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Russia Attacks Ukraine With One Of Largest Aerial Assaults Of The War; GOP Leaders Defend Comey Indictment, Downplay Trump's Role; Officials Give Update On Deadly MI Church Attack; FBI: Investigating MI Church Attack As Act Of "Targeted Violence." Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 29, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

REP. MIKE TURNER (R), OHIO: -- they continue to fight both, you know, inspirationally, and the technology that they bring to the table, what they have done with drones and anti-drone technology, their cutting- edge technology that they bring to the front line, and how they have, you know, held the Russians at bay.

But it's also, you know, what the -- what we're seeing in the gains that they have made. But we also know that we need to provide additional pressure upon the Russians. The Russians have been able by selling their energy, have been able to, through production, bring additional munitions to this fight that really is being funded by the West, it's being funded by the E.U., it's being funded by our economy, buying things from China, buying things from India that are funded by the energy of the economy of Russia.

You know, we need to put sanctions upon the economy of Russia. And in doing so, we will stop the aggression and impact their ability to fund this war. And there's a bill, Lindsey Graham, Brian Fitzpatrick, and the House have that bill. We need to move it. We need to put this pressure on Russia.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Well, do you think that there is any chance at this point of that moving? Because so far, Speaker Johnson has been reluctant. Senate Majority Leader Thune has also been reluctant, despite the fact that their fellow Republicans, as you just said, are pushing it, and they have very broad support. And now when I say it, I mean, more sanctions that you were just describing.

TURNER: Yes, I think there's momentum in the House. And I think as the more -- as the message gets out as to what's happening in Ukraine, and really the fact that, you know, we're funding the Russian war machine, and that we have an ability to impact it and really change the outcome here, I think that that momentum will translate to, you know, a momentum on the House floor, on the Senate floor.

And I think the Speaker needs to put this bill on the House floor. We need to send that message and give the President on his desk this bill and impact Russia's ability to fund their war machine.

BASH: Can I just quickly ask you, you talked about providing Ukraine more help. The Vice President said over the weekend that the U.S. is considering providing Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. Those missiles would place Moscow itself within range of a Ukrainian attack. Is that a good idea?

TURNER: Well, I think Russia needs to feel the pressure from this. Currently, you know, on the front line, they stand back and then, you know, fire into Ukraine. And Ukraine needs the ability to be able to fire into Russia, to be able to push them back from that front line, to be able to do so, will relieve some of that pressure and allow Ukraine to push Russia out of Ukraine, as the President said, to take back some of their territory.

I think that they can win back territory, as the President has said, if they have that ability for long-range fires. And I support their ability to do so.

BASH: We are waiting for a press conference out of Michigan. So if I interrupt you, I want to apologize ahead of time. But --

TURNER: Sure.

BASH: -- I do want to try to get in a question about the indictment of the former FBI Director James Comey. The President stated hope that there would be others. Of course, this happened five days after the President posted on social media, telling Pam Bondi to bring criminal charges against political enemies, including Comey. What's your reaction to this?

TURNER: Well, you know, Comey really isn't a political enemy. But, you know, political enemy is somebody that runs against you --

BASH: Well, the President certainly said in that way.

TURNER: -- or that says bad things about you. He really is someone who is misused, in my opinion, his political office, his FBI office. He went against the National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, I think, in an inappropriate way. He used the FBI's position, I believe, in a way to undermine the administration of which he was a part of.

I think he was dishonest in many ways in which he operated. And he was certainly part of and he was found to be part of, I believe, to be, you know, part of the Russia hoax that was trying to undermine the President. Most recently, he just did, you know, a tweet of 86-47.

This is not just a political --

BASH: Which he said was misunderstood. Yes.

TURNER: This is a person who I think was undermining the administration he was a part of.

BASH: OK. Let's just say everything you said is, you know, is as accurate. Of course, I would say that Comey and others would take issue with some of those. But let's just, for the argument's sake here, say yes.

That is separate from the justice system and using the President being very clear about using the justice system.

TURNER: Well, he was -- he's actually part of the justice system. I mean, that's actually part of the problem here but --

BASH: No, I know. But now, should he be indicted?

TURNER: He was part of the justice system itself.

BASH: Do you think this is right?

TURNER: He was misusing the justice system itself.

BASH: But that's not what he was indicted for. He was indicted for allegedly lying to Congress.

TURNER: As a representative of the Department of Justice system as the director of the FBI. And that's what he's going to be. That's what this case is about.

[12:35:04]

BASH: OK. So you're good with this, it sounds like. I'm so sorry, as I --

TURNER: Well, I believe, I think what needs to happen, I mean, obviously, the case was in litigation.

BASH: Yes.

TURNER: So, you know --

BASH: OK.

TURNER: -- it will proceed.

BASH: Yes, we'll see what happens.

Again, sorry to cut this short. I appreciate you being here.

