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Brian Walshe Found Guilty of Murder; Rob Reiner Murder Investigation; Manhunt Continues For Brown University Shooter. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 15, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:02]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: And let's fast-forward to a few years later, "A Few Good Men."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK NICHOLSON, ACTOR: You want answers?

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: I think I'm entitled to them.

NICHOLSON: You want answers?

CRUISE: I want the truth!

NICHOLSON: You can't handle the truth!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And, of course, "The American President."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL DOUGLAS, ACTOR: This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your 15 minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I am the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That was just a small part of his work. Reiner was a prominent Democratic philanthropist also, an activist. He was deeply involved in advocating for early childhood education and legalizing same-sex marriage.

To all that had the privilege of knowing Rob Reiner, he was the epitome of a mensch. May his memory be a blessing.

Thank you so much for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A weekend of tragedy.

A manhunt under way again after officials release a person of interest in the mass shooting at Brown University, saying evidence now points in a new direction.

Meanwhile, a father-son duo is suspected in the deadly antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach in Australia; 15 people are dead, including a Holocaust survivor, in the country's worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And Nick Reiner, the son of director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, under arrest for murder after his parents are found dead inside their L.A. mansion.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: The urgent manhunt for the person who gunned down two students and wounded nine others at Brown University is now nearing a critical 48-hour mark after the grief-stricken campus and community were rocked by news last night that officials had actually released a man that they had detained hours earlier, saying he's no longer a person of interest.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

And, this hour, officials are only publicly sharing this 10-second surveillance clip of the suspected killer. Right now, it's unclear how far from campus the shooter may actually be.

Let's go to CNN anchor John Berman, who's been on the scene speaking with students and officials.

John, what's the latest you're hearing?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Yes, Boris, Brianna, just a stunning turn of events here and such a vast difference between today and yesterday, when this person of interest, someone they believed was a person of interest, was in custody.

You showed that brief video, that 10-second-or-so video that was taken right here on Hope Street, which is behind me. That is the building, the engineering building, where shooting took place, two people killed, nine injured.

All authorities have released is that brief section of video there. A little earlier today, I spoke with Mayor Brett Smiley, who talked about the fact that it's been an emotional setback, the idea that the person of interest did not lead to the end of an investigation, an emotional setback, he said, but he insisted that they have been continuing their investigation, even yesterday when they had that person in custody, and are developing more leads beyond just the video they have.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT SMILEY (D), MAYOR OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: The video that we released is the clearest picture we have of the individual we believe to be responsible, but that doesn't mean that there isn't other evidence.

We're talking about trying to get a clear shot of an individual with identifiable features that can help advance the investigation, but there was still a lot of evidence collected at the crime scene and throughout the investigation over the last nearly two days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Yes, so they have other video that they haven't released, but it's not as clear as that one not-very-clear video that they did release to the public.

And I pulled out my phone here because I want to read you a tweet that just came through a few minutes ago from the Providence police. They wrote: "Please be advised that the Providence Police Department has an enhanced presence in Providence neighborhood. As part of the investigation, police are going business to -- going to businesses and residences to request available camera footage."

And they're asking to submit tips. But that gives you a sense of where things are. We have seen State Police walking down these street, I imagine knocking on doors. We saw dogs actually entering the building where the shooting took place just a short time ago.

They have really got to go back over steps that they may be already covered once before and they clearly have a long way to go if they're going door to door, guys, asking for still more video and more information -- Boris, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, and, hopefully, they will make progress because students have been telling you, John, they do not feel safe right now. What more are we learning about the victims here?

BERMAN: Yes.

[13:05:00]

The one victim the CNN has confirmed is Ella Cook, who was a student in that principles of economics class at the end of the review session. Her church in Alabama has confirmed she is one of the two students who was killed here.

Such a tragic loss for both the community in Alabama and here at Brown University. She was vice president of the College Republicans, someone who was beloved by her church and by people here. Everyone from Vice President J.D. Vance to the president of National College Republicans have put out statements mourning her loss.

That is the one victim at this point that CNN has confirmed the identity. And you did mention that students here at Brown have been telling me this morning they don't feel safe. And that's a difference from yesterday. Yesterday, they had a sense a little bit of relief when they thought the investigation may be coming to a close.

But, today, it's vastly different. And this university has all but emptied out. One of the striking images we have seen over the last several hours is students walking down the streets with wheelie bags. Classes, of course, have been canceled. Final exams have been canceled.

But now that they know that they're still a killer on the loose, the students we're talking to really are getting out as quickly as they can -- Boris, Brianna.

SANCHEZ: Yes, an unsettling situation for that campus and those students.

John Berman, thank you so much for the update.

We're tracking breaking news out of Los Angeles today as well. The LAPD confirming that Nick Reiner is in jail on suspicion of murdering his father, legendary filmmaker Rob Reiner, and his mother as well, Michele.

