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Trump Defends Economy, Blames Biden in an Address to Nation; Trump Touts Economy Amid Low Approval Ratings; Police Release Map Tracking Brown University Person of Interest; Government Admits Army & Air Traffic Controller Failures in Deadly Crash. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 18, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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ROY WOOD JR., COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: Correct.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hundred percent.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, now you've -- now you've landed on a thing I would fight you over. Yeah. No, the wine will stay at my house. Tune in to Roy Wood Jr.'s "Very, Very, Very Merry Holiday Special" this Saturday 8 p.m. on CNN. You can also watch on the CNN app. He is one of the nicest men alive.

A CNN -- a new hour of CNN News Central starts now.

BERMAN: All right, we do have breaking news. New data just released minutes ago shows inflation beginning to slow. Police now searching for a witness who may have crossed paths with and know something about the person of interest at the center of the Brown University manhunt.

And a car slams into the front window of a hardware store right where the butane is located in that store. One employee said it kept catching fire and blowing up. That's not the kind of description you want to hear.

Sara, working nights this week. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan, and this is CNN News Central.

All right. And the breaking news just a few minutes ago, we got brand new data on inflation. We've been waiting for this. We didn't get any readings during the government shutdown. This was for November, and it does show inflation cooling off a little bit.

Let's get right to seeing as Matt Egan to explain these numbers. What are they and what do they mean, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, John, this is a surprise, a positive surprise on arguably the number one economic issue right now, affordability.

Now, we were bracing for today's report to show that inflation stayed at three percent in September, but it didn't. It actually slowed to 2.7 percent. Now, not only is that a four-month low, that is better than the expectation of three percent. And when you look at the trend here, the left side of the screen here, this is last year. And you could see inflation really was coming down last summer.

And then it actually bottomed in April at around two-point three percent, right? That was really giving people some hopes that maybe we'd be back to that two percent goal that the Fed considers healthy. And then that's when the president rolled out his Liberation Day tariffs.

And you can see how much inflation ticked up, in part because of those tariffs. The good news is that it is coming back down, at least based on today's numbers.

Now, we don't know what the inflation rate was in October. That's because the government shutdown mess with the collection of data. Just to remind everyone, though, the fact that the inflation rate has come down, it doesn't mean that prices are falling across the economy. It means they're still going up just at a more gradual pace.

Now, let's look at some of the things that got more expensive in November. I think the good news is that gasoline was only up by less than one percent.

In fact, gas prices continue to fall this month. Groceries, another major point of frustration in recent years. Grocery prices only up by one point nine percent. So, that's less than the overall rate of inflation.

However, there were still some things that got a lot more expensive. Look at this electricity. Seven percent almost natural gas, which is what people used to heat their homes often, nine percent.

And bad news for coffee lovers. Instant coffee got 24 percent more expensive year over year. That's the biggest annual increase since 1995. But look, when you put it all together, this is overall encouraging news, John, when it comes to the cost of living. And investors over on Wall Street seem to like it because we see U.S. stock futures have moved modestly higher since these numbers came out.

Back to you.

BERMAN: Yeah, those numbers up because I think the inflation number is better. Good on their face and also better than expected right there. Although I will say when you put up that -- that -- those prices for instant coffee, as someone who wakes up pretty early in the morning, my heart skipped a beat there. But hopefully that's an anomaly.

Matt Egan, thank you for this. I want to keep talking about this throughout the show.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: That also means you're consuming far too much coffee when your heart is starting to skip beats, John Berman.

BERMAN: You too.

BOLDUAN: I do need you around for at least one more hour. So, please be careful.

Concerns about the economy were almost the entire focus of President Trump's address to the nation last night. He spent a lot of time touting what he calls the successes of his first 11 months in office and trying to convince the public that when it comes to the economy, things are not as bad as people think or feel. The picture that he painted, though, is at odds with the data, including polling showing that Americans are hurting and most blame President Trump for their struggle to afford everyday items right now. Here are some of what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT: We have brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in American history. After 11 months, our border is secure. Inflation has stopped. Wages are up. Prices are down. Our nation is strong. America is respected. And our country is back, stronger than ever before. We're poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:19]

BOLDUAN: Now to the numbers, at least numbers right now. New Quinnipiac University poll shows 65 percent of voters believe the economy is not so good or poor. And while President Trump blamed the rising for -- the increasing and growing concerns around affordability on Democrats, especially on the prior administration and Joe Biden, polling shows, well, this, 57 percent say he, President Trump, is more responsible for the current state of the economy than the former president.