TURNER: That's fine. That's fine.

BASH: I do want to go to Michigan.

TURNER: Thank you.

BASH: Police are giving an update. And that's the governor.

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN: -- by another mass shooting in a place that is supposed to be defined by togetherness. And a close knit community here in Grand Blanc. As a state, we know the pain of this too well.

We've seen gun violence in our schools, stores, parades, festivals and our houses of worship. These are places that we go to feel connected, to feel safe, to be together. But today, this place has been shattered by bullets and broken glass. And this might be a familiar pain. But it hurts all the same. Every time, we cannot keep living our lives like this.

I know that this community is reeling right now. And I want you to know that the state of Michigan has your back. Your grief is our grief.

I ordered flags lowered statewide. And I spoke with President Trump yesterday who wanted to share his condolences. We will be here every step of the way, and coordinate a full response with our local and federal partners. Folks here at the township, at every level, have been working closely together.

There's one thing I know about Michiganders, is that we get through hard things together. And that's who we are. That's how the good people here at the Grand Blanc Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints live their lives. They worship together. They sing together. And they serve together.

And that's why I was so proud to see powerful statements from interfaith leaders across Michigan denouncing this attack on a house of worship. They grieved for this congregation as though it was their own. They spoke with one voice for the basic principle that we all believe in. That you should be able to pray in peace in our state no matter who you are.

I know that in the hours and days ahead, we will see the best of Michigan. We will see neighbors being neighborly. Checking in with a call, bringing over some food, or offering a hug. We'll see medical providers work hard to save lives and treat those in need with scars both seen and unseen.

We will see this congregation unite and rally together like never before and continue worshiping together, singing together, and serving together. Because that's who Michiganders are. We will stay in close contact and continue to work together.

Now like everyone I know, we have lots of questions. How could this happen? What created this moment? Why? And that's motivated by a genuine motivation to understand, to learn, to prevent in the future. But I want to caution everyone. While we are working hard, while the good men and women who are working hard are doing so with due diligence at this juncture, speculation is unhelpful and it can be downright dangerous.

So just ask that people lower the temperature of rhetoric. Keep your loved ones close and keep this community close to your hearts. Let's keep doing the work together. Let's be kind and let's love our neighbors.

Thank you. And now I'd like to introduce the head of the Michigan State Police, Colonel James Grady.

COL. JAMES F. GRADY II, DIRECTOR, MICHIGAN STATE POLICE: Thank you, Governor, and good afternoon. This community has been greatly impacted by yesterday's events. We are offering our deepest condolences to those affected by this tragedy.

This horrific event is something that this community has never experienced. It is important at this time that we come together to support one another in this time of grief. We stand ready and willing to assist both our local and federal partners with any additional needs as this investigation continues.

The Michigan State Police immediately responded alongside our public safety partners to secure the scene, provide support to our neighbors with our emergency support team serving search warrants, the bomb squad and K-19 sweep in numerous locations for evidence and explosives.

Additionally, our forensic science laboratories and our special investigation section continue to investigate the officer-involved shooting and work alongside our federal and local partners.

[12:40:07]

I'd like to take a moment for everybody to remember the last year we put together initiative called Stop a Plot. While we are committed to keeping our community safe, we also need your help. Again, it takes everybody.

Fifty-three percent of mass attacks leave a trail of clues leading up to them, and two-thirds of mass attackers elicit a behavior that cause concerns. So we are asking our communities to stay vigilant. And if you see something suspicious, please contact local law enforcement or 911 immediately.

We will keep the family in our prayers here at MSP as they continue to cover and we work together. Thank you for your time.

Next up, we will have from the ATF. Thank you. We will have ATF Special Agent in Charge for Michigan, Jim Deir.

JAMES DEIR, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, ATF DETROIT FIELD DIVISION: Good afternoon. My name is Jim Deir with ATF. I'm Special Agent in charge for ATF Michigan.

On behalf of the men and women of ATF, I offer my deepest sympathy and condolences to this community and to the families affected by this tragedy, this horrific act of violence. There is no place in our society for this. There's absolutely no place.

But it's become all too common, and as we know, we have become more and more desensitized. This community is hurting, and we are here to help them heal. Part of that -- as part of that healing process, ATF has brought in their National Response Team.

This is a cadre of world-renowned investigators for arson and explosive incidents. They have been used all over the world, and they come from places as far as California, Hawaii, and they're here in Michigan now. They arrived last night, they've briefed, they're examining the scene, and that is what they're doing at this point. From ATF's perspective, I would encourage the community not to travel by the church. Those roads have been blocked off and access is controlled. While that might be a little disheveling for folks, we need that scene security for our investigators as they dig out this scene. So with that in mind, that's our ask for the community.

We are also looking at the explosive -- improvised explosive devices that were recovered during this investigation and looking towards that end as well.

