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Trump Orders Total Blockade of Sanctioned Oil Tankers in Venezuela; Day Five of Manhunt for Brown University Shooter; Nick Reiner Could Appear in Court After Being Charged With Murder. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired December 17, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this morning, a total and complete blockade, the president's new action against Venezuela and the real fallout from it now today.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news in the murders of Rob and Michele Reiner, new details from inside Conan O'Brien's Christmas party, how Nick Reiner was behaving there just hours before he allegedly killed his parents.

And an expensive car races down an expensive street, right into an expensive crash. The stolen Ferrari that seemed to, wait for it, wait for it, explode into a light pole.

Sara is working the night shift. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: President Trump is now taking the already boiling tension with the Venezuelan president to a new level now, ordering a, quote, total and complete blockade on sanctioned oil tankers in and out of Venezuela. He says that's going to be backed by a, quote/unquote, armada of U.S. ships in the region. The specific wording of Trump's announcement may allow for more wiggle room than his blockade threat suggests, but he's definitely trying to escalate things even further.

It comes after the U.S. Coast Guard seized this ship we've been showing you this video since last week off of Venezuela's coast. The new threat is now intended to hit right at the heart of the Venezuelan economy, its massive oil reserves.

The president, it appears, is also trying to turn the focus back to the Caribbean and back to his agenda, announcing a primetime speech from the White House tonight. One thing he's likely trying to turn the focus away from, that explosive Vanity Fair interview with his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, people still trying to wrap their heads around what was said on the record in this lengthy, lengthy series of interviews.

One of the more and many eyebrow-raising things about was what that was said was about those strikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela. The Trump administration has maintained that those strikes are aimed at stopping drugs from reaching the United States. But Susie Wiles says on the record now that they're more about the country's leader, saying that Trump, quote, wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.

CNN's Alayna Treene is alive at the White House for us this morning. About that blockade, what are you hearing?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And what a stunning quote that was from Susie Wiles, particularly as someone who's been covering this Venezuela escalation for weeks now. I mean, to have the White House chief of staff say that on the record. It is pretty remarkable given it's very different, Kate, from what we have heard from officials maintaining that this is all about trying to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S.

But to get back to your initial question, President Trump designated Venezuela, a foreign terrorist organization on Tuesday. And as you mentioned, he also formally ordered a blockade of all U.S.-sanctioned oil tankers that are servicing Venezuela.

Now, this is a major escalation and backed, as the president argues, by a giant U.S. armada. And it puts unprecedented pressure on Nicolas Maduro and his regime.

A key question, of course, is what will the real impact of this be? I think there's no question that it will already -- or it will hit their already very struggling economy especially hard and could threaten to actually bankrupt Venezuela.

But I want to read for you some of what the president posted overnight. He said, quote, Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before, until such time as they return to the United States of America, all of the oil, land and other assets that they previously stole from us.

Now, I should say, Trump incorrectly argued that they have stolen a lot of oil and resources from them. That's not necessarily true. We have reached out to clarify those remarks.

Venezuela and the Maduro regime is also hitting back very hard. They're arguing essentially that this is showing the real threat or real kind of goal of the president, which they are arguing, is to steal the wealth of the country. So, a major escalation here of what we are seeing from the president toward Venezuela.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And on that Vanity Fair profile, the White House is publicly coming to Susie Wiles' defense. What are you hearing from the inside?

TREENE: Yes, this has been remarkable. I mean, to see these type of comments from my conversations, Kate, with a lot of White House and officials and people close to the president, they said if it was anyone else, there would likely be ramifications for this type of rhetoric that she used, this very candid rhetoric that really shows, unlike some other things we've seen in the past, some of the divisions inside the West Wing.

[07:05:17]

Now, we saw the president himself fully back Wiles here. He's argued that -- you know, on one comment, she had argued that the president has an alcoholic's personality. Of course, he's someone known famously not to drink. He, in a New York Post interview, said, actually, I do have an alcoholic's personality. I do have this larger than life personality and tried to downplay.

And we saw the same thing from cabinet officials very swiftly and very shortly after this piece by Vanity Fair was published. One of the people she actually, Susie Wiles, went after the hardest was Attorney General Pam Bondi. She noted that she had completely whiffed were the words Wiles used the Epstein files and the handling of all of that.

Bondi was one of the people who came out with the staunchest support of her on social media. We were told from one Trump administration official that essentially this was a coordinated campaign to show their support of Wiles. Just remarkable, given some of the things she said.

BOLDUAN: Nothing to see here.

Alayna Treene, it's good to see you. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: Yes, nothing to see but fascinating stuff, quite to read.

