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Reddit Post Helped Solve Brown And MIT Shootings; Suspected Gunman In Brown University & MIT Shootings Found Dead; Suspected Killer ID'd As 48-year-old Former Brown University Student; DOJ To Drop Hundreds Of Thousands Of Epstein Docs Today; WI Judge Guilty Of Obstruction For Helping Immigrant Evade Feds; U.S. Strikes Two More Boats In The Pacific, Killing Five; Australia Announces Gun Buyback Plan After Bondi Massacre; Top Russian Envoy To Meet With Witkoff In Miami; Putin Offers No Compromise On Ukraine; "Avatar: Fire And Ash" Opens Today As Third Installment In Series; Kennedy Center Gets New Signage Bearing Trump's Name. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 19, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:32:25]

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Providence Police believe the now deceased suspected gunman at Brown University also killed an MIT professor two days after that mass shooting.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Investigators were pressed yesterday about whether missteps early in the investigation, including detaining a man who was then later released and cleared, cost the 47-year-old award-winning professor of nuclear science his life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you hadn't focused on the wrong person of interest on day one, do you think the professor in Massachusetts could be alive?

PETER NARONHA, RHODE ISLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL: There was one lead that we followed, that didn't work out. There was another lead that we followed, didn't work out. There's another lead that we followed, didn't work out. So that's, at least in my mind, five different leads that didn't -- that one worked out, four didn't. But you're running them all down at the same time. So I can't -- I can't offer any comfort in that regard. But I don't believe that we would've found this person any sooner given the evidence that was available to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: In helping solve this case, investigators gave a lot of credit to a tipster on Reddit, who among other things helped them flag the suspect's vehicle. We're joined by CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, Charles Ramsey. He led the police forces of Washington, D.C. and also Philadelphia, and is now a partner at 21CP Solutions. Chief, it's a pretty amazing story about how this broke wide open, coming down to a Reddit tipster. What are your thoughts on how that led investigators to the shooter?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, that's the way it goes sometimes. You know investigations do not unfold the way they do on television. In real life, you're following trails, whether it's evidence, it's tips, it's whatever. Sometimes it's just luck. And in this case, you had an individual who happened to notice that this person was suspicious and actually challenged him and followed him and found a car. I mean, had it not been for that, probably we would still be looking for this offender.

ROSALES: And Chief Ramsey, you have a man here, a suspect who opened fire on students at a school he attended more than two decades ago, and a former classmate nearly 30 years after they were in the same academic program. What compels one to do that? How do authorities go about finding that motive?

RAMSEY: Well, they're going to have to dig through all the evidence, social media, any writings, interviewing family interviewing friends to see, why now. I mean, that's unusual. I mean, 20 years, almost 30 as far as the professor goes. Did they have any contact in between? I'm talking about the professor, not the students.

[13:35:00]

That was a random act apparently, but it is something that is highly unusual and it is going to require a great deal of digging in order to find out exactly why. And in some of these cases, you never find out exactly why.

KEILAR: It took several days for investigators to connect these crimes, right?

RAMSEY: Right.

KEILAR: The U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts says it's because the suspect is believed to have used an untraceable phone and to have avoided using credit cards in his own name. What do you make of the shooter taking those steps and what do you think investigators for future crimes like this, need to learn from this?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, it was well planned. There's no question about that. I mean, he did not want to be caught. And in many cases, and you've covered these things where you have a mass shooting, whether it's school shooting or elsewhere, these guys, they don't plan to leave. They either plan to commit suicide or be killed by a police officer. He had an elaborate plan to escape. And he went so far as to make sure he had burner phones that could not be traced. He had credit cards that didn't come back to his name.

