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Two Children Killed, 17 Other People Injured In Attack; New Video Reveals Third Strike In Gaza Hospital Attack; Kremlin Rejects Presence of European Troops in Ukraine; At Least Eight Killed in Massive Russian Attack on Kyiv; Trump Again Threatens Sanction on Russia, No Set Deadline; Denmark Summons U.S. Envoy Over Report on Covert Influence Operations in Greenland; New CDC Director Ousted, Other Key Officials Follow; Climate Change Making Wildfire Weather Conditions Worse; South Korea to Ban Digital Devices in Classrooms; China's First Newborn Pandas of 2025 Make Public Debut. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 28, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN. Next, I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB FREY, MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR: Don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Yet again, another deadly school shooting in the U.S. Outrage, grief and a search for answers, but many disbelief that the horror continues. I'll speak to a survivor of a school shooting about what needs to be done.

New CNN exclusive information about the deadly attack at Gaza's Nasser Hospital, we're now learning there were three strikes as condemnation mounts.

Plus, later, the public debut that will likely put a smile on your face.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Community members in Minneapolis, Minnesota are vowing to fight for change after yet another mass shooting targeting school children in the United States. Families, neighbors and government leaders came together for vigils on Wednesday, many now calling for gun reform.

Earlier in the day, two children just eight and 10 years old were killed after they and their classmates from Annunciation Catholic school gathered for mass. 14 other children and three adults were injured but expected to survive.

The FBI is searching for a motive for the shooter who police identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who attended the school previously according to a yearbook photo obtained by CNN.

The school serves children from kindergarten to grade eight, the shooter opened fire through the windows of the church on campus and was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Westman was found carrying a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, all were purchased recently and legally, according to police who condemn the attack, along with state officials.

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BRIAN O'HARE, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF: The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): I don't know of anything, but these kids praying in a church packed into the pews joyful about their first week in school, their new teacher, and then getting shot through church windows. If that isn't enough to move people that we have to make some changes in this country, I don't know what is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Whitney Wild has more details.

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FREY: There are no words that can capture the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act. Children are dead.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENTCORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A peaceful start to the day ends in tragedy after a gunman opens fire during mass at a Catholic Church and school in Minneapolis, killing two children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a possible active shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any troopers responding, we just need a lot more medical.

WILD (voice-over): It happened just before 8:30 this morning local time. Police say dozens of children were inside the mass.

WESTON HALSNE, 10-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: It was like shots fired. And then we kind of like got under the pews. It kind of -- they shot through the stained glass windows, I think, and it was really scary. And I just ran under the pew and then I covered my head. My friend, like saved me though, because he laid on top of me.

But he got hit. He went to the hospital. I was like two seats away from the stained glass windows. They were like -- the shots were like right next to me.

WILD (voice-over): Monday marked their first day back at the preschool through eighth grade school.

O'HARA: During the mass, a gunman approached on the outside on the side of the building and began firing a rifle through the church windows towards the children sitting in the pews at the mass. Two young children, ages eight and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews.

WILD (voice-over): Minneapolis police rushed to the scene and entered the church to try and provide first aid to victims and also rescue some of the children who were hiding in the building.

[02:05:04]

FREY: You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy, or the absolute pain of this situation.

WILD (voice-over): This man lives near the church and heard the gunfire.

BILL BIENEMANN, ATTENDS MASS AT CHURCH: I said, there's no way that could be gunfire, there was so much of it, so it was sporadic.

WILD (voice-over): He rushed to the scene and spoke to a survivor as he came out of the church.

BIENEMANN: He said it looked like just a normal Sunday mass. So it was full, you know, of people and children. He just ran. You know, when this fire, he said it seemed like it went on for eternity, but when it stopped, he just -- he ran out of the building.

WILD (voice-over): Victims are now being treated at local hospitals, including Hennepin Healthcare, which says many of its victims are young. The chair of emergency medicine at the hospital says four of the patients required surgery. DR. THOMAS WYATT, CHAIR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, HENNEPIN HEALTHCARE: Nine of the 11 patients were pediatric ages, I can't emember the exact ages, I believe it's six, all the way up to 14, that's the range.

WILD (voice-over): Police say the investigation is just beginning and that the gunman was in his early 20s and armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol.

O'HARA: This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping. The coward who fired these shots ultimately took his own life in the rear of the church.

FREY: This kind of act of evil should never happen, and it happens far too often.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Wednesday's tragedy at a Catholic school in Minnesota marks the 286th mass shooting so far this year. According to the gun violence archive, an online database tracking incidents of gun violence in the U.S. Since 2021 more than 500 mass shootings have occurred each year. The Archive defines mass shooting as an incident where four or more people are shot and killed, not counting the shooter.