All right, new this morning, police released enhanced video of the person of interest they're seeking in the mass shooting at Brown University that had killed two students and left nine injured. They're asking the public, and we've been talking about this, to pay close attention to the man's body movements, the posture and gait. This morning, one shooting survivor is speaking out about how he escaped.

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JACOB SPEARS, BROWN UNIVERSITY FRESHMAN: First I was confused, but then I realized what was happening. I ran he got me in the back. But adrenaline did me good and I was able to get up and run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The student has a father and son helped by applying pressure on his wound before an ambulance took him to the hospital.

Let's get right to CNN's Michael Yoshida, who's in Providence on the campus of Brown University for the latest on what you're hearing this morning, Michael.

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John. In that sound bite you just played really speaks to the anxiousness, the somberness and again, really, just anxiety still on this campus. We've entered the fifth day of this manhunt, the area where this deadly mass shooting happened remains surrounded by crime scene tape as they continue to try and track down that person of interest. You mentioned those new enhanced images, the videos have been released, although probably fair to say still not a great look at that individual they're looking for. But investigators hoping someone may recognize something with the appearance, the way that individual is walking through the campus, through these surrounding areas.

We do know they believe that person of interest was on campus some five hours or so before this shooting happened on Saturday. We know hundreds of tips have been received as well so far. But, again, still a lot of questions remain about who this individual is, where they went, and also questions being raised about maybe the lack of video of this person of interest, particularly on the campus. That's something the Rhode Island attorney general spoke of recently.

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PETER NERONHA, RHODE ISLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL: The building is on the edge of the brown campus, where the shooting took place, is at the edge of that building, and then you're very quickly into a residential neighborhood.

There's no footage that depicts this individual that would be useful in identifying him that we have not released to you.

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YOSHIDA: And again, that building sitting right here on the edge of the Brown University campus and all those images really coming from home surveillance videos in the surrounding neighborhoods. We do know from the attorney general that search teams, those FBI teams, we've been seeing going through trees and bushes, looking for any clues. They're going to be going to potentially new areas as they move out further from this campus, again, looking for any clues to help track down that gunman.

And as that's happening, this camp is obviously still processing everything. We had a prayer vigil in service last night. Our team observing maybe 200, 250 people taking part, and that as memorials also continue to grow for those two students who were killed, Mukhammad Umurzukov, a freshman, also Ella Cook, a sophomore. Those in this community, again, really hoping and anxiously waiting for answers as to why this happened, and, again, most importantly, where the person responsible is and when they'll be caught.

BERMAN: Yes. The news that this person of interest was maybe casing the neighborhood for some five and a half hours before the shooting took place seems to be the newest piece of information.

Michael Yoshida on the campus of Brown University, good to see you this morning. Thank you for your work.

So, what was going on at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party hours before Rob and Michele Reiner were killed? New details this morning on how Nick Reiner was seen behaving there.

[07:10:00] And way too close of a call between a jet and an Air Force refueling tanker, a mid-air collision narrowly avoided.

And a deadly explosion destroys a jewelry store, all caught on surveillance video. New reporting on what caused it.

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BOLDUAN: This morning, Nick Reiner, the son of Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and his wife Michele could make his first appearance in court now formally charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of his parents. And we're learning more about the younger Reiner's demeanor just before the attack early Sunday morning.

A source now tells CNN that Saturday night, just hours before the murders, Nick Reiner stood out among the guests that were attending a holiday party at Conan O'Brien's home for just how little he engaged with anyone.

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The next night, he was arrested by Los Angeles Police and U.S. Marshals. And we're showing you these new photos. Just show the moments that he was taken into custody.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Los Angeles following all of the twists and turns of this investigation now so far. What's the latest?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. We are learning more details now that we've heard from the district attorney's office about what they are charging Nick Reiner with. And one of the things that we've also learned is that they believe that the Reiners were killed in the early morning hours of Sunday, which is noteworthy, consider that Saturday night party. And then also learning that their daughter, who lives across the street from the Reiners, went to go check on them around 3:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, and we know it was shortly after that that the police responded to that call and discovered the Reiners were in fact dead.

At the time, they also said that Nick Reiner was not in the house, but had been living in their guest house at the time on the property. He was later apprehended around 9:00 at night downtown near the University of Southern California, so getting more information on how they put this all together.

Now, about those charges, he is looking at those two counts of first- degree murder with a special circumstance because they're alleging that he stabbed his parents to death, and so that's something that they're looking into and because there's more than one murder in this case as well. So, he's facing life without the chance of parole if this goes through. The district attorney, Nathan Hochman, also saying that they are going to take into consideration the thoughts and feelings of the family as they proceed with this case.