He had two different sets of license tags, so he could change them up. I mean, he went to great lengths to stay undiscovered, which makes me wonder, I mean, and they'll find out through the course of the investigation. Did he have others that he had in mind, like the professor? I mean, we just don't know the answer to that at this point. It's pure speculation. But I mean, he really wanted to remain free and not be caught. And so, there's a lot that you can always learn from things like that. I mean, this stuff becomes public. It's available and criminals aren't stupid. They kind of follow one another and it's unfortunate. But at least they finally, finally, caught up with him because of a very, very good eyewitness to this individual and the use of technology, license plate readers and video tape and so forth. So all those things combined, I think, worked in our favor.

ROSALES: Yeah. And those flock cameras, who -- that picked up that car 14 times with the Florida plates. First time being December 1st, 12 days before that shooting. Chief Charles Ramsey, thank you so much for your time.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

ROSALES: Well, sometime today, the DOJ says it will publish hundreds of thousands of documents from its Jeffrey Epstein investigation. What we can expect and what the impact may be, right after this.

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[13:42:10]

KEILAR: We're standing by for the Epstein files to be released in the highly anticipated case of Jeffrey Epstein. These files after months of delays by the Trump Administration, Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche says the Justice Department will drop several hundred thousand documents, that is a lot, today related to the investigation.

ROSALES: And the department is required to provide those files after Congress passed, you might remember this, a near unanimous mandate just last month. Sources tell CNN there's frustration inside the department as officials race to redact thousands of pages with little guidance. Joining us now is CNN Senior Legal Analyst and former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Elie Honig.

Elie, thank you for being with us. So we heard Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche on Fox saying that not everything will be released today, essentially describing a rolling basis for this release. Is that in compliance with the law?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: No. DOJ is taking liberties here. So, the law is quite clear. It says the Justice Department shall, not may, shall produce all documents, not some of them by the 30th day out, which is today. So that's quite clear on its face. This is not optional. Yet, DOJ has decided that well, we'll get started on that 30th day and then we'll give you the rest afterwards.

But that's simply not in compliance with what this law passed. And as you said in the intro, let's remember, this was a law passed by all but one vote in the House, unanimously in the Senate, signed by President Trump. And now DOJ is just saying, well, we're going to try, but we're not going to comply.

KEILAR: And walk us through the exceptions in the law because they could be doing a lot of work here if DOJ wants them to.

HONIG: For sure. And they've had 30 days to do that work. So Brianna, there are several exceptions in the law that need to be redacted out. First of all, any information that would identify or compromise any victim, any information that is in itself a depiction of a violent or criminal act. Most importantly, I think any information that relates to an ongoing criminal investigation. Now we don't know exactly what DOJ is currently investigating, but that's going to be up to them. And then finally, any information that undermines our national security or foreign policy.

So there's quite a bit of leeway and discretion there for DOJ. But the point of the timing here is DOJ should have made those decisions already, but apparently, they're only partway through it.

ROSALES: And Congressman Thomas Massie, one of the house members who spearheaded this effort to get the files released, posted this video in X yesterday, explaining what to expect and how we'll know if the DOJ has released all of the materials. Listen to this.

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REP. THOMAS MASSIE, (R-KY): The victim's lawyers have been in contact with me and collectively, they know there are at least 20 names of men who are accused of sex crimes in the possession of the FBI. These would reside in the FD-302 forms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:45:00]

If we get a large production on December 19th and it does not contain a single name of any male who's accused of a sex crime or sex trafficking or rape or any of these things, then we know they haven't produced all the documents.

ROSALES: Elie, can you dig into what he said there?

HONIG: Yeah, that's a good point. And I think that's the crux of what we're all looking for with this disclosure. And by the way, it's important to understand, the law says that DOJ cannot withhold documents merely because they may be embarrassing or harmful to someone's reputation. But what Representative Massie there said, I think is exactly the most important point of all of this.

Are there other people known to the Justice Department, known to the FBI, who may have engaged in actual criminal conduct? Because let's remember, as large as this whole conspiracy is, the only people who've ever been criminally charged are Jeffrey Epstein, who of course is dead now, and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is convicted and is serving her sentence. But, I find it hard to believe. I think most people find it hard to believe they're the only two people who ever committed any crime here.