It's my -- I need to introduce the Acting Special Agent in Charge for the FBI of Detroit, Michigan, Reuben Coleman.

REUBEN COLEMAN, ACTING SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI DETROIT DIVISION: My name is Reuben Coleman. I'm the Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Detroit Field Office which represents the entire state. At this time, we wanted to provide an update on investigative efforts regarding yesterday's tragic shooting at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

First, I want to express my gratitude for all the cross-agency collaboration between our federal, state, and local partners. Their support has been outstanding and critical to this investigation. We are in lockstep with our partners as we continue to work through this.

As I mentioned yesterday, the FBI is investigating this as an act of targeted violence and we are continuing to work to determine a motive. In the past 24 hours, our investigative squads and specialty teams have been out all night exhausting leads, some of which have been coming in from the public via tips.

Our special agents, victim specialists, child advocate forensic interviewers and local partners have interviewed over 100 victims and witnesses to date and are continuing to interview individuals as we speak. Our evidence response team or ERT, which is a specialized team of special agents, intelligence analysts and professional staff are trained to process crime scenes and collect evidence. They were out all night and continue processing the scene as we speak.

Our field office has stood up national equities for support. We are engaging with our behavioral analyst unit or BAU, and have received support from our Chronicle Labs division to analyze evidence collected to date. We received assistance from our FBI field offices across the country to support this case and file down leads.

While our focus is on this investigation, we want to continue to keep the victims and their families in our thoughts as they navigate through this incredibly difficult time. Please continue to reach out to the FBI via 1-800, call FBI or submit tips at tips.fbi.gov.

Thank you. Sheriff?

[12:45:20]

SHERIFF CHRIS SWANSON, GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN: You prepare in peace to perform in chaos. I saw it live. I saw what you trained for, what you plan for. And the reality hit yesterday morning in a bright sunny day when people went to worship. But what I also saw is every level of government law enforcement work together for the good of the people.

What I witnessed was people putting their lives at risk. I had two months on the job as an EMT or brand new firefighters, and veteran firefighters, and law enforcement just to bring a sense of stability to a scene that was chaotic and dynamic.

As the sheriff of this county, I see the great people every day. But I want this community to know that those ranks in those agencies that were mentioned before me, we worked together. We worked in concert and we did the job and there's more to do.

I will tell you, the sheriff's office dedicated every county sheriff medic that we had available, patrol, investigators, we did interviews, emergency management, whatever the task was needed. The sheriff's office worked with everybody that you heard and many that you don't know to bring justice and also order to this scene.

But I will tell you, the days are continuing. We have 31 marked cars on as we speak, making sure schools that are in session, in churches that are that are planning Bible studies, regardless of faith based, that they will be protected. Anybody who calls in, we will be there like other law enforcement to settle the community and bring a sense of calmness to people.

There is an uncertainty, but law enforcement, especially the sheriff's office will bring that to you. I will tell you that there are noble heroes who do not wear a uniform that went to that church yesterday. You're going to hear their stories as we lay out this case with law enforcement.

But I will tell you this, those heroes from that church did their job and it was led because of a police department. So law enforcement from this township is led by a chief who demonstrated leadership right out of the gate.

And my honor is to announce him as the final speaker, Chief Renye of Grand Blanc Township.

CHIEF WILLIAM RENYE, GRAND BLANC POLICE: Thank you, Sheriff.

Evil. This was an evil act of violence. That's exactly what this was. And this is not Grand Blanc, this does not define Grand Blanc and who we are. We are a community and I am confident that together we're going to build a stronger community due to this incident.

Now, an update. This left five people dead, eight people injured. As I said, this is an evil act and does not define Grand Blanc or who we are. At this time, what we know is everyone has been accounted for. We still are in the process of clearing out that church. But at this time, everyone is accounted for.

We asked that you stay away from the scene. Let us work to clear this call so then we could get back to normal. That's what we all want. Grand Blanc Township police officers, the community of Grand Blanc Township were hurting and we know that you are hurting as well with us.

I want to remind you that we had the Family Assistance Center open. They will be open Monday and Tuesday at the Genesis Athletic Club from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. That address is 801 Health Park Boulevard, Grand Blanc, Michigan, 48439. Seek service, let's come back together and be stronger together and better.

I'll open it up at this time for any questions. Sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Question, when it comes to the act of violence, can you define why that is considered an act of violence and not something more serious like terrorism?

RENYE: I will let Agent Coleman speak to that particular question.

COLEMAN: Yes. As of right now, we are calling it an act of violence as this is an investigation that is continuing. We are continuing to receive leads. We're continuing to run down all information. And once we're able to ascertain definitively what we have, that's when we'll make those statements.

But as of right now, this is an act of violence. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE), you call this an act of targeted violence. Can you tell us who you believe the target was a specific person, the LDS Church, another group?

