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TikTok's U.S. Operations to be Controlled by Joint Venture; Suspect in Brown University and MIT Shooting Found Dead; Former NASCAR Driver and 6 Others Killed in Plane Crash in North Carolina; Flood Risk Forces Evacuations in Parts of Oregon. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired December 19, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: We don't know who those are. And then less than 20 percent, 19.9, as required by this law, is going to continue to be held by ByteDance. Now, this group, this overall U.S. -- mainly U.S. investor ownership group, is going to control the algorithm that U.S. users see. It's going to hold sensitive U.S. user data. But what's interesting here is that global TikTok, controlled and owned by ByteDance, is going to continue to control advertising, e-commerce and marketing on the U.S. platform.

So this is a complicated deal. They're trying to make the case here that the experience of U.S. users is going to be controlled by this new, separate U.S. entity.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: But it's not clear to what extent this is -- follows the spirit, shall we say, of the law, which was to get sort of ByteDance and the Chinese oversight of that out --

DUFFY: Out.

BERMAN: -- of TikTok.

DUFFY: Exactly. And this law gave the president wide latitude to say what qualified as a divestiture. He has said that this deal does that.

And the question, I think, is who actually could challenge it. It would probably be the social media companies, but they're not going to go up against Trump.

BERMAN: No, I doubt it. Clare Duffy, thank you very much for explaining this so well.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news overnight, the suspect in the Brown University shooting is dead, now also linked to the killing of an MIT professor. What authorities are saying about a possible motive, his ties to both schools and the lengths that he took to evade police.

Plus, a CNN exclusive we have for you. A top lawyer telling the chairman of the Joint Chiefs that officers should retire, not resign, if they receive an unlawful order. Just as the United States military carries out two more strikes overnight on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela.

And across America, I don't know what's happening, guys. It's like raccoons gone wild. First, our favorite of the year, of course, the one that passed out drunk in a liquor store. Now we have one crashing through a restaurant ceiling, biting a customer.

Sara Sidner is on a late shift. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

The breaking news this morning, the manhunt across New England for the Brown University shooter has finally come to an end. After six days, officials say the suspect in Saturday's attack that killed two students, they say that suspect is now dead.

And now a startling connection that they announced last night, a connection to a second shooting that happened Monday, an MIT professor who was killed in his own home. The suspect, as you see right there, identified as 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, a Portuguese national who was briefly a Brown University grad student more than 20 years ago. Moments ago, we spoke with the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, who confirmed that the break in this case came from this man who posted a tip online, we are told, had been told by the attorney general and investigators, had posted a tip and then came forward after police released these images of him asking for his help.

Here's what the mayor said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRETT SMILEY, (D) PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: There was a Reddit tip that had to do with the vehicle that turned out to be a central part of this investigation. The tipster with respect to the vehicle is the same individual that was in the photo that we released two days ago, which is the same individual who turned himself in there shortly thereafter. So he provided the Reddit tip initially anonymously.

And then when we put the photo out and put the call out that we needed to talk to this person, he then turned up to a Providence police officer and was fully forthcoming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Michael Yoshida is in Salem, New Hampshire this morning. That is where the suspect's body was found. Michael, what are you hearing there?

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Kate. You mentioned it. The suspect's body found at this storage facility you see behind me still surrounded by crime scene tape.

This investigation, this manhunt spanning across Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and eventually here to New Hampshire. And as you just laid out, investigators saying that tipster, that information they got from that Brown University, that Providence, Rhode Island community member really blew this case wide open. They were able to identify that vehicle, get a license plate, and that led investigators to Boston, Massachusetts, to a rental car company.

And it was there they were able to identify the person who had rented that vehicle as the suspect. That eventually led them to learn that he had rented a storage unit at this facility. Investigators were able to get here, find that vehicle, and eventually, as you mentioned, find the body of 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente inside.

[08:05:00]

Our Brian Todd had a chance to speak with the Providence police chief about the importance of this tipster and how it led to this manhunt ending. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did this other person, though, did he say what made him suspicious about this alleged shooter? What got into his mind that this guy is bad news?

CHIEF OSCAR PEREZ, PROVIDENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Yes, well, he was a tipster -- the tipster was actually a Brown graduate. He spent a lot of time at Brown. It seems to me that he's part of that community, and he realized that that's someone he had never seen before, and that's what pulled his attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOSHIDA: And late last night, investigators also started to reveal more details about how these two shootings were connected to this suspect, saying that they actually had security footage showing this suspect within a half mile of that MIT professor's home in a suburb of Boston. They also had video showing that suspect in the hours after that murder. Again, still a lot more work left ahead of these investigators as they try and close in on a potential motive for these killings.

Again, you had mentioned this suspect, a former Brown University student, more than 20 years ago. We're also told that the MIT professor, as well as this suspect, they attended the same academy in Portugal back in the late 90s. So obviously, some things investigators are still working through.

