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The Situation Room

Man Pleads Guilty in Arson Attack on Shapiro's Home; Bulldozers Seen Removing Rubble in Gaza City; Ceasefire in Gaza Hold; Federal Prosecutors Work to Finalize Potential Bolton Indictment; Deadline Day for Reporters to Sign New Rules Outlined by Pentagon. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 14, 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]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: We do have breaking news. A man who lit fire to the Pennsylvania governor's mansion back in April has pleaded guilty to terrorism, attempted murder, 22 counts of arson, and other charges. Let's go live now to CNN's Danny Freeman, who has been covering this for us. Danny, you were also there when this all happened. What more are you learning?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, that's the main headline that then 38-year-old Cody Balmer just this morning in a Dauphin County courthouse in Harrisburg pleaded guilty to all those counts, including, of course, most notably the attempted murder of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Now, just to set the stage, Jessica, this all dates back to early April. It was the first night of Passover where prosecutors and police say that Balmer entered the governor's residence and started throwing makeshift Molotov cocktails. He ultimately turned himself in, so this guilty plea, not necessarily surprising.

But what is perhaps incredibly shocking, Jessica, is this morning we got new surveillance video of just how this attack unfolded. This was video that was played in that Dauphin County courthouse, and you can see Cody Balmer walk, frankly, fairly casually up to the governor's residence, break a window open with a hammer, this we knew, but this new video shows Balmer rather methodically going through the residence, again, just after a Passover Seder dinner was held while Governor Shapiro and many other guests were sleeping in the residence and throwing a Molotov cocktail on the ground, igniting a blaze there.

The other thing we saw in some of this surveillance video newly released this morning was Balmer actually kicking a door, trying to get deeper into the residence where Governor Shapiro lived and was sleeping with his family and, again, the other guests at the building as well. But he was unable to get through that door. The door appeared to be locked, which clearly made this incident far less worse than it potentially could have been.

[10:35:00]

So, now, at this point, Jessica, what I can tell you is that 11:15, we're expecting to hear from Governor Shapiro and the first lady of Pennsylvania as well, reacting to this new guilty plea. Balmer, for his part, he pleaded guilty. He accepted a sentence of 25 to 50 years and he's going to be sentenced to a state correctional facility. That's where he's been since that attack and since he was apprehended again back in April.

So, that's the headline. Cody Balmer officially pleading guilty to these charges. But perhaps the even bigger headline, this harrowing footage of just how that terrifying attack unfolded.

DEAN: Yes, that video is so chilling, Danny, to watch him so methodically going through. And two things I keep thinking about, which is his -- as you noted, his extended family was there because it was Passover. They just celebrated -- they just had a Seder for Passover, including his children inside their home. And he told police, Balmer did, that he planned to beat the governor with a small sledgehammer if he'd encountered him after breaking into the building. Again, just another chilling detail in all of this. What -- I know we're going to hear from the governor here in just a little bit. We're going to take that live when it happens. But what more has he said about this attack?

FREEMAN: Listen, Governor Shapiro, you and I, I think, Jessica, were on the air on the evening right after this happened back in April. The governor was incredibly thankful to not only his security, but also first responders who raced to put out that fire and to make sure that his family and the guests that were in the home that evening were all safe. Again, frankly, a miracle that no one was injured after that attack.

We also know that there was a large review of security around the governor's mansion to make sure something like this couldn't happen again. Remember, there was fencing that, frankly, was pretty accessible. So, anyone could jump over and, like Balmer did, and ultimately try to attack the residents.

So, there's been a lot of changes to security protocol. But Governor Shapiro himself made sure to emphasize that night, again, like I said, Jessica, when you and I are on the air covering this, that he would not be intimidated to govern the people of Pennsylvania and he would not be intimidated if this was an attack directly against his Jewish faith. Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Danny Freeman with the very latest there from Pennsylvania. Thank you so much again. We'll keep an eye on that press conference with the governor and the first lady of Pennsylvania. Thanks so much. Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Jessica, new video just coming into the Situation Room. Bulldozers are on the ground in Gaza City as the work to remove debris and rubble is only just beginning. These are dramatic developments and very important ones right now.

A ray of light, that's how one aid worker is describing this day in Gaza as the ceasefire holds. Thank God for that. And aid trucks are beginning to arrive in the decimated enclave. They're carrying food and medicine as well as tents. Very important. Not only tents, but blankets for a population living amid the rubble from two years of war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAEED AL-BANNA, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN (through translator): I support any effort that leads to security and stability and the revival of the economy in order to give people comfort because the people are tired. Any effort, even if it is a small hope, God willing it will grow in the future because we are tired and we want to raise our children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Palestinian health officials say more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza over the past two years. Let's get some analysis right now. Joining us is CNN global affairs analyst and longtime national security expert Brett McGurk. Brett, thanks so much for joining us. I know you've worked on past ceasefires in this conflict and also hostage negotiations over these years. Do you have a concrete understanding, first of all, of what's actually in that Gaza deal that's been signed by President Trump and these other world leaders at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt yesterday?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST AND FORMER MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA COORDINATION, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: I think, Wolf, what was signed yesterday was put out by the White House as kind of a hortatory language about the hope for peace and everybody coming together. I think that the crux of the deal is the implementation arrangement of phase one of President Trump's 20-point plan, which is now basically done with the living hostages coming out. The remains remains a very serious issue, the dead hostages that Hamas claims not to be able to find. I think their claim there is very dubious.