Speaking to CNN earlier, Minnesota Senator Tina Smith called out the issue of America's broad access to firearms, and said the country is at a tipping point.

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SEN. TINA SMITH (D-MN): We have more guns than we have people in the United States of America. We have over 400 million guns, and we have this toxic mix of hatred and violence that is then connected with guns. And though that pain and that violence is so too often playing out in schools, which should be the place where our little kiddos should be safest, where they should be the most comfortable and confident as they're -- as they're learning and as they're growing.

It is -- I think it is a terrible reflection. And I just -- my view of this in this moment is that we should look at the tipping point that we are at, and we have to all ask ourselves, are we going to continue to go down this road, or are we going to take a step back? The level of violence in this country is so unacceptable. And when dangerous, violent people have access to guns tragically, too often, this is -- this is what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Jaclyn Corin is the co-founder and executive director of March for Our Lives. She's also a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland Florida. Thank you so much for talking with us as we cover yet another school shooting in America.

JACLYN CORIN, CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MARCH FOR OUR LIVES: Well, thank you for having me and you get it right when you say yet another because unfortunately, this happens all too often. School just started for kids here in the U.S., and we're already seeing this unfold. It's absolutely devastating, and unfortunately, it's predictable.

CHURCH: And I did want to ask you, I mean, as a survivor of a school shooting yourself in 2018, what goes through your head when you hear these latest details of a shooter firing on praying students through church windows using three legally purchased weapons, killing two children and injuring 17 other people?

CORIN: Yes, every time this happens, I'm taken right back to when I lived through a shooting over seven years ago now. I was a junior at the time, and now I'm 24 years old, continuing this fight, because this happens time and time again in the United States. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in America.

So, unfortunately, what happened today to those little kids in Minnesota is happening to young people all across this country all the time. And so that implores all of us to think collectively, what do we need to do at a systemic level to change this?

It's easy to jump into the specifics about the shooter's life and what happened, but really, what we need to focus on is, how did that person fall through the cracks? And how can we close those cracks to make sure we can actually stop this from happening once and for all?

[02:10:05]

CHURCH: And Jaclyn, that is exactly my next question. What does need to be done to keep guns out of the hands of those most likely to do harm to others and to themselves? Yes, and given Congress has no appetite, it seems to act beyond offering thoughts and prayers. What options are available to stop this from happening again and again in this country?

CORIN: Yes, well, we saw the first piece of federal gun violence prevention legislation passed in 2022 after the Uvalde shooting, called the bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

So, of course, we always need to be pushing our federal legislatures -- legislators to do more work. Unfortunately, under this Trump administration, that's going to be very challenging. So we need to be pushing as citizens, our state legislature -- our state legislatures, our local officials, to actually think through and implement common sense, common sense gun safety laws.

And I recognize that the shooter today bought their firearms legally, and that highlights the complexities in our gun laws, especially how someone can pass legal purchase requirements and yet still commit such a devastating act of violence.

And so, that prompts important conversations we need to be having as a society. There's a need for stronger oversight. Is there a need for expanded intervention systems like red flag laws? And the answer is yes, there is a need. There's a lot of different laws that together, actually comprehensively prevent this violence, and we need to pass all of these at a federal level, and until that happens, we need to be working at a state level to make sure we protect Americans.

CHURCH: And Jaclyn, people in other countries look at America in horror. They find this confounding when they see these mass shootings, particularly those in schools, because most other nations ensure that anyone wanting to own a gun undergoes intensive training mental health and background checks before taking ownership of a potentially deadly weapon. Why can't that be done here in America do you think?

CORIN: Yes, I mean, what you describe is exactly what we try to illuminate to the country here at March for Our Lives. This is the only country where this regularly happens. This is the only country where there are more guns than people.

And so, we need to be looking at the countries that have had shootings before, and actually implemented common sense legislation to make sure people who should not have their hands on firearms do not get their hands on firearms. And so, in looking at places like Australia, we need to do more as a

society to actually make sure we reduce the number of guns in this country, and then make sure those folks who have firearms are trained they know how to use them properly. Because unfortunately, it's just a free for all over here.

And you're right, the entire world looks at us as a joke, and we need to get our act together and take this seriously, because kids are dying every single day.

CHURCH: And Jaclyn, just one final question. Why do you think it is that politicians see this happening, see children dying as a result of these school shootings, but still won't do anything?

