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The Situation Room

Small Jet Crashes into San Diego Neighborhood; Two Israeli Embassy Staffers killed in D.C.; Trump Attends Gala with Top Memecoin Buyers. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired May 22, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: That small plane that crashed in a neighborhood in San Diego, a news conference with experts right now underway. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- was here to give you more.

ASSISTANT CHIEF DAN EDDY, SAN DIEGO FIRE-RESCUE DEPARTMENT: Dan Eddy, San Diego Fire. So, crews arrived on scene, the initial crews that found multiple houses and cars on fire. We had reports of a plane that had crashed in the neighborhood. It was unknown whether it was a military or private plane.

When they got on scene, they initiated quick attack of the fire and upgraded this to what we call an alert five, which is a plane off the field, followed by a second alarm. So, we had enough units on scene. We were able to work with San Diego PD, evacuate homes across the region as we came through here and evacuate everything to the south of us. We're able to knock down those fires.

At this time, right now, we are able to say that no one was transported from the scene. So, we don't have anybody that was transported off the scene, which is great news for us on this one. Fire was knocked down. We do have one stubborn car fire that will not go on out to the south of us. So, if you do see little wisp of smoke behind there, that's what that's from.

At this time, we're continuing to fight the fire on that car fire. Everything else is out from the homes down the way. We have multiple crews that will be on scene doing decon and investigating. FAA is also on scene and we're working in conjunction with them and San Diego PD to ensure that everything is searched, including the homes and everything that -- the plane itself.

We expect to be out here for four to six hours at least doing the investigation part of it until we pass it along. And then moving forward, we'll be here through the rest of the 24-hour period. I'm going to pass it off to Police Chief Scott Wahl.

SCOTT WAHL, POLICE CHIEF: Good morning. First, I want to start by saying, our heartfelt condolences to the families that are impacted by this terrible incident. From the police department side our objectives were very simple. Scene control, traffic control and evacuations. We had officers from throughout the city that responded. We had over 50 officers that were able to get here within minutes. We started evacuating all of the homes that were impacted. We had an evacuation center up at Miller Elementary. We have close to a hundred people that have been displaced and are up there.

We've locked all the streets down, essentially Santo Road south of Arrow is still closed and will be for the next few hours and on into the day. And we're going to continue working collaboratively. I want to commend all of the first responders that were out here this morning. The fire department, the police department.

I can't quite put words to describe what this scene looks like, but with the jet fuel going down the street and everything on fire all at once it was pretty horrific to see. And for the police officers and firefighters to run in there, start trying to evacuate people out of the way and doing anything and everything they could to try to save somebody's life is really heroic.

And again, I'm going to end with saying our heartfelt condolences to the families that were impacted by this. And with that, let me introduce Mayor Todd Gloria. Mayor.

MAYOR TODD GLORIA (D) SAN DIEGO: Thank you Chief. I also want to extend the condolences of the City of San Diego to the passengers aboard the planes families impacted on the ground. We will be continuing to keep you all posted throughout the day as more information becomes available.

[10:35:00]

And but what I can tell you right now is that we have had an extraordinary response effort here led by San Diego Fire Rescue Department, San Diego Police Department. But you have -- what you've seen is a collaborative effort with county, state, and federal partners as well as our partners in the community. We have representation here from the Red Cross, the San Diego Humane Society, and other key partners that are making sure that those are impacted here on the ground, have the support they need.

And that's what I want to say is that our city will be supporting these families who are impacted here. They're part of the military community that makes up our city, the proud partners of our community. And we will support them for as long as it takes to make sure that we get back to good here in Tierrasanta. Appreciate it.

The early communication from Navy region Southwest and Admiral Brad Rosen who's an extraordinary partner for our city. I also want to note, Councilmember Raul Campillo is monitoring the situation very, very closely. He'll be out here later today. But we're all going to be band together and make sure that the situation is buttoned up. Again, extraordinary effort by our first responders. I can't emphasize that enough.

The limitation in terms of the additional damage on the ground is a direct result of their hard work, of their expertise, of their professionalism. And I think every San Diegan expresses our appreciation to these heroes who got the job done this morning. It's still a tragedy. And again, our hearts are with those who are impacted. And we'll continue to be here throughout this response effort. Make sure, again, the families who are impacted, those who are not able to access their homes are well supported until they're able to get back into their homes.

That said, as I mentioned, this has been a collaborative effort. We are on military property. These are military families, military housing, and here on behalf of Navy Region, Southwest is the commanding office for Naval Base Captain Bob Heely. Captain Heely.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. There you heard officials in San Diego give an update on that small plane crash in the neighborhood there. I mean, the images are just incredible. You saw homes and cars scorched from that plane crash. But they did say that no one was transported from the scene. Still certainly a devastation there. I mean, people had to be evacuated from their homes. A lot of the members of the military, Wolf.

