A U.S. Synagogue Becomes The Latest In A Series Of Crimes Of Hate Engulfing The World; "Avengers: Endgame" Breaks A Billion Dollar Global Box Office Record.
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A new scene of sorrow.</s>RABBI YISROEL GOLDSTEIN, CHABAD OF POWAY SYNAGOGUE: I turn around and I see a young man standing with a rifle pointing right at me.</s>COREN (voice over): A U.S. synagogue becomes the latest in a series of crimes of hate engulfing the world.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're seeing a global trend towards nationalism.</s>COREN (voice over): Outrage in Hong Kong.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tens of thousands of demonstrators are rallying.</s>COREN (voice over): Why Hong Kong's newly proposed extradition law is raising concerns about China's influence.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Avengers: Endgame."</s>COREN (voice over): And historic finale. "Avengers: Endgame" breaks a billion dollar global box office record.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything was just out of this world.</s>COREN: Hello, I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Welcome to NEWS STREAM. Well two communities thousands of miles apart, different faiths, but united in grief after deadly attacks on their places of worship. In California, the suspect behind Saturday's deadly shooting at a synagogue is facing murder and attempted murder charges. Authorities believe he acted alone and are looking into a manifesto apparently written by the suspect, which suggests he was inspired by another hate crime -- the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand last month. Meanwhile, families continue to mourn in Sri Lanka just over a week after a series of deadly bombings on churches and hotels on Easter Sunday and the country remains on high alert with a government warning that more attacks could be imminent. Sri Lanka's President is banning all face coverings in a bid to strengthen national security and protect the public. CNN's Nikhil Kumar joins us now from Colombo, Sri Lanka. And Nikhil, as we say it's just over a week since these massive bombings and the country and its security forces is still very much on high alert. Tell us more.</s>NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Anna. The government here, the authorities here have been issuing warnings that further attacks could be in the works. Three Sri Lankan MPs have told CNN that their security details have received warnings about possible attacks that may be in the works. They've arrested dozens of people over the weekend. And on Friday, there was a shootout in the east of the country when security forces raided a number of safe houses, they uncovered a massive hole of explosives that gave us a look at the severity of the threat. They uncovered 150 explosive sticks, 100,000 ball bearings, an ISIS flag, a drone -- so all of that underlying something that observers have been talking about ever since those devastating Easter Sunday bombings, which is just the sophistication of this terror network. And authorities are doing everything they can, desperately, to get ahead of any potential attackers who may be out there, who may be plotting further attacks. You mentioned the ban on face coverings. It's been supported by the Muslim community here, the top body of Islamic clerics in this country. They backed it, saying that they want to do everything they can to support the authorities to get ahead of this threat to make sure that this country holds together. Remember, this is a country that went through an almost three decade long Civil War. Big concern amongst people here in the last week has been, could this threat, could this new terror, could that cleave communities apart again? And that's something everybody from the government, to individuals, to community leaders wants to avoid -- Anna.</s>COREN: Nikhil, we know that Sunday Mass was banned at churches yesterday across Sri Lanka, any indication from the government when people will be allowed to return to church?</s>KUMAR: We're still waiting for a clear indication from the authorities, from the church authorities and the government of course as to when it will be safe for them to resume, but yesterday, the Archbishop you mentioned, the threat to people over here. So the Archbishop of Colombo, whose house is about 10 minutes from where I'm standing, he held a service at home and delivered a televised homily. It was attended by the President, the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition of this country all sending out a unified message to worshipers in their homes that this country is standing together in the face of this threat. And you know, the government is trying all it can to convince people that it has this under control. Because remember, one thing that we learned soon after those Easter Sunday bombings was that the government here received a number of very specific warnings, including one just one hour before the first explosion took place on Easter Sunday. So now the emphasis very much is to get ahead of the threat, to secure everyone and then hopefully, everyone can get back to normal including the worshippers who want to go back into church.</s>KUMAR: Including the many members of the Muslim community who were asked by the authorities here not to visit mosques on Friday for Friday prayers, lest they be attacked -- Anna.