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Urgent Manhunt For Brown University Shooter After New Images Released; Trump Doubles Down On Criticism Of Slain Director Rob Reiner; Trump Says End To Ukraine War "Closer Now Than We Have Been." Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 16, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You can see that person on the street -- just one of these streets on these blocks where I'm standing. Part of it's a Ring video from a home; other video coming from other sources there. They say this individual is five-eight with a stocky build. And you can see a somewhat distinguishable gait there. And the FBI is now offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to his capture.

With me now is Rachel Miller, the president of the Providence City Council. President, thank you so much for being with us right now.

RACHEL MILLER, PRESIDENT, PROVIDENCE CITY COUNCIL: I'm -- yeah, thank you.

BERMAN: Let me ask since you probably have privy to more information than we are, any updates on the investigation as far as you know this morning?

MILLER: No updates since last night. The primary thing, you know, I think having a new footage, new video, having pictures out in the world -- I think that matters. I know that somebody would -- can recognize this person. I know that somebody can see something here and share it.

BERMAN: One of the questions that we've been asking, really since yesterday, is there's a killer still on the loose, yet officials and the mayor are saying there is not immediate or specific threat to the community.

So how do you mesh those two ideas?

MILLER: Yeah, it's a really challenging time. There's no -- I mean, I can feel the anxiety throughout the city. There's nothing that shatters the sense of peace and safety like something like this. At the same time, there's been no sighting of this person. There's been no specific threats since that moment on Saturday afternoon.

And so what we have is a local public safety out in force coordinating with state police, coordinating with the FBI and other federal agencies in a well-organized both investigation and making sure that people on the street know and can feel a sense of police presence and a sense of safety.

BERMAN: I can tell just by being up here on College Hill over the last few days students, after they canceled classes and canceled finals -- you know, they made plans to head home but there was no urgency. When it turned out the person of interest in custody was not the person, they all got out very quickly. They didn't feel safe here anymore.

Is that understandable?

MILLER: Absolutely understandable. And I think, you know, that what I've seen across the city is people coming together to help recreate even in this moment of anxiety that sense of community and safety.

So I have neighbors. I live on the other side of town. I have neighbors who are offering up housing for students to get off campus who can't go home yet for travel reasons or whatever reason. I know that's happening across the city. And I think that the biggest way to bring back a sense of peace, to bring back a sense of community is to just be together and to hear when people are offering help.

BERMAN: I think it was the Boston Globe I was reading this morning -- sorry, I'll let this truck go by -- that the city just added almost 300 new cameras around town. And I know there are some at Brown University. But one of the questions that people are asking nationally, I think, is how is it that there aren't more images available right now, and how much camera coverage is there in the city?

MILLER: Yeah. I mean, there is a significant amount of camera coverage in the city. I think that it, you know, this is -- this is a -- there are human factors at place and not every corner has a camera. Not everything is solved by a camera, right, but we do have new images. I think the most important thing -- the most important thing to a local and national audience is for people to look closely at those videos.

BERMAN: Yes.

MILLER: Look closely at the picture. Somebody out there knows something and can share it.

BERMAN: Any final message you want to give to the people of Providence this morning?

MILLER: No. My heart goes out to the families that have lost students who should be here on this campus. You know, to the students who are in the hospital. To the campus community. We have seen across the city -- you know, on the internet, Providence loves Brown. Every single person in this city is connected --

BERMAN: Oh, sure.

MILLER: -- and we feel this deeply.

BERMAN: Yeah. It's an unsettling feeling to be on a college campus when there should be students here to feel it all empty.

MILLER: It's awful.

BERMAN: City Council President Rachel Miller, thank you so much --

MILLER: Thank you.

BERMAN: -- for being with us.

MILLER: Thank you.

BERMAN: All the best.

MILLER: Thank you.

Again, Kate, everyone just hoping that these new images that were released do lead to some new clues, and quickly.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, and quickly is -- seems to be the key when you -- with everyone you are talking to about that feeling that has just kind of settled over the entire community right now.

We're going to get back to John on the ground very shortly.

But on this note and speaking about Brown, President Trump is speaking out blaming Brown University for not cracking that case yet. The president saying this. Saying, "This was a school problem," seeming to try and deflect blame and questions and criticism of his FBI and its involvement in the investigation and its director Kash Patel.