Now, we do expect that he could make his first court appearance today once they get going here. He does have to go through a medical clearance, which every person in custody coming to the courthouse has to go through. They're saying that's a standard procedure, but that it could be today that we see him in court. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And talk more about what is being discussed from sources that saw how Rob Reiner and his son, Nick, how they were seen at this holiday party the night before, especially as I was mentioning off the top, Nick Reiner's demeanor that people were actually taking note of.

ELAM: Yes, for sure. Our colleague, Nick Watt, actually spoke to somebody who was at that party and said that Nick Reiner stood out because he was sort of casually dressed while everyone else was dressed up for this holiday party, also saying that he was standing off by himself by a fire pit, smoking a cigarette and was not engaging with anyone and just his facial expression was flat at that time.

Also at this party, we have heard from sources that there was this fight between Rob Reiner and Nick Reiner, that they got into an argument, got heated, people heard it, still also don't know whether or not all of the Reiners left together, whether the parents left, because we do know that Michele Singer Reiner was there as well. These are all questions that we're hoping to get answers to as this proceeds.

BOLDUAN: Yes, Stephanie, thank you so much for that.

So, she said she was uncomfortable with some of the president's core policies, she said it on the record, tariffs pardons among them. She also said the Attorney General Pam Bondi completely whiffed on the Epstein files. Pulling back the veil this morning on Trump White House 2.0 after this very revealing interview with Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles.

And if you are planning on going to the World Cup, you may want to start saving like yesterday. Ticket prices are skyrocketing and that is if you even get a chance to buy one.

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BERMAN: So, the New York Knicks haven't won an actual NBA title in more than 50 years, but now they kind of have a made up one.

With us now, CNN's Andy Scholes. What's the latest, Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, John, for the first time since 1973, the Knicks can hang a championship banner at Madison Square Garden. It's not an NBA championship, but hey, a cup title. The players love it because it comes with a half million dollar check that they get for winning.

New York, they were going up against his Spurs, trailed pretty much the entire game, and they were down five entering the fourth. But they had a huge fourth quarter thanks to their bench. Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek combining for 29, and then O.G. Anunoby, he hit a huge three here in the corner, put the Knicks up eight with under two minutes to go. Jalen Brunson, he scored 25. He was named the NBA Cup MVP as the Knicks win 124 to 113 to claim the title.

And here was Head Coach Mike Brown after the win.

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MIKE BROWN, NEW YORK KNICKS HEAD COACH: Anytime you can participate in any event where you're the last one standing and you're able to hang a banner, especially in iconic MSG, you take that seriously, and all of our guys took it seriously. But the most exciting part about it, I feel like we're in New York right now. Let's go. Let's go.

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SCHOLES: All right. Now, this was the third NBA Cup. The previous winners, the Lakers and Bucks, they both lost in the first round of the playoffs. Knicks certainly hoping history does not repeat itself.

All right, in the NHL, meanwhile, Oilers and Penguins squaring off first period. Zack Hyman scores in the power play. Leon Draisaitl got an assist on that goal. It was his 1000th career point. Draisaitl is the first German-born player ever to get to that mark. He had four assists on the night. Connor McDavid also scored twice, and now as the Oilers got the win, 6-4.

All right, finally, after a global backlash, FIFA announcing that they have slashed the prices for some World Cup tickets and they're going to make $60 tickets available. Now there are only going to be hundreds of $60 tickets for each game, not thousands. And each country's federation will be in charge of deciding how to distribute those tickets to loyal fans who have attended previous games. Demand right now, you know, super high for World Cup tickets.

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FIFA said there have been 20 million ticket requests for the random selection draw.

And, John, for that first USA game against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium on June 12th, the cheapest ticket on the secondary market, $1,300. So, you know, family of four going to a World Cup game, not going to be cheap.

BERMAN: And, I look my own personal opinion, since you asked, this is a shame. The tickets are way too expensive. People really can't get them who want to go enjoy soccer. Think of all the kids who play soccer in this country, and how few of them are going to be able to see a game in person, just not right. They got to fix this. They still have a few months to figure out how to do it.

Andy Scholes, on that cheery note, great to see you. Congratulations to the Knicks, an NBA Cup, every college child's dream.

All right, new video and new clues in the manhunt for the suspect in the Brown University shooting, what police say he was doing in the scene hours before the attack.

And we have new video of this moment, look at that, that's one of Miami's most expensive streets, and now that's a former light pole.

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