My husband lived just a mile from there when he was in the military. I mean, that is where a lot of military members live. But as you see here, you know, first responders had to act quick this morning. There was jet fuel, they described just going down the street. They had to put out the fires. They said there was one stubborn fire still going on right now in one of the cars, but, again, no one transported from the scene.

BLITZER: I can only imagine what it would be like your home and all of a sudden a plane crashes.

BROWN: Can you --

BLITZER: And if you look at that roof, look at that roof destroyed.

BROWN: I know.

BLITZER: Plane crashes into your home.

BROWN: Horrific.

BLITZER: Terrible situation indeed. We'll stay on top of this story. Continue to follow all the latest developments and share them with our viewers. But there's another important breaking story we're following right now as well. Two young Israeli embassy staffers were killed in a shooting outside the Capitol Jewish Museum right here in Washington, D.C.

Right now, law enforcement appears to be searching a home address in Chicago associated with a suspected shooter. Let's go live to CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild, who's there for us. Whitney, what are you learning?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, law enforcement has been working around the clock to try to figure out more details about why this horrible crime happened, how it happened. Here on the north side of Chicago, in a neighborhood called Albany Park, law enforcement has been pouring through an address associated with the suspect who has been named by law enforcement as Elias Rodriguez.

We are still working to determine many details here, Wolf. But what we know at this point is that law enforcement has a long list of questions and they're hoping some of those answers are right here on the north side. It was shortly after 7:30 that our team saw members of the FBI tactical team coming inside. Again, they had their full tactical kits on. They brought a dog with them, Wolf. So, presumably, looking for any other weapons that may have been associated with this crime.

At this point, there are two major threats that law enforcement is following. And the first is that they're trying to make sure that there was no one else beyond Rodriguez who is associated with this crime. So, that's the first thing, is to mitigate that whatever immediate threat there is. At this point, we have no indication that does exist, but that's what they're trying to rule out.

And then, further, Wolf, you know, remarkably this gunman is still alive. So now, they're trying to bring forth the best case to ensure conviction. Again, many more details to answer. Hopefully, law enforcement is hoping certainly that some of those answers are right here in Albany Park in Chicago, Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll stay in touch with you. Whitney Wild in Chicago for us, thank you very much. Pamela, very horrific story here in Washington.

BROWN: Horrific.

BLITZER: Capital Jewish Museum opened maybe less than a year or so ago. I was at the opening. A beautiful new museum. And all of a sudden, an incident like this occurs.

[10:40:00]

BROWN: And part of the event was actually, you know, hosting speakers who were talking about how to get aid, more aid into Gaza, how to help with the humanitarian efforts. And the gunman, the alleged gunman here, according to eyewitnesses, you know, he walked in after the shooting and was treated as a bystander, as a witness, was offered water and comfort. He asked for police, and it was when police got there, according to eyewitnesses, that he allegedly said that he did it for Gaza. And we want to learn more about these charges, Wolf, and what could happen. The charges that the suspect could face. Attorney General Pam Bondi, had a clear message in the wake of the deadly shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We will follow the facts. We will follow the law. And this defendant, if charged, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: Joining us now with more is CNN senior legal analyst and former state and federal prosecutor Elie Honig. Elie, what could the fullest extent of the law entail here?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER STATE AND FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, Pam, I think that we will see any and all of three potential federal charges. So, first of all, hate crime. It is a federal crime to murder another person because of that person's race, religion, ethnicity, or other factors. If you look at the known facts here, this individual staked out an event at the Jewish Museum, later reportedly made antisemitic comments to law enforcement. So, I think we will see a hate crimes charge here, with respect to both of the individuals.

Second of all, terrorism. We've seen FBI officials refer to terrorism charges. So, it is a federal crime to murder a foreign embassy worker in the United States. If your intent is to try to influence the policy of the United States, again, that seems to fit the fact here.

And finally, there are firearms charges for using a gun in the commission of either of those prior to offenses that I said. So, all of these are very serious crimes. If he's convicted, the shooter, he will face a minimum of life and a potential maximum of the death penalty under our federal laws.

BROWN: Yes. And our John Miller just reported about this apparent manifesto that was signed by someone with the same name as the suspect in this case. It hasn't been verified yet, but of course, that would be included in this investigation. Talking about, you know, what's happening in Gaza, and we know, as you pointed out, reportedly, and according to the eyewitnesses the suspected gunman yelled, free Palestine, and reportedly told police that he did it for Gaza. How significant is that in this investigation?