The president also seeming to blame Rob Reiner himself for his own murder. Now lashing out on social media -- in a social media post that is getting a ton of blowback, President Trump said that Reiner's death was "reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome."

[07:35:07]

The president was given the chance to clear that up and decided to double down from the Oval Office yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He became like a deranged person -- Trump Derangement Syndrome. So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way, shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Michelle Obama was on Jimmy Kimmel last night and in their conversation she revealed that she and President Obama were actually supposed to be meeting with -- visiting with Rob Reiner this past weekend. And she also said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me just say this. Unlike some people, Rob and Michele Reiner are some of the most decent, courageous people you would ever want to know.

(Applause)

Uh, they are not -- they are not deranged or crazed. What they -- what they have always been are passionate people in a time when there are not -- there's not a lot of courage going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about this. Joining us now, CNN senior political commentator Van Jones. And also with us, Pete Seat, former White House spokesperson for President George W. Bush. Guys, thanks so much for being here.

Van, what do you do with that today?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, you know, it's a character test when something happens to a friend of yours. You get no cookies for saying thoughts and prayers, et cetera. It's when your adversary suffers something horrific. That's the character test.

And we saw that during Charlie Kirk. How do you respond with somebody you disagree with who meets an untimely end? And it was very interesting. The Republicans spend a lot of time beating up those Democrats -- a minority -- who were criticizing Charlie Kirk. Basically kicking the corpse of Charlie Kirk and saying, you know horrible things about him while they were still mopping up the blood. That is out of bounds.

And to see the leader of that same party, the Republican Party, a few months later doing the same thing and then doubling down, I think is -- it's -- he has failed character test after character test. But this one in an age of rising violence and political violence is an F-minus- minus.

BOLDUAN: And that connection is the important bit, right? You have -- political violence is begetting political violence. And the rhetoric is at the very least not helping any of it.

JONES: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: And this in the aftermath, it seems even, Pete, a step too far for some of the president's allies and other elected Republicans.

Jenna Ellis, for one, who Trump pardoned and is a former Trump lawyer, she wrote this. "The right uniformly condemned political and celebratory responses to Charlie Kirk's death. This is a horrible example from Trump (and surprising considering the two attempts on his own life) and should be condemned by everyone with any decency."

You go from Tom Massie, MTG -- I mean, those both have issues with President Trump right now anyway. Mike Lawler also speaking out against this. Yet, Republican leaders, from what you can see, essentially trying to say nothing and just be mum. John Thune declined to comment on Trump's outburst, saying only "It's a tragedy and my sympathies and prayers go out to the Reiner family and to their friends."

The political reality of Trump paying a political price for doing and saying the same stuff that he's basically said -- people should lose their jobs for -- previously is going to be -- is what? Do you see him paying a price for this at all?

PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, VICE PRESIDENT, BOSE PUBLIC AFFAIRS GROUP, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, INDIANA REPUBLICAN PARTY (via Webex by Cisco): Well, he's paying a price with Republicans criticizing him and rightfully so. I think anyone with a heart should criticize the comments that were made by President Trump there beneath the office of the presidency. We should not calculate the worth of a man based on his politics. Unfortunately, this president and far too many of our fellow Americans do exactly that. If you are a Republican, they don't like Democrats and vice versa.

But as far as members of Congress -- congressional leadership -- I'll never forget when I was in Sochi, Russia with then-President George W. Bush. We got word that Charlton Heston had passed away. I immediately started drafting a statement from the president expressing condolences and lauding him, as a person and as an artist. The statement was sent out, and I don't recall a single member of Congress being asked about that statement because it was the president saying what a president should say about a towering American figure.

I didn't agree with Rob Reiner's politics. I don't care about Rob Reiner's politics right now. What happened was horrific and it should be condemned just like we should condemn what happened with Charlie Kirk.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. It's a sad moment on top of a sad moment when you see it happen again, Van.

Let's talk about -- we were talking about members of Congress and lawmakers. This is the -- this is the last week essentially, say, unless they decide to push off when they would leave town, but that doesn't seem likely for Congress.

[07:40:00]

And the House is going to vote on a Republican proposal that they say is going to address essentially the cliff that tens of millions of Americans are going to be facing and skyrocketing health care premiums when the subsidies expire. If it passes the House, it does not look like it has any chance of passing the Senate, which then brings us to if they don't -- if something doesn't surprise us --

JONES Um-hum.

