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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Eight Injured in Colorado Attack at Event for Israeli Hostages; Gaza Officials: Dozens Shot Dead, Injured, Near Aid Hub; Ukraine Launches Drone Operation Targeting Russian Air Bases. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 02, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Monday, June 2nd, 4 a.m. here in New York, 2 a.m. in Boulder, Colorado. That's where eight people have been injured after an attack on a group gathering in support of the Israeli hostages in Gaza. And this morning, videos emerging. I want to warn you that the images are disturbing.

There's smoke rising after the FBI says that the suspect reportedly used a quote, makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd. One of the injured, a Holocaust survivor. Witnesses describe the chaotic scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From my point of view, all of a sudden I felt the heat like it was a Molotov cocktail equivalent, a gas bomb in a glass jar thrown. I saw it, a big flame as high as a tree. And all I saw was someone on fire.

And so myself, somebody else, Yonatan, we're all trying to be like, what do we need to do to put this fire out? This person is screaming, upset, on the ground, on, you know, it's rock, it's concrete. How do we put out this fire?

This person is burning. And, you know, we don't have experience doing this. Just how do we get this fire out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The person who threw the Molotov cocktail had two more in his hand. And he was holding them and he was yelling and he was screaming at everybody that, you know, you're killing people is what he just kept screaming. You're killing.

I think he was saying you're killing my people as he was holding. And I was only trying to make sure people were getting away because I saw another bomb going off that was in his hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, the suspect is identified as 45 year old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who was seen carrying two bottles and was reported to have yelled free Palestine. He is now in custody and charges are expected soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF STEPHEN REDFEARN, BOULDER, COLORADO POLICE DEPARTMENT: When this call came out today, our officers rushed as quickly as they could somewhere close to the area and they immediately ran into a chaotic situation where a man was throwing Molotov cocktails and using other devices to hurt people.

MARK MICHALEK, FBI DENVER SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: It is clear that this is a targeted act of violence and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism. Sadly, attacks like this are becoming too common across the country. This is an example of how perpetrators of violence continue to threaten communities across our nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, one source says that officials are working to assess any possible mental health issues as they investigate the attack. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller says that the suspect had, quote, illegally overstayed a tourist visa. Those sources previously said that he had applied for asylum and was rejected for a visa in 2005.

Meantime, the governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, is condemning what he called a heinous and targeted act on the Jewish community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED POLIS, (D) COLORADO GOVERNOR: This has really inflicted a lot of fear in the Jewish community at large, the pro-Israel community. This is a very public place in Boulder. I've walked by, by the way, these folks who most weeks are there, you know, reminding us that the hostages are still being held by Hamas.

And to think that they would be attacked viciously and targeted simply because of their political beliefs in this country in this day and age is just completely, you know, hard to believe, frankly.

These kind of peaceful protests happen regularly. I mean, this is the for those who've been to Boulder, Colorado, the public thoroughfare, Pearl Street Mall is very much a free speech zone. It's very much in keeping with the tradition of the Pearl Street Mall that there's people there from a variety of causes. And some you might agree with, some you might disagree with. But this has been, at least until now, a safe place to have your voice heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The governor adding that his thoughts were with those affected by the attack on Sunday and pledged his support to the Jewish community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLIS: Boulder is a diverse community, many different faiths, many different viewpoints. But certainly those of the Jewish faith in particular now feel particularly threatened, particularly targeted. It's very important that we can reassure and protect them.

I know that the city also has an effort often helping to protect synagogues, places of worship. The state and our state troop organization absolutely steps up and has been a part of that. We're supporting this investigation.

[04:05:00]

We want to make sure that, again, no matter what your viewpoints are in our state, that you feel safe. And in particular now a lot of members of our Jewish community feel particularly threatened by this act of terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The governor also outlining measures that Colorado has taken to protect communities, including providing $1.5 million in grants to secure sites such as synagogues, churches and mosques.

Late Sunday, the mayor of Boulder posted on social media, quote, I am saddened and outraged at the appalling attack on members of Boulder's Jewish community. He went on to say that violence and hatred have no place in the city.

