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The Situation Room

Six Killed, Several Injured in Shooting Attack on Jerusalem Bus Stop; Any Moment, Trump to Address Religious Liberty Commission; Epstein Estate to Release More Files to Lawmakers Today. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired September 08, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, shooting attack. Six people killed after two gunmen opened fire in Jerusalem. Israel's president vows, quote, terror will never defeat us.

And looming federal crackdown, President Trump's decision on sending troops to Chicago could come at any moment, as the mayor forcefully reiterates, we don't need the National Guard.

And then later, quote, there is no hoax. That's the message from Epstein survivor Haley Robson to President Trump. She will join me live just ahead.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus air attack, Russia targeting Ukraine with more than 800 drones in the biggest aerial assault since the war started more than three years ago.

And one-on-one with Andrew Cuomo, I'll speak live to the former governor about his run for New York City mayor and his strategy of navigating President Trump.

And later, epic comeback, my Buffalo Bills pulling off an incredible fourth quarter turnaround to take down the Baltimore Ravens.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news out of Jerusalem.

Terror at a bus stop. At least six people killed in a shooting attack today. Israeli police say this all started with two gunmen opening fire just after the morning rush hour. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the attack just a short time ago.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: These murders, these attacks on all fronts do not weaken our resolve. They only increase our determination to complete the missions we've taken upon ourselves in Gaza, in Judea and Samaria, everywhere. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Judea and Samaria is the biblical term Israelis used to refer to the occupied West Bank.

Let's go live right now to CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem. Jeremy, what more, first of all, could you tell us about this attack in Jerusalem and what stopped it?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Israeli authorities are calling this a terrorist attack that was carried out by two Palestinian gunmen who opened fire at a crowded bus station in Jerusalem. At least six people were killed in this attack. More than a dozen others were taken to hospital with of variety of injuries, several of them in serious condition.

I spoke with one paramedic on the scene who said that he saw bullet wound injuries to people who were lying on the ground in pools of blood, ranging from bullet wounds to the head to the torso, different parts of the body.

Israeli authorities say that the two gunmen were killed at the scene by an off-duty Israeli soldier, as well as several Israeli civilians who engaged the shooters, opened fire and killed them on the spot. The Israeli police and internal security service, the Shin Bet, have now identified the two shooters as a 20-year-old and a 21-year-old, both from Palestinian villages, just northwest of Jerusalem, inside of the occupied West Bank.

Now, you mentioned that the Israeli prime minister was indeed on the scene within hours of this shooting, and he vowed that Israel would carry out a harsh response in response to this shooting attack. We have already begun to see what that looks like with several Israeli forces beginning to raid some of those very same Palestinian villages where these shooters actually came from.

Interestingly, Israeli authorities say that neither men had any history of prior arrests. It seems like they were not prior or previously flagged to Israeli authorities, but they are now going to be carrying out a more thorough investigation, Wolf, to understand why and how this happens. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem for us, Jeremy, thank you very much.

Also new this morning, Israel is issuing more evacuation orders for people living in Gaza City.

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The Israeli defense minister is warning a, quote, massive hurricane will hit Gaza City today. Listen.

Multiple places in the city were hit over the weekend. These high rise residential buildings obliterated by an Israeli airstrike. This building was hit yesterday. You can see the tents of the people seeking refuge as smoked billows after the strike.

And this video shows another tower getting destroyed. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights was located there. Pamela?

BROWN: Happening now, Wolf, here in Washington, President Trump is visiting the Museum of the Bible. This is a privately funded operation founded by the President of Hobby Lobby nearly eight years ago. And at any moment, the President and Attorney General Pam Bondi will deliver remarks to a meeting of his religious liberty commission.

Let's go live now to CNN's Kevin Liptak at the White House. Kevin, President Trump created this panel to protect religious freedom. What message is he expected to deliver today?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And the president has just departed the White House, so we'll see him there very shortly. Really, the centerpiece of his remarks for later today will be the announcement of this new initiative encouraging Americans to pray for the United States ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country's founding next year. It's called America Prays. It will encourage Americans to pray on a weekly basis in groups for the country ahead of that big anniversary. The president will be speaking to this commission that he founded by executive order back in May.