BOLDUAN: -- real quick --

JONES: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- what is the -- what role do you think this issue plays --

JONES: Um-hum.

BOLDUAN: -- next year in the conversation?

JONES: Um-hum. Well, the conversation is going to be smaller because some people are not going to be here. There are going to be people who actually lose their lives, and that sounds like hyperbole.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

JONES: I've been on many Zoom calls that have been put together by different healthcare advocacy groups. There are people who literally do not have the money --

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

JONES: -- for, you know, January or February to stay alive. The -- what it cost them to stay alive doubles or triples their actual income. These are people who are basically -- you know, you have to worry about the midterms -- they literally won't be here.

And the idea that, you know, we could shut the government down for weeks and weeks and weeks and the Republicans run out of town and don't do anything, and now people are -- I mean, this is going to be one of the worst and scariest holiday seasons for millions of Americans. It will have a huge impact politically, but at a human level --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

JONES: -- it's going to be thermonuclear for a lot --

BOLDUAN: For that.

JONES: -- for a lot of American families.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

Pete, I have been wanting to ask you ever since it happened last week. Indiana politics is in your blood and speaking of people that Donald Trump is lashing out about you can add Indiana -- a lot of Indiana Republicans -- elected Republicans into that mix. Basically, a majority, I would say, of elected Indiana Republicans.

They voted down -- as a reminder to everybody, they voted down, last week, a rewrite of congressional maps that would have made it easier for Republicans to gain, I believe it was two more seats in the Indiana congressional delegation.

And when that happened Trump went off on it and wasn't done. This weekend he went on a tirade saying that they should be ashamed of themselves. Every one of these people should be primaried and I'll be there -- and I'll be there to help. Why is Indiana different from other Republican-led states in how this

has gone down?

SEAT: Yeah. As we've discussed before, Kate, it's principles versus politics. And for a number of members of the Indiana State Senate they decided to put their principles ahead of politics. Sure, there is a chance that they will be primaried, whether they're up in 2026 or 2028. Sure, there is a chance that they may lose that primary and not be renominated. But they felt strongly that the right move was to keep the maps intact based on what they did in 2021 after the 2020 census.

There are some folks who are upset but a lot of the anger is coming from Washington, D.C. and from very loud people with Twitter accounts. What these state senators are hearing when they go out to the grocery store or to their local barbershop is thank you. Thank you for doing the right thing. I've talked to these state senators, and they've told me this time and time again.

They didn't make a decision against Donald Trump because they wanted to send a message to Donald Trump. They made a decision that they thought was in the best interest of the state of Indiana, and they will let the chips fall wherever they fall.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, yeah.

Final thought, Van?

JONES: Well look, I mean, I think we're going to -- hopefully, we'll see more and more of that. I mean, some of this stuff is -- you know, it should be pretty cut and dry. If you've got information on a pedophile, you release it -- yes or no? If someone dies you kick the corpse. Do you release it -- yes or no? Do you respect that the decadelong process on the census or just throw it out the window -- yes or no?

These are basic questions that I think -- and I'm glad to see more and more Republicans and Independents saying these are pretty simple. I don't understand why there's any controversy on the other side.

The air is coming out of the Trump balloon in some ways, and this is another example of why. You can't overreach this way and have the party always go along. It just can't happen.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, clarity -- refreshing, some days, all days.

JONES: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, guys. Thank you so much.

All right. So a big announcement coming from Ford. The automaker saying that is now going to start pulling back on its electric vehicle plans and with that will be pivoting back into more gas and hybrid cars as President Trump's policies are taking a toll on the EV industry. The move, for Ford, will mean a $19.5 billion hit against its fourth-quarter earnings. The pullback also means production of its flagship electric vehicle, the F-150 Lightning, will be on hold indefinitely.

Ford and other automakers here and around the world have invested big in electric cars, of course, but Ford is pointing to a drop in demand now, which coincides with the Trump administration rolling back environmental regs put in place during the Biden administration. And the federal tax credit for EV buyers -- that ended in September.

[07:45:07]

Breaking overnight, new U.S. strikes on three more alleged drug boats as the president declares the drug fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction now.

And the U.S. is launching something called the "Tech Force" to find America's top AI talent. How is AI going to fix some of the problems facing the federal government now?

