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The Situation Room

NFL Preseason Continues; Strategies For Sleep; Fort Stewart Shooting Investigation; Federal Takeover of D.C.?. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 07, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:02]

JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Today is about this indictment and making sure that if you intend to commit a crime of antisemitism or hate, we're coming for you.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... spoke to Yaron and Sarah's parents.

Did they -- have they taken a position on whether they want the Justice Department to seek the death penalty? And, separately, Steve Jensen was supposed to be up there alongside you announcing this today, but he's been fired. Do you have any explanation why?

PIRRO: OK. I'm going to talk about Sarah and Yaron's parents. I spoke to them and I told them that the process is beginning, that they will have an opportunity and a right to put their input into what decision is ultimately made, OK? And I'm not going to talk about politics today. I'm talking about crime.

I'm talking about hate crimes and that's the extent of it. OK.

QUESTION: That reporter was asking the question. There is word that there are going to be more federal law enforcement, including perhaps National Guard, on the streets of D.C. today and tomorrow as a result of some of this recent violence. What is your reaction, or could Assistant Chief Kyle speak to that?

PIRRO: I know that there is an effort to increase law enforcement based upon what we have seen, but I also know that today is about the Lischinskys and Sarah and two other victims whose lives are forever changed because of one individual's decision to come to this city and create a ripple effect that has rippled throughout the world.

And that's enough on the other stuff, OK?

QUESTION: Could we ask Assistant Chief Kyle for his reaction to that, more federal law enforcement? Could you come to the microphone?

PIRRO: I'd rather we talk about Lischinsky. You could call him later. I'm done.

QUESTION: A follow-up on the cases. You mentioned specifically Rodriguez's actions towards Sarah being the reason why you would -- can you elaborate a little bit more on that? I know you mentioned it during your...

PIRRO: Yes.

No, I can't. That will come out a trial, but I refer you to that part of the special findings. It's horrific. Thank you all very much. OK. Take care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, so there you hear Jeanine Pirro, the new U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, speaking about some of the recent incidents, violent incidents, here in the nation's capital, as well as what happened at the Capital Jewish Museum a few weeks ago, when two young Israeli staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were murdered as somebody walked in and killed them dramatically.

She's obviously outspoken on these issues and she's moving forward dramatically in this fight against violence in D.C. and antisemitism, which is escalating as well.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And, of course, she spoke to the father of the young victim.

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: And she also talked about the president's threat for the federal government takeover of D.C. and she said that that will ultimately be up to President Trump. So we will see how that plays out.

And now we have Brian Todd for more on all of this.

So, Brian, bring us in. What are the president's plans for the city?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela and Wolf, he is basically making a threat to federalize the city, to take over the running of this city, this, of course, in the wake of the attack on that former DOGE employee early Sunday morning in this neighborhood, which I will get to in a moment.

But the president's plan is to basically boost federal law enforcement in the meantime in this city. He plans to do that today and tomorrow with an increased presence of federal agents from ICE, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and posting some National Guardsmen. That's the plan over the next couple of days.

Trump was also asked, I believe it was last night, about possibly considering taking over the D.C. Police Department, given his concern about the crime in this city. Here's what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Are you considering taking over the D.C. police? Is that an option on the table?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're considering it, yes, because the crime is ridiculous. I could show you a chart comparing D.C. to other locations and you're not going to want to see what it looks like. We're going to beautify this city. We're going to make it beautiful. And what a shame, the rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else.

We're not going to let it -- and that includes bringing in the National Guard maybe very quickly too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, we have reached out multiple times to the D.C. Police Department to get their response to that, to the plan to possibly temporarily take over the D.C. police department by President Trump or at least his idea to do that.

They have not commented on that. We have also reached out multiple times to Mayor Muriel Bowser's office for comment on all of this, on Trump's idea to maybe take over the police department, to federalize the city and to get involved more in the running of the city.