</s>COREN: Nikhil Kumar joining us from Colombo. Many thanks for that. Well, now to the deadly shooting at a synagogue in California. Sixty-year-old Lori Kaye was shot and killed after stepping between the gunman and the rabbi during Saturday's attack. She will be laid to rest later today. Well, joining us now is CNN's Dan Simon live in Poway, California. Dan, it would seem that religious leaders like school teachers in the United States must be prepared for the horrors of mass shootings. How is the rabbi and the community of Poway holding up as they prepare to bury their friend?</s>DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anna, as you can imagine, they are very shaken up by this. The Rabbi saying that he was in the banquet hall preparing for his sermon when he thought he heard a loud bang and the next thing he knew, he was face to face with the shooter. Take a look.</s>GOLDSTEIN: Terrorism like this will not take us down.</s>SIMON (voice-over): His hands wrapped in blue cast, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein recalling the horrifying moment his congregation became the latest target of a deadly attack at a place of worship, following massacres in Sri Lanka and New Zealand.</s>GOLDSTEIN: I hear a loud bang. I turned around, and I see a sight that I can't -- un-describable. Here is a young man standing with a rifle pointing right at me. He had sunglasses on. I couldn't see his eyes. I couldn't see his soul.</s>SIMON (voice over): Rabbi Goldstein, one of four people shot at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue in Southern California, a lone gunman armed with an assault-style rifle opening fire upon worshippers celebrating the last day of Passover.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting like crazy. He was just focused to kill.</s>SIMON (voice over): Rabbi Goldstein was shot in both hands, losing his right index finger. Sixty-year-old congregant Lori Gilbert Kaye was killed in the attack, police identifying the suspect as 19-year-old John Earnest.</s>SHERIFF BILL GORE, SAN DIEGO COUNTY: As the suspect was fleeing the temple, an off-duty Border Patrol agent opened fire on the suspect, but it apparently did not hit him.</s>SIMON (voice over): Earnest eventually surrendering to the police. He is now charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder. Authorities say they believe Earnest acted alone. Investigators looking into an anti-Semitic letter posted online by someone claiming to be Earnest before the attack.</s>GORE: We are in the process of reviewing to determine its validity and authenticity.</s>SIMON (voice over): San Diego police and the FBI now examining whether Earnest is linked to arson at a nearby mosque last month. President Trump swiftly condemning the attack.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We forcefully condemn the evil of anti-Semitism and hate, which must be defeated.</s>ALMOG PERETZ, SHOT IN LEG BY SHOOTER: I need to warn all the kids.</s>SIMON (voice over): We are learning more stories of heroism inside the synagogue, like Almog Peretz, visiting his family from Israel. The 34- year-old shot in the leg before helping children escape the gunfire.</s>PERETZ: He's like he had a vest. He's coming like the soldier. He's standing in the door like the focus, and he's staying like that. And he's staying that way, relaxed and shooting.</s>SIMON (voice over): Peretz trying to protect his 8-year-old niece, Noya Dahan, who was injured by shrapnel.</s>NOYA DAHAN, INJURED BY SHRAPNEL: The world isn't supposed to be like this.</s>SIMON (voice over): Poway, the latest American city trying to heal from another hate-filled attack.</s>GOLDSTEIN: No matter how dark the world is, we need to think of light. A little bit of light pushes away a lot of darkness.</s>SIMON (voice over): While honoring those like its youngest victim, Noya, sitting tall on her father's shoulders at a vigil Sunday.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was wounded yesterday. And today she's here with us.</s>SIMON (on camera): Now, the suspect, 19-year-old, John Earnest is a college student, 19 years old again, again, his apparent motive here seems to be anti-Semitism; for some inexplicable reason as he left the synagogue in his getaway vehicle, he called police and apparently announced his involvement and he was apprehended a short time later. We don't know if he had any sort of formal weapons training. We don't know how he obtained the weapon. But from what it sounds like Anna, when the shooting was taking place, at a certain point, the weapon seemed to jam and if that's the case, that likely prevented several more people from losing their lives -- Anna.</s>COREN: Dan, you speak of these acts of heroism that you mentioned in your package. If it wasn't for those courageous folks who stepped in, the death toll could have been much higher.</s>SIMON: Yes, no question about that. And in particular, we need to talk about once again, Lori Gilbert Kaye, who put herself in between the shooter and the Rabbi.</s>SIMON: And the details here, Anna are chilling. We know that her husband was with her. She was here actually to mourn the recent passing of her mother and when the shooting took place, her husband who happens to be a physician, tried to revive her and at first he didn't realize that he was working on his wife and once he did, he fainted and collapsed next to her. Just a horrible detail.</s>COREN: Absolutely tragic. Dan Simon, we appreciate your reporting. Many thanks. Well, ironically, that little girl Noya and her family moved to the United States from Israel to find a safer place to live. She and her father gave a heartbreaking interview to CNN about how the attack played out, as Sara Sidner reports they now feel anything but safe.