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Shots Fired at U.S. Consulate in Canada; Interview With Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); New York Terror Investigation. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired March 10, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:02]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: You and I share a lot of history, Peter.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes.

BLITZER: Thanks very much for coming back. Good to always get your analysis on what's going on.

What do you make of these two suspects, 18 and 19 years old, apparently inspired by ISIS?

BERGEN: Well, obviously, they're young. And that's what we're seeing increasingly, people being radicalized online.

What's interesting about these bombs, TATP, we just saw those bombs being detonated safely in Pennsylvania. That was a pretty big bang. The reason being TATP is highly explosive. And it is a weapon of choice from terrorists today because it's made from hydrogen peroxide, which you can basically -- you can acquire hydrogen peroxide legally for a bunch of reasons, hair dye essentially.

And you basically need to be able to really distill it down to a very high concentration. That's why a lot of terrorists use it. I mean, 52 Londoners died in an al Qaeda attack in London in 2005 with one of these kinds of bombs. So they are effective.

The fact that the police in New York are saying this could have been pretty bad, they are not exaggerating.

BLITZER: Could have been a disaster, in fact.

BERGEN: Yes.

BLITZER: A lot of people could have been killed.

One of them was a senior in high school, one of these suspects. How do they get radicalized like this?

BERGEN: Well, I mean, they're sitting online. Sometimes, they're shopping for -- I mean, look, we don't know everything about these people yet, but often people are shopping for grievances and finding a cause that kind of allows them to use violence to act out. They may have personal problems in their lives. And ISIS just happens to be one of the ideologies that's easily

available out there. And we saw -- we saw in Manhattan, back in the first term of the Trump administration, somebody inspired by ISIS using a car as a weapon, killing eight people. You may recall that, Wolf.

So it can inspire people to cause a lot of damage, unfortunately.

BLITZER: The New York City mayor, Mamdani, just spoke about this incident just a few minutes ago. So I want to play a clip. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Hi, Mr. Mayor.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: Hi.

QUESTION: Hi. So given that both of the alleged attackers at Gracie were -- said they were inspired by ISIS and given New York City's sort of perennial status as a soft target, I was wondering if you had any words of advice to any young people who might find themselves being drawn to that particular ideology.

MAMDANI: I think, first and foremost, just to make it clear to everyone that extremism and hatred of any kind will not be tolerated in our city. And that is regardless of whatever ideology motivates any person to commit an act of violence. There is no tolerance for it here.

What we want to deliver to New Yorkers is a city that is safe, is a city that believes in the values where everyone who calls it home is considered to be a part of it. There is no tolerance for any kind of violence within that vision of our city or the way in which we lead the city.

QUESTION: Thanks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Fortunately, no one was injured in this incident that occurred over the weekend.

I'm curious to get your thoughts, because you covered terrorism for us for many, many years. The so-called sleeper cells that Iran may have in the United States to attack U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, how significant is that?

BERGEN: Well, if they exist, they're going to attack now. This is the perfect time.

However, the record of these Iranian-backed terrorists in the United States carrying out successful attacks is pretty mixed. I mean, Adel Al-Jubeir, who you know well...

BLITZER: He was the Saudi ambassador to the United States. BERGEN: Yes, they planned to kill him at Cafe Milano in 2011.

BLITZER: A restaurant here in Washington.

BERGEN: Yes.

And the people involved were not the most sophisticated terrorists. However, you don't necessarily need to be that sophisticated if you can acquire weapons. So this -- it's not just Iran-backed terrorists. I mean, there might be Hezbollah sleeper cells as well.

However, I'm a little skeptical in the sense of, do they pose a massive threat right now? We did see Salman Rushdie almost lose his life when somebody stabbed him in 2022. He was the person -- the perpetrator was somebody who was inspired by Khamenei's fatwa about Salman Rushdie's book.

He wasn't really directly connected to the Iranian government. So -- and we have also had in Brooklyn Masih Alinejad, who's a Iranian dissident. Somebody showed up at her door with an AK-47 in 2024. So, I don't want to downplay it. I'm just saying that, in general, these things have not panned out in the way that the Iranians or Hezbollah have really wanted to do so.

BLITZER: Peter Bergen, as usual, good to have you back in THE SITUATION ROOM.Thank you very, very much.

BERGEN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And just ahead: A new report from Senate Democrat says the U.S. is losing its advantage over China.

I will speak to the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee about the report and the concerns about China's involvement, possible involvement in the Iran war.

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:38:21]

BLITZER: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are having a news conference right now in this incident in Toronto where the U.S. Consulate, the diplomatic consulate there was just shot at. Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CHRIS LEATHER, CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: The mandate under which we operate as the national police service, pursuant to our integrated national security enforcement teams.