The mayor has been conspicuously silent on that over the last few days. I have reached out to all 12 city council members in D.C. Only one of them has responded with her concerns about possibly -- about the nomination of judges to handle the criminal caseload, but none of the D.C. councilmembers have commented on any of this.

[11:35:07]

So, basically, you have got silence involved in this from almost every person involved in running this city. We can point out also, Pamela, that the overall crime rate in D.C. has gone down about 26 percent from a year ago and the carjackings have been going down steadily.

This here is the intersection where this attack occurred on early Sunday morning where that DOGE -- the former DOGE employee was carjacked -- or an attempted car jacking, I should say, right here at this intersection. And they're still looking for some suspects in that case. They just put out information that there's another person of interest.

They did arrest two 15-year-olds in that case, but that investigation is ongoing.

BROWN: All right, Brian Todd bringing us the latest there, thanks so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And just ahead, we're going to hear from the soldiers being praised and awarded for springing into action during a shooting on a military base and how they describe taking down the suspected gunman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:41] BROWN: Well, new this morning, three of the five soldiers injured in yesterday's shooting at the Fort Stewart Army post in Georgia are out of the hospital.

And, earlier, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll awarded medals to the soldiers who stepped in and subdued the suspected gunman. Authorities say 28-year-old active-duty Sergeant Quornelius Radford pulled out a personal handgun and began firing, wounding five soldiers. Officials say other soldiers prevented more casualties by tackling the suspect before police arrested him.

And I spoke with two of the soldiers who were there and jumped into action when this all unfolded. Here's some of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Melissa, first to you. Tell us a little bit about what happened.

STAFF SGT. MELISSA TAYLOR, U.S. ARMY: So it started off as a regular duty day. I was just checking my e-mail. And I heard first Sergeant Arnold yelling that there were gunshots in the building.

I do work on the opposite end of the building from where the incident happened. So I just stuck my head out into the hallway to see what was going on. I saw a cloud of smoke and he started yelling about there being smoke. And I saw the soldier laying on the ground in the hallway. And I asked if he was injured and he -- 1st Sergeant Arnold said he had been shot.

So I immediately sprinted over to the soldier and got down on my knees and started rendering aid to the soldier.

BROWN: So you were rendering aid to the soldier as there was an active shooting, right, Melissa?

TAYLOR: Yes.

BROWN: Wow.

Joshua, bring us in. You're the one who was alerting Melissa to what was going on. Tell us what you were going through.

1ST SGT. JOSHUA ARNOLD, U.S. ARMY: Yes.

I was sitting in my conference room with one of my officers. And we were doing some paperwork. And I heard a gunshot. I thought I heard a gunshot. I looked at him, and I thought -- that sounds like a gunshot. That sounds like a gunshot.

And I stood up, and it seemed like a flash went past my conference room. And I came out in the hallway. And I kind of went towards that direction and lost the direction of which that person was running in. I looked back from where they were at or where they came from. And I saw the smoke. And I yelled down and I said: "Was that a gunshot? Was that a gunshot?" And no one answered, so I ran down. I seen the shell case on the ground. I said, "That's a gunshot," and seeing the first person injured and immediately yelled that somebody had been shot, and sat that injured soldier on the ground and provided aid, until Staff Sergeant Taylor came up and took over.

And the soldier on the ground said someone else had been shot. Someone else had been shot. And I got up and went to that person's office and found that person and immediately started providing aid to that person as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And officials say the suspect accused of carrying out yesterday's shooting will likely be transferred to a military detention center.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:48:49]

BLITZER: Sleep is an essential part of our health, but, for many people, getting a very solid eight hours is easier said than done.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a closer look now at ways you can get a good night's sleep in today's "Chasing Life."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of CNN's "Chasing Life" podcast.

Most people have difficulty falling asleep at one point or another, or they wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. If that sounds familiar, here's a few strategies to help you get some rest.

The first one is something called cognitive shuffling, where you think of random non-emotional words, and then you pick an item and spend a few seconds thinking of words that start with each letter in that item.

