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Erin Burnett Outfront
Police: 2 Children Killed In Shooting, 14 Children & 3 Adults Hurt; CNN Goes To Chicago's Most Violent Area As Trump Attacks City; Report: Men With Trump Ties Conducting "Operations" in Greenland. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 27, 2025 - 19:00 ET
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[19:00:25]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, a heartbreaking tragedy in America tonight. Children killed after a gunman opens fire on school children as they prayed in church. More than a dozen others injured in the hospital tonight. The mayor of Minneapolis speaks out tonight, our guest.
Plus, searching for a motive. Chilling details tonight emerging about the shooter.
And claims of a covert operation. Denmark accusing Americans with alleged ties to Trump of secretly trying to drive a wedge between Greenland and Denmark to spark a secession. The Danish lawmaker, who had told Trump to F off over Greenland, is our guest.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, a horrific act of violence at school. Two children are dead, 14 children and three adults in the hospital right now. At least six of the children said to be in critical condition after a shooter clad in all black opened fire through the stained-glass windows of the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, first barricading the doors to prevent anyone from leaving. Students were sitting in their pews during what was their first mass of the school year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It is incomprehensible and horrific. A 10-year-old boy who survived, telling reporters he was sitting next to the window when the bullet smashed through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WESTON HALSNE, FIFTH GRADER: It was like right beside me. I was like two seats away from the stained-glass windows. So, they were like the shots were like right next to me. The first one, I was like, what is that? I thought it was just something. Then when I heard it again, I just ran under the pew and then I covered my head.
My friend Victor, like, saved me, though, because he laid on top of me. But he got hit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That little boy is 10 years old, fifth grade, surviving a school shooting, talking about how he did it. He mentioned Victor. Victor, who saved his life. We do know what happened to Victor. Victor was injured, but he is alive. He is in the hospital right now.
We want to show you images from inside that Catholic Church. These were all taken from before today. The rows of pews you see there where the children would have been sitting today. Now, police say that the shooter, as I said, had barricaded the doors to prevent anyone from leaving. Done all that premeditation in advance. Died of a self- inflicted gunshot wound after using a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol to carry out the attack.
All the weapons, according to police, were recently purchased. And sources tell CNN tonight that the shooting was planned with, quote, pre-operational surveillance and study, it's sickening. And as of tonight, investigators are still trying to determine the motive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'HARA: We are also aware of a manifesto that the shooter had timed to be released on YouTube. This manifesto appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writings. That content has since been taken down with the assistance of the FBI, and it now remains under active review by our investigators.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It was a horrific thing to see.
Whitney Wild and Laura Coates are both in Minneapolis tonight.
And I want to start with you, Whitney. What is the latest that you're learning as you've been on the ground this afternoon?
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: There is just a little bit of good news to share, Erin. Four of the children who are in the hospital have been discharged. Of course, there are many more who are still fighting for their lives, who are still trying to heal in the hospital.
This is a school that has a long history. There are children here who are descendants of the founding families here, Erin. This church was founded in 1875. The school was founded shortly after that. This is a generational community, a tight knit community that will need each other now more than ever.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAYOR JACOB FREY (D), MINNEAPOLIS: There are no words that can capture the horror and the evil of this unspeakable act. Children are dead.
WILD (voice-over): A peaceful start to the school day ends in tragedy after a gunman opens fire during mass at a Catholic church and school in Minneapolis, killing two children.
DISPATCHER: This is a possible active shooter.
DISPATCHER: Any troopers responding, we just need a lot more medical.
WILD: It happened just before 8:30 this morning, local time. Police say dozens of children were inside the Annunciation Catholic Church when the shooting began.
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.
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WESTON HALSNE, 10 YEARS OLD: 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. So, they were like. The shots were like right next to me.
WILD: The shooting lasted about two minutes. When it was over, 17 were wounded, 14 of them children and two students were killed.
O'HARA: Two young children, ages eight and ten, were killed where they sat in the pews.
WILD: Minneapolis police rushed to the scene and entered the church to try to provide first aid to victims and also rescue some of the children who were hiding in the building.
FREY: You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy or the absolute pain of this situation.
WILD: Parents say they were frantic to get to their children.
ANDERS HOLINE, FATHER: I just, you know, selfishly, was just like, where are my girls? Where is June and Olive? That's all I could think about. And I couldn't find them. And it was. It was awful.