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:50:12]

BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, the U.S. military says it conducted new strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats. The U.S. military says eight people were killed. These attacks, in the Eastern Pacific this time, bring the number of people killed during this entire military campaign by the president to at least 95 since it began in September. This also comes as the justification for these strikes is being put more and more in the spotlight and quite frankly, under a microscope.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House for us this morning with the latest here. Alyana, the defense secretary, the Secretary of State -- they're briefing lawmakers today. What are you hearing about this?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, this is going to be fascinating because all lawmakers Kate, both in the House and Senate, are expected to have these closed-door classified briefings with Hegseth and Rubio today.

So we are told that the first briefing is going to be with senators at 10:00 a.m., of course, on these ongoing military operations in the specific -- in the Pacific and the Caribbean, and then afterwards they'll give a similar briefing to the House.

Now, we also know that the House Armed Services Committee is expecting to have a briefing later this week with Adm. Frank Bradley -- Frank "Mitch" Bradley, I should say. He likes to go by "Mitch." He is the one who had led that operation back in September -- that double-tap strike on a boat traveling off the cost of Venezuela that ended up, you know, becoming the subject of much, much scrutiny over these operations of late.

And so all of this is going to be fascinating because a lot of lawmakers have been asking for this kind of access to a lot of these classified materials and getting answers from people like Hegseth and Rubio who have been behind a lot of these operations. Now, of course, I think one of the most interesting things is going to

have our relentless Hill reporters chasing down these different lawmakers after these briefings. I know there will be doing that. And specifically, I think I'm eager to hear the reaction from a lot of the Republican lawmakers who have been critical of many of these strikes.

But as you mentioned, despite all of the scrutiny we've seen over these broader operations and specifically, that strike I mentioned -- that double-tap strike back in September, the military and the Pentagon have not slowed down their operations. You know, we saw the more strikes last night against three alleged drug trafficking boats in the Eastern Pacific. That now brings the total number of people who are expected to have been killed in these strikes to at least 95 people.

Another thing is we also saw the president take a big move last night by declaring that -- or classifying narcotics and fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction -- a huge move that is going to try and provide even more legal basis for what they're doing with these operations, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, which is interesting though because when it comes down to it there was a lot of conversation of what's coming out of Venezuela and what's coming out of Colombia. It's not fentanyl. That's not where it's coming from anyway. So there's maybe justification for a different problem.

Alayna, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Overnight, a new line from the Kremlin saying now that it does not want a Christmas truce. A spokesperson telling reporters this just today. "We don't want a truce to give Ukraine a breathing space and prepare for the continuation of the war."

Meanwhile, President Trump, yesterday, said this about bringing an end, once and for all, to Russia's war on Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think we're closer now and they will tell you that they're closer now. We've had numerous conversations with President Putin of Russia. And I think we're closer now than we have been ever and we'll see what we can do. We want to save a lot of lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: President Trump has offered beefed-up security guarantees for Ukraine, um, to -- in order to advance the peace -- as a part of advancing the peace talks, but U.S. officials have also cautioned that offer will not be on the table forever.

Let's talk about where things stand now. Joining me right now is CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk.

Brett, add it all up over the past week-plus of talks and non-talks -- a lot of meetings -- a lot of facetime. Do you share the president's optimism here?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, FORMER MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA COORDINATOR, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, SENIOR FELLOW, HARVARD'S BELFER CENTER: You know, Kate, given all the bad news over the last week or so I want to try to be optimistic here. We've been talking about this for months on your program about is all of this diplomacy just kind of motion and treading water or are you actually seeing forward movement?

Look, the meetings over the last two days in Europe were fairly extraordinary with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff meeting with the leaders of Europe and with Zelenskyy, really over two days, and kind of firming up this -- these security guarantees that we would offer Ukraine. It seems like a lot of progress has been made there. That's critical because those -- of the two issues that are left in this negotiation it's security guarantees for Ukraine and it's the line on the map in Eastern Ukraine of where that ceasefire line is going to be drawn. And that's where, again, we have -- we have an open issue.

[07:55:05]

Every signal from Moscow is that Putin is determined to take this territory -- the remaining territory in the Donbas -- either by military force or at the negotiating table, and he's not going to stop until he gets that. And Ukraine is saying they just cannot make some of those territorial concessions. So it all comes down to that.