So, for example, let's you shoe. The first letter is S, sock, soccer, spoon, Then H, horse, hair, hippo. You get the idea. This can help quiet your mind, can help block stressful thoughts that might be keeping you up.

Now, while working on cognitive shuffling, you can also lull your body to sleep with some old-fashioned comfort. Sleep with your socks on maybe, use a weighted blanket, even snuggle with the stuffed animal, no matter how old you are. These tips and sticking to a nightly routine can provide signals to your body that it's time to wind down.

[11:50:09] And you can hear more about how to optimize your health and chase life wherever you get your podcasts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Always good advice from Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

And coming up: It was the Philadelphia Eagles raising the Lombardi Trophy nearly six months ago, and the reigning champs are in action tonight as part of a trio of preseason games. We're going to break it all down for you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Kickoff tonight. The first full week of the NFL preseason gets under way. The action includes the reigning Super Bowl champion, the Eagles, taking on the Bengals, plus the Colts and the Ravens and the Raiders versus the Seahawks.

BROWN: All right, for more, let's go live now to CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes in Atlanta.

I know Wolf Blitzer is happy about this football in August, right?

BLITZER: I am. Did you know that I'm a Buffalo Bills fan?

BROWN: Did you -- you are?

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: Yes.

BROWN: Oh, my God.

Andy, did you know this?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I think we have heard Wolf mention that before.

But hey, guys, we made it. We now have football every week from now until February. You mentioned those three preseason games tonight. We got three more tomorrow night. Now, most stars, even most starters, they don't really play in the preseason, but Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, he said Joe Burrow and the number one offense for Cincinnati will play about a quarter tonight against the Eagles.

Now, will we see Aaron Rodgers make his Steelers debut on Saturday against the Jaguars? Well, Rodgers said he's going to do whatever head coach Mike Tomlin wants him to do, but added that he doesn't think the preseason reps are that valuable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON RODGERS, PITTSBURGH STEELERS: Preseason football is not necessarily real football, because the defenses just don't do a whole lot, and the offenses don't either. So you go out there with a very limited playbook against a defense that's playing one-high zone, one- high man or two-high zone.

[11:55:08]

And there's not much pressure. There's oftentimes communication between the coaches about, hey, we're not going to pressure this week or, hey, we need to see a little pressure. It's really about the operation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, so Rodgers is not that excited to play in the preseason, but rookie Shedeur Sanders sure is. He's expected to start the Browns' first preseason game tomorrow.

According to ESPN, the fifth round pick will get to start with both third-round pick Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett dealing with hamstring injuries. The Browns, they also have veteran Joe Flacco, but this is his 18th season, so he doesn't necessarily need those preseason reps.

Sanders notably fell in the draft, but he will immediately get his chance to impress when the Browns play the Panthers. Wolf, your Bills will play the Giants on Saturday. How are you feeling about Buffalo this season?

BLITZER: I think they could go all the way. I'm very confident. I say that every year.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: I'm very confident.

BROWN: I was going to say, is there a year that you have not said that?

BLITZER: Andy, did you see the HBO special on my Buffalo Bills last night?

SCHOLES: Yes, "Hard Knocks." The good thing about HBO Max is, I can go watch it whenever I want. So it's on my list of things to do.

BLITZER: It was really great. And that big beautiful Bill, you know who I'm talking about, Josh Allen, the big beautiful Bill.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: He's the man.

SCHOLES: He's the original, the original.

BROWN: The original.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: That's what they named him after, the big beautiful Bill, the Buffalo Bill. All right, Andy Scholes, thanks very, very much.

BROWN: And you're going up to Buffalo for a big game.

BLITZER: I will be -- I'm hoping to be there for at least one or two of the home games in my hometown of Buffalo. I love the Bills.

BROWN: We all know it. All right, Wolf.

BLITZER: And thanks very much for all -- to all of our viewers for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media, @WolfBlitzer, @PamelaBrownCNN. We will see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" is next after a short break.