KEILAR: Yeah. And if that has been known to DOJ, it's been known to the DOJ of multiple administrations. HONIG: True.

KEILAR: So there will be a lot of questions. Elie Honig, thank you so much for that.

HONIG: Thank you.

KEILAR: And now, some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour. A Wisconsin Judge facing up to five years in prison after being convicted of obstruction for helping an undocumented immigrant evade federal agents. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge, Hannah Dugan was accused of hiding a man charged with battery, who had re-entered the country illegally. Prosecutors say she misdirected ICE agents waiting outside her courtroom while she helped the suspect escape through a private exit. He was eventually captured.

Also, the U.S. struck two more alleged drug trafficking boats killing five people. U.S. Southern Command says Thursday's attack targeted vessels in the Eastern Pacific, marking the third strike this week. No U.S. service members were harmed. More than 100 people have been killed since the controversial strikes began. Yesterday's attack followed the failed passage of two House resolutions challenging the Trump administration's military actions.

ROSALES: A new action in Australia following last weekend's deadly shooting attack on Sydney beach goers who were celebrating Hanukkah. The government today announced a national gun buyback program for surplus, newly banned, and illegal firearms. The program is the largest buyback since 1996 when the country introduced gun reforms after a lone shooter there killed 35 people at the historic Port Arthur in Tasmania.

Meantime, Australia's Jewish community and hundreds of swimmers and surfers gathered at Bondi Beach to pray and honor the shooting victims by forming this huge circle in the water.

KEILAR: Amazing.

ROSALES: Yeah.

KEILAR: The process of trying to bring peace to Ukraine is making its way to the United States. A source telling CNN the top Russian Envoy will meet with U.S. Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff. The president's son- in-law, Jared Kushner will also be in Miami and there he will be briefed on the results of the peace talks held in Berlin this week between the U.S., Ukraine and Europe.

ROSALES: Russian President, Vladimir Putin hosted his annual end-of- year news conference today and signaled there would be no compromise on Ukraine. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow and was at this press conference with Putin which, Fred, lasted an incredible more than four hours. What more can you tell us?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it was around four-and-a-half hours. It certainly was a very long press conference that we sat through there. There were obviously a lot of domestic Russian topics there, a lot of journalists there. But, Vladimir Putin did also touch on Ukraine. And it's quite interesting to hear that the Russian delegation or Russian Envoy is going to go to Miami, then speak about some of the results of the negotiations that have been taking place between the U.S. and Ukraine because Vladimir Putin, of course, was asked about this as well.

And he said that he felt that the Russians had already made compromises at that summit between Vladimir Putin and U.S. President, Donald Trump in Alaska earlier this year. And therefore, the Russians say that they feel that they've already done all that they're willing to do as far as compromises are concerned. And it was quite interesting to hear Putin because, on the one hand, he said that yes, Russia wants a peaceful resolution, as he put it, to the Ukraine conflict. But on the other hand, he was also very bullish about the Russian military, which he says continues to make advances. I want you to listen in to one of the things that Putin had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): They are refusing to end this conflict by peaceful means. But nonetheless, we see, we feel and we know about certain signals including from the Kyiv regime, that they're ready to engage in some kind of dialog. We have always said this too, we are ready and willing to end this conflict peacefully based on the principles I outlined last June at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by addressing the root causes that led to this crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:50:00]

PLEITGEN: Now, when Vladimir Putin speaks about the root causes, there's basically two things that he keeps talking about. One of them is, of course, the eastward expansion of NATO over the past couple of decades. The Russians saying that they want guarantees that Ukraine is not going to be going into the NATO alliance and that's, of course, also one of the things that the U.S. has been talking to Ukraine about. The Trump administration saying that right now, they have guarantees, security guarantees for the Ukrainians on the table that they believe are almost as good as Ukraine being in NATO, but it wouldn't put Ukraine inside NATO. And they believe that's something that could move the talks forward.