HONIG: Well, it's crucial. It's one of the elements that prosecutors will have to establish. First of all, with respect to hate crimes, that the reason this person committed these crimes is because of anti- religious bias, because of bias, antisemitism against Jewish people.

I should note, by the way, Alex Marquardt reported earlier that the male victim here, Yaron Lischinsky, is not actually Jewish. It doesn't matter. It's based on if the attacker perceives or believes that the person has a certain religion, and of course, Sarah Milgrim, the other victim was Jewish. So, you have to establish that motive for hate crimes. You also have to establish for the terrorism charge that the purpose here was to try to influence through violence the United States government's official policy. So, those statements that John Miller reported on are going to be crucial pieces of evidence for this prosecution.

BROWN: All right. Elie Honig, thanks so much. Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you. I want to discuss a little bit more now with the founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, Brian Levin. And Brian's joining us right now. Brian, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for all you're doing as well. What's, first of all, your reaction to this attack here outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.

BRIAN LEVIN, FOUNDER, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HATE AND EXTREMISM: Well, this terrible attack has those of us who actually research this kind of violence to say, oh, it happened. Because what we've seen, just bear with me, our own -- my own research that I presented just recently to the California Commission on the State of Hate --

BLITZER: All right. Brian, hold on for one second. Brian, hold on for one second. The attorney general, Pam Bondi, is outside the Capitol Jewish Museum speaking. I want to hear what she's saying.

BONDI: -- to come together no matter what religion we are. And you know, the Muslim religion actually reached out to our rabbis and offered condolences and sent a beautiful message that they just showed me, and that's what should be happening in our woes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. What was the security posture prior to the shooting yesterday? How many armed security guards, police officers were on the scene?

BONDI: Yes. I don't know that. I only got here after the shooting took place. So, I'm sorry, I can't answer that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Attorney General, is this a security failure? Because we're very close to the Washington FBI's field offices, this is typically our area with a high police concentration.

BONDI: Well, I don't think anyone would've suspected what happened last night. They were in an event, a beautiful event. People were -- it was a dressy event. They were dressed up, they were all together and just celebrating and walked outside, and they barely made it outside, as you know when this happened.

[10:45:00]

But no, I think law enforcement were on the scene immediately because of that. And the great men and women of the FBI are doing an incredible job as well as Metropolitan Police. Our ATF agents, were out here, our U.S. Marshals were out here working hand in hand with the mayor and the police chief, who I can say enough good about right now. And that's what we need to do. Focus on the good --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are reports of a manifesto out.

BONDI: Yes, I can't comment at all on the facts of the case right now. You will get a briefing at some point from the law enforcement. Thank you all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said the suspect acted alone. Any sense on the motive?

BONDI: Law enforcement will brief you later. Again, they're looking at all the facts and the evidence. And you know, the reason I'm out here this morning is I had a scheduled interview before this happened yesterday, and then the rabbis call me and ask if I would come out and be with them. I know a lot of these rabbis they ask if I would come out. There's a ritual when a Jewish person dies and they come and they clean the blood from the scene.

And that's what -- when you saw that happening over there this morning, I'm sure your cameras caught, that they were scrubbing the floor. That's what they do. Because in the Jewish tradition, they want to get all of their blood off the floor, even out of the cracks of the sidewalk. And all of these men out there are volunteers and they're doing this. They didn't know these young people personally, they didn't know their families personally, and they came out here and they're cleaning their blood. They put it in a bag and then that bag will be buried with these two beautiful young people who lost their lives way too young.

So, they were saying a prayer. We were with them for that prayer. And that's when every religion right now in America, we need to come together and do everything we can to support them. Thank you. Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. The attorney general of the United States, Pam Bondi, expressing her deepest, deepest condolences for the murder of these two young Israelis. They were about to be engaged, formally engaged next week. We're talking about Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. Sarah Milgrim being an American who worked at the Israeli embassy. Yaron Lischinsky, worked in the political section of the Israeli Embassy. Very, very awful situation, a horrible situation. Simply gunned down outside the Capitol Jewish Museum.

I want to get back to Brian Levin, the founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and the chair of the California Commission on the State of Hate. Overall, we've seen this awful dramatic rise in antisemitism here in the United States. What's going on? What do you think?

LEVIN: Yes, and I'm just talking on my own personal capacity, but thank you. First, condolences to the families and the people -- the Jewish people all over the world, and my friends at American Jewish Committee. Let's get straight to what's going on here.