WILD: The principal of the school praising the bravery of the teachers and staff. MATTHEW DEBOER, PRINCIPAL, ANNUNCIATION 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. It could have been significantly worse without their heroic action.
We lost two angels today. And please continue to pray for those still receiving care.
WILD: Victims are now being treated at local hospitals, and six children are in critical condition.
DR. THOMAS WYATT, CHAIR, EMERGENCY MEDICINE AT HENNEPIN HEALTHCARE: Nine of the 11 patients were the pediatric ages. Remember the exact name of the exact ages? I believe it's six all the way up to 14. That's the range.
WILD: Police say the suspected shooter has been identified as Robin Westman. The 23-year-old was 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.
WILD: Westman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
FREY: This kind of act of evil should never happen, and it happens far too often.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILD (on camera): Erin, it is so difficult to come to the conclusion of what specifically drove this. But what we know, according to law enforcement sources, is that the suspect posted a video of writings that included antisemitic, anti-black and anti-religious writings. Further, Erin, we know, according to our investigative team who has reviewed a yearbook that he was at one point a student here, our investigative team has also found that his mother was once an employee at the school -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Whitney, thank you very much for all of your reporting and for being there.
And Laura Coates is also on the ground in Minneapolis.
And, Laura, you know, for you, you came today home. I mean, it is your city. You grew up there. You went to school in the area, and now here you are covering this.
How shocking is it to see something like this, to see something like this there in Minneapolis?
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR, "LAURA COATES LIVE" & CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: It is unbelievably heartbreaking.
Whitney, Erin, you -- we are all mothers. My kids are getting ready to start school. The idea, you know, the excitement that goes in the air in your household, buying school supplies, maybe picking out uniforms like students here at this school were doing, all those things behind us. There are the announcements that are still scrolling on the marquee outside of the school, welcoming students, getting them excited for the week and the school year ahead.
And today, to have this happen in this beautiful neighborhood community where just around the corner, driving over to this site, I mean, I'm passing by a place where my nephew went to daycare and passing by, different homes were on the front lawns. People have their lawn chairs out. Communities are gathering together outside. There are neon poster boards with sharpie pens directing people with the words family and an arrow, trying to get them to the location where they could be reunited with their families, or, God forbid, be met with the most horrific news.
And here we are in a community that is so unaccustomed as so many communities are across the country. With this level of depraved violence. And yet the familiarity of knowing that schools are having drills about shootings, and we're learning as well, a little bit more about what happened inside of there. I mean, the depravity of trying to barricade these children in. I've heard about an older woman who was crawling out because she was trying to signal for help outside.
Look where we are. We're not only near a school, were near a very busy intersection here in Minneapolis. There is a grocery store. Just a hop, skip and a jump away. There are restaurants here. Troy, the community, when they heard those gunshots, must have been completely stunned knowing that it took place.
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But inside of that particular building, inside where the mass was taking place. I've spoken with families who told me that the students were able to sit anywhere they wanted because it was an open mass. It was the first big one for the school year.
And so you had kids from different grades sitting together, friendships forming, perhaps reuniting after a summer away after all this time. And now to learn about the depravity that were talking about here is unbelievable. And I have to tell you, far too often, I approach these stories now as a mother, even more than a journalist, wondering what it would be like to try to follow the neon poster boards, trying to find my way to my children and their classmates, hearing the story of young Victor covering another student with their bodies to make sure that they were safe, Erin. It's unbelievable, yet again.
BURNETT: Yeah, as you say, a community unaccustomed as every community is where this happens in this country. And yet it happens again and again.
Laura, thank you so very much. We're so lucky to have Laura there. She's going to be there, of course, has gone -- gone to what is home in so many senses, where she grew up to cover this horrific story.
The mayor of Minneapolis joins us now, Jacob Frey, and you saw him briefly there in Whitney's reporting.
And we are grateful to have you with us, Mayor Frey, now, although it is horrendous to be talking to you under such circumstances and for this reason.
I want to just begin with what the latest is you're able to tell us about the condition of those children. I know there are three elderly victims in the hospital, 14 injured children. We know a few of them might have been sent home. But what is the latest on how all of those victims are doing?