But, Wolf, what is most important here is now moving into the other elements of the plan. And as I'm looking at Gaza, if I see one risk now, if you look at a map of Gaza, there's a demarcation line. The Israeli forces actually still control, with checkpoints, about 53 percent of Gaza. But in the 47 percent where Hamas is, the reports coming out of Gaza are summary executions of Palestinians, basically Hamas doing what they've done to seize power in Gaza nearly 20 years ago.

[10:40:00]

That's a real -- that is not a threat to Israel. Hamas is no longer a threat to Israel under this deal, given that demarcation line. But it's a serious threat to Palestinians and a serious threat for any pathway to longer-term peace, because so long as Hamas is the controlling entity of the population, you're not going to have a pathway to peace. I don't think you're going to have a credible reconstruction plan.

So, bottom line, Wolf, you've got to now move to that interim security force, into those areas where the Israelis currently are, cede them in, try to get the population into those areas and away from Hamas over time. This will take months. Really flood those areas with humanitarian aid, reconstruction assistance. There's a lot of hard work ahead here. But bottom line, after the great day yesterday, Wolf, hard work now really begins. And there's still an open question about how to demilitarize Gaza and disarm Hamas in those areas that they still control.

BLITZER: Who are these Palestinians that Hamas is executing right now?

MCGURK: Anybody that is -- that stands up to Hamas' rule. You know, Wolf, I remember back in 2005, I was a National Security Council staffer. I was not working on this issue. But I remember I had a meeting with Steve Hadley, the national security adviser, and he had his door closed for a very long time. And Condi Rice was in there. And it was the day that Hamas actually did very well in elections in Gaza. Remember that over 20 years ago.

Hamas then later seized power using terror, throwing Palestinians off the roofs of buildings from the opposition Fatah Party that really represents the Palestinian Authority. And they seized power with force. And for the 20 years since, this was the status quo. And frankly, it was accepted by the United Nations, the International Community. Frankly, the status quo was accepted by multiple U.S. presidential administrations, by the Israelis. Looking back, I think that was a tragic, tragic mistake. Hamas just built 300 miles of tunnels, did nothing to improve the lives of Palestinians and prepared for what we saw on October 7th and then the subsequent war.

So, when it comes down to it, to get beyond that status quo that's been there for 20 years, to have a new reality, a new hope, everything President Trump talked about yesterday, I think there's potential because he has rallied all the Arab countries and the Muslim majority countries behind a plan that calls on Hamas to disarm and demilitarize. This is really critical.

So, you know, that status quo that's accepted in Gaza for so long, where Hamas is the ruling entity, no more. Really, the whole Arab world has said, enough. But now you got to make it happen. And until you have an alternative security force and all those plans start to be implemented, Wolf, it's hard to see where that goes. But that is really the focus now. And it's going to be hard work.

BLITZER: It certainly will be. Brett McGurk, as usual, thank you very, very much. Appreciate it.

MCGURK: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And there's more news we're following. We're continuing to monitor all the late-breaking developments here in the region. Our Jessica Dean is joining us now for a quick look at what else is making headlines back in the U.S. Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Wolf, tell, thank you. And we have new CNN reporting, a senior Justice Department prosecutor removed from a key U.S. attorney's office. We'll have details on that for you. That's next.

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[10:45:00]

DEAN: Happening now, prosecutors are working on possible criminal charges for another critic of President Trump coming after the indictments of New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey. The next person expected to potentially face the ire of the Trump Justice Department, John Bolton. Federal prosecutors met this weekend to finalize the details of a potential indictment against the former Trump adviser-turned-critic of the president.

Let's go live now to CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz. Katelyn, what is this particular investigation all about? And do you expect that we'll see Bolton charged this week?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, we just don't know if and when a charge would come. John Bolton has not been charged with any crime. But this investigation, it's been going on for years. And it is about the handling or potential mishandling of classified information in the possession of John Bolton from whenever he had served in the federal government.

Now, remember, he's a longtime federal public servant but also was the national security adviser in the Trump administration. He was searched not only just this summer, both his office and his home. And there was some pushback within the Justice Department about when to charge him.

Now, this is a little bit different than what we saw in the Comey case and the James case. That's a different prosecutor's office, the Eastern District of Virginia. The Maryland prosecutor's office, it's led by a longtime federal prosecutor in that office. The U.S. attorney there is named Kelly Hayes. And the dispute between political leadership of the Justice Department and people working in that office, from what I have learned through sources, was that the dispute was over timing, whether to charge John Bolton very soon or prepare an indictment very soon to take it through the grand jury or whether there needed to be more time since those searches of his home and office only took place a couple weeks ago.