CORIN: Well, unfortunately, we have a lot of money in our politics in this country and the gun lobby bank rolls so many elected officials campaigns and making sure that they block any common sense legislation that might be introduced in their state legislatures or in Congress.

So, it's our job as American citizens to make sure the people who are taking money from the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and other gun lobby groups are not being elected back into office. We need to prioritize electing leaders who actually care about protecting kids instead of their wallets.

CHURCH: Jaclyn Corin, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

CORIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: Amid the tragedy, stories of heroes emerged, officers, teachers, even ordinary people stepping up to help despite the danger, and their actions may have kept a terrible day from becoming even worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT DEBOER, PRINCIPAL, ANNUNCIATION CATHOLIC SCHOOL: Within seconds of this situation beginning, our teachers were heroes. Children were ducked down, adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children. And as we heard earlier, it could have been significantly worse without their heroic action. This is a nightmare, but we call our staff the dream team.

[02:15:04]

SHEA MCADARGH, PARENT: he was just a normal, every day beat cop. No special equipment, no special helmet or anything, ang he just immediately ran towards the direction of shooter. And that's when I knew I was safe, the children were safe and we were able to start triaging the kids.

PAT SCALLEN, RAN TO CHURCH AMID GUNFIRE, LIVES NEAR THE SCENE: Somebody was messing with my community. And I had to come up, and I had to be there to help. And I'm only a minute away and I just -- I just didn't think anything else. I felt I was somehow needed up there. And that's where I was going to be. And so, I ran up and got on the scene.

And the one little girl that who's -- got shot in the head asked me to hold her hand the whole time. And I did.

FREY: And I'm so grateful for the teachers and the faculty that truly acted in heroic fashion to save lives. I'm grateful for our law enforcement and our police officers that ran towards that danger. When so many of the rest of us would have run in the other direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And those are just some of the many stories we're hearing about the heroism of everyday people in Minneapolis doing what they can to help on a very dark day.

It's time for a short break. When we come back, exclusive CNN reporting about Israel's deadly attack on that hospital in southern Gaza. What new video reveals.

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CHURCH: The White House has wrapped up a meeting on the Israel Hamas war with few public details about how to end the fighting. A source tells CNN the main focus was on crafting a plan for post war Gaza.

But there were two unexpected people taking part, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Despite his broad portfolio during the first Trump administration, Kushner has no official role now, but he does have close ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State met in Washington with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar reaffirming unwavering U.S. commitment to Israeli security.

Take a listen to Sa'ar's hard line response to reporters questions.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, how is the meeting?

GIDEON SA'AR, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Very good meeting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the plan on the Palestinian state? What's the plan?

SA'AR: There won't be any.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Well, now to a CNN exclusive on the Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital that killed at least 22 people. New video obtained by CNN reveals not two but three strikes on the facility, leading to a lot more questions for the Israeli military. CNN's Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond has more on the investigation.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli military concluded its initial inquiry into that strike on Nasser Hospital, claiming that it was targeting a Hamas camera that was being used, they said, to observe the activity of Israeli troops.

But the Israeli military didn't provide any evidence for this claim. Nor did they provide an explanation for how they ascertained this was a Hamas camera and not a camera of a journalist working in that area. They also didn't explain why they struck this location, not just once, but at least twice minutes after that first strike, while first responders were on the scene.

The Israeli military said that they would further examine the decision making process in the field, as well as the process of authorizing these strikes.

What we do know for a fact is that 22 people have been killed as a result of those strikes on Nasser Hospital, including five journalists who were working for outlets such as the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and Reuters. Four health care workers as well as one rescue worker, were also killed in this strike.

And this is not an isolated incident. Nearly 200 journalists have been killed over the course of this war by the Israeli military, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That makes this conflict the deadliest for journalists in modern history.

There is a clear pattern of Israel either targeting journalists or disregarding its duty to protect those journalists in the field. Israel has also done this while blocking access to foreign journalists, blocking us from freely entering the Gaza Strip to report on what is happening there over the course of the last 23 months of this war.

Now, as all of this is happening, we are continuing to see the Israeli military advancing its attacks and its preparations to carry out a major ground offensive in Gaza City. 76 people have been killed in Gaza over the course of the last day, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and we are also continuing to see people dying of starvation, with 10 new deaths due to starvation in the last 24 hours, according to the Palestinian health ministry's latest count.