And the attack in Colorado comes just over a week after two Israeli embassy staffers were killed in Washington, D.C. Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky were shot as they left an event at the Jewish Museum. The accused gunman was heard shouting, free Palestine, as he was arrested. The head of the Anti-Defamation League is drawing a connection between the attacks and is urging the public to, quote, stop excusing anti-Semitic rhetoric.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate who is Jewish, posted on social media, quote, this is horrifying and this cannot continue. We must stand up to anti- Semitism.

Police in New York say that they are monitoring what happens in Colorado and that they had already increased their presence at synagogues and other religious sites across the city for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. That includes more high visibility patrols and heavy weapons teams being deployed.

And on the other side of the country, in Los Angeles, police there say that they have also increased their security presence at sites in the city. The NYPD has routinely sent more officers to synagogues and mosques since the October 7th Hamas attacks and the ongoing war in Gaza.

There are clearly a lot to discuss this morning.

Joining me from Washington is Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel. Ambassador, we appreciate you being on this morning. As we just mentioned, this attack in Boulder came not long after those two Israeli embassy staff members were shot and killed in Washington. How is the Jewish community digesting this news? What are you hearing?

DANIEL SHAPIRO, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Thanks for having me, Rahel. First of all, I want to condemn this terrible attack on individuals who are peacefully exercising their rights of free speech and assembly to call for the release of hostages. Look, the community is very worried.

We are now living in an era of an explosion of anti-Semitism and anti- Semitic violence. And that's something new in America. Jews now actually have to fear for their physical safety.

And I really never thought I would say this, but Jews are targets of terrorism in the United States. That was not my experience growing up. That was something I associated with the Jewish communities living in Europe.

But this was an anti-Semitic hate crime. It was also an act of terrorism, which is the use of violence to try to advance political agenda. This is now twice in just over a week.

You mentioned the attack in Washington, which two Israeli embassy staff members were killed just over a week ago. And so this is a new and very dangerous and very worrying period that I think the Jewish community is facing. And we need strong support from community leaders, political leaders and law enforcement to put it to an end.

SOLOMON: Yes, what does that support look like? What do you think it'll take to ensure that the Jewish community feels safe in places of worship and public gatherings? I mean, what more do you need from political leaders, law enforcement and even other community members, Jewish and otherwise?

SHAPIRO: We need more clarity and strong political and communal leadership that completely rejects anti-Semitism and political violence of any kind. Unfortunately, we need more security at our synagogues, our schools, magnetometers in our schools. We need our Jewish students on campuses to feel that they have the backing of their administrations, that they will be safe.

We need law enforcement to really target those from the right, from the left, maybe in this case an immigrant, illegal or otherwise, coming with these ideas. We're going to need funding to pay for those hardened security and increased law enforcement activities. We need education of the history and insidiousness of this persistent hatred, which has no place in American society.

And the Jewish community itself needs to, despite the fear, be strong, resilient, proud and really double down on our own commitments and involvement in Jewish life and strengthen our ties with allies of all faith.

SOLOMON: Yes, ambassador, you pointed out something that I thought was important to sort of point out here, that it is legitimate to question, even disagree with the policies in Israel. But it's not legitimate to terrorize or harass people of the Jewish faith. Why do you think that message is lost on some, that the policies of the Israeli government do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the Jewish community?

SHAPIRO: Look, the war in Gaza, which has been cited by the last two attackers in these terrible events, it's terrible. It's terrible for everyone involved.

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It was terrible on October 7th when 1,200 Israelis were murdered and 250 were taken hostage. It's been terrible every day since, and Palestinian civilians are suffering. Wars are ugly that way. And look, it's legitimate to raise questions and to peacefully protest Israeli policy or American policy.

I personally disagree with the policies, many policies of the current Israeli government, and so do a lot of Israelis. And I also support finding a pathway for a state for Palestinians. But what's not legitimate and never legitimate is to use violence and terror against anyone who's Jewish or Israeli, to use slogans like globalize the intifada, which is a calling for violence against Jews anywhere, to hold any Jew or any Zionist, which is most Jews, responsible for the policies of Israel.

Peaceful protest is always acceptable, but harassing, intimidating, and attacking Jews in the name of some cause related to Palestine is really never acceptable. And nothing does more to discredit that cause than to see it tied to anti-Semitism and violence.