FREY: Well, this is an unspeakable tragedy, but how many times have you heard politicians say that exact phrase before? And yet these school and church shootings happen again and again. We have a number of professionals, from law enforcement to medical, that are doing everything possible for these kids and family members right now. And you have a whole Minneapolis family that has galvanized around a common cause, which is wrapping their arms around these families.
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.
But here's the thing. Thoughts and prayers. While they're appreciated, they're not enough. These kids were literally praying. Of course, it's on us to talk about doing the right things, but more importantly, it's on all of us to act, to make a difference so that it's not just this should never happen again.
I was listening to Laura just a second ago talk about how you approach these situations as a mom or as a dad, and that is the way you should approach them. These are not just somebody else's kids. Think about them as if they were your own. We all have titles in life, but I'll tell you, the title that matters, matters most to me is husband and dad.
BURNETT: Yeah.
FREY: And we have to be thinking about our children in these scenarios. And this happens far too often.
BURNETT: So, Mayor, you talk about this. I mean, just as parents and you and I are both parents, many people watching are parents or grandparents and aunts and uncles and children in their lives. You have two young children I know who are around the age of some of the students who were victims of this horrific shooting, and there was an image today that I saw of you.
Obviously, you woke up not thinking anything like this would happen in your life today. And it did. You were sitting on the steps of the school church today, the Annunciation School Church. I don't know if you can see it. I don't know if you have what we call return, but there you are alone as police are then around you.
What went through your mind at that moment as you realized that this is what you were facing as a mayor of this city, that your city had changed, that you had changed.
FREY: You think about your role as a father. You think how other dads that are feeling on that morning, when I was running as quick as I could to get to the scene of this horrific act, there were dads that were kicking off their flip flops, carrying their kid like a football running towards the school because they had another kid potentially inside.
You know, we all have these beautiful moments that seemingly are routine in the morning where you put a headband on your little girl and you whisper a few beautiful things in her ear, or maybe not so beautiful, and you say, get out the door and you shove them some applesauce.
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You do that hopefully with the confidence that they're going to come home and that you're going to see them that night. Every parent should have that assurance that their kid can go into the first week of school and learn math and play out on the playground and laugh with their friends and mess around in the cafeteria -- all the kinds of things that every kid should be entitled to.
It's hard to have that kind of confidence if you're worried about a school or a church getting shot up. And so, when we talk about these things never happening again, let's make sure they don't happen again, because by the way, you know, how many times have we been here? How many times have you done nearly this exact same interview?
This has happened in other countries. And guess what? They do something about it.
BURNETT: Yeah. Yep.
FREY: We got to do something about it here.
BURNETT: So, mayor one thing as I was preparing for this today, I did unfortunately watch the video, that the shooter had posted and just trying to understand what happened. It's incomprehensible.
I'm just wondering if you have any information as to why or how somebody so depraved is, is out there and was able to get all these, all the things that happened, right, all the things that happened and the surveillance and the planning and all of these things happened. And at this point, we don't understand that anybody raised any red flag about it. And maybe more reporting will come out. But we don't have it at this point.
Do you know anything about why or how this person was even able to do this?
FREY: I don't. I think we can all speculate. But the reality is, is that anybody that would be willing to commit some sort of horrific act is not stable.
BURNETT: Yeah. FREY: It's an act of cowardice. It is horrific. And, you know, let's call a spade a spade. You can't do something like that.
And, no, I mean, I obviously have heard a ton of rumors, as I'm sure you've heard. I've heard tidbits about what's in this manifesto. I don't know, a whole lot more yet. But truthfully, it doesn't matter when there are kids that are dead. That's what matters.
What matters is wrapping our arms around these families. What matters is making sure that as a Minneapolis family, as an American family, were doing everything possible to hold these families close because they are going through the very worst moments that they will ever experience in their entire lives right now.
In Minneapolis, we're strong. We're resilient. We get knocked down seven times, we get back up eight. But what makes us special is that there is this kind of compassion and this love for one another. And I know that these families are going to be feeling a whole lot of it right now, and they need it.
BURNETT: When you talk about compassion, I just -- I don't want to tiptoe around the edge of this, but, you know, the shooters name was in question. The gender of the shooter. No one's really sure what's going on there. Five years ago, was Robert. Then a name change to Robin? Okay.