The real focus of the commission is trying to protect religious liberty and education. This is something that the president has spoken quite frequently about. He talked about it on the campaign trail last year, really presenting himself as a protector of religious freedoms. And, certainly, you can expect the president to talk about that when he speaks at the Museum of the Bible later today.

This will be his first visit to a museum since he began this initiative, looking at museum exhibits in the Smithsonian. But we should note the Museum of the Bible, even though it's here in Washington, is unassociated with that larger institution. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Kevin Liptak, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: Also happening now, the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is preparing a handover documents to the House Oversight Committee. Lawmakers on the committee subpoenaed the estate for the materials as part of their demand that the Epstein files are released to the public.

Let's go live right now to CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill. Manu, what are lawmakers expected to see in these files later today?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Wolf, it's unclear exactly the amount of material that will be provided to the committee and the extent to which it will be redacted. We do expect some of this information to be redacted and how much of it will be released publicly.

All key questions at this moment, one of the big questions are going to be too about this apparent birthday book that Jeffrey Epstein got in 2003, had a collection of letters in there, and according to The Wall Street Journal's report that it included a letter from Donald Trump himself. Trump has furiously denied that report, has sued The Wall Street Journal over defamation. So, will we learn any more about that? That is one of the questions.

But this subpoena also include a wide range of issues. It called for any document or record that could be reasonably construed to be a potential list of clients involving sex, sex acts, or sex trafficking, including non-disclosure agreements executed by him. We do expect staffers of the House Oversight Committee to travel to the estate and see the unredacted portions of these documents as well.

But this is part of the larger investigation, Wolf, into all of this by the House Oversight Committee, including further depositions from past officials who knew about what was happening or was involved in this investigation as well. So, we'll see ultimately what this committee decides that this dispute over how to pursue these documents continues to linger and roil the GOP.

BLITZER: All right. Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill, Manu, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Wolf. Happening now, raids in Boston, the newest target by the Trump administration as it expands its immigration crackdown. The administration is signaling Chicago is next.

Protesters gathered in the streets there over the weekend, as you see, as Border Czar Tom Homan confirmed to CNN there are plans to serve immigration operations in the city this week. And President Trump posted this over the weekend, an A.I. generated Apocalypse now inspired image with the message, Chicago is about to find out why it's called the Department of War. The president later downplayed that threat, saying, quote, we're not going to war with Chicago.

CNN Correspondent Priscilla Alvarez joins us now in The Situation Room. So, Priscilla, you have some new reporting that Trump officials have privately discussed targeting Chicago and Boston for weeks.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. My sources have told me that this has been an ongoing discussion in the administration to target Democratic-led cities, like Chicago and Boston, over their so- called sanctuary policies.

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They don't have a clear definition, but generally it's limiting the cooperation between local police department and federal immigration authorities.

Senior Trump officials have publicly been going after them for months, including filing lawsuits against Chicago and against Boston. And now we're seeing what a increased federal presence, where that's what the planning is in each of these cities, to do more immigration enforcement.

What I was told is that in Chicago, for example, they had planned for a phased approach, bringing in resources over time, more of a buildup, very much like Los Angeles. But over the weekend, discussions really picked up about doing something sooner.

Now, operations like this are always in flux, but Boston in the meantime has already gotten underway. And, again, it's a good time to remind viewers that immigration arrests have been happening in this city. The difference with what the administration wants to do is have more of a federal presence, more agencies doing this type of immigration enforcement, and that has received a lot of pushback from Democratic leaders, including, for example, the Chicago mayor who, in The New York Times, wrote the following.

I'll just read an excerpt from it. He said, it is also true that Chicago's gun violence and crime have long been a political punchline. The lowering crime rates here does not require an occupation of our city by our members of the National Guard as the White House continues to threaten us with.