Our latest research, the latest one, independent, mine, shows record anti-Jewish hate crimes in major American cities in 2024 after a previous record the year before, four consecutive increases. What else do we see? Oftentimes when there is bigoted rhetoric online, and we can measure that, we see oftentimes a concomitant increase in hate crime.

And if I may Wolf, just give me one second here. I'm talking to Attorney General Bondi now. You just cut the hate crime training grants and projects for American law enforcement yesterday. So, please don't say that you're doing everything you can when you cut those grants and you also cut the grants related to domestic extremism.

We have seen something that that has changed, particularly starting in 2019. We had a decrease in 2020 because of the pandemic, but we -- in hate crime, but we also saw an increase in anti-Jewish rhetoric online. The social media companies are horrible and what has been allowed on both sides of the political spectrum has been an ecosystem that allows antisemitism to reign unabated because it serves certain people's political ends.

We have to come together in a bipartisan way with regard to religion, hate crime, which even as we saw a flattening of hate crime overall. Religion hate crime has continued to go up. Anti-Jewish hate crimes up 12 percent last year. 48 percent the year before in my study. Anti- Muslim hate crimes up about the same the previous year and up 18 percent in 2024.

[10:50:00]

So, what we really have to do is have a whole of government approach to this. And unfortunately, a lot of this is reverting back to the states. We need to have the federal government be a partner. They have cut all the research and they've changed what they're doing with regard to the data. And we have to make sure that like with cancer research and anything else that is a public health and national security issue that we have a bipartisan effort. And I'm available to talk to anyone in the federal government at any time with respect to renewing efforts to protect Jews and Jewish institutions.

Bomb threats, there were over 647 last year, according to the ADL when we had just a thousand the year -- a thousand a year before, and a much smaller amount before then. FBI, over 1,800 hate crime -- anti- Jewish hate crimes in 2023, which was a double-digit percentage increase, and we never saw above the 1,100 range in the 30 some odd years that the FBI has been collecting this data.

New York City had more anti-Jewish hate crimes than any city for all their total hate crimes the previous year other than Los Angeles. This is a national -- an issue of extraordinary national concern, and we are in a new era with respect to anti-Jewish hate crime, and we've also seen universities fail on both the First Amendment rights of peaceful non-bigoted protesters, but also with the protection of Jewish students at campuses all over the country.

We have to have a whole of government and a whole of society effort with this. And as someone who's been involved in interfaith and Israel-Palestinian peace, we have to make more forum, more places where we can model that.

Dr. Isidina Aboles (ph) has been a partner of ours for many, many years. We have to start modeling civility and how the American civic spirit is about the protection of religious faith. As George Washington said to the Touro Synagogue, we give to bigotry no sanction to prejudice no existence.

BLITZER: All right. Brian Levin, excellent analysis. Thank you very, very much. Keep up the important work that you're doing. It's very, very disturbing, especially here in the Washington, D.C. area, you drive around, you drive past the synagogue, you see police cars, you drive past another Jewish institution, you see police cars that this is happening here in the United States is so, so worrisome right now.

We'll continue to watch what's happening in the aftermath of this shooting at the Capitol Jewish Museum last night. We'll have much more on that. That's coming up. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

BROWN: Cryptocurrency, a cryptic guest list and bipartisan concerns. Tonight, President Trump attends a private dinner at his D.C. area Golf Club for more than 200 of the top buyers of his meme coin. But exactly who will be there, it's hard to say because crypto is anonymous by design. Critics worry about the potential for foreigners to possibly buy access to a sitting president, which the Constitution forbids.

CNN Senior Business Writer Allison Morrow is covering this for us. So, Allison, what do we know about some of the people who will be at this dinner?

ALLISON MORROW, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: Thanks for having me. Yes, I mean, one thing we do know for sure is that all of these people paid a lot of money, thousands -- tens of thousands, and even millions of dollars to attend this dinner and have private access to the president. We also know the White House and the organizers of the event are not releasing a guest list. So, their anonymity that they have with crypto is pretty much guaranteed. Of course, we're going to try to find out who else is going.

But you know, this is underscoring some of the concerns that people have about all of this happening in secret. And then, of course, we know that a lot of these people are from overseas. Bloomberg did analysis that showed that the crypto wallets that were the top holders of Trump's meme coin got access to this dinner were from platforms that only operate overseas and in fact, don't allow U.S. citizens to trade on them. So, there's a good chance that half of these people attending tonight will be from overseas.

So, bottom line, this is kind of the encapsulation of all of the crypto potential corruption that ethics experts have been warning about for months.

BROWN: Wow. Allison, thank you so much. Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up we're following breaking news out of California where a small jet has crashed into a San Diego neighborhood. What we're learning, we have details. Stay with us.

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[11:00:00]