This is being seized in all corners, as you can imagine, in all sorts of ways. And you know that, mayor. And perhaps that's why when you spoke about this so profoundly and powerfully as you are even here now, but when you spoke about this today publicly, you voiced concern for the transgender community, for the community overall.
And obviously, you chose to do that in that moment because you thought it was important. And I wanted to give you a chance to say why, to say why you felt it was important to do that in that moment?
FREY: Obviously, I've heard about the rhetoric and the narrative that is being pushed out. But here's the thing -- anybody that is going to use this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any community has lost touch with a common humanity. We got to be operating, not out of hate for any group, but out of a love for our children.
That's where the focus needs to be right now. A love for our kids. Seeing these kids, not just as somebody else's kids, this horrific thing happened. But what if it was our own? How would we feel then?
So, look, we need to be standing up for every community out there, a Catholic community too, by the way.
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I mean, any community that suffers this kind of blow, our Minneapolis community, you got to stand up for them.
But, you know, I feel oftentimes in these instances, there's this desire to villainize a group. You want to call this an act of cowardice? Do it, because it is.
But regardless of what group or background or gender, you know, the bottom line is that kids got killed. Let's love each other more. Let's love each other more because the antidote to hate is not more hate.
Hurt people, hurt people, and the antidote to hate is a whole lot more love. That's where we all need to be going right now.
BURNETT: Well, Mayor Frey, I'm grateful to you for taking the time and sharing that. And thank you. Thank you for being with me and for talking to everyone under such horrible circumstances.
FREY: Thank you. Thank you.
BURNETT: Mayor of Minneapolis Jacob Frey, and we have new details tonight about the rambling message, the disturbing images that are believed to be linked to the shooter and what they reveal.
Plus, I'm going to talk to a witness who actually lives just down the street from the shooting. After the shots were fired, he was there, was rushing in, and you'll hear what he saw.
And Trump threatening to send the National Guard to Chicago tonight. But do the people live in what is said to be one of the city's most violent neighborhoods want the help?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't need a band aid to cover up the problem. What we need is a solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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BURNETT: Breaking news, admiration for mass shooters. Hatred of multiple groups. No sympathy for any victim. That is just some of what the shooter in today's Catholic school massacre, which he murdered two children reveals in videos posted online. Videos that police are scouring through right now for clues and answers about the shooter, who has been identified as a 23-year-old named Robin Westman.
Brian Todd has the latest on what we know about the shooter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'HARA: The coward that shot these victims took his own life in the rear of the church. That coward has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Westman seems to have left a series of online videos which describe an obsession with school shootings, and even named other mass shooters, such as the 2012 Sandy Hook gunman, the Columbine gunman, and the man who attacked the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.
ROBIN WESTMAN, SHOOTER: Here's my note to my family.
TODD: The video also shows written statements and several guns painted with slurs. In another clip, the speaker simply reads aloud from a clothes dryer manual.
WESTMAN: Dryer safety. Your safety and the safety of others are very important.
TODD: Police say they also found a litany of writings.
O'HARA: We are also aware of a manifesto that the shooter had timed to be released on YouTube. This manifesto appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing writings. That content has since been taken down with the assistance of the FBI, and it now remains under active review by our investigators.
TODD: Apparently, part of the plan that the shooter seemed to illustrate in those same videos on YouTube, a photo of a slab of wood, an actual slab of wood was found at the scene blocking a door from the outside.
WESTMAN: This will be for the emergency exit, pop it through the hand.
TODD: According to social media posts, the shooter's mother worked at the school from 2016 to 2021, and the shooter graduated from the school in 2017. The shooter, now known as 23-year-old Robin Westman, identified as a female and changed their name legally to Robin from Robert in 2020.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): FBI director (AUDIO GAP) the agency is investigating this as an act of domestic terrorism and as a hate crime targeting Catholics. Police Chief Brian O'Hara says officials there have not yet established enough of a motive to charge it or to investigate it yet as a hate crime -- Erin.
BURNETT: Brian, thank you very much.
Tim Clemente is with us now, former FBI counterterrorism agent, and Juliette Kayyem, the former assistant secretary of homeland security. And I appreciate both of you.