SOLOMON: Lastly, before I let you go, this event on Sunday in Boulder, this is a weekly event. It's been happening for quite some time to raise awareness about the hostages being held in Gaza. I mean, I think I have a sense of your response here, but how important is it, do you think, for the Jewish community in Boulder and even beyond just the Jewish community in Boulder to meet again next Sunday in spite of what happened yesterday?

SHAPIRO: Well, you're right. The Jewish community cannot be cowed. We cannot be made to stay home and fear going out into the public square, fear being proud and being public about our faith, about our commitments.

Look, I strongly believe that the vast majority of Americans utterly reject this hatred and this violence, but we're all now called upon to express that and to defeat it. And we in the Jewish community are called upon to continue to raise our voices. Hopefully, negotiations toward a ceasefire and toward a release of hostages will relieve some of this pressure, will relieve the suffering that hostages and Palestinians in Gaza are suffering.

But that under these circumstances, we have to be able to continue to raise our voices and feel safe.

SOLOMON: Ambassador Daniel Shapiro, we're going to leave it here, but we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

SHAPIRO: Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right. And this just in, the suspect, Mohamed Soliman, was booked in the county jail just before midnight on multiple felony charges, according to online jail records. Among the charges is one counts of explosives, of incendiary devices used during the felony.

Soliman has a court date scheduled for later today at 1:30 local time. He is being held on a bond of $10 million.

All right, still to come for us, chaos unfolding at a U.S.-backed aid center in southern Gaza over the weekend. Details of the deadly incidents coming up next.

And Russia and Ukraine are attempting another round of peace talks just one day after Kyiv launched a bold and significant drone strike operation on Russian air bases.

We'll have those details straight ahead.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. We have new information on the deadly chaos at an aid distribution site in Gaza on Sunday. A warning that the video you're about to see is graphic.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says that the death toll in the incident has gone up, with at least 31 Palestinians killed and dozens more injured. Families are mourning those who were killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARAFAT SIYAM, BROTHER OF MAN KILLED WHILE WAITING FOR AIR (through translator): He went to get his livelihood. He left home at 11 o'clock, sleeping near there, near the flag there. He went to get his food.

They shot him. He was not carrying weapons or knives or anything. He went to get food for his children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Meanwhile, Hamas says that it is ready to immediately begin indirect negotiations to resolve outstanding issues to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza. Qatar and Egypt say that they are continuing their efforts to help bring about a deal, as recent negotiations over a U.S.-proposed ceasefire appear to make little progress. But Israel's defense minister is telling the military to, quote, keep advancing in Gaza.

Let's get to CNN's Paula Hancocks, who joins us live this morning from Abu Dhabi. Paula, what more do we know about the shooting near the aid hub over the weekend? PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, there is some confusion about who exactly was shooting. We know that it did happen in the early hours, and it was effectively thousands of people who were looking for food that were caught up in this incident.

Now, Palestinian officials have said they believe that it was the Israeli military that was firing upon these crowds.

We've heard from the Israeli military saying that these are false reports, saying that they did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the aid site.

We do hear, though, from one Israeli military source that previously, in the couple of hours before the aid distribution site opened, they had been firing at individuals about a kilometer away. Now, there is confusion as to what exactly happened.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which organizes the distribution site, says that there was no firing whatsoever. But we can see from the footage coming into us that you can see people hit the ground. You can hear the gunfire in the background.

[04:20:00]

And according to the Red Cross Field Hospital, which is in Rafah, it's close to this area where many of the patients were brought, they say that this was the highest number of weapon wounded in a single incident since they opened that field hospital just a year ago. Let's listen to one of those who was on the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REDA ABU JAZAR, BROTHER KILLED WHILE WAITING FOR AID (through translator): Let them stop these massacres. Stop this genocide. They are killing us.

Kill all of us together and let us get rid of this life instead of getting hurt for this and that. Our beloved ones are dying. Enough.

Who is left? Nobody is left. We cannot resist anymore at all, I swear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, the UN and other NGOs had criticized GHF, saying that this is not the way to distribute aid, saying that it needs to be done through the existing infrastructure. We heard from the head of UNRWA saying aid distribution has become a death trap -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: And Paula, as we just mentioned, Egypt and Qatar are continuing to work on their efforts, but what's the latest on the U.S. proposed ceasefire?

