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NYPD Say They Can Tie Suspect Luigi Mangione to CEO Killing; FBI Director Wray Announces Resignation at End of Biden Term; Ontario Premier Warns Trump of Blowback from His Tariffs; Congress, Foreign Leaders Brace for Trump Term. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired December 12, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say they now have crucial connections between the 26-year-old and the Manhattan crime scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we're talking about is fingerprint evidence and some ballistics.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's one of many secret prisons across the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell though it might just be a blanket. But it's the only cell that's locked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wait to see the committee hearing before reaching a final decision.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy, going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin.
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ANNOUNCER: Live from London. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It is Thursday, December the 12th 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in New York, where police now say they can directly tie Luigi Mangione to the sidewalk execution of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
First, the police commissioner says the 3D printed gun found on Mangione when he was arrested on Monday in Pennsylvania matches three shell casings found at the crime scene. Plus, she says Mangione's fingerprints match those investigators found on a water bottle and an energy bar near the scene. Mangione's attorney says he still hasn't seen the evidence but there's no question his client will plead not guilty to murder charges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) THOMAS DICKEY, ATTORNEY FOR LUIGI MANGIONE: The burden of proof is always on the government. OK. So, you know, again, people forget that he and any other person charged with a crime is presumed innocent.
That means we start off square one with a presumption of innocent of him being innocent. And the rest then follows and then we challenge the evidence and contest it and battle it out in court where it belongs.
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FOSTER: More now from CNN's Brynn Gingras.
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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While Luigi Mangione sits alone in a Pennsylvania jail cell, police say they now have crucial connections between the 26 year old and the Manhattan crime scene.
JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: First, we got the gun in question back from Pennsylvania. It's now at the NYPD crime lab. We were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in Midtown at the scene of the homicide.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The NYPD commissioner also confirming what CNN first reported Mangione's fingerprints match evidence found where UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down a week ago.
TISCH: We're also able in our crime lab to match the person of interest fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the kind bar near the scene of the homicide.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Sources also telling CNN a to do list on how to carry out a killing was found in the pages of a spiral notebook, along with notes justifying the plan, suggesting what could be better than, quote, to kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference.
LUIGI MANGIONE: It's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American People. It's lived experience!
GINGRAS (voice-over): Investigators are also working to track his whereabouts days, weeks, months before the murder. A hotel clerk telling ABC Mangione tried to check into this Altoona, Pennsylvania hotel before his arrest.
JOHN KUKLIS, HOTEL CLERK: There was somebody that checked in and the officer goes, did he have a mask on? Did he ever take a mask off? No, he never did take the mask off.
He says, I'll be down in five minutes to talk to you. We pulled up our surveillance insurance stuff. They go. Yes, that's him.
GINGRAS (voice-over): In February, Mangione traveled to Japan and met Japanese poker player Obara Jun, who tweeted about having lunch with him in Tokyo. A month later, it appears the 26 year old went backpacking in Thailand and told a fellow traveler he was in between jobs and was planning to return to the U.S. in June. He stopped hearing from him in July, according to Reuters. Mangione's neighbor in Hawaii says he ran into him three or four months ago after not seeing him for a long time.
CHRIS KWOCK, NEIGHBOR IN HAWAII: He was a nice guy. He, you know, said hi, we were there a couple times always smiling, really good. So I just asked him where he's been. And for like six months, he was like, on the mainland, like just on medical stuff.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Then this summer, it seems as if Mangione fell off the grid as concerned friends reached out.
I haven't heard from you in months. One friend commented on X.
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GINGRAS: And more about that missing person's report filed by Mangione's mother, a source telling CNN that she told police she did it because she tried calling her son's personal phone, his work phone where he was working at the time and everything was going to voicemail. And she said she was worried about him, but she was not worried that he was a danger to himself or to others.
Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
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FOSTER: Well, a blogger who corresponded for months with Luigi Mangione says the shooting suspect expressed a diverse range of political views. The blogger says Mangione complained about how expensive U.S. health care was an express support for a nationalized system. And he vaguely remembered Mangione discussing a back injury he sustained while surfing in Hawaii.
The blogger says Mangione also opposed identity politics and spoke out against wokeism saying he didn't believe it was an effective way to help minorities.
Prosecutors and police are looking closely at all of Mangione's social media posts as they try to nail down a motive for the murder. And one notorious name from the past has got their attention.
CNN's Jason Carroll reports.
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LUIGI MANGIONE: And an insult to the intelligence of the American people.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Luigi Mangione speaks like he did outside court Tuesday, investigators listened closely and not just to what he's saying now that he's in custody, but also to what he has said or written in the past, such as these unsettling words: Violence never solved anything is a statement uttered by cowards and predators. Mangione wrote that in January 2024, in support of the notorious Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. Its part of the Goodreads review. Mangione wrote of Kaczynski's 1995 anti-technology manifesto "Industrial Society and Its Future".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just hope that this might be of additional assistance in obtaining leads regarding the Unabomber suspect.
CARROLL (voice-over): Kaczynski terrorized the nation for years. He served eight life sentences for sending mail bombs that killed three and wounded 23 others from the late '70s until the mid '90s.
According to an NYPD intelligence analysis report obtained by CNN, Mangione may have found inspiration in Ted Kaczynski. The report reads. He notably praised the writings of Kaczynski.
Mangione, liked several passages from Kaczynski's manifesto, in his review, defending it, writing: It's easy to quickly and thoughtless write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic.
SCOTT BONN, CRIMINOLOGIST: I think Mangione is very much inspired by the work of Kaczynski and his manifesto.
CARROLL (voice-over): Scott Bonn is a criminologist who has written about serial killers and Kaczynski. He says he sees a chilling similarity.
BONN: They have to find a way to justify it, and in the case of Kaczynski and also Mangione, I believe, that they justified it as this was a necessary evil.
CARROLL (voice-over): Other notable similarities, both men are highly intelligent and Ivy League educated. Kaczynski, a Harvard grad mathematician, while Mangione minored in mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also majored in computer science and engineering and had a masters.
Kaczynski was estranged from his family, living as a recluse in Montana. Mangione mother reported her 26-year-old son missing about two weeks before the shooting, telling police at the time she had not spoken to him since July.
And while Kaczynski targeted universities and airlines, Mangione allegedly had his sights set on the health care industry and UnitedHealthcare's CEO. Police found a three page handwritten claim of responsibility on Mangione. He also wrote in a spiral notebook, much like Kaczynski did, writing: What could be better than to kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference.
It should be noted that Kaczynski's brother David has spoken out in the wake of the shooting, saying violence is not the answer.
In a statement to CNN saying Kaczynski's actions were blind, misguided, cruel and utterly inconsistent with his goal of preserving our basic humanity, we must remember that our world is never improved by violence, only by love. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
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FOSTER: FBI Director Christopher Wray says he'll step down at the end of President Joe Biden's term in January. He made the announcement on Wednesday at a town hall in Washington claiming it was the best move for the agency.
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CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work.
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FOSTER: Well, a clear reference there to the shakeup expected when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The move seemingly clears the way for Trump to install Kash Patel as the new director.
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Patel has been on Capitol Hill this week looking to drum up support for his nomination and says he'll be ready on day one to fill the post. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more now on Donald Trump's reaction to this news.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump and his allies have been celebrating the resignation of Christopher Wray. In fact, Donald Trump posted on True Social saying this: The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice. I just don't know what happened to him. We will now restore the rule of law for all Americans. Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America.
Now, he goes on and on. He talks about Kash Patel. But the reason why this is so significant is because he is talking about one specific instance in this post, which we are told by sources around him, kind of a turning point in his relationship with Christopher Wray. One, Donald Trump was not happy with the end of his time in office, particularly January 6, the fact that he believed that his law enforcement should have stood up and rallied around him, which the FBI he believes did not after that election.