Tim, we're not going to show the manifesto or any of the video that the shooter posted here in this segment, because it is disgusting. But there is something that is in there that I wanted to ask you about, and that is the shooter talks about being sorry to his family, but that's it, and then makes it very clear he uses an expletive to refer to the children. It was a physically recoiled watching that.
It indicates that the shooter knew right from wrong, right? It indicates a sense of awareness about what was going to happen. What does that mean? TIM CLEMENTE, FORMER FBI COUNTERTERRORISM AGENT: Exactly what you
said, Erin. It's awareness that what he was doing was wrong and evil. And it's also awareness that there's collateral damage.
He cared nothing about his intended victims, which he stated openly, going even beyond that. And then he did state in that four page note that he highlights in the video that he's concerned about the repercussions for his family, his loved ones, his siblings, his parents and his friends.
And so there's a great awareness there that he knows right from wrong. But there's the evilness coming out of him that he's willing to go past the worst of the worst for his family and do the absolute worst you can do to another human being, which is murder innocent children while they're in church, at school.
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So clearly there was awareness, deviation from normalcy in every way, when you watch that video. But, the one thing that was normal, that it seemed that he might have had a conscience at one point, but it no longer works.
BURNETT: And I mean, Juliette, you know, I don't want to -- you don't want to use words lightly or sort of, because you can't come up with the right words. But in situations like this, sometimes that happens right when you see something like this especially, it's hard to not think of words like that in the context of children being in church, right? It's an act of evil.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: That's absolutely right. And we mislead ourselves if we talk in terms of sort of a lone wolf or a single crazy person, sort of outside the important issue regarding gun control and access to guns, which I don't think will get solved anytime soon.
Here, you have another issue, which is, as Tim certainly knows, these people never are really alone. And we see that in the manifesto, in the performative nature of the publications of this crazy thing or that crazy thing, the purchasing of the guns, the surveillance that we know has now happened. What did he say to friends, his community, his parents.
And we really have to focus on the potential for intervention in these cases, rather than thinking, well, it's a lone wolf and someone's crazy or has hate, or we should get rid of all guns. Neither of those is going to be a short-term solution. And what you really need to focus on is what kind of interventions can we think about that are going to help us? And these children in terms of the prevalence of these act -- of these cases.
BURNETT: Right. As Mayor Frey was saying, what, that something needs to be done and obviously put aside the political roadblocks on gun changes, right? The intervention with shooters. Tim, there's something else I know that stood out to you involving the shooters family as you have gone through this horrible day. What was it? CLEMENTE: Well, reading that note, that four page note that he
highlighted in the video, he talks about the loving environment he grew up in with his parents and his siblings, and he even admonishes one of his, I believe his sister, for being in some kind of a spat with her mother. And he says, you know, mom loves you. Get over it.
And that shows that this guy wasn't tortured as a child by his family, and he was probably somewhat, if not fairly close to members of his family. And so, what he was going through, what we what he exhibited today is not new. It probably was evidenced earlier, earlier this week, earlier this month or earlier in his life.
And whatever evidence came out about what he was intending to do, it was obviously ignored. And that really, I agree 100 percent with what Juliette just said, that really is the big problem here is that people keep missing the fact that those around them and close to them are in danger are in a horrible situation and need help and need intervention. And this guy clearly did and did not get the attention he needed for whatever his problems were that he took out on those kids.
BURNETT: Thank you both very much. I appreciate it.
And next, we're going to talk to a witness, someone who ran to the scene lives down the street, just down the street from the Catholic Church. He heard the gunfire. One of the heroes who ran towards the fire will be with us next.
And we're going to take you to what is known as one of Chicago's most violent neighborhoods to ask the most important question here of what people want, what people take the politics out of it? Do the people who live there think that the National Guard is going to help?
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[19:38:42]
BURNETT: And back with the breaking news. Two children dead, 17 more people wounded in a mass shooting at a school church in the hospital tonight. It has been a day of unimaginable trauma for those families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'HARA: The dozens of officers that responded to this scene, many of them are deeply traumatized by what they saw, as are obviously all of the children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Pat Scallen is OUTFRONT. He lives down the street from the school. He heard gunshots and ran towards the scene.
And also, Pat, I know you attended the school yourself as a student. So, I'm sorry to meet you under such circumstances, Pat, but, you know, you hear gunshots and your instinct was to run towards them, an incredible thing to even contemplate. Can you even -- can you even put words on what you felt in those
moments when you heard those gunshots and what made you run towards them?
