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Suspect Arrested in Arson Attack on Pennsylvania Governor's Residence; Harvard Rejects Trump Administration's Request for Policy Changes; Blue Origin's First All-Female Cret returns from Edge of Space. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired April 14, 2025 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: New details are coming to light about the man charged with setting the Pennsylvania governor's mansion on fire. Police arrested 38-year-old Cody Balmer on Sunday, hours after the fire broke out. Investigators say that Balmer admitted to throwing Molotov cocktails after breaking inside the home.
Police say that Balmer was also prepared to beat Governor Josh Shapiro with a hammer. The governor and his family were all sleeping when this happened but managed to make it out unharmed. Some of Balmer's newly uncovered social media posts show a long history of anger toward Democrats and specifically former President Joe Biden.
Sources tell CNN that mental health may also have played a factor in the attack. He's now facing several charges, including attempted murder, aggravated arson, and terrorism.
CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former Washington police chief Charles Ramsey joins us now to discuss. Chief, thanks so much for joining us.
Given the political climate, previous threats that we've seen, does it surprise you that this suspect was able to get this close to the governor?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It does surprise me that he was able to get this close. Obviously, it was a major breakdown in security at the governor's residence, and that has to be looked into. I'm sure they're already doing a review.
Hopefully, it's an independent review. Not that the state police aren't capable of conducting a review, but I think for credibility purposes, you need an outside independent look at what's taking place because there are still an awful lot of questions that need to be answered.
SANCHEZ: What goes into a review like that, and what do you imagine that either accountability or adjustments might look like moving forward?
RAMSEY: Well, they're going to look at what kind of technology they have in and around the premises. My understanding is there was some kind of alert or intruder alert, but, you know, what happened after that? Do they have video cameras that can identify the area so that you can take a look if you're in like a command post or something like that?
Do they have floodlights that light up an area? This is two in the morning. Obviously, it's going to be pretty dark.
What does staffing look like? That's a huge complex. One person, two people can't really handle that.
And so, this person was not only able to get on the property, he was actually able to get inside, start a fire, and then escape. And had he not decided that he wanted to confess and turn himself in, he probably would still be at large.
SANCHEZ: That's an important point. I'm curious about how investigators go about determining the motive here. In part, you heard me mention the social media posts, but also he's got a criminal history.
He was charged with having beaten up his stepson and his wife, and he has kind of a colorful past in that regard. How do you discern between a mental health crisis and someone who has a political agenda?
[15:35:00]
RAMSEY: Well, as you said, they're going through social media, any kind of writings, a search warrant at the house, a vehicle if he had a vehicle, although we believe he walked to that location. So they'll do everything they can to try to find a motive.
But there are a lot of cases where you don't really find a true motive. You mentioned that he doesn't like Democrats. He had a dislike for Joe Biden. Now, how all that translates to Josh Shapiro, I have absolutely no idea.
Hopefully, he's continuing to cooperate, and they can get more and more information from him. Apparently, he has not yet said anything about there being a religious motive to this. Otherwise, he'd be charged with a hate crime by now.
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's an important point to keep in mind. Chief Charles Ramsey, we'll leave the conversation there. Thank you so much for the time.
RAMSEY: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Still ahead, Harvard saying no to President Trump. The university rejecting the administration's request for policy changes as billions of dollars in federal funding are now at stake. That story's next.
[15:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: And we are following breaking news as Harvard University has rejected the Trump administration's demands for policy changes at the school. That move is putting nearly $9 billion in federal funding at risk.
And for more on this, we go right to CNN's Brynn Gingras. And Brynn, with billions of dollars at stake, what is Harvard saying?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're basically saying no to the Trump administration. Now, look, Jessica, we have seen the Trump administration go after a number of schools, right? We've seen Columbia, Northwestern, Brown University.
Basically, as they are going after these college campuses, challenging what they believe, their ways these schools are handling anti-Semitism on their campuses, their DEI programs, how they handle transgenders in sports. But by far, Harvard has the most to lose here, nearly $9 billion in federal funding. Now, we know that the school was sent a list of demands by the Trump administration on April 4th.
And some of those demands included eliminating Harvard's DEI program, putting a ban on masks at campus protests that happened on the school, ending programs that, quote, fuel anti-Semitic harassment, according to the Trump administration. But basically, Harvard's saying to the Trump administration, no, we are not going to comply. And in a lengthy statement through their lawyers, they sent this letter to the Trump administration. I want to read a little bit to you.
