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TikTok to Spin Off U.S. Assets; Trump Targets Drug Prices; Washington Braces For Release of Epstein Files; Brown University Shooting Suspect Found Dead. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 19, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The manhunt ends, but the search for answers is far from over. What we know about the Brown University shooting suspect and how an anonymous Reddit post helped officials solve two cases that initially were believed to be unconnected.

And it's deadline day for the Department of Justice. It now has less than 12 hours to release all documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN HOST: And later: TikTok avoids a ban. The social media platform just signed a deal to sell its U.S. division.

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

KEILAR: Hello. I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington with Isabel Rosales.

ROSALES: So happy to be here.

KEILAR: Great to have you.

And with the multiday, multistate manhunt for a killer over, the search for a motive is now intensifying after officials revealed the suspected gunman in both the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor has been found dead.

ROSALES: The 48-year-old's body was discovered inside of a storage unit six days after and roughly 90 miles away from the site of Saturday's carnage at Brown University.

Officials say the suspect was a grad student at Brown more than 20 years ago and, before moving to the U.S., he attended a university in Portugal at the same time as the slain professor. A tip on Reddit and a school custodian leading to the major break in this case.

CNN's Brian Todd is live in Providence with more.

Brian, what can you tell us?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isabel and Brianna, that custodian, from everything that we know, was probably the first person to actually recognize the suspicious behavior of this suspect.

And that was actually back around the time period of November 28 to December 1. That custodian, according to the affidavit, noticed this person acting suspiciously on campus multiple times. Well, then you fast-forward to after the shooting on Tuesday the 16th. That was this week of the course, this Reddit post from someone who the affidavit calls John.

We don't know if that's his real name or not. This person says-- quote-- "I'm being dead serious. The police need to look into a gray Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental. That was the car he was driving."

The day after that, on Wednesday the 17th, that was when police asked this person who they're calling John to come forward. We were told that they then interviewed him possibly yesterday or the day before and got some critical information. The mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley, spoke about what he was able to give at that point. Take a listen.

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BRETT SMILEY (D), MAYOR OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: 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.

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TODD: And saying he was fully forthcoming is a bit of an understatement, actually.

The attorney general of Rhode Island, Peter Neronha, his quote was that the information from this person-- quote-- "blew this case wide open," leading them to the suspect's name, which led them to photographs, which led them to clothing and the satchel that he was carrying.

This person, who they're calling John, who came into proximity with the suspect on the day of the shooting a couple of hours before the shooting, absolutely critical to getting them really where they needed to go in this investigation.

Now, what John actually told investigators, it's a very dramatic account of how he confronted this suspect. He noticed him around the Barus and Holley-- the Barus and Holley engineering building acting suspiciously. He followed him around. He confronted him in the bathroom of the Barus and Holley building.

He then, at some point, according to the police chief-- and there's some images on surveillance video. The police chief says he told me that he chased him at some point. And there is video indicating that the two of them are moving at a fast pace there.

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And then, at one point, the suspect himself turned around and confronted John and said: "Why are you harassing me?"

Now, shortly after that, the two of them kind of went separate ways, but just a very dramatic confrontation there where this person, John, really got a good look at the suspect, got a good look at his clothing and his mannerisms and the way he walked, and was able to give the police all that information.

I will say this. They announced last night-- when they announced that the suspect was dead and they gave us his name and everything, the attorney general, Peter Neronha, said we didn't even have his name until about 24 hours ago, meaning that would have been Thursday night. And I think they got his name really mostly because of the second person, John, who confronted him.

And, again, here's what we can tell you about the suspect, everything that we know at this point, his name, Claudio Neves Valente, 48 years old. He is a native of Portugal. He was a grad student at Brown from the fall of 2000 until the spring of 2001, when he stopped taking classes. He was in a graduate program for physics.

According to authorities, he entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2000 and became a resident in 2017. And one of the key facts of this case, he attended the same university in Lisbon, Portugal, as the MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, who he allegedly murdered on Monday evening. We were told that they did attend that university over a small period

that overlapped with each other in the 1990s. So, Isabel and Brianna, a lot being unpacked and pieced together in this case. And we're learning more as we go.

KEILAR: And when it comes to motive, as they're trying to figure this out, Brian, officials say that the suspect had been canvassing Brown for weeks?

TODD: That's right.

I mean, you go back to the accounts of this person who was a custodian at Brown, and this person noticed him acting suspiciously on the campus for at least going back to November 28, the day after Thanksgiving. Think about that. It was the day after Thanksgiving that apparently the first person noticed him walking, noticed him acting suspiciously on campus.

The 28th to about December 1 is when this person noticed it. Also, these license-plate-reading cameras captured several images of him. I think it was 14 different images of his vehicle and the license plate moving around that area for several days.