PAT SCALLEN, RAN TO CHURCH AMID GUNFIRE, LIVES NEAR THE SCENE: Well, I didn't think they were gunshots at first, but after about the 10th shot, I knew they were and I knew what direction they were coming from, and I knew it wasn't going to be good. I knew it was either the church or the school or both. And my first visceral reaction was just outright anger.
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And I think that's what drove me, that 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.
BURNETT: What -- what happened when you got there? What did you see?
SCALLEN: So when I first came up, it was eerily quiet. No one was really around that I could see. Except I did see an empty -- I think it was empty magazine on the east side of the church, on the sidewalk. I looked at that for just a minute, and then I -- you know, I knew that something obviously for sure happened.
And then I ran -- I went around to the front of the church, and I had a sense that that's where the things were. And as soon as I got there, the kids started coming out of the church and obviously then I knew it was something in the church. And that's where things stood.
But at that time, there was no police, no emergency, medical personnel on the scene. And kids were coming out crying in shock. And some were very hurt, including the ones that I tried to help and take care of.
BURNETT: And what were you able to do for them?
SCALLEN: So I -- I kind of kept my eyes rolling, but I ended up concentrating on three children. One was a boy who didn't have too bad injuries. He just got a little bit brandished on his -- on his left arm. But the other two children, one was a -- was definitely shot in the -- in the front of the head and the other was shot. And that she said she was shot in the neck.
Now, interestingly, both could talk. Both were not bleeding, but they were both obviously very hurt. And they were in a lot of distress and no one was there. So I took all three of them. I said, let's sit down. And I tried to calm them down.
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. And they asked for their parents. They -- why did this happen? And they wanted their parents. And I reassured them that their parents -- I would get in touch with their parents or someone would right away. And that they were, that the police were coming and they were going to
get taken care of, and they were going to be okay. And we just need to be calm. And it's interesting, the boy that wasn't that hurt was so brave.
I mean, I kept asking him, he's okay. And he just -- yes, sir. I'm fine. And I know he was thinking of those other girls and those other two girls under the circumstances, were so brave.
BURNETT: Do you know how they are doing tonight, Pat? Those girls?
SCALLEN: I don't know about the boy and the girl that was shot in the neck. I do know, because I was able to connect with the mother, right, of the one that was shot in the head. She had surgery and I think she's going to be okay. I just heard when she was in surgery and what they were going to do, I'd rather not get into the details out of respect for the family, but I think she's going to be okay.
BURNETT: Well, we can all pray for her and for that other little girl that you saw oh. You were -- you were a guardian angel for them.
SCALLEN: And for the -- and I -- my heart goes out to the parents of those two children. I mean, I had three kids in that school. I have two grandkids and a Catholic school in St. Paul. I was there, although when I went there. This just didn't happen. But unfortunately, times have changed.
BURNETT: Well, Pat, thank you for sharing. For sharing what happened and for that great gift that you gave those families.
SCALLEN: Well, you know, its just something that I think people need to do. They needed help. And, you know, I just happened to be at the right place to do that.
So thank you for having me, Erin.
(CROSSSTALK)
BURNETT: Well, the right person, also, the person. So -- thank you, pat.
SCALLEN: Pardon me? Yeah.
BURNETT: I said, no, it's also about being the right person. So, thank you.
SCALLEN: Yeah. Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. We're going to take a brief break. Such a -- such a horrible day.
And we will be back with our special report on Chicago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:39] BURNETT: Tonight, the mayor of D.C. admitting Trump's crackdown is lowering crime, specifically related to carjackings. Mayor Bowser also saying the surge of National Guard troops is causing mistrust. It comes as Chicago could be the next city to see a Trump guard surge.
Omar Jimenez is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CEDRIC HAWKINS, ANTI GUN VIOLENCE MEDIATOR, CHICAGO CRED: I lost nine family members to gun violence. Only one of my family members made it to be in his 40s.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cedric Hawkins is now 44. He works with the anti-gun violence group Chicago CRED, trying to make peace before things turn violent, sometimes between gangs.
HAWKINS: Just trying to be able to obtain a non-aggression agreement. That don't mean that I don't still feel like that you deserve to die. That just means that right now we have a respect level and the respect is I don't like you. You don't like me. I ain't going to come in your hood. You don't come in my hood.