Now, this, of course, coming over the weekend, the president, again posting on Truth Social about this, but this all is really, according to my sources, wrapped up in immigration enforcement. Yes, the president talks about a crime crackdown, but it is the confluence of all of it as they also try to ramp up those arrests.

BROWN: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much.

And new this morning, a heinous act captured on video. I want to turn -- I want you to warn you that this is disturbing. It is very graphic. This is surveillance footage moments before a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee was stabbed to death aboard a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Now, after she boards the train in her work uniform, she sits in front of her alleged killer. And after a few moments, in a seemingly just random act, the suspect pulls out a knife and attacks her.

BLITZER: Heartbreaking indeed. I want to go live to CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller, who's joining us from New York. John, what do we know, first of all, about this horrible attack and the alleged assailant?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, this happened back on August 22nd. The assailant, who's charged with murder in this case is Decarlos Brown, 34 years old. He's got 14 arrests in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. He just finished a six-year stint for an armed gunpoint robbery and got out of jail a couple of years ago. And what we're trying to learn is more about what his encounters with law enforcement on the street have been since the time he was released from prison up until this incident.

BLITZER: The attack, as you know, John, has set off a political firestorm about crime in Democratic-led cities across the United States. How is this playing out?

MILLER: Well, if you look at Charlotte, their crime is actually taking a dramatic turn in the right direction. Their murder is down 29 percent as of the July numbers. I read through aggravated assault, which would capture stabbing, shootings and other assaults, is down 25 percent.

So, you look at Charlotte, and like many of these cities that are telling this story, their violent crime is trending in the right direction. Their property crime burglaries, car theft you see slight increases in, but they have a very dynamic police department there that has a combination of assertive policing, precision policing, directed patrols, but also community policing involving youth outreach for juvenile delinquency and other things.

So, this is not one of those cities that is asleep at the switch on crime. What this is is a terribly tragic, dramatic, terrible event captured on video, which is being magnified to send a certain message.

BLITZER: It certainly is. When you look at this video, John, what do you take away from the suspect's demeanor?

MILLER: Well, I think we've all seen this story before and we don't have this level of detail, but when you see an attack like this that is so completely and totally unprovoked and without another motive, meaning robbery, a sex crime, none of that came into play here. What we're probably dealing with, again, is an untreated mental illness.

And that's why I think we want to dig into what other encounters were there with the system that could have given tipping and queuing to where this person was in terms of mental illness because we've seen so many of these unhinged people and unprovoked attacks.

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BLITZER: All right. John Miller, thanks very much for that update. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Still ahead, right here in The Situation Room, calls to resign. Hawaii Governor and Physician Josh Green will join us ahead on why he's calling for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to step down.

BLITZER: And later, President Trump's Chicago decision, I'll talk to the former Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel, on whether the president will send federal troops to Chicago.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: Either today or tomorrow, President Trump says he will make his decision on potential federal action in Chicago. Over the weekend, he posted this social media meme inspired by the movie, Apocalypse Now. He also referred to his renaming of the Defense Department with a promise that Chicago is, quote, about to find out why it's called the Department of War, as you see, all caps.

Joining us now is CNN's Senior Political and Global Affairs Commentator Rahm Emanuel. He's the former Chicago mayor and the former Obama White House chief of staff. Rahm, thanks very much for joining us.

What's your reaction, first of all, to this stark imagery of war and flames amid the Chicago skyline?

RAHM EMANUEL, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: You know, well, the only place that Donald Trump has ever put troops on the ground are American cities, and in the same breath he has also coddled and said kind with love bumps over to President Xi and President Putin, who are trying to actually harm America.

So, think about that. The American cities, American residents in their own cities are being declared war on by the president of the United States. Troops are on the ground, boots are on the ground, and yet actual dictators in authoritarian governments that are trying to harm America and displace America's leadership, he's coddling and throwing them love bumps. So, just take that back.