Let's get over to the White House right now. Alayna Treene is standing by. You had the speech last night. What are you hearing from there today?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yeah, we actually heard, I caught up, as did other reporters, with Kevin Hassett, the White House's National Economic Director, this morning, who was talking about some of this. One of the things he said actually speaks to that poll you just showed, Kate, this idea of, you know, this is the Trump economy. He said that. He said, yes, we are in a Trump economy. What he was trying to argue, though, is that all this focus, the president repeatedly trying to lay the blame for a lot of the cost of living concerns that Americans are feeling right now at the feet of his predecessor, Joe Biden. He said a lot of that is because -- what they're trying to argue is that Joe Biden created this economic hole that they are continuing to climb out of and that hopefully next year, notably, of course, in the months leading up to the midterm elections. They'll start to see some of the economic work that this team at the White House has been doing really starting to be felt more and more by Americans.

But I want to get into some of the other stuff the president said. One of the most striking things, actually, from that address, it was 18 minutes last night, was the president's style. This is exactly what the White House wanted him to be messaging on. He talked a lot about affordability, a lot about the high cost of living, and really he stuck to the teleprompter. He stuck to the script. That is not characteristic of President Trump.

I remind you, last week, he went to Pennsylvania. I was there to give a speech on this exact issue, and he veered off script, and it was a 97-minute speech. And so, I think the White House is happy with this. Actually, people in the room last night, reporters, according to the Pew Report, Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, said, I told you 20 minutes, and you were 20 minutes on the dot. Just to give you a sense of how they were doing, trying to frame this all-last night. I should note, he did rush through it. He did seem to be shouting at times, but he didn't mainly stick to the script.

And the real script was trying to tout the economic accomplishments that they argue they have ushered in during the president's first year in office, this idea of the -- you know, so-called big, beautiful bill, the president's tax cuts. He talked a lot about tariffs, trying to argue that that has brought in a lot of revenue. Of course, there's been a lot of, you know, dispute over how that has impacted high prices and inflation.

But over and over again as well, Kate, he did continue to blame Joe Biden and really try to convince Americans as well that, you know, you should be feeling good right now, even if that's not what they are feeling. But I want you to listen to the number of times he actually brought up the former president. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I'm fixing it. This is what the Biden administration allowed to happen to our country. Under the Biden administration, car prices rose 22 percent and in many states, 30 percent or more. Under Biden, real wages plummeted by $3,000. Electricity costs surged 30 to 100 percent under Biden. The worst thing that the Biden administration did to our country is the invasion at the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: And that was only a few examples, Kate, of the president invoking Biden's name. And our great Daniel Dale has a big fact check of a lot of the things that he just said in that clip. But the main -- the main the bottom thing I'll leave you with is this. The bottom line is that I have traveled a lot talking to Trump supporters. I did that last week in Pennsylvania. And a lot of them tell me that they do buy this idea that perhaps President Trump inherited a struggling economy.

The problem is that he promised to usher in this new golden age for the economy very early on if he were to be elected. And Americans aren't seeing that, and they're losing patience. And so this is a major issue that the White House team knows they need to fix. And that's part of the reason he gave this speech last night.

BOLDUAN: Alayna Treene at the White House for us. Thank you so much. John.

BERMAN: All right. With us now, Congressman Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York.

Congressman, nice to see you this morning. So, this brand-new inflation data just in shows a cooling off down to 2.7 percent from three percent in September. Better than expected. Your reaction to what is some positive economic news?

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): Well, look, here's what I'll say, that when you look at the investments that individuals like the president's friends have made in A.I. and those kinds of things, that is what has kept the economy somewhat afloat. But it does not help the average everyday American who is seeing grocery prices, who are looking at the cost of living and the cost of housing.

[09:10:15]

These are real pains that the president said that he would be able to fix on day one. And here we are about a year later, and it's getting worse as a result of his tariffs, actually, which is a tax to the American people.

BERMAN: Well, but since September, just to be clear, we have the chart up so people can see. And inflation did go up between April and a peak in September, which you can see on the right of your screen there, Congressman. You can't see it, but we're showing the numbers did go up from below of like 2.4 percent in April up to three percent in September, but now going down again. And all I'm asking is, does it look like it's headed in the right direction now?