JIMENEZ: And that is good enough for now.
HAWKINS: And that's good enough.
JIMENEZ: And in his South Side Chicago neighborhood, he takes pride in even that compromise because it means results.
HAWKINS: Last year, we had four individuals murdered in the Pullman area at this time.
JIMENEZ: Yeah.
HAWKINS: This year, 2025, we haven't had one individual murdered this year.
JIMENEZ: President Trump has threatened to want to send in the National Guard. You feel like even just like the presence of military here --
HAWKINS: Presence of military will put our communities in a situation where they feel like they are incarcerated.
JIMENEZ: It might throw off the playbook that it sounds like --
HAWKINS: Is working.
JIMENEZ: -- is working.
Citywide murders are down over 30 percent compared to last year, and shootings are down almost 40 percent, which is on pace to be below pre-pandemic levels of violence. But that's still over 250 lives lost.
ROCHELLE SYKES, OFFICE MANAGER, MT. PILGRIM BAPTIST CHURCH IN CHICAGO: My grandkids can't sit outside. They can't sit in the living room or at the kitchen table because a bullet may come through.
JIMENEZ: Rochelle Sykes has lived in West Garfield Park all her life. Her neighborhood's changed.
President Trump has talked about sending in the National Guard to -- to help with this situation.
SYKES: Me personally, that's not the solution.
JIMENEZ: So even you, you live in what is known to be the most violent neighborhood in the city in terms of shooting rates --
SYKES: Uh-huh.
JIMENEZ: -- you don't believe the National Guard should be here?
SYKES: No, we don't need a band aid to cover up the problem.
[19:50:05]
What we need is a solution. No offense to the president, but we actually need someone that's in this community. You need to go and talk to the children in the schools and ask them the question. What would make you feel safe?
JIMENEZ: It's that question of safety city leaders are still trying to figure out.
LARRY SNELLING, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: We've created task force around robberies when we saw a spike in those smash and grabs burglaries, shootings, homicides, obviously, boots on the ground, intel.
JIMENEZ: So, it doesn't sound like it's one thing in particular.
SNELLING: Look, policing is so nuanced and so is crime. But we also have to face the reality. If we brought our homicide rate down to one homicide. We can celebrate that and that's great. That it would be absolutely great, except for the one family who lost a loved one.
JIMENEZ: Where did it hit you?
"KING", CHICAGO RESIDENT, GUN VIOLENCE VICTIM: I am my arm and my legs.
JIMENEZ: King, as he's known, was shot while living in Atlanta and moved to Chicago for a fresh start.
KING: People ask me why I come from Atlanta to Chicago like it's a war zone and stuff, but I don't look at it as a war zone. You know, when I see, it's a lot of -- it's a lot of built up hurt, man. I see a lot of great things from Chicago other than violence. They be quick to give up on Chicago.
JIMENEZ: For Ced --
HAWKINS: This is a calling for me.
JIMENEZ: -- the fate of his city, he says, won't come from boots on the ground, but ears to the ground.
HAWKINS: I would never say that it's not beneficial for the government to send resources and help. I beg President Trump to send the right resources. But as far as sending a National Guard, I believe that it will put us in a situation where the whole city of Chicago will be right back where we started.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ (on camera): And he thinks he could set things back decades. But of course, there are a lot of ifs here, including what -- if this deployment happens, what will it actually look like? Will they be in some of the neighborhoods that we visited here on the south and west sides? And if it does happen, what will Governor J.B. Pritzker here in Illinois do about it?
Depending on the form of it, as we've already heard, there are plans to challenge legally, depending on what form it comes in.
BURNETT: He's been so defiant.
All right, Omar, thank you so much for that great reporting from Chicago.
And next, Americans with alleged ties to Trump are being accused of trying to run a secret operation in Greenland.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, the State Department refusing to explain why three Americans with alleged ties to President Trump are accused of engaging in, quote, influence operations in Greenland, saying it doesn't comment on the actions of private citizens.
Now, this comes after a report by the Danish public broadcaster, DR, based on eight sources across Greenland, Denmark and the United States, reported that the three men attempted to infiltrate Greenlandic society. That's the word they used, infiltrate, and to drive a wedge between Greenland and Denmark.
