Sunday that Blaise Metreweli will take over this fall; she currently leads the service's technology and innovations team, a position immortalized as Q in the James Bond movies. In 2017 it was revealed that the service's real-life Q is a woman but Metreweli was not named at the time.

Okay, thanks for joining me and the team, that's all I've got for you. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta, let's do it all again next weekend. CNN "Early Start" with Polo Sandoval is next, have a good week, see you soon.

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