The other thing, of course, is the question of the territories in Eastern Ukraine that the Russians want, including some territories that they don't currently hold. That's something the Ukrainians have said they're not willing and they're not able to do. So, that certainly seems to be the most difficult question. And on that question, again, Vladimir Putin, very bullish in his answers to some of those questions, saying that the Russian military currently is advancing on the battlefield.

And they -- and he has said that if all of this is not resolved by peaceful means, as he put it, that then the Russians will take those territories by force, guys. KEILAR: All right. Fred Pleitgen, live for us from Moscow, thank you. And we are learning some new details about how a single Reddit post helped solve the Brown University shooting, as well as a second murder at MIT -- of an MIT professor, initially believed to be unconnected.

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[13:56:21]

KEILAR: It is a return to the mythical world of Pandora, with the third installment of the Avatar film series hitting theaters today. It's been three years since James Cameron's last Avatar blockbuster, "The Way of Water," which earned more than $2 billion globally.

ROSALES: I'm stoked to see this. Director James Cameron says the new movie may not do as well given how theaters are struggling to get audiences back. CNN's Jason Carroll is here. And Jason, you spoke one on one with the famed director. How cool of an assignment is that? What did he tell you?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I know.

(LAUGH)

CARROLL: Look, I know you're excited to see it. I've already seen it. I got to tell you, it is really an incredible film. It is visually arresting, the character development, the story development. I mean, a lot of action there. I mean, James Cameron has made some of the most successful films of all time. But having said that, you guys know, the market is changing. Not as many people are going to the theaters. There is competition from streaming.

And so, I sat down and I spoke to him about that and how that is affecting creatives who are just trying to do their jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: With the world of streaming, how does that make it more challenging for you as a storyteller to get people into those seats, to get them in for that experience?

JAMES CAMERON, FILMMAKER: People want stories. They're consuming stories in a different way. That's OK. I'll adapt. The theater is a sacred space for me as a filmmaker. It is something that I think we all need. It is an art form that I think we've collectively enjoyed for the last 130 years. I think it is never going to go away, but I think that it can fall below a threshold where the kinds of movies that I like to make and that I like to see, and what we are talking about, some of them won't be sustainable. They won't be economically viable. And that can happen. We are very close to that right now.

CARROLL: I hope it doesn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL (on camera): Bit of a warning there, guys. You know, I've been talking to Cameron, actually going back to 2009, when the first Avatar came out and was released then. This time around, he says "Fire and Ash", in terms of "Fire and Ash", he's got more gas in the tank. There is a script. He is ready to go with Avatar IV. He is ready to go with Avatar V, he says. But again, a lot of it depends on the people out there. It depends upon moviegoers. It depends upon the industry and how the industry moves and shapes itself, how things go from here.

So, a lot is riding on "Fire and Ash." I would still encourage a lot of folks to go out to see it. Isabel, I know you haven't seen it yet, but you are in for a treat. Maybe you can get Brianna to go with you.

KEILAR: Yeah, let's go twice.

(LAUGH)

ROSALES: (Inaudible) 40x with the chairs moving and everything, 3D, give me the works.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: That's what we need to -- we need to go multiple times.

ROSALES: Yeah.

KEILAR: And then we are sort of, you know, we are helping with the market share there.

ROSALES: Here we go, help the theaters.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: Jason, thank you so much. It looks really incredible.

(LAUGH)

And just in, you are looking now at live pictures of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, less than 24 hours after that announcement was made that the name is changing. It is being renamed and here it has new signage. President Trump's name has just been added. He announced yesterday that the center's board, which of course he handpicked, had voted to rename the center "The Trump Kennedy Center."

ROSALES: Now, the legality of that change is questionable. Congress designated it as a memorial to former President John F. Kennedy back in 1964. And legal experts say the board doesn't have the authority to change it.

KEILAR: They didn't quite get the font right there.

ROSALES: No.

KEILAR: We should mention. All right. We are watching it be unveiled. And a new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.