It says, quote, The administration's prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government and it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge. No government, regardless of which party is in power, should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.
Basically, they are calling these demands just unprecedented. We will see how the Trump administration basically responds to this.
DEAN: Yes, and Brynn, last week Harvard professors filed a lawsuit to block the review of this $9 billion in federal funds. So what's the latest on that lawsuit?
GINGRAS: Yes, we're still waiting to see how that goes through the courts. Certainly, this was an effort to hold up this process. They don't want to lose this money, of course.
We know that there are some schools that are making some concessions, like Columbia University. They still lost millions in dollars so far of federal funding, but they are trying to work with the Trump administration. It does seem like Harvard does not want to play ball like that, but we'll see how both of these sort of track with the Trump administration and through the courts, quite frankly.
DEAN: All right, Brynn, thank you so much for that reporting. We appreciate it. Still to come, Blue Origin sends a star-studded all-female crew to the
edge of space. What Katy Perry and Gayle King are saying about their experience in zero gravity.
[15:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Stargazing takes on a new meaning today. The celebrity crew on board a first-of-its-kind voyage by space tourism company Blue Origin featured the first all-female crew going to the edge of space. Where they did experience, as you can see, a brief period of weightlessness before heading back down. The six women aboard included pop star Katy Perry, TV anchor Gayle King, and Lauren Sanchez. The fiance of Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos.
DEAN: And stars were also among the spectators with Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, and some of the Kardashians there watching the event. After returning to Earth, Sanchez responded to critics who questioned the cost and benefits of the 10-minute trip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAUREN SANCHEZ, CHOPPER PILOR AND MEMBER OF BLUE ORIGIN CREW: The thousands of employees that don't just work here, but they put their heart and soul into this vehicle. And, you know, rocket scientists, engineers, you know, all kinds of people. They love their work and they love the mission. And it's a big deal for them.
So when we hear comments like that, I just say, trust me, come with me. I'll show you what this is about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Blue Origin won't say exactly how much passengers shell out for seats but does acknowledge some crew members paid to be on board.
Joining us now is former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao. Listen, it does look amazing for that moment when you get to see that perspective of Earth in the distance and the weightlessness. But it is very brief.
What might today's experience have felt like for those women on board?
LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, I'm very happy for them that they got the chance to experience what spaceflight is like, at least for a couple of minutes, and got to look out at the curvature of the Earth. It is really a mind, you know, kind of a changing experience.
But, yes, it's over. A suborbital flight is very quick. And, you know, they'd go barely above the von Karman Line, which is about 62 miles or 100 kilometers. So it's even much shorter than the Mercury suborbital flights from the 1961.
SANCHEZ: Leroy, I thought it was interesting the way that Gail King talked about during the press conference after the mission, the possibility of not coming back. You could tell on her face.
[15:50:00]
And I've already seen some memes out there of folks doing a screen grab of her as she was boarding the ship. What kind of risk is involved with a mission like this?
CHIAO: Well, anytime you get into a vehicle, whether it's a rocket, a suborbital rocket like that, or, you know, even driving your car, you know, there's some risk involved. Certainly getting into a rocket is probably riskier than driving your car. But, you know, the system is working pretty well.
It was developed some years ago, took many years to develop, thoroughly tested. And to the credit of Blue Origin and the organization and engineers, the system seems to be working pretty well.
DEAN: Yes, and so separate from the capsule with the crew, the booster returned for a controlled upright landing. And Blue Origin has figured out how to achieve this clean touchdown so the capsule can be reusable.
So what's the value of that?
CHIAO: Oh, sure. Well, you're going to be saving money if you can reuse your booster and your capsule. And Blue Origin was the first company to be able to recover the booster.
Now, keep in mind, the booster is a suborbital one. That means it kind of basically goes almost straight up and then comes almost straight down. As opposed to what SpaceX is doing, they're launching -- you're launching satellites or crew or cargo into orbit. So you've got to get to that orbital speed of 17,500 miles an hour.
Now, the first stage drops off before that, but it's going pretty fast. And so recovering those bad boys is a much, much more difficult thing. And kudos to them that they're doing it on a routine basis. And even more amazing, they've already captured three out of three attempts on that Falcon Super Heavy part of the Starship system. So a lot of exciting things happening in the commercial space business.
SANCHEZ: It's so impressive to watch. Leroy, where do you stand on the question of whether or not they qualify -- this crew today -- as astronauts? There's an intense debate.