But the other part of this was when his house was searched in 2022. This was a search that was conducted by the FBI looking for classified documents, which ultimately led to his own indictment, Trump's indictment in 2023. Donald Trump viewed this as a breach. It is something he has mentioned, he even brought it up over the weekend, when he was asked about Christopher Wray. Now in that same interview, when he was talking about Christopher Wray, he was asked if he was going to fire him. He alluded to the fact that yes, he would saying that if I've already put forward Kash Patel, there's reason to believe he would have to fill somebody's job and that job would have been Christopher Wray's.
Now seems clear that Wray had understood that there was two pathways here. One was resignation, two was being fired by President-elect Donald Trump when he came into office. But when talking to Trump's team, they feel very pleased that this is the path that Wray chose because they believe it paved the way for Kash Patel, who they say is doing very well on Capitol Hill in these various meetings with senators.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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FOSTER: The leader of Canada's most populous province says there'll be a blowback if the US President-elect goes through with his threat of new tariffs. Donald Trump has said he'd slap 25 percent tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico on his first day in office. That is until they stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the U.S.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a virtual meeting with the leaders of his country's provinces yesterday and the Premier of Ontario later said Canada has always found ways of pushing back.
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DOUG FORD, ONTARIO, CANADA PREMIER: We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy, going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin. I don't want this to happen. But my number one job is to protect Ontario, Ontarians and Canadians as a whole.
We'll use every tool in our toolbox, including cutting them off energy that we're sending down there. Folks, this is coming. It's not if it is, it's coming and it's coming January 20th or 21st. And we need to be prepared.
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FOSTER: Mr. Trudeau also plans to step up border security and crack down on illegal drugs, which he discussed at yesterday's meeting.
Turning now to Syria, where we're hearing new pledges from the leader of the main rebel group HGS after the group pushed for the fall of the Assad regime. Reuters is now reporting that Mohammed al-Jolani said in a written statement that he would dissolve the Syrian security forces and shut down all notorious prisons.
Meanwhile, there's fighting underway between pro-Turkish and Kurdish factions in northern Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of militant groups dominated by Kurdish organizations, says Turkey and its militia allies are bombarding areas near the Turkish-Syrian border.
And Human Rights Watch warns tens of thousands of people who fled to Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria for safety amid the rebel offensive are now facing dire situations -- conditions rather. Reception centers in at least two cities have reached capacity, and there's a lack of basic necessities.
While Israel is hailing the downfall of the Assad regime, officials also fear what could come next is prompted hundreds of strikes on military assets in Syria, in an effort Israel says to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremists. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports from Damascus.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That thick plume of smoke that you're seeing there that's rising from the Mezzeh military airbase. This was a regime strategic military site here in Damascus. And over the past couple of days, it was among the targets that have been hit by the Israeli military. They've carried out hundreds of airstrikes on different Syrian regime military sites, installations, weapons depots and others.
Now, as we were approaching it, we heard a couple of blasts. It's unclear if those were fresh airstrikes, or if this was some sort of secondary explosions that were triggered by those past strikes.
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FOSTER: Well, Israel says it has detained the suspect in a deadly shooting in the West Bank officials -- military officials say an assailant opened fire on an Israeli civilian bus on Wednesday night killing a 10-year-old boy. Three other people were wounded.
The West Bank has seen a major uptick in violence since the outbreak of Israel's war in Gaza in October last year.
Now still to come, South Dakota's governor is under fire for her response to severe weather back home. Could it derail her chances for a top federal appointment?
Plus, Donald Trump's pick for Defense Secretary has been meeting with key Republican senators on Capitol Hill. The latest on what they're saying about Pete Hegseth.
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FOSTER: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is in New York where he's expected to ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange about five hours from now. Sources familiar with the plan say he's ringing the bell to celebrate being named the Time magazine Person of the Year. He was honored with the title in 2016 when he was first elected to the presidency.