Second, you know, on Friday, you had the unemployment numbers. If they had actually produced 200,000 jobs, not 70,000 lost manufacturing jobs, if healthcare premiums weren't up 15 percent under his watch, utility rates weren't up 20 percent, he would be talking about that. Now, he's decided to distract people with type of rhetoric and type of actions that actually hide the fact or distract the fact that, in fact, his economic program is failing miserably the American people. That's my take on it.

BLITZER: You know, Rahm, the White House tells CNN that immigration and Border Patrol agents are now trickling into Chicago to make arrests. This comes as CNN has learned that Trump officials have privately discussed targeting Chicago for weeks over its so-called sanctuary city policies. The mayor of Chicago has ordered Chicago police to not collaborate with federal authorities. Is that the right move?

EMANUEL: Well, yes. Look, one of the reasons you have a good crime strategy is you build tighter relationships between the police and the residents. Any participation or any way in fracturing that would actually harm the efforts of reducing crime.

Now, you know, the president, in his own budget, cut the funding for sustained efforts with hiring and training police officers, cut the funding to deal with actually license plate readers to deal with carjackings. So, he's doing one thing and he is actually trying to get the goods through customs by calling it immigration when it's really about what he wants to do is on crime, but his actual budget cut the sustained effort.

This is a flash in the past and will not be sustained. Every police department across the country, big cities, medium cities, small cities, have a sustained effort putting more cops on the beat, getting kids, drugs and gangs off the street.

And, look, there's no mayor of any city that does not want a day where their kids are going to school, thinking of their studies, not their safety, who isn't tired of driving by a tree from a weekend with a yellow ribbon around it from somebody who's been a victim of senseless gun violence. Work with the cities. Every mayor would die for that. But this is a president who's doing performative violence on a city, violence on its resident, driving a wedge without the effort to actually stop this senseless gun violence.

And he would have a welcome hand from every city of every mayor, of every political stripe, of every size city, if he would partner rather than cut the funding for police, rather than cut the funding that helps us dealing with carjacking.

So, I just think that you see it, what it is, it's performative, it's a distraction from the failed economic policies of Donald Trump.

BLITZER: You sat in the current mayor, Mayor Johnson's seat. Do you feel like he's making the right moves right now? What advice specifically would you offer him?

EMANUEL: Well, I have a practice Wolf, which is, if I have advice, I'll give it to him privately. I don't do it publicly. But I do think across the city, there's an effort. School's backed. Fund after school programs so kids aren't on the street, but they're doing athletic, artistic, or academic programs, fund to sustain effort so you build up a police department doing community policing, fund an effort that deals with actually targeting the gangs in every city across the country, Wolf. Few individuals commit the overabundance of violent crime. Target your resources on getting those folks off. The president's not doing that.

This will be a flash and it'll disappear. And then it has nothing to do sustained, and then the city has to pick up the pieces of broken. You know, the president of the United States once mused just a couple weeks ago about going to heaven.

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When you declare war on your own residents, my unsolicited advice is bone up on Dante's Inferno and the nine stages there, because this is insane. You have people across the globe trying to harm America. He is trying to actually be friends with. And then the own American people that will have build this country to sustain, he's declared war on. It's divisive at home and he is trying to find friends who are trying to harm the United States. I think it's really upside down, in my own view.

And, again, it's an attempt not to deal with the fact that his economic program was less on manufacturing jobs than the day he walked in, healthcare premiums are up, utility prices are up and cost of meat and other types of vegetables are all up. And if the unemployment numbers on Friday told a different story, you would not see all this theater. It's an attempt to have a shiny bobble over here so you don't focus on what you see every day in front of you is an economy that's faltering around Donald Trump because of the policies of Donald Trump.

BLITZER: Rahm Emanuel, thanks so much for joining us.

EMANUEL: Thank you.

BLITZER: Pamela?

BROWN: Well, Wolf, you're a very happy man this morning, right?

BLITZER: I am.

BROWN: Can you tell us why?

BLITZER: Because my Buffalo Bills won.

BROWN: And so you went to bed really late, but it was worth it. It was close to midnight. It was a great game. We came from behind and we won.

BROWN: All right, well, we're going to have all the highlights coming up.

Stay with us.

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