But to be clear, these are integrated units that undertake these investigations. So while it may be RCMP-led, it also has the Ontario Provincial Police. Toronto obviously will have a key role in this investigation and the other large police services in the (INAUDIBLE) in particular will be working with us diligently on this investigation, which is now of course a high priority matter for us to take on.

QUESTION: Deputy Chief, this does come after three shootings at synagogues in the city in recent days. Is there anything to suggest the incidents are connected shootings? You have recovered shell casings from both scenes, right? (OFF-MIKE)

FRANK BARREDO, TORONTO, CANADA, DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF: We definitely will be -- sorry. We definitely will be looking at any possible connections. Obviously, it is far too early in this investigation, but we do not look at them in isolation.

We look at them collectively. And if and how there is something that is found to support that, then that will obviously color and direct how the investigation unfolds. But it is not lost in us that the city has unfortunately experienced similar types of events, extremely serious and very concerning shootings at synagogues, and this very much factors into how we will approach this matter as well.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

[11:40:02]

BARREDO: We believe the shooting happened at 4:30, around 4:29, in fact.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BARREDO: Exactly.

Or, actually an officer was flagged down. So there was a gap. This is why when we share the time of the event, we would like people to be aware that that would be the time, if you were in this area, if you have dashcam footage, for instance -- it would have been around 4:30 or so that we believe the incident to have taken place.

Again, I will state that it's early. So investigators are still piecing things together. But this is an early understanding of when we think the timeline may have been.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BARREDO: I don't have that information to share at the moment.

QUESTION: Did both individuals that got out of the vehicle, they both had firearms and both shot at the building? Is that your understanding?

BARREDO: It's -- unfortunately, because the investigation is still very active and early, I can't share that. I can tell you that there was a handgun that was discharged and that both individuals were involved in that discharge.

QUESTION: And did bullets actually go through the front door? Can you maybe elaborate a bit on the damage?

BARREDO: I haven't had a look myself or spoken specifically with anyone about the damage, but I can tell you, as most people would know, this is a heavily fortified building, very secure.

The glass and the walls are reinforced, and so I don't believe that there was any penetration, if you will, of projectiles into the building. In fact, it's quite possible that people in the building would not have even noticed. That's how strong this building is behind me.

So, again, we're still piecing some information together, and as we're able to share more updates, we will do so.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BARREDO: I can tell you that there were multiple shots fired. I don't have an exact number to share with you at the moment. More than one.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LEATHER: There's obviously formal communication going on with our U.S. counterparts, the FBI, the consulate itself here.

We have had members at the consulate here this morning, along with Toronto police, meeting with staff here and their senior executive to discuss the incident. Rest assured those conversations are also occurring in Ottawa between officials there and their U.S. counterparts at the embassy.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LEATHER: Yes, I don't have any information to provide at this time on any sleeper cells that may or may not exist in Canada. Suffice to say that our CSIS counterparts and the INSETs across the country are actively investigating matters such as this. And we will continue to do so.

I think it's important that the public realize that we have had a number of meetings and discussions already this morning with our federal counterparts. And that does include CSIS both here in Toronto region and at national headquarters. And they are tracking this incident very closely as well.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) American consulates in Canada or other countries consulates' and embassies as well?

LEATHER: Other consulates as well, including the Israeli Consulate, will be seeing a change in the security posture here in Toronto, as well as Ottawa.

QUESTION: Any other countries?

LEATHER: Not that I'm prepared to speak to at this time. We will be assessing that on an ongoing basis. But, for now, the U.S. Consulate and the Israeli Consulate will see a change. QUESTION: So why did you choose those two consulates specifically?

LEATHER: Well, I think it's fairly obvious based on the incidents that have occurred here in Toronto and elsewhere that these consulates deserve a heightened amount of vigilance and security at this time in the hopes that we can bring the temperature down in the coming days and weeks.

QUESTION: Has something like this ever happened before (OFF-MIKE) U.S. Consulate shooting (OFF-MIKE)

LEATHER: Not in my memory. I can't recall us either investigating or becoming aware of a shooting here.

Deputy?

BARREDO: I cannot recall a shooting. I do recall many, many years ago a firebomb incident. We're going back a ways. I mean, it won't be lost on anyone that the U.S. Consulate is the site of many protests and demonstrations, as well as, because of geopolitical events, the Israeli Consulate has seen a lot of gatherings, people assembling, expressing themselves.

So that this would be a scene where something like this would be -- where the manifestation of frustration with geopolitical events would happen is not lost on us. But that might in part explain why this building is as secure and as fortified as it is.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BARREDO: I believe there were people inside at the time. I don't -- I can't confirm that.