KEILAR: The couple were found dead in their home on Sunday. Nick Reiner is being held on $4 million bail.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Los Angeles.

Stephanie, what do we know about Nick Reiner's relationship with his parents and just sort of his history in general?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna and Boris, it's important to note that Nick Reiner has had his own struggles throughout the years.

In fact, he's talked openly about his addiction issues that he's had. And, in 2015, he co-wrote a screenplay, "Being Charlie," which his father directed that was based in part on his drug addiction journey. And through part of that conversation, the Reiners were very open about it, and saying that they fought at times, but it made for a better film.

So we are learning little details more about their relationship there and what happened here, transpired here in the Reiner compound here in this Brentwood part of Los Angeles.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

And, Stephanie, the Reiners' home is in the Brentwood neighborhood of L.A. It's relatively secluded. Do we know how exactly they were found and what kind of an impact that's having on that community?

ELAM: Yes, it's normally pretty quiet over here. It's very residential in this part of town.

You would normally not see nearly the amount of cars that are here. A lot of people are out exercising, and they have spoken about that. But this loss is so seismic for not just Brentwood, but for Los Angeles and Hollywood.

You can't underestimate what the Reiners have given to the industry and how they have been leaders in the industry and the number of movies and TV shows that they have produced, that Rob Reiner has produced that have given us so many moments that people still remember and call back to all the time.

So, finding out that a family member, according to law enforcement, went in the house and discovered the Reiners, that they were passed away, and they're calling it a murder investigation, a homicide, you can only imagine how difficult that would be and how jarring that would be to this entire community.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly.

Stephanie Elam, thank you for the latest. We know you will continue to track this story.

KEILAR: Still to come, we are joined by "Spinal Tap" actor and co- writer Harry Shearer, as Hollywood mourns the death of film and TV icon Rob Reiner.

Plus, the FBI says it has thwarted a New Year's Eve bomb plot -- who they say was behind it.

SANCHEZ: And later: another close call between a commercial flight and a U.S. military plane. You're going to hear a scary midair moment when we come back on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:13:34]

KEILAR: People are remembering the legacy of one of Hollywood's most legendary storytellers and his wife, his producer wife.

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead yesterday in their California home. The LAPD chief says their son Nick is now jailed for suspicion of murder. Reiner directed some of Hollywood's most beloved films, "Stand By Me," "The Princess Bride," "When Harry Met Sally," and "A Few Good Men" among them.

SANCHEZ: Reiner's final movie was also produced by his wife, Michele. It was a sequel to his first film, the classic "This Is Spinal Tap."

In "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues," Reiner reprised his role as a mockumentary director.

Joining us now is one of the rockers you just saw with Reiner, actor and comedian Harry Shearer.

Harry, first and foremost, we're so sorry for your loss.

HARRY SHEARER, ACTOR: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: I wonder, what is going through your mind right now finding out that someone you worked with closely is gone?

SHEARER: It's one thing to lose someone that you have worked with in an ordinary life experience, but this is so horrifying. The story is so awful and almost a Greek tragedy, that it's pretty devastating.

KEILAR: Yes, we had him on the show in -- just in September, and he was still so full of life, had so much to say. And I think his films have left such a mark. You see them over and over all the time still. They have such staying power.

[13:15:02]

And you were part of his final film, "Spinal Tap II." What was that experience like? I mean, what made Rob a good director, in your eyes?

SHEARER: Well we did "Spinal" -- the first "Spinal Tap" together too. And in both situations, he was, above all else, a great collaborator.

Sometimes, funny people don't necessarily appreciate being around other funny people. Rob loved it. I think it was his improv background that sort of fed that whole side of him. And, also, we decided early on -- we tried writing a script for the first "This Is Spinal Tap" and realized nobody was -- nobody in Hollywood was going to understand it.

And we decided to make it an improvised movie instead. And Rob was brilliant at bringing all that out of all the people involved. And, more to the point, he was, as they say in Hollywood, a mensch, a trustworthy and friendly and stable and reliable person that it was fun to be with.

KEILAR: And Michele was also in her own right a producer, an actor, a photographer. She was a producer on "Spinal Tap II" as well. Can you talk a little bit about the mark that she left on Hollywood?

SHEARER: Well, she did some of Rob's most recent work. And he will stand as one of the great directors in Hollywood history. And so she contributed to that in a big way.

SANCHEZ: I imagine that you're probably biased, being someone that saw him work up close, but I wonder if you have a favorite Rob Reiner film.

SHEARER: Well, sorry to say, "This Is Spinal Tap."

(LAUGHTER)

SHEARER: It was his first theatrical film. It was fun to be with him in the beginning of the story and then to reconnect with him in this later version of it, and just to see him work his wonderful magic.