But, you know, there really -- there does appear to have been some real progress the last couple of days -- not just President Trump saying this, the chancellor of Germany saying we could be as close to a ceasefire as we've ever been. But again, diplomacy is like this, Kate. You're all -- you're never there until you're there. And it can feel like you're just kind of flailing until you actually get an agreement.

Look, I think you've got to keep at it. I give the administration credit here for keeping this moving, but it comes down to Putin. If Putin is determined to keep this war going regardless of losses he's taken, you're not going to get this deal.

So, we'll see. Some progress has been made but we're not -- we're not in the endzone here.

BOLDUAN: We're not there, there, there yet.

The development of -- I wanted to ask about the development of European leaders agreeing yesterday to provide European-led multinational -- European-led multinational force supported by the U.S. as part of the security guarantees that are so critical for Ukraine. And Zelenskyy saying that needs to include monitoring the ceasefire that would eventually have to occur.

Put this into layman's terms for us. How big is this as a development?

MCGURK: So just to break this down, there's an area in Eastern Ukraine about 25 percent or so of the territory being fought over. Russia has not been able to take it. Ukraine calls it its "Fortress Belt." It's an area that's heavily defended and Ukraine sees that area -- if they give it up, they are prone for a future war, and the Russians can just roll right in. So that is the key element here.

The administration has offered a compromise whereby that would be a demilitarized zone. It would kind of not be Ukrainian territory. The Russians would be able to claim it and make Putin -- you know, give him something to declare victory. But the question for the Ukrainians is will we be able to defend this territory? And if it is a demilitarized zone -- well, who actually makes sure it stays that way? So Zelenskyy is asking the right question.

I noticed that on the U.S. side you had the supreme allied commander, someone I've worked with in previous administrations -- a very serious guy. The U.S. military is working with European militaries for what this might look like. Again, this is movement. This is very important. This is kind of forward momentum on that key issue of security guarantees. But where to draw the line on the map -- that's what this is going to come down to.

I've been in negotiations with Russians with maps. They look at every town, every detail. That is going to be very difficult. And so far, Kate, as we've been talking about for months, the Russians have shown no indication of willingness to compromise on Putin's maximalist claims.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

MCGURK: So again, some progress on the European and Ukrainian side. Now you've got to go back to the Russians. I'm hopeful but past is prologue. Putin's probably not going to -- not going to accept a compromise here.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. Hopeful and optimistic you could always be. Realistic, you always are. That's for sure.

Brett, thank you very much.

MCGURK: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: I really appreciate it. It's great to see you.

The White House is also officially getting into the market for AI talent. The Trump administration is launching a new initiative to bring more technology and artificial intelligence -- basically, employees -- into the public sector. They're calling the program the "U.S. Tech Force." Officials say recruits will be tackling everything from defense drones to IRS platforms. I mean, AI could assist and touch every facet of the federal government, let's be honest.

CNN's Clare Duffy has much more on this. What does it mean and how are they pulling in the talent -- or going to try?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Well, yes. So the government is dealing with both a technical talent gap. They just don't have enough people with these tech and AI skills -- BOLDUAN: Right.

DUFFY: -- right now. And there's this broader war for a fairly small pool of AI talent right now.

BOLDUAN: You've done great reporting on this of, like, what these companies are willing to pay, yeah.

DUFFY: Exactly. The companies are shelling out these massive salaries and these other perks for the top people in this field. And so the government is hoping that this U.S. Tech Force program will bring more early career software developers, data scientists, project managers in for at least a temporary period to the public sector.

The Office of Personnel Management hopes to hire an initial cohort of 1,000 people by early next year for this two-year term during which folks will work across the government, as you said, potentially on modernizing drones and weapons systems at the Department of Defense or building out the Trump Accounts platform at the IRS.

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

DUFFY: And during this period they'll also be getting mentorship and career planning advice from Silicon Valley executives. And at the end of this two-year term they'll have access to a job fair where there will be both public and private sector opportunities. So folks will potentially have the opportunity to transition back into the private sector where they could be making a bit more money than they would in the federal government.

These -- the salary range for these roles will be between $130,000 and $195,000 a year. And OPM director Scott Kupor recognized that this is a competitive space.

BOLDUAN: Right.