One of the men allegedly compiling a list of Trump supporters in Greenland with the aim of creating a secessionist movement.
[19:55:00]
I mean, this is a stunning development. And by the way, the context here is crucial. It's coming just months after Trump vowed to own Greenland, which is an enormous resource rich island under Denmark's control, saying things like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have to have Greenland.
I think we're going to get it. One way or the other, we're going to get it.
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: You are not ruling out military force to take Greenland.
TRUMP: I don't rule it out. I don't say I'm going to do it, but I don't rule out anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Those words alone were stunning. But this new development is jaw-dropping.
So, OUTFRONT now, Anders Vistisen. He is a Danish member of the European parliament, and he has been briefed on this ongoing situation in the intelligence that they have in the Danish foreign ministry.
So, Anders, what is your reaction? I mean, this report comes out of an alleged ongoing influence operation by the U.S. against its ally, Denmark to sort of sow dissent and a secessionist movement. I mean, what is your reaction as you hear all this?
ANDERS VISTISEN, DANISH MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: I think it's quite appalling to see a longstanding ally acting hostile against the Kingdom of Denmark. I think it's quite obvious that elements within the United States government, who wants to obtain control over the island of Greenland, are using people within the -- a little bit naive independence movement in Greenland to obtain that goal. And that is very worrisome, especially when we are talking about two nations who have a longstanding alliance and both in defense, economy and, and general friendship.
BURNETT: Yeah. Well, of course, all of those things and NATO allies.
I mean, Anders, I know when Trump first started talking about taking over Greenland, right, and left open the door to using force to do so. You were at one point driven in frustration to tell him to F off in response to what was going on, right. In a moment of passion. You said that.
So, in that context, I want to read to you what the State Department is saying about this because we asked them, what is this? Is the United States doing this? Their response is, quote, we have no comment to provide on the actions of private U.S. citizens in Greenland. The U.S. government does not control or direct the actions of private citizens. The president, the vice president and the secretary of state have all been clear, the United States respects the right of the people of Greenland to determine their own future.
Of course, a statement like that could be read in many ways in the context of a secessionist movement and an independence movement in Greenland. What do you say to that?
VISTISEN: First of all, that's contrary to the intelligence that that the Danish intelligence services put forward this morning, Danish time, but also the reading of the Danish minister of foreign affairs, who very clearly said that that and that is also why the Danish acting -- the American acting ambassador to Denmark, was called to a meeting in the Danish foreign office today.
But that being said, nobody believes anymore that if Greenland attained independence, that would last for more than 5 or 10 minutes before it de facto becomes under U.S. domination or control as a dominion or colony or whatever you want to call it, of the United States. So, the idea that a secession movement in Greenland will lead to a meaningful independence in the full meaning of that word, meaning being able to control your own affairs, I think that has been fairly disproven by recent events.
BURNETT: You talk about Danish intelligence, Danish foreign ministry, and I know you have been briefed on what -- what they know. So what -- what have they said that has really stopped you in your tracks of what they've briefed you on?
VISTISEN: It's actually very forthcoming. And they also put it in so many words in public today in Denmark, that this morning the Danish intelligence service just openly said that there was a hostile attempt to influence Greenland from and foreign state actor and later on, the Danish minister for foreign affairs also publicly stated that that it was in this regard that the U.S. ambassador to -- the acting U.S. ambassador to Denmark was called to a meeting, as we have not received the permanent ambassador with the new administration as of yet.
So, actually, we know a bit the same as the public in Denmark know that that the Danish authorities are pointing the finger very clearly towards the United States government in connection with this --
BURNETT: Have they given you more details about who these individuals are? We understand their three men, anything about them and what they were doing.
VISTISEN: I've been giving a briefing, some of it confidential, but some of the factors that we have been made aware of is, of course, that there is a great emphasis on whether there is money transfers going back and forth in an attempt to -- affect internal affairs within the kingdom of Denmark misinformation campaign and so on and so forth.
So, so, it is basically along the lines of interference and attempt to control and manage public opinion within the island of Greenland and the kingdom of Denmark.
BURNETT: Anders, thank you very much. I appreciate your time. Stunning. But such an important story. And thank you.
VISTISEN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And thanks to all of you for joining us.
Anderson starts now.