In addition, the police chief, Oscar Perez, told me that, on the day of the shooting, the suspect was canvassing the area for at least 5.5 hours continuously before the shooting. They put it at him starting to canvass the area at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday morning until the time of the shooting, which was about 4:00 p.m., continuously in that area canvassing 5.5 hours right before the shooting.

KEILAR: That is a very long time.

Brian Todd, thank you so much for the continued reporting from Providence, Rhode Island.

And, right now, Washington is bracing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files because today is the deadline for the Justice Department to turn over documents on the convicted sex trafficker following a near-unanimous vote in Congress last month.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says the DOJ plans to hand over several hundred thousand documents today and will release more files in the coming weeks.

ROSALES: Epstein's victims have been fighting for years for these files to be brought to light. And adding to the intrigue, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released some photos intermittently over the last few weeks, including new pictures just yesterday.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz here with us now.

And, Katelyn, these files are expected to be heavily redacted. What can we expect to see and not see with this release?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, today is a day that is going to leave a lot of people dissatisfied, very likely, because not only are there going to be ample redactions.

And from the sources I have been speaking to, there are a lot of reasons to redact different things in the Epstein files that are held by the Justice Department and being reviewed right now. The other reason people will be unhappy, and the Democrats on Capitol Hill already are, is that deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, is saying there won't be full transparency today.

They're just not done with the work to get these files out there. So what Blanche said is, there should be an expectation to see several hundred thousand documents today, several hundred thousand documents coming out over the next few weeks.

We also know that there's a possibility of mistakes in the work that's done here. It is human beings who are looking at page by page and deciding what's being redacted as far as the law goes, as far as the Justice Department internal guidance on how those redactions should be done. They want to protect victims, personal identifiable information like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers.

So there could be mistakes in people redacting too much or redacting too little. And then, of course, there's the sensitivity of this, how much shocking or jarring or just very sensitive information will be coming out? Will there be new names that we had not seen before? We just don't know.

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And there's always the possibility that it might be new to someone in looking at what's coming out in the Epstein files, but it's not new in the whole universe of Epstein files, given that Ghislaine Maxwell, co- conspirator, not only was she charged as a co-conspirator of Epstein's. She went to trial.

So there are several days of evidence and victim statements that have already been out there. All of that is what we're looking for and also looking for an explanation at some point, hopefully, from the Justice Department about why they weren't able to meet the deadline for full transparency today.

KEILAR: And so what we're seeing today, we're going to keep seeing days like this, we expect, as they release documents. But beyond that, what happens next?

POLANTZ: What happens next is that there is very likely going to be a very intense debate over whether these redactions were handled appropriately and whether the Justice Department has complied with the law.

So we are already hearing from House Democrats saying that they want to make sure that the Justice Department is giving all of the files and, if they don't, that perhaps there could be court action for compliance, something like that, maybe even lawsuits.

The other thing that we're looking for is how people respond to what comes out. Do people's sensitive information get released? And what happens then? Who are those people that speak up? We saw something like that happen after the JFK assassination files were released in March.

There were hundreds of Social Security numbers that got out there. And people were really mad about it. And a lot of those people were prominent figures, congressional staffers, prominent attorney in D.C. It's a lot.

ROSALES: Understandably mad.

POLANTZ: Yes.

KEILAR: Yes, and it makes so much sense.

Katelyn, thank you so much for following this for us.

And still ahead: a big change at the Kennedy Center less than 24 hours after unofficially being renamed to honor President Trump.

ROSALES: Plus, we are standing by for an announcement from the president surrounding drug costs-- those details ahead.

And later: Russian President Vladimir Putin is asked about a potential peace deal with Ukraine during a more than four-hour-long news conference. We are live in Moscow with the latest.

That and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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ROSALES: Welcome back.

At the White House, President Trump is set to announce new deals with several pharmaceutical companies aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Reps from at least five drugmakers are expected to attend.

KEILAR: And today's announcement is part of his so-called most favored nation pricing deals, which aim to bring U.S. drug costs down to the lowest levels available in peer countries.

CNN's Alayna Treene is with us now on this.

Alayna, what more can you tell us about today's announcement?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, this has really been, Brianna and Isabel, a huge focus, of course, for the Trump administration, really has just become a central tenet of their health care policy as well.

And so what we're expecting is to hear from a number of different pharmaceutical companies, drugmakers to come to the White House and join what is called this most favored nation status, essentially agreeing to offer some of the lowest prices that peer countries have and having them deliver that type of pricing for their drugs through Medicare.

And that's what we have seen with a number of our agreements. So, look, there are 12 remaining companies that the Trump administration has reached out to and tried to create a deal with to kind of join the most favored nation agreement and status.