However, as I was mentioning earlier, the building is so fortified it's quite possible that people inside would not have noticed that there was -- that there were shots -- pardon me -- that there were shots directed at the front of the building.

[11:45:00]

QUESTION: And are you able to confirm (OFF-MIKE) how many shots (OFF- MIKE) the casings?

BARREDO: So I'm afraid I'm not able to share that with you. I can say that it was multiple shots. They were multiple casings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last question, please.

QUESTION: So what's entailed in determining if this is terrorism- related? You mentioned that was a possibility.

LEATHER: Well, it's definitely a national security incident because we had the U.S. Consulate, after all, struck by gunfire.

Whether it's a terrorist event or not, that will be subject to the investigation that will be undertaken in the coming days and weeks. And that will be based on the evidence that's collected both here at the scene and subsequently through the work with our partners.

QUESTION: Can you just give us an update quickly on traffic? How long (OFF-MIKE)

BARREDO: I'm afraid I'm not able to tell you exactly. I mean, I could follow up with you if you like. I would speak to the people here that are protecting the scene. And, rest assured, that as soon as we're able to open up traffic, we will. We realize that this is obviously an inconvenient for people.

But the investigation is of a very high priority and we are making sure that we are not leaving anything to chance and looking at every little detail.

BLITZER: All right, we're going to continue to monitor this news conference in Toronto, a very disturbing development, shots fired early this morning, around 4:30 a.m., early this morning, at the U.S. diplomatic consulate in Toronto.

And the police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, they were both asked, the officials from Toronto police and from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, if this potentially could have been connected to the three, not one, not two, but three synagogues that were shot at in Toronto over the past several days.

And they said they're investigating that right now. And I presume that's one of the reasons why they're beefing up security right now, not only at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, but the Israeli Consulate in Toronto as well. We're watching this very, very closely.

I want to discuss this at a lot more with the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.

Senator, you're on the Armed Services Committee.

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): Good morning.

BLITZER: You were briefed on what's going on in Iran right now, Epic Fury, the U.S. operation that's ongoing.

First of all, give us your reaction. When you hear that the U.S. Consulate in Toronto and three synagogues in the past few days were shot at in Toronto, what goes through your mind?

SHAHEEN: Well, it's very troubling.

And, as we heard, there's going to be a complete investigation, but it speaks to why we need to ensure that security is beefed up at all of our diplomatic facilities, our embassies and consulates around the world, particularly in the Middle East, as we're looking at this hot war that's happening with Iran and the spillover that may happen in other places because people are concerned, upset about the war.

BLITZER: And you think it would be wise to beef up security at synagogues, for example, and Israeli diplomatic missions here in the United States?

SHAHEEN: Well, I think Congress has been very concerned about that for some time, as we have seen the incidence of antisemitic activity rising.

And we have put funding in to try and help synagogues and other facilities around the country to address their security concerns. But, clearly, when we are engaged in the kind of conflict that's happening right now in Iran, there are very strong feelings that come out.

And we see, sadly, this kind of activity. I hate to -- I don't want to call it terrorism, because we don't know if that's what it is yet -- but this kind of event happening in places, not just in the United States, but around the world. We're seeing our embassies in the Middle East that are being attacked by Iran.

So we need to make sure that we do everything possible to protect our embassy personnel and civilians, who are working very hard in a dangerous situation.

BLITZER: After your briefing this morning, Senator, are you more or less confident that there was an imminent threat that drove President Trump's decision to launch this war against Iran?

SHAHEEN: I continue to be very concerned about the mixed messages that we're hearing from the Trump administration.

Yesterday, he said, well, it's time to -- the war is coming to an end. We're about to have achieved everything we wanted to accomplish. This morning, Secretary Hegseth said, well, this is the most intense day of fighting we are going to have had to date.

So the messages continue to be mixed. There is no transparency for what's happening. Again, we had a classified briefing this morning, but a number of us said those briefings should be public. The American public needs to know what's happening, what the endgame is, what the goals are.

And, so far, President Trump and the briefers from the -- Secretary Hegseth have not been clear about what the endgame is.

[11:50:05]

BLITZER: You're among a group of Democrats demanding information, Senator, about that controversial strike on an elementary school in Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this morning it will be, in his word, thoroughly investigated.

Does that reassure you at all?

SHAHEEN: Well, I hope it is thoroughly investigated.

Secretary Hegseth has gone back and forth about the rules of war and whether the United States should be bound by those. I don't think anyone in the public thinks we should be shooting up schools, hospitals, places where civilians, particularly children, are being housed or working.

And this strike will see a full investigation, I hope, and I hope it will be transparent and people will see. But, again, we have heard mixed messages coming from the president, who said, well it was Iran. But we also know that Iran doesn't have Tomahawk missiles, and we have seen the video that shows that this strike was a Tomahawk missile.