</s>DAHAN: We go to pray, and then we're supposed to like -- we're supposed to feel safe.</s>SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Eight-year-old Noya Dahan wasn't safe. It turned out no one was. A gunman entered their California synagogue on the last day of Passover and opened fire.</s>N. DAHAN: I don't even have any words for it. It was terrifying, scary.</s>ISRAEL DAHAN, SURVIVED POWAY, CALIFORNIA, SYNAGOGUE SHOOTING, DAUGHTER INJURED: All over his body. He has full magazines.</s>SIDNER (on camera): So he's covered in bullets.</s>I. DAHAN: He came to kill us. He came to grind us. The amount of bullets that he got on them, he came to destroy this place.</s>SIDNER (voice over): Noya's father, Israel Dahan, was beyond worried. He was terrified for his children. He had no idea Noya had already been hit.</s>N. DAHAN: My uncle, he was holding my hand and he was like grabbing me and stuff. And the person who was shooting, he was aiming at him. So he -- it hit him and the, like, it went like -- went like that. It hit me, too.</s>SIDNER (on camera): So you got hit with shrapnel.</s>N. DAHAN: Yes.</s>SIDNER: Little pieces.</s>N. DAHAN: No. Like the knee one is pretty big, but these are little pieces. So, you know, so this was like a pretty big piece, and then it went back here.</s>SIDNER: So the piece of shrapnel went in your leg and then came out the other side?</s>N. DAHAN: Yes.</s>SIDNER: What were you thinking then? Did it hurt?</s>N. DAHAN: In the first place, when it was like gushing blood, I didn't even feel it. And then after like they wiped it and like the blood was off and it was like -- it -- it felt like I had like the giantest bruise ever. It was just hurting bad.</s>SIDNER (voice over): Her uncle had been shot, too.</s>ALMOG PERETZ, RESCUED CHILDREN, SHOT DURING POWAY, CALIFORNIA SYNAGOGUE SHOOTING: He's looking me in the face and the shoot -- and he want to shoot me in the gun.</s>SIDNER (voice over): Yet Almog Peretz managed to whisk more than a half dozen children to safety as the gunman blew off round after round.</s>I. DAHAN: And then I saw him shooting in our lady that she passed away -- terrible feeling. What can I say? It's scary that we need to live like that. It's just unbelievable. Like there is no one really to protect us.</s>SIDNER: Dahan watched his friend, Lori Kaye, slump. She died of her injuries.</s>I. DAHAN: We have a big loss in the community. A big loss for the community in Poway. She was amazing woman.</s>SIDNER (voice over): The terror didn't end there. Their Rabbi had also been hit.</s>N. DAHAN: I saw the Rabbi. He like jumping from pain. His fingers were cut off. He was like shot.</s>SIDNER (voice over): Bullets had shredded the Rabbi's hands. Noya's father tried to help him.</s>I. DAHAN: He doesn't want to go to the hospital. He started praying and he started praying for everybody. And he wants to keep the community strong and tight.</s>SIDNER (on camera): So the Rabbi was refusing to leave the synagogue.</s>I. DAHAN: Yes. Yes, and he's still praying.</s>SIDNER: Even though he'd been shot.</s>I. DAHAN: Even though he's been shoot and even that he's been bleeding. And I told him, "Rabbi, please, your life is threatened right now. You're bleeding so much, you can die." "No, I will stay here. I build it, I'm going to die here."</s>SIDNER (voice over): Rabbi Goldstein survived, but his index finger had to be amputated. The Rabbi was one of the main reasons the Dahans had moved to Poway. The family left Sderot, Israel because a rocket hit their home. They wanted a safer place to raise their five children. They moved to Mira Mesa, California, but hate found them there, too. Swastikas were painted on the family's garage and car.</s>SIDNER (on camera): Did you leave there out of fear for your family?</s>I. DAHAN: Yes, of course. We were sleeping inside a locked bedroom with knives and with baseball pole because that's the only way I can protect my family. And then I met Rabbi Goldstein, and he told me, come to our community.</s>SIDNER (voice over): They loved it and moved to Poway.</s>N. DAHAN: The synagogue is always a safe place to be. We're not supposed to be worried about anything.</s>SIDNER (voice over): Three years later, terror would find them once again.</s>N. DAHAN: I'm feeling scared, unsafe. I just feel like I want to be with my family and in a safe place where the whole family is there and if someone gets hurt there's like someone always behind us and like watching out for us.</s>SIDNER (on camera): How do you make them feel safe?</s>I. DAHAN: They don't. I cannot.</s>SIDNER: You've basically had to run from one place to the next because of anti-Semitism.</s>I. DAHAN: Yes. This is the right word to use, yes. And I might need to run again. It will -- I don't think it will stop soon. I might need to run again. And I need to prepare myself for the next run.</s>SIDNER: That's a horrible way to live.</s>I. DAHAN: It is horrible. Yes. But that's where we live and it's happened.</s>SIDNER (voice over): Sara Sidner, CNN, Poway, California.</s>COREN: A horrible way to live indeed. And what a brave little girl sharing her frightening story. You are watching NEWS STREAM. Still to come. Spain's socialists remain in the driver's seat after Sunday's election, but support for the far-right is steadily growing. We take a look at the rise of that movement across Europe. And the danger is anything but over in Mozambique. 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