KEILAR: Can you talk a little bit more about -- you said he sort of drew these important things out of people. Can you talk a little bit about that? Because there are so many moments in that movie. I mean, I just think -- I hear people all the time -- I do it myself -- if something goes to 11, I mean, you make -- you crack a joke about it, right?

Like, you're borrowing something from "Spinal Tap." And can you talk a little bit about what you were saying about how he just sort of had this vision and an idea about how he was going to bring what really turned into an amazing experience of a movie?

SHEARER: Well, the four of us, Chris Guest, Michael McKean, Rob and I, would get together both for the original film and for the sequel. The first one was in Rob's office on the old Columbia Pictures lot.

And I just have this memory of us sitting there making each other laugh all the time. Rob was not running it. He was a participant in it. And then he would go and write three-by-five cards when an idea seemed like a good one and put them up on the board.

And then it was his job, and he did it brilliantly, to take all these disparate comic ideas and assemble them into a form of a film. That was his great work in both those movies. But the fun, the nonstop laughs of just sitting with him and those other guys is something I will never forget.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, will not be forgotten.

Harry Shearer, thank you so much for joining us and sharing their story.

SHEARER: Thank you, guys.

SANCHEZ: Up next: There is a verdict now in the Brian Walshe trial, the man who admitted to dismembering and disposing of his wife's body, but claimed he didn't kill her. Hear what the jury decided.

KEILAR: And new details about the father-son duo who are suspected in that deadly antisemitic attack in Sydney, including why they were previously interviewed by Australian security services.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:23:55]

KEILAR: After just two days of deliberations, a jury returned a guilty verdict in the Brian Walshe murder trial.

SANCHEZ: Walshe was convicted of first-degree murder this morning for the 2023 slaying of his wife, Ana. Walshe faces life in prison without the possibility of parole and additional prison time.

CNN's Jean Casarez has followed the trial from start to finish.

And, Jean, this was a relatively quick verdict.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really was. It was six hours of deliberation, which is not very long.

Today was their actual first day, full day of deliberations. But the jury had to believe beyond a reasonable doubt and, in Massachusetts, to the degree of moral certainty that, number one, he caused the death of his wife Ana Walshe, that he intended to cause the wife of -- Ana Walshe, the mother of his three young children, 2, 4, and 6 at the time, and he did so with deliberate premeditation.

We want you to listen to that verdict just minutes ago when the judge and the jury announced that they had reached a decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Foreperson, in the matter of the Commonwealth v. Brian Walshe, Norfolk Superior Court Criminal Indictment No. 2023-0091, as to count one, wherein the defendant, Brian Walshe, is charged with murder in the first degree, what say the jury? Is the defendant guilty or not guilty?

[13:25:16]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guilty of what, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Murder in the first degree.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Murder in the first degree.

So say you, Mr. Foreperson?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guilty of murder in the first degree. So say all deliberating jurors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: All right, so there you have it.

They only asked for one piece of evidence during the six hours of deliberation. It was a picture of Ana Walshe alive on her back on a white rug in their living room. And that rug, it is believed by prosecutors, was the rug that was found in trash bags that had a lot of blood on it.

But since this trial also included -- and it didn't go before the jury -- but that he dismembered her, a big question is, what is the blood for? Well, this jury obviously believed that that blood was part of the murder of Ana Walshe in later days from that photo right there -- Boris, Brianna.

KEILAR: And, in addition, Jean, to sentencing for this conviction, he still has to be sentenced on two other guilty pleas, that misleading police and that improper conveyance or disposal of a body. Walk us through that.

CASAREZ: Exactly. And the sentencing should be this week, most likely Wednesday, they think at that point. First of all, the first-degree murder, life in prison without any possibility of parole. But this is interesting. When you intentionally mislead a police investigation, that's 10 years, but if it's tied to a life felony, which it now is with that conviction, it becomes 20 years.

And then conveyance of a body, which in Massachusetts includes dismembering, conveyance of body parts, that is only three years in prison. Now, we will see if the judge does it consecutively or concurrently, I think possibly concurrently. But that still will be forever, for the rest of his life, he will be in a Massachusetts Department of Corrections prison, which I think most likely is the last place he wanted to be.

Because that was one of the motives that the prosecutor brought forth, that, if Ana wasn't in the picture, he had to serve time for his art fraud conviction, selling Andy Warhol fake paintings. And the question was, was he going to have to go to prison or could he stay home as the primary caregiver of the children, and that sentence would take place at home?

And that's what he wanted in that case.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

Jean Casarez, thank you so much for the update there.

Up next: Some Brown University students say they no longer feel safe on campus with the suspect in Saturday's shooting still on the run. We're going to hear directly from a student right after this.

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