HANCOCKS: So what we heard from Hamas is that they say that they are ready to negotiate indirectly immediately. They say this after criticism from the Middle East envoy for the Trump administration, Steve Witkoff, who has said that Hamas was pushing the process backwards. Hamas has rejected that, saying that they believe the U.S. had agreed to a proposal with Hamas, but it was then changed by Israel.

So both sides still criticizing the other for the fact that this has not come to fruition at this point, but we are hearing from both Qatar and Egypt that they are intensifying their efforts. This proposal at this point, as we understand it, would see 10 living hostages and the bodies of 16 dead hostages handed over by Hamas in return for a temporary ceasefire. We've seen reports of both 60 and 90 days for that ceasefire, and within that time there would be negotiations for a more permanent ceasefire, and aid would be hastened into the Gaza Strip.

But this is something that has been going on for many weeks now, this proposal we've been hearing about, but both Doha and Cairo say that they are intensifying their efforts to get it done -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Paula Hancocks reporting for us there in Abu Dhabi. Paula, thank you.

In Ukraine, meantime, at least nine people are dead. Dozens are wounded after overnight Russian shelling and air attacks. This comes just one day after Ukrainian forces launched what's being described as a bold and sophisticated counterattack known as Operation Spider's Web. Videos from social media show thick smoke rising near Russia's Belaya airfield on Sunday.

It was one of four Russian airbases targeted by Ukraine in an audacious drone operation. Russia confirmed the strikes, condemning them as, quote, terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, U.S. officials say that Kyiv strikes had a level of sophistication not seen before and that the Defense Department was not notified before the attack. Here's what the Ukrainian president had to say about the operation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): A brilliant operation was conducted on the enemy's territory against military targets only, against equipment that was used to deliver strikes on Ukraine. Russia has had very tangible losses, and justifiably so, as they deserved it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Now, this all comes as Russian and Ukrainian officials are expected to meet in Istanbul in the coming hours today, and neither side is really optimistic that the summit will yield an immediate resolution to the war.

Our Sebastian Shukla has the latest on Operation Spider's Web.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN FIELD PRODUCER: Incredible video has been emerging from deep inside Russia on Sunday following a large-scale coordinated attack launched by the Ukrainian security services, the SBU, on military airbases inside Russia, sources have told CNN.

Videos circulating on social media from Siberia show plumes of thick black smoke billowing out of targets in the region of Irkutsk, some 4,000 kilometers away from the Ukrainian battlefields. Other video appearing to show from the drones themselves the damage inflicted by this attack at the Belaya airbase in Irkutsk.

In another video supplied by a Ukrainian source, you can hear the voice of Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk saying how beautiful Belaya airfield looks now, the enemy's strategic aircraft.

[04:25:00]

An SBU source also told CNN that Russian bombers are burning en masse across Russia, with other airfields in Ryazan, Murmansk and Ivanovo also targeted in this audacious attack, which has been described as, quote, extremely complicated from a logistical point of view by Ukrainian intelligence.

CNN has also been able to learn that the attack was launched from inside Russia, with one video appearing to show drones rising from a truck stopped near a highway.

Now, more than 40 aircraft are known to have been hit, including strategic bombers and one of Russia's very few remaining surveillance planes. The Russian Ministry of Defense has confirmed that airfields across five Russian regions have been targeted and have called it a terrorist attack.

There have, though, been no reports of any casualties and that fires at those bases have now since been extinguished. But the attack also marks some of the most ambitious launched by Ukraine since the war began in February 2022. But Ukraine has waged a campaign of targeting key military and infrastructure sites across Russia for many months. And likewise, Russia has done the same in Ukraine.

But most, if not all, of the Ukrainian attacks have originated from inside Ukraine. This attack is a huge shift in those operations and is clearly designed to send a message to the Kremlin that Ukraine is advancing both technologically and operationally inside Russia.

And, of course, this attack comes in the hours before both Russia and Ukraine are due to meet in Turkey again for another round of talks aimed at implementing a ceasefire and steps to bringing this grinding war to an end.

Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.

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SOLOMON: All right, still ahead for us, much more on our breaking news as authorities investigate an act in Colorado as an act of terrorism. We'll have much more on what we're learning about the suspect when we come back.

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