COLEMAN: Well, as of right now, again, as this is an ongoing investigation, what I would say is when I say targeted violence, I mean targeted within our state and within our community. Right now, what we are here for are the families and the victims, and we're going to work diligently in order to make sure we can bring closure for them as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you speak about some motive? There was some chatter that the suspect's ex-girlfriend was a Mormon (ph) or something of that nature. Chatter online (ph) about that. Is that something that you can't speak to at any possible moment?

[12:50:14]

COLEMAN: That is something I cannot speak to at this point in time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard someone was arrested after driving through the barricade near the church. Can you share any information on that why they were arrested? Maybe what their intentions were?

COLEMAN: Yes, Chief?

RENYE: Yes, I could speak on that. Yes, there was an incident out there. We are still in the process of investigating that incident, whether or not it's related or not. We do -- I could tell you that we do have a 21-year-old person in custody for that incident right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does the suspect have any prior criminal history or no contact with law enforcement with this? RENYE: Are you talking about the suspect from yesterday or today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The suspect from yesterday.

RENYE: The suspect from yesterday has been arrested by law enforcement in the past.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the five dead, does that include the suspect or is that --

RENYE: The five dead includes the suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you give any details on what those prior arrests were?

RENYE: Burglary and OWI.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible question).

RENYE: That, I can't give you 100 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chief, what do we know --

RENYE: Terry (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, so I just want to clarify. No more victims. Did you search the church? And --

RENYE: We have not completed searching the church, but as we know, everyone has been accounted for.

That's going to be all the questions that we answer today. If you were -- this is our last press conference. If there's other pertinent information that develops, we will let you guys all know and post that on our social media account, Grand Blanc Township Police Department Facebook page.

Thank you.

BASH: That was a press conference that we were just listening to from Grand Blanc, Michigan about the deadly attack there yesterday and on the church there.

I want to bring in CNN's Michael Yoshida, who is there in Grand Blanc. Michael, what we learned was there are five dead, I'm not sure. And you can tell me if that includes the shooter. Eight injured and everyone is accounted for, which is important since we weren't sure going into this press conference if there were still people missing.

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dana, that's right. That's some of the big news out of that press conference. You mentioned the five dead. We did learn that does include the shooter. So four victims, eight others injured and that good news out of this is that everyone else accounted for.

Now we know that heading into late last night, searches were stopped at the scene of the shooting and church fire because they couldn't see. They needed to wait for sunlight to get back in there to search for any more potential victims.

At that point, we had heard from a law enforcement source, potentially up to seven people still unaccounted for. So now the law enforcement telling us those people have been accounted for.

The investigation still ongoing here. You can see very expansive crime scene, active crime scene behind me. And now the big question that people keep asking is why? Why did this happen here in this community that sits about an hour's drive northwest of Detroit, Michigan? So much focus on a potential motive.

Investigators not diving into that at this point, just saying that they've been speaking to over 100 witnesses and victims over the last few hours that they're continuing to ask for help from the public as they dive into this shooter's background. 40 year old Thomas Sanford, we're told, was an outdoorsman, a marine veteran who lived in a nearby town.

And as this goes forward, we have heard from the White House Press Secretary about potential conversations that are happening with the FBI director about a motive. The press secretary saying only, quote, "All they know right now is this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith."

And they're trying to understand more about that. And that the family members of the shooter are cooperating with investigators. But again, a very active scene here as many in this community want answers following Sunday's deadly violence.

BASH: Yes, it's just horrific.

Thank you so much, Michael, for that.

I want to now turn to CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, this was just to be specific, an attack on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And one of the things that you heard Michael mentioned was that the White House Press Secretary suggested that maybe there was a connection between the motive and the fact that these -- that this is an LDS church.

But we were very sort of was very clear that every single person talking at that press conference did not want to go there. What does that tell you?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So I think we follow what happened out of the press conference. I don't know what the deputy press secretary actually knows in real time. This is an ongoing investigation, so I'll try to put the pieces together.

The FBI says this is a targeted attack. That's absolutely clear.

[12:55:01]

This is someone who focused on that church, rams the car and kills at least one person by gunshot and has pre-planned for explosives. In fact, I think more of the fatalities happen from the fire. So this was, in other words, pre-planned.

It may seem obvious that we would know what the motive is, right? And that's where we're being careful because it would seem obvious that they're going after people of this church of this faith. But the FBI is not willing to make that that link because they haven't seen anything, anything online, anything he said to the family.

We may get that later. So that's the distinction. What's really important is whatever -- if they do find that motive, it was not made to the public. It didn't seem to be part of his persona. And in this way, it's very similar to what we're seeing recently.

Very, very quick radicalization leading to violence not tied to any known movement or group. And that's the scary part of where we live right now.

BASH: Juliette, thank you so much for being here and putting that in perspective.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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