CHIAO: Well, it really shouldn't be much of a debate. I mean, you know, it's it's a bit of a stretch for sure to call them astronauts. It's a bigger stretch to call them an astronaut crew.
I mean, this this vehicle takes no training. Maybe you have to be shown how to put your harness on and take it off. But that's about it, I think.
You know, it's kind of like getting an honorary degree, right? Sure, you get your, you know, you get a Ph.D., but it would be fully inappropriate to go outside and represent yourself as a real Ph.D. And I guess that's the way I look at the the honorary astronaut title.
DEAN: Yes. And look, this is about space tourism, about, you know, potentially more and more people journeying to space or, you know, trying -- getting on one of these, strapping in, as you said, and experiencing it for themselves. What do you make of kind of where space tourism is at this moment and where it might be going?
CHIAO: Sure. Well, it's interesting. You know, we've had, of course, through Blue Origin and through Virgin Galactic, we've had a handful of people pony up. We're not sure exactly how much money, but certainly less expensive than an orbital flight. But for orbital flights, we've had a number of billionaires and even governments sponsor flights either to the International Space Station or Jared Isaacman, the wealthy individual who's the nominee to be NASA administrator. And by the way, I think he'd be a great candidate -- he's a great candidate for that.
But he has financed two trips and he's even got, you know, he's paid for a third one, I believe, and and even has intended -- to state his intent and maybe put a deposit down on buying Starship flights. So, you know, it's out there, but it's still out of reach for most of us.
And if I hadn't had my government job as a NASA astronaut, I don't think I'd be able to afford it.
SANCHEZ: Well, why don't we start a GoFundMe and send Leroy back to space? Leroy Chiao, I appreciate you as always. Thanks so much.
DEAN: Dying Easter eggs will be pretty pricey this year. So one company is offering up a more affordable alternative to eggs that kids will want to sink their teeth into.
I don't know. I don't know what it is. It's a mystery. We'll tell you what it is next.
[15:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Moments ago, President Donald Trump welcomed the Ohio State football team, the reigning national champions, to the White House. There you see the president holding an Ohio State football helmet, a jersey being held up with Trump's last name, the number 47 on it.
J.D. Vance, we should note, the vice president, also on hand. He's a graduate of the Ohio State University. Somewhere Phil Mattingly, CNN's own Phil Mattingly, a lover of Ohio State sports, is jubilant.
DEAN: He's having a big day, yes. So just, like, bask in the glory of national championship yet again. But it's nice they have a nice day out there. Also, the color of everyone's tie, obviously Ohio State colors, but they're all matching. Did you notice that?
SANCHEZ: They do all match, indeed. And I appreciate good weather. It's been kind of cold in D.C. lately, so it's nice for them. Look at the size of that trophy next to J.D. Vance. DEAN: I know. Those are some big young gentlemen and a big trophy as well.
SANCHEZ: Big dudes, yes. Oh, and it looks like the trophy fell. That's unfortunate.
And I'm sure this will wind up getting memed online.
DEAN: OK, no, it did not break. It just fell.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
DEAN: Well, I'm glad that we could bring you this breaking news.
SANCHEZ: Huge news.
DEAN: Oh, no. All right, it's back together again. It's fine.
Everything's fine.
SANCHEZ: Is it?
DEAN: I don't know.
SANCHEZ: We'll find out. We'll see it on the Internet later. It's fine. It looks fine. Everything is fine.
Actually, let's get out of this to make sure that it's fine.
DEAN: Just a small mishap. Everyone, note, Easter is Sunday. White chocolate bunnies, sugar-coated peeps, bountiful baskets.
Get them together now or the Easter bunny might be toiling away right now. Who's to say? Rising grocery store prices, though, may sideline the traditional star of the show, eggs.
SANCHEZ: Yes, eggs have gotten significantly more expensive. So what is Easter without dyeing eggs?
[16:00:00]
The maker of Jet Puff Marshmallows is now offering this sweet alternative $2 marshmallow dye kits. Each one comes with jumbo egg- sized marshmallows, six colors, tongs, decorating pens.
It's a fun mess-free twist. And let's be honest, who wouldn't rather eat a marshmallow than a raw egg? I'm glad we just did an ad for them.
DEAN: That's true. You're welcome. They do look better than just eating an egg. And if you lose one, it's not going to go as bad, you know.
SANCHEZ: Good point.
DEAN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Hey, thanks so much for joining us. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.
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