And there is no end in sight for this conflict as of now, even as there have been a series of meetings in Washington on Wednesday aimed at trying to bring about an end of the war and addressing Gaza's post war future, that was what the focus of a White House meeting on Wednesday, according to Steve Witkoff, President Trump's Special Envoy, discussing the day after the war in Gaza alongside President Trump.

[02:25:03]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also meeting with the Israeli Foreign Minister. Witkoff has expressed optimism that by the end of the year, he believes that one way or another, the war in Gaza will have ended, but the conditions on the ground, of course, speak to a conflict that is continuing with no end in sight.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: As Ukraine heads for more talks on ending the war, Russia is weighing in on possible European security guarantees if a peace deal is ever reached, the view from Moscow just ahead.

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[02:30:00]

CHURCH: We are following new developments out of Ukraine where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv has been hit a massive Russian attack overnight. At least eight people were killed including a child, when drones and missiles targeted the capitol. This comes as a Ukrainian delegation prepares for talks in Switzerland before sitting down with U.S. officials in New York on Friday in a push to end the conflict. The Kremlin keeping an eye on those talks. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is following developments from Moscow.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Russians say they're not per se against European security guarantees for Ukraine if there is a peace agreement, but they do say they're against European troops on the ground in Ukraine. The spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov saying that's because the Russians don't consider these to be European troops, but to be troops from European member nations which -- most of which are members of NATO themselves.

And the Russians have always said that they believe one of the root causes for the conflict in Ukraine is the expansion of NATO in the 1990s and the 2000s. The Russians are saying that they believe having those types of forces on the ground in Ukraine would essentially be NATO expanding into Ukraine and it's something that the Russians are against. Another thing that the Russians are saying as well is that, so far, there doesn't appear to be a clear timeline for when and if a meeting between Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, could take place.

The Russians continuing to say that they believe such a meeting needs to be well prepared, as they put it. They say that most of the things that are on the table, most of the things that need to be decided, need to be worked out before such a meeting could take place, so that such a meeting could have real results, as the Kremlin puts it. At the same time, the Russians are also saying that they do take seriously the threats coming from the Trump Administration as far as possible sanctions are concerned. However, they also say that they believe that relations between the U.S. and Russia could be fully restored, as Vladimir Putin put it, in the not too distant future.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

CHURCH: U.S. President Donald Trump has often said he wants to annex Greenland for security reasons. Now, the Danish foreign ministry is summoning the U.S. Envoy to Denmark over a report from Denmark's public broadcaster DR alleging an American influence operation in the country. DR says it found at least three Americans with ties to Trump may be working to shift public opinion on making Greenland part of the U.S. In a statement, the Danish foreign minister said, we are aware foreign actors continue to show an interest in Greenland and its position in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is therefore not surprising if we experience outside attempts to influence the future of the kingdom in the time ahead.

A stunning shakeup at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday as the Director Dr. Susan Monarez was removed from the position that she's held for less than a month. Shortly after Monarez left, three other top CDC officials resigned. The White House says Monarez was not aligned with President Trump's agenda, and she was terminated because she refused to resign.

But her attorneys dispute the White House's version of what happened. According to people familiar with the situation, Monarez's ouster follows clashes with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and his team over vaccine policies.

A group of newborns making their public debut and they couldn't be any cuter. We will meet the baby pandas charming crowds in Chengdu, just ahead.

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CHURCH: Welcome back. A new report is raising the alarm about the possible link between climate change and wildfires. The World Weather Attribution analyzed wildfires in Turkey, Cyprus and Greece. The study says wildfires have killed nearly two dozen people and resulted in the evacuation of more than 80,000 as of August. And weather conditions driven by climate change made the fires 22 percent more intense and 10 times more likely. The report projects more extreme concurrent fire weather if there is further global warming.

South Korea will no longer allow cell phones in classrooms, starting next March. The nation passed a Bill Wednesday to ban the use of mobile phones and other digital devices in classrooms nationwide. 99 percent of South Koreans are online and 98 percent own a smartphone, according to a Pew Research Center study. Last year, the country's education ministry found about 37 percent of middle and high school students say social media affects their daily lives and 22 percent feel anxious without access to social media. Well, visitors to China's giant panda breeding base are getting a cuddly dose of cuteness. The first newborn cubs of the year are making their debut, their public debut.

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Dozens of baby pandas have been born at the center in Chengdu since it started its breeding program back in 2023. Now, these cubs don't have names just yet. We'll wait for that. But baby pandas drink their mother's milk or a special formula for about the first six months of their lives, before gradually adding bamboo to their diet. Scientists estimate pandas in the wild live about 15 to 20 years, and about 10 years longer under human care. Very cute.

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stay with us.

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