So, now, we are waiting to see what happens in the coming days. But the source did tell me, one source told me, that prosecutors in the Maryland U.S. attorney's office were at work over the weekend preparing the next steps here for a potential indictment. We have yet to see exactly what it would entail, but we do know it's been quite an investigation over John Bolton and the classified documents that at one point would have been in his possession.

DEAN: And, Katelyn, you also have some new reporting on a senior Justice Department prosecutor removed from a key U.S. attorney's office. Tell us more about that.

POLANTZ: This is the U.S. attorney's office in Virginia, Northern Virginia, the one that has charged the James Comey case and the Letitia James case. That office is one where a former personal lawyer to Donald Trump, someone who has very little trial or in-court experience, her name is Lindsey Halligan, is leading the office, and she is asserting her authority over that office with a deepening split between what she wants to do and potentially even what the White House wants her to do and what prosecutors in that office may want or believe would be the best course of action.

[10:50:00]

The latest assertion of this authority by Lindsey Halligan, the removal of her first deputy, the woman who was in that position just before Halligan was appointed, the former interim U.S. attorney Maggie Cleary. She was the first assistant in the Eastern District of Virginia. And just three weeks or so in that office, Maggie Cleary has been removed by Lindsey Halligan, the now U.S. attorney.

There have been others fired. There have been people who've resigned in that office, and much of this is related to the fallout over the internal discussion and dissension of charging Jim Comey, a case that continues forward with Lindsey Halligan even appearing at the arraignment herself and sitting at counsel's table.

DEAN: All right. Katelyn Polantz with the very latest. Thank you so much for your reporting. Let's send it back now to Wolf Blitzer, who is live in Tel Aviv. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Jessica, thanks very much. A subject very close to my heart right now, a deadline day for Pentagon reporters, sign a pledge to follow new restrictions or else. Who is signing and who is not? We have details. That's next.

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[10:55:00]

BLITZER: The Pentagon is telling beat reporters to sign very, very restrictive new rules by today or it says they must surrender their press passes and won't be allowed in the building. Nearly every major news outlet, including CNN, of course, have all said their journalists will not agree to this ultimatum. The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, responded to some media statements on the issue, like this New York Times statement replying on X, which used to be Twitter, with the goodbye emoji.

Joining us now is CNN's Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter. Brian, what are you hearing from news organizations about these very, very tough restrictions that are today being imposed?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Well, number one, and most importantly, news outlets will continue to cover the military and the Trump administration aggressively, even though we're being booted from the Pentagon. And that is effectively what is happening here.

Over the span of months, we've seen the Pentagon trying to tighten restrictions, first by exiling outlets like CNN out of longtime Pentagon workspaces, then making it harder to actually move around the building, ending the regular daily routine briefings at the Pentagon. And now, this legal language, this document that requires journalists to make promises that no real journalist could actually make.

These restrictions, these rules have been rejected by virtually every major media outlet in the United States, from the AP and Axios to CNN and Reuters. Even the conservative Newsmax, a pro-Trump cable channel, says it does not intend to follow along with these rules. That means everybody has to hand in their press passes by tomorrow. And by the end of the week, we really won't see journalists working out of the Pentagon any longer.

There is one pro-Trump channel called One America News that has agreed to these rules. And that may be what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants. He may be wanting to try to replace real reporters with pro- Trump propagandists at the Pentagon. But he's not going to actually be able to end reporting altogether. Journalists are going to continue to report on the Pentagon, report on Hegseth, report on the military, even if we're outside the building, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. Could there be any potential legal action underway right now?

STELTER: Well, that is the big question that I have now, because I know media lawyers and newsroom leaders have been meeting for weeks over these restrictions. And there is a possibility about legal action after the press passes are turned in, after this actually takes effect later in the week.

You know, Hegseth has been misleading the public about what is going on there. He posted a message on X yesterday calling this press credentialing for dummies, claiming that going forward the press must wear a visible badge, and credentialed press are no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts. So, he's implying that currently journalists don't wear badges, but at the Pentagon they do. And he's suggesting that the very act of journalism, of asking sources for information, should be or possibly would be criminalized in some way going forward. That is partly why so many media outlets have stood together in a rare show of solidarity and rejected this pledge, rejected these restrictions.

I know, Wolf, you used cover the Pentagon, you used to work out of that workspace there, I bet you didn't imagine you would see this happening at the Pentagon, on your old stomping grounds.

BLITZER: I certainly never did. And it really is awful. For me it's very, very personal because I spent several years as CNN's Pentagon correspondent, especially during the first Gulf War, and I can't imagine agreeing to any kind of restriction that would limit a serious journalist from only reporting what the Pentagon would put out in a formal press release, but not reporting the real news, what's really going on.

When I worked at the Pentagon during that war, I would often walk through the corridors, generals will stop me and say, Wolf, the American people need to know this, they would share something with me and I would report it based on what a four-star general would tell me.

And now, if you did that, you'd be kicked out of the Pentagon, not allowed to report it. It's really -- it's obscene when you think about it. And I can't believe that this is happening over at the Pentagon right now. Brian, thank you very, very much.

[11:00:00]