But at this point, a lot of relief here in New England that this manhunt has ended -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and it's still pieces, but still, what are those connections? What's in that storage unit that he rented? A lot more that is still being investigated and learned.

Thanks for being on the ground, Michael. Really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, Phil Mudd, former CIA counterterrorism official and former FBI senior intelligence advisor. Phil, it's great to see you. Been a long time.

Let's start with what we don't know at this point, which is motive. How hard will it be to find a motive here? How will they go about doing so?

And to an extent, what's the point now if they think they have the guy?

PHIL MUDD, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: Boy, the third question is the most interesting. When I was doing investigations, John, you know, the media and the public was interested in motives, as they should have been. But the questions we had on the inside were, who did it?

And in this case, you got to be sure you ensure that nobody else was aware of it or participated. The motive piece, I mean, the subject is dead. It's interesting.

It may give us clues for the future. But I personally didn't find it that rewarding to search for motives, especially in singletons. So let me take that piece of your question.

When you're dealing with a single actor, obviously you don't have communications among co-conspirators. You're going to look at things like Google searches, what this person told friends, whether there's stuff in that storage locker, whether there's documents around a house or apartment. But to get inside the head of a singleton who comes up with a motive or an ideology all by themselves, I suspect the feds already have an idea of motive.

But whether that's clear, John, and whether it becomes clear over time when you're dealing with a single brain, I wouldn't bet on that, John.

BERMAN: What's your takeaway from this investigation? You know, six days, when you look back on it now, oh, you know, six days, not necessarily that long, but there was a lot of public frustration for how this was going down at the time. Oh, they didn't have a clear picture of it.

How could it be that they were still searching --

MUDD: Yes.

BERMAN: -- neighborhoods three days later? What's your takeaway?

MUDD: Boy, one of the things I learned in the business was not to watch the media. That's not to be a joke or to denigrate the media, but the pressure from the outside when you're trying to do an operation that involves a whole bunch of data, a whole bunch of pressure, and the pressure on you to maintain composure for 14 hours a day looking through data, you've got to ignore the outside pressure and say, look, the initial stage of investigation, the first hours, John, are going to be a little bit chaotic.

Then you have an exploding volume of data, things like tip lines. We've heard about those this morning, call-ins, license plate readers, interviews of people in the room. You start to expand to say what happens in the coming days with things like the interviews from those tips complicated by people who are saying different things about what they saw in that classroom.

I look at this and say, man, six days doesn't seem long to me despite what the media was saying. When you're looking at somebody who walked in, was well-disguised, tried to cover their tracks with a car and with his phone, that looked like a pretty good investigation to me despite the chaos.

BERMAN: What is the public -- what should the public know about the strengths and also weaknesses of video surveillance? Because I think in some cases, particularly overseas, you go to London, for instance, and it's almost like every meter there is covered by some kind of a camera. It's not quite the same in the U.S., but there are a lot of areas that do have extensive surveillance.

MUDD: Yes, I think this is really valuable in specific cases. For example, if you look at solving car thefts, license plate readers on expressways are really helpful.

[08:10:00]

But if you have, even in the digital age, somebody who wants it, pretty bright, this person is demented, but pretty bright, obviously, given the academic background, who wants to cover tracks. If you have a burner phone, if you have a rental car and start changing out the license plates, even the digital age, you need human beings to intervene.

If you look at the clearance rates for the FBI Most Wanted, John, clearance rates, that is the number of cases that are solved, something like approaching 95 percent of cases on the FBI Most Wanted. I'm not saying this person was on the Most Wanted, but that's the level of this case, are solved.

30 plus percent of those, 30 plus percent are with the help of people calling in of a family member, for example, like that old Unabomber case that was solved by a family member. Digital age, that stuff you talked about, like cameras can help, but you still need, like in this case, a human being -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, look, this speaks to the need for old-fashioned police work, help from the community, and then the combination of all the new, more modern techniques. Phil Mudd, as I said, great to see you this morning. Have a wonderful holiday -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: We are learning more today about the North Carolina plane crash that killed a former NASCAR driver and his family. What went so wrong?

And there is one giant question hanging over what has become a multi- trillion dollar AI industry. How long can these chips really last? There is new reporting in today about that.

And the woman at the center of the Coldplay Kiss Cam controversy, she's telling her story for the very first time since that and revealing the death threats that she says she and her family received when this all blew up.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: New this morning, NTSB investigators are expected to arrive on the scene of that deadly private plane crash in North Carolina that killed seven people. Among those who were killed was former NASCAR star Greg Biffle, his wife, and two children.

Now surveillance cameras -- we've showed you this -- captured the fiery tragedy. Look at that on video. The NTSB, we've now learned, is planning to hold a news conference today.

With me now, CNN safety analyst, former FAA safety inspector David Soucie. It's good to see you, David. Thank you very much for being here.

With what we know so far, much more to learn from NTSB, what's your first big question here?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: The question is why the aircraft made this back turn to come back immediately right after takeoff and why he wasn't able to make the runway. It landed short of the runway. It was low altitude, was not able to maintain that altitude.