So people want answers. I don't think the men and women in our military -- they do everything possible to reduce the prospect for civilian casualties. But Secretary Hegseth has had a more cavalier attitude, it appears, towards those casualties. And we need to see the investigation and the report as soon as possible.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

China has been calling for an end to the U.S.-Israeli military action against Iran. I understand Democrats on your committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, have put out a new report about China. What can you tell us about that and your concerns about China's possible, possible involvement in this war?

SHAHEEN: Well, we know that China celebrates when the United States is involved in conflict, because it weakens our ability to address concerns that we have about China.

And what we know is that the U.S. weapons from the Indo-Pacific have been moved to the Middle East to address what's happening there. We know that Russia is already helping with intel, providing that to Iran, and that there is an axis with Russia and China, Iran, and North Korea that puts at greater risk the United States and our national security.

So I think there are a lot of reasons to be very concerned about what China does. And what our report shows is that, as the United States has retreated from international bodies, as we have cut foreign assistance, as we have left countries where we were providing help for health, for global health, for things like PEPFAR, China has moved in to those countries and is labeling itself as the reliable partner, while the United States, they're suggesting, is not a reliable partner.

That is not in our long-term best interests. China is the biggest competitor and threat, really, to the United States, both economically and militarily.

BLITZER: Yes.

SHAHEEN: And whenever we take actions like the one in Iran that give China an opening, then it's to the detriment of the United States.

BLITZER: Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, thanks so much for joining us.

SHAHEEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: I want to get some more perspective now on what's going on from retired U.S. Army General and former U.S. military Central Commander David Petraeus. He's also the former CIA director.

General Petraeus, thanks so much for joining us.

Is it possible for the Trump administration to achieve its objectives right now in Iran without getting entrenched, ground troops, shall we say, in the country?

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS (RET.), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: I think it is, at least the way that the objectives have been redefined after the first message from the president, which seemed to indicate that the goal was regime change.

But, as you know, he clarified that to say that, well, what we want to do is set conditions that could enable a political transition. That's all we can do. We can't bring it about ourselves. And it doesn't appear that there is an opposition force rising up that would challenge the nearly one million men with weapons who are willing to kill Iranian citizens on the streets in the tens of thousands when they just demonstrate.

And beyond that, I think there's an assessment ongoing, what have we done in terms of our military objectives against the missile force in particular? That was probably going to cause Israel to take action had we not, because they have been growing increasingly concerned about its reconstitution.

[11:55:00]

What are -- how are we doing with respect to other military targets and so forth, degrading their drone force, degrading their security forces and so on.

Then the missile math. Where are we on that? How many launchers do we think they still have and missiles? How many missile interceptors do we have? Price of Brent crude, obviously, I think was a big concern to many yesterday. It touched $120 per barrel briefly during the trading session, back now quite a bit below where it was yesterday, because the president essentially hinted that the war might soon end.

If it doesn't, we're going to have to start escorting tankers, creating a safe corridor through the Gulf and also out of the Strait of Hormuz. And that's a major military mission to take on. And although we have degraded their navy very considerably, there still are many subs, fast boats, there's missiles that could cause problems, drones and so forth.

And so that would be a challenging endeavor. So you look at all these different considerations, and then also I'm sure consider the sentiment in the Gulf, the sentiment in Asia, Europe, Israel and then at home here, and you can see where the president might yesterday have said that it's going to come to an end soon with some degree of certainty, just regardless of what the Pentagon said today, as the senator noted.

BLITZER: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, he said today that the U.S. is moving quickly, that the U.S. strikes have impacted Iran's weapons supplies.

How much longer do you think Iran has the capability of actually launching strikes against U.S. bases, U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf, friendly countries like Qatar and United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and then reach Israel at the same time?

PETRAEUS: Well, I think that the missile numbers have been going down very steadily, and Israel and the U.S. have explicitly targeted missile launchers, reduced their numbers very considerably, and obviously the missile stockpiles and even the missile manufacturing facilities.

So I think that actually has been quite successful. The challenge is the drones. And in that case, the different countries in the region have performed in different ways. The Emiratis have been very impressive, pulling together electronic warfare, F-16s, attack helicopters, guns, all of this to supplement what it is that we are doing together with them with our systems and has been very impressive.

That is not the same all the way up and down the Gulf. And some of it depends obviously on the means that they have at hand to deal with this issue.

BLITZER: All right.

PETRAEUS: And so that is a longer-term issue, and there is a large stockpile of those unfortunately left.

BLITZER: General David Petraeus, let's continue this conversation down the road. As usual, thank you so much for joining us.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us as well.

"INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts right after a quick break.