And, of them, we are looking at a couple companies. I will just read you the list that we know that potentially could be a part of this announcement today. Some of those are Merck, Gilead, Roche, GSK, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Sanofi.

And those are all companies, I should note, that we know I have been working toward deals with the Trump administration. Now, I will also say we did hear from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, trying to highlight this morning.

She posted on X-- quote-- "that there will be more incredible deals that will lower prices of drugs and pharmaceuticals."

Now, one thing as well I think is important to note in all of this is the timing of this. We know that the president has really been trying to tout this idea of affordability, try to talk more about the cost of living at a time when many Americans are saying that they are struggling financially and a lot of the polls are showing that they do not necessarily agree with how the president is handling the economy at this point in time.

Trump is trying to highlight this exact policy to try to argue that this is something he is doing to make prices better for Americans, this idea of trying to lower the cost of prescription drugs. However, I will say there's been some skepticism about how much impact and how many discounts Americans will actually see through these types of programs and through the most favored nation status.

So keep that in mind as we're watching this today. And one other thing I think is going to be really important as well to this is, we have not yet heard from President Trump today. He has not yet spoken with reporters. Reporters are expected to be in the room for this announcement.

And so a key question I have, Isabel and Brianna, is going to be whether or not he takes questions, particularly given that today is the day that the Department of Justice is expecting to release what the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, called would be several hundred thousand documents related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

So that would be quite a stunning moment if we hear the president talk about that. I'd stay tuned for that as well.

ROSALES: Yes, all eyes will be on his announcement, especially that Q&A from reporters at the end, as you mentioned.

Alayna Treene, thank you.

Next: what we know about the new deal that TikTok has signed to avoid being banned in the U.S.

KEILAR: Plus, a Wisconsin judge accused of helping an immigrant dodge federal agents learns her fate.

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Stay with us for that.

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KEILAR: New today, TikTok has signed a deal to spin off its U.S. assets to create a new group of mostly American investors. This is according to an internal memo to employees from the CEO of the popular social media app.

And this agreement is backed by President Trump. And it could satisfy a requirement from Congress that TikTok be sold by its Chinese owner to continue operating here in the U.S.

ROSALES: Yes, this is a big deal. TikTok's CEO says there is more work to be done before the deal closes.

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Joining me now is CNN tech reporter Clare Duffy.

Clare, where do things stand right now?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Well, this brings TikTok one step closer to maintaining long-term availability in the United States for its 170 million American users.

But, as you said, this deal is not done just yet. We do expect that it's going to need the approval of the Chinese government. And we haven't heard directly from Beijing on this, although President Trump has said that Chinese President Xi Jinping is on board with this deal. TikTok CEO Shou Chew said in this memo that they are working towards closing the transaction by January 22 of next year.

And we also learned from this memo more about the makeup of this deal. TikTok U.S. is going to be controlled by this new joint venture, 50 percent of which will be held by an investor consortium that includes the tech company Oracle, the private equity firm Silver Lake and the Emirati-backed investment firm MGX; 30.1 percent of that joint venture will be held by existing ByteDance investors.

We don't know exactly who is in that group. And then 19.9 percent will continue to be held by ByteDance. And what's interesting here is that securing U.S. user data, running the algorithm on U.S. user data and content moderation for U.S. users, that will all be overseen by this new U.S.-based joint venture.

But the global TikTok, which continues to be controlled by China-based ByteDance, they will continue to oversee advertising, marketing and e- commerce on the U.S. platform. So there's going to continue to be some sort of interconnections between global TikTok and this new U.S. entity.

KEILAR: And, Clare, the reason for this TikTok ban, the whole reason were national security concerns. Does the deal remove the risk of the Chinese government accessing sensitive data from American users?

DUFFY: Well, what this new ownership group says is that Oracle will be storing U.S. user data in the United States. They will be overseeing the security. So you will have an American company in charge of that.

But the algorithm, which is really the most valuable part of this platform, that will continue to be owned and held by China-based ByteDance, and this U.S. group will be licensing it and retraining it on U.S. user data.

So I think there is a question here about whether this deal really at least complies with the spirit of that law that was passed by Congress last year, the goal of which was really to divorce control of the U.S. app from China-based ByteDance.

But the challenge here is that the law gives the president wide latitude to decide what counts as a qualified divestiture. President Trump said in his executive order back in September that this deal does that. And there's very little that anybody can do to challenge this.

So it looks like this deal is likely to close January 22. But I do think it'll be interesting if we hear from any members of Congress who passed this law in the first place with those national security concerns about whether they are satisfied by what's happening here.

KEILAR: Yes. And it's noteworthy TikTok was certainly a very useful tool of President Trump in the last election.

Clare Duffy, thank you so much.

Next: some new questions about the initial stumbles in the early stages of the Brown University shooting investigation and the ties to another murder. We will have that ahead.

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