So that's the first thing, as an investigator, I'd be looking at.

BOLDUAN: And, David, on that note, I mean, I think we have an image of the flight path. It takes off from Statesville Airport. It gets some air.

I think, you know, it gets altitude, but not much at all. And then turns around to try to return to the airport very clearly once again. And that is when it crashed.

From your experience, what is the errors? What could have gone so wrong? And clearly it must have been happening immediately for that turnaround.

SOUCIE: Well, some of the information you can gain from this is that if the aircraft took off and made it -- it was a pretty stable takeoff. And then it made a good, stable movement to come back around to the left side. So there wasn't any abrupt jumps up and down or anything like that.

So it looks like the pilot was in control at the time. So the concern I have is once it made that left turn and started coming back to the runway, rather than maintaining altitude, continued to descend. So that tells me that it's lack of power or lack of orientation by the pilots.

So we have to look at both of those things. Unfortunately, this aircraft does not have a flight data recorder or any kind of voice recorder. So the investigators are going to have to rely on what the air traffic control information is, the communications there, which there was minimal at this point.

They declared an emergency and came back around. But in that flight path, too, you can notice that it's a pretty smooth descent. There's no abrupt change.

So it tells me that they were in control of the airplane, but they lacked power to get back to the airport.

BOLDUAN: Very interesting. This plane was a Cessna Citation C550. You've worked on these planes before, David.

In addition to not having data recorders, as you're talking about, what else stands out? What is the safety record of these planes?

SOUCIE: Well, the safety record is quite good, actually, because the aircraft is a very docile aircraft to fly with regard to corporate jets. It has a straight wing. It doesn't have a swept wing like you see a lot in the Lear jets and other jets later.

But this aircraft is very docile. It's easy to fly. There's a few things concerned.

There was a crash back in 2006, and after that, the NTSB issued a warning that when you take off with this airplane, if you have to transition from visual flight where you're just looking for people around you and you're maintaining flight by sight, if you have to transition from that to instruments, it can be a very big burden on this aircraft. Because this aircraft, remember, is before glass cockpits. There's a lot of technology that's not available in this airplane that the current models would have. So when you transition that, then it can be a difficult situation for the pilot.

BOLDUAN: That's very interesting. David, your knowledge on safety when it comes to some of these planes is always remarkable to me. So thank you so much for coming on. Much more to learn, as I mentioned, NTSB expecting to hold a press conference later today.

Ahead for us, more evacuations are underway in the Pacific Northwest as even more rain is sparking new flood warnings. Now, for people who we've been talking about this now for more than a week, they've already been hit so hard with those severe storms.

And there's body camera video just out of officers rushing to save three children who've fallen into an icy lake.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, immediate evacuation is ordered in some parts of northwest Oregon. The Clackamas River reached major flood stage early this morning. Let's get right to seeing a meteorologist, Allison Chinchar, with the very latest on what's happening there. Bring us up to speed, Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so the Clackamas River, that's the video you see behind me, this peaked overnight tonight. It is still very high, still at major flood stage, but thankfully it is expected to start coming down here over the next few hours, allowing some of these folks to get some relief. But we're starting to see the rain shift into a different area, especially a little bit farther south of where it has been the last few days.

So now the focus really becomes portions of northern California. Again, you can see that's where the heaviest rain is right now on the radar. And it's where it's going to be throughout much of the rest of the day today.

And especially as we head into the latter portion of the day Saturday, you can see some of those heavier rain bands starting to creep back in to San Francisco and Sacramento. Into the northeast, we also have some rain stretching up states like Maine, Massachusetts, all the way down into Virginia. And you've got some snow with the colder air out behind that system.

Now, here's a look. It's already starting to cause some delays in places like LaGuardia and Philadelphia. We could also see some other cities begin to tick up in some delays, which is the last thing you want to hear for a very busy holiday travel weekend.

But it's not just the rain. And this is going to be a big factor because it's also the wind. And you can certainly have some air delays due to wind.

[08:25:00]

Some of these areas, again, you're looking at 30 to 50 mile per hour wind gusts. And it's pretty much the entire northeast that is under some type of high wind alert as we go through the rest of the day today. Look at some of these numbers.

You'll start to see them tick up. There's some 40, 45s, 50s as we go through the rest of the day today. The good news is by tonight, at least some of the folks in the western portion of New England will start to see some of those winds beginning to come back down.

BERMAN: A lot of people, a lot of people affected in that map right there. Allison Chinchar, thank you very much for all of that.

All right, this morning, standing by for the release of the so-called Epstein files. Today is the deadline for the Justice Department to go public. It is the deadline by law. What we're learning about whether the Justice Department will comply.

And could swearing actually be good for you? I say, F yes. But what does the science say?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BOLDUAN: So today, President Trump is headed to North Carolina, the goal to once again try to pitch and sell his economic message. This is a state, North Carolina, that he's won in three straight presidential elections and now.