MEEKS: Well, we want inflation to go down. We also don't want unemployment to go up. So, if you look at, you know, want to look at all of the statistics, you got to look at both.

So, we see that the number of jobs that were created was down. The unemployment rate for the first time has gone up higher than it's been in a number of years. So, you know, when you try to look at this, I try to look at it not just on how it feels for those who are well-to- do, but how does it feel for the average, everyday American citizen, and how has it improved their lives?

And do they feel a difference? And I think that if you go around America and you talk to the individuals who the president seems not to ever meet with or anything of that nature, because those are not the, you know, the well-to-do who's making these deals on critical minerals, et cetera, for themselves, because it's been very good for them. But if you talk to the average, everyday American, the hard worker, ask them how they feel, and they will tell you exactly how they feel.

BERMAN: You obviously are not supportive of a lot of the president's economic policies and, I imagine, would do things differently. There is a new poll out from Quinnipiac University which asks, who do you trust more to handle the economy? Who is better at handling the economy?

And the results of that show that Americans would still prefer Republicans. Forty-six percent say Republicans are better at handling the economy than Democrats. So, if the policies are as bad as you say they are, why is it that voters still say they prefer Republicans on this?

MEEKS: Well, I think that if you look at those same numbers, you see that Donald Trump is at an all-time low in regards to the economy. I think that the last poll that I saw a day ago was he's down to 36 percent on the economy.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Yeah, it's bad, but if that's true, why don't they trust you more? If it's so bad for him, why don't they trust you more for the economy, you being Democrats?

MEEKS: Well, I think that they see who's fighting for health care to try to make sure that those costs don't go up, as we know what was going to take place as of January 1st. And they see those insurance rates going up, and some will not be able to afford or have to make a decision between their medicine and buying food. I think that as this continues, and I think that you will see as the president continues to move, things are not improving.

I would hope that they would improve, but I think that there's several things for the average everyday American, because I see a huge gap between how individuals who the president has taken care of in his circles, how they are moving in this economy, and how they are gaining. And that -- you know, when you look at the curve, that makes a difference, as opposed to the average everyday person, some who may not even be invested in the stock market, for example. Some who's just working day to day to try to get food.

BERMAN: You are the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The president says that he is calling for what he says is a total blockade on sanctioned vessels coming in or out of Venezuela. First of all, do you know what that means, and what is your view of that announcement?

MEEKS: Well, I think that what it does is it exposes exactly what he's doing in the Caribbean and the Pacific Coast. This is not about drugs. It's not about drugs at all. It's about regime change, and it's about getting control of Venezuelan oil, because in that same statement he said this is American's oil, and it's American's land, and it's American's assets, and we're going to take them back, and we're going to keep them surrounded until we get American stuff back. It is not Americans. It's the Venezuelans.

And I would agree Maduro is not the right leader. He lost his election. He's brutal, et cetera, and he needs to be removed by the Venezuelan people, but we don't do it the way that this president is doing it.

There's no concern, et cetera. You know, people think that you can come in, remove him, and everything is going to take place. Well, you know, that's what was said when we went into Iraq also, what comes after, what is the plan. There's none of that. And do you come to Congress? Because Congress is the one that's responsible for determining when we go to war or not.

[09:15:18]

Come to Congress and make your case as to why you want to do this. But I think that from his statements alone, it tells you this is about oil. He wants to take the oil in Venezuela and make some deals so him, his family, and his buddies can make more money.

BERMAN: Congressman Gregory Meeks from New York, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: Also this morning, authorities in Rhode Island are now searching for a witness, someone who may have crossed paths with, may have spoken to the person of interest that they're still searching for in the Brown University shooting. So far, police do not believe that this witness is criminally involved, but they are hoping the person can help them crack the case. This morning, we are also learning new details about one of the victims, a friend telling CNN that he wasn't supposed to be in that study session at all where the shooting happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH MCGONAGLE, FRIEND OF SLAIN BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: He just tagged along with them to go to that econ session, even though he wasn't in the class. He just wanted to, you know, keep them company. I mean, that's something he would do. The fact that he wasn't supposed to be there is really sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It's so tragic. That friend also shared with CNN the final photos that his friend actually had texted to him, showing that very classroom, that room just before that horrific shooting took place. CNN's Michael Yoshida is on the ground following the very latest here. What is the latest on the manhunt now?