Time's annual cover is aimed at recognizing an individual or group who's believed to have wielded the greatest influence on global affairs for good or for ill.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to fill his cabinet and other top government jobs. On Wednesday, he picked Kari Lake as the next director of Voice of America, the global news outlet funded by the U.S. government.
Lake is a former news anchor who ran for the U.S. Senate seat in Arizona in the November election but lost to her Democratic opponent. She is a 2020 election denier and close Trump ally who's repeatedly pushed false claims of election fraud. Republican lawmakers aren't saying much publicly about Trump's pick for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He's been meeting with key senators trying to secure their vote for his nomination. CNN's Lauren Fox has more on how some of those meetings are playing out.
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LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been yet another critical week for Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense. He met with Senator Susan Collins, a critical swing vote from the state of Maine, a Republican. And behind closed doors, we're told that the two of them had a wide-ranging meeting in which Pete Hegseth came off as serious and thorough when they were talking about the Department of Defense.
Senator Susan Collins has told reporters after that meeting that she touched on a series of issues. She said that she asked one tough question after another. Here's what she said about their meeting.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I impressed him on both his position on military issues as well as the allegations against him. I obviously always wait until we have an FBI background check and one is underway in the case of Mr. Hegseth. And I wait to see the committee hearing before reaching a final decision.
FOX: But Collins, like several other swing Republican votes in the Senate right now, withholding whether or not she will ultimately back Hegseth. Now, we should note that it's not typical for Senator Collins to announce a minute after a meeting how she's going to be voting, but she says she's going to continue going through this process that she looks forward to the confirmation hearing moving forward.
And obviously that is going to be yet another critical moment for Hegseth. He's behind closed doors, seemingly connecting with a lot of these senators and so far so many of them are not coming out against his nomination but they are reminding him in these sessions that he has to be prepared for what is going to be a grueling, long and under oath testimony when he tries to vie for this job in a public confirmation hearing.
On Capitol Hill for CNN, I'm Lauren Fox.
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FOSTER: Another one of Donald Trump's nominees is facing controversy South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem could be the next head of the Department of Homeland Security. But she's fighting allegations from residents in her state that she misallocated resources and quote, was not here for us amid severe flooding early this year.
Here's how she addressed those claims.
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KRISTI NOEM, (R) SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR: That is absolutely not true whatsoever. The CNN report left out some incredibly important information on the thousand year flood we had in South Dakota this last year. And our response to it immediately days before the flood even came in and hit the state.
And so those families went through something extremely tragic. And we're continuing to work through the FEMA process to bring them all the resources that they need.
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FOSTER: Noem's office released a statement saying state resources weren't deployed not because of the cost but because local authorities never requested them.
Well, up next, the CNN team makes a stunning and incredible discovery inside one of Syria's secret prisons.
Plus, the top U.S. diplomat heads to the Middle East for talks with regional partners as the U.S. looks to coordinate on Syria after the stunning fall of the Assad regime.
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FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us here are some of today's top stories.
The defense attorney for the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson says he's yet to see evidence New York police say connect his client to the murder. Luigi Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania. That's where he's facing gun and other charges following his arrest at a McDonald's restaurant. New York authorities have filed for his extradition but Mangione's defense team is fighting that request.
Doug Ford the leader of Canada's most populous province says he could consider cutting energy supplies to the U.S. if Donald Trump pursues an aggressive trade war strategy. At a press conference after a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Ontario Premier said he and the other premiers are gearing up for Trump's inauguration. He says Canadians need to be prepared for the impact of the next Trump administration. Tens of thousands of people in Syria are facing dire conditions
according to the group Human Rights Watch. The group says reception centers for people fleeing to Kurdish controlled northeast Syria are at capacity and authorities are working to establish more centers. Thousands have fled north since rebel groups started their push towards Damascus about two weeks ago.
Families are still desperately searching for loved ones in Syria's notorious prisons that have been operated by the Assad regime. CNN's Clarissa Ward went inside one of them and made an incredible discovery behind a cell door.