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kate. The memorials here continue to grow at Brown University. As this manhunt, this investigation moves into its sixth day with police still asking for the public's help, particularly as this investigation moves beyond the campus.

They've put out this map showing the areas where this person of interest walked in the hours before this mass shooting took place and also where they walked right after. And you can see that map showing a large area here within Providence where they're now searching, doing those door knocks, asking people to check any surveillance cameras they have, check their vehicles if they have surveillance and video cameras on those as well that may have inadvertently picked up this person of interest. Again, all trying to track down where this shooter went.

We also have new details from investigators that they have physical and DNA evidence as well, collected from the scene. So far, no hits connecting that to anyone, but obviously could be useful in tying a person of interest, someone else to the scene. We also know, as you mentioned, they're trying to track down this individual who they believe may have crossed paths with that person of interest, may be able to provide some sort of clues to investigators.

And finally, this is a little curious, they're still working, we're told, to figure out who all was in that classroom where this shooting happened. It was a study session, so there's no registry, we were told, of anyone who was supposed to be there, no sign-in or check-in. So, they're still working through that.

Obviously, this is all happening as this community continues to process this, mourn this. And a lot of questions today still being asked, again, about the security cameras, why there may or may not have been as many in the areas around the edge of campus where this took place, and of course, how close police are or are not to actually finding and tracking down the person they're looking for.

Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, so sad. Manhunt now into its sixth day, as you say, Michael. Thank you very much for being there and for your reporting.

Coming up for us, we have a new report from the U.S. government admitting to multiple errors leading up to the deadly collision between military helicopter and that passenger jet over the Potomac, that horrible tragedy there. And also happening now, Brian Walshe, the Massachusetts man convicted of killing his wife and dismembering her body, he is back in court and he's set to learn his sentence today.

And why California is now threatening to ban the sale of Teslas for 30 days over what they call false advertising.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:23:09]

BERMAN: This morning, a new admission about the deadly midair collision over the Potomac in Washington, D.C. last January. You will remember 67 people died in that crash. Now the U.S. government says the collision between the Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Eagle flight was the result of failures by the helicopter pilots and air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport. This development comes as a result of a civil lawsuit filed by the family of one of the crash victims.

Let's get right to our Pete Muntean for the latest on what this all means. Good morning, Pete.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Remember, this is not the final word here. National Transportation Safety Board investigation still ongoing, and that final report not expected until next month.

But this is a major concession from the United States government in this civil suit brought by the families of those who died on American Eagle flight 5342. The Justice Department now admits failures the night of January 29th by the pilots of the other aircraft involved in that Army Black Hawk helicopter on that low altitude training mission. The government admits failures by the air traffic controller as well, who was attempting to alert the helicopter pilots to the passenger plane that was about to land at Reagan National Airport.

This new court filing is pretty lengthy, 209 pages long, just filed in U.S. District Court. And lawyers for the Justice Department said this, quote, "The United States admits pilots flying PAT25,' that's the helicopter, 'failed to maintain proper and safe visual separation from American Eagle flight 5342." The government also calls that a cause in fact and a proximate cause of the accident and death, meaning it is appropriate now to hold the government responsible, clearing the way for families to seek damages from the federal government. It's huge.

This appears to lay a little less blame, though, at the feet of the air traffic controller in the tower at DCA. But it does say that the controller did not comply with the rules governing what's called visual separation.

[09:25:03]

That is a specific phrase used between pilots and air traffic controllers where the pilot takes on responsibility to stay away from other aircraft. It was used that night. Still no response from the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control from the Pentagon, which oversees the military.

As you mentioned, 67 people were killed in that crash. Victims' families call it a totally preventable crash. And now they're calling this new court filing a win. But they are still seeking damages from American Airlines and PSA Airlines, which operated this regional flight for American. And a companion court filing, American Airlines, has moved to have this case dismissed. But no way you slice it, John. This is a really, really big admission from the government.

BERMAN: Yeah, I mean, not the final word here because it's a civil case, but this really does tell you where this could be heading. It is a major development, as you say.

Pete Muntean, thank you for your reporting on this.

Tear gas, smoke bombs and tractors happening now. Farmers smashing into a building and hurling rocks at police. What started this clash?

And can this really be true? Move over Mariah Carey, the Christmas classic, that pushed her off the top spot on Billboard's global hits chart.

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