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An Attack Targets Australia's Jewish Community; A Mass Shooting Occurred At Brown University In Providence, Rhode Island. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 14, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And the next hour of "Newsroom" starts right now.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're in the "CNN Newsroom." And we're following major breaking news. Two, two deadly shootings rocking communities thousands of miles apart.

In Australia, at least 15 people were killed in what officials are describing as an antisemitic terrorist attack. The shooting targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach. Hundreds were gathered there to celebrate this, the first night of the Jewish holiday. We want to warn our viewers that the footage we're about to show might be distressing. Video here shows people scattering as gunshots ring out. Police say there are two known suspects in the shooting, a father and a son. One suspect, the father, is dead while the son is in critical but stable condition.

Here in the United States, meanwhile, we're following the breaking news out of Rhode Island. Two people were killed. Nine others were injured in a shooting on Brown University's campus yesterday. Stunning new video obtained by CNN shows the moment police found students sheltering in a library on campus. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNSHOTS)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Police! Police! Providence Police!

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Hands, hands, hands up!

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Providence Police!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Police say they have what they call a person of interest in custody. Sources tell CNN the person detained in connection to the shooting is from Wisconsin, and authorities believe the individual traveled from Wisconsin to Rhode Island to carry out the shooting. CNN's John Berman is on the scene for us in Rhode Island. He joins us now. John, what's the latest in the investigation?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: As you said, this person of interest is in custody, Wolf. And right now, what they're going through is the physical evidence. Our John Miller reports that when they took this person into custody in Coventry, Rhode Island, which is about a 25- minute drive south of here, they found him at a hotel there at about 3:30 in the morning, that on his belongings, he had two guns with him, a revolver, and also a Glock 9-millimeter.

Right now, they're going over those weapons and comparing them with the shell casings that were found at the scene in the building, which I can see right where I am down the street here on Hope Street, which is where the suspect, the person of interest, I should say, left the building and then walked down and was caught on that brief video.

But right now, it's a physical investigation, maybe trying to match the person of interest's DNA to the gun handles, look at the casings, find out if they were fired from those guns. Law enforcement says that one of the guns had a laser sight attached. They're trying to figure out if that indicates that maybe he was using that to target a specific person. Just some of the questions they're asking based on the physical evidence.

One of the questions we still haven't had answered exactly yet is how they managed to trace him from the location where I am now to the hotel in Coventry. FBI Director Kash Patel suggested it was done by basically tracking his cellphone movement. But we're not sure how they locked on to his movement to begin with. Just one of the questions.

We haven't heard official statements from authorities for some time now. We expect to hear from them when they want to tell us more. They've been relatively quiet throughout this investigation, without releasing names of the victims or names of this person of interest. They may want to keep it close until they can lock down some more definitive information.

As you said, the one thing they have told us at this point is they believe he traveled from Wisconsin, where he was a resident, here to Brown University, a man in his 20s, not a student here now, though they haven't ruled out that he was a student in the past.

[17:05:03]

We just saw law enforcement driving by right here. It has actually been relatively quiet, cold, and bleak here on campus throughout the afternoon. Students here, finals have been canceled, classes have been canceled, so they're trying to find ways home, perhaps earlier than they had previously anticipated. This campus is really emptying out here.

There's a local vigil here in Providence, not far from campus. That's where we find our Leigh Waldman who's standing by there, watching people gather, where they will really come together as a group for the first time, Leigh, since this shooting take place. Why don't you tell us what we're seeing? LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. Within the last 10 minutes, we've seen, I would estimate, 100 people show up in this park where we're at. Maria, our producer, walked over behind me, and she sees that people are handing out candles. There's soft music playing. We heard someone speaking over a loudspeaker earlier, telling people where to gather. The American Red Cross is here on the other side of the street. We'll move over there when we come back to chat with you later on this hour.

But, like you mentioned, this is the first time that people are really gathering together after this tragedy happened more than 24 hours ago. This was supposed to be a night celebrating the winter holidays, lighting up a Christmas tree, lighting up a manure. Instead, all of this has shifted now to a vigil, a remembrance of what happened on that campus. Two kids killed, eight shot, another hurt with shrapnel after the fact. You know, it really breaks your heart.

We spoke to one student, Mia Tretta, who was a victim of a shooting in her high school back in 2019. She was shot in the stomach. Her best friend was killed by a student she didn't know. And now, six years later, that wound opened up again by what happened here at Brown. She has taken her life back, become an advocate, calling for changes to gun legislation, specifically for ghost gun legislation. She says that was the type of weapon used to shoot her. We asked her about what's happening here and if this is preventable. Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIA TRETTA, STUDENT, BROWN UNIVERSITY: It keeps happening because lawmakers and legislators aren't acting. And I don't understand how any of us or me or anyone at Brown or anyone across the country can really learn, that's why we're here, to learn, if we don't feel safe. And this is a crisis that needs to be dealt with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: John, part of that conversation we had with Mia, we asked her, how are you doing? And she says physically, ups and downs after being shot in her stomach. But mentally, just the same. She's able to go to classes because she has to go. But she told me, in her almost three years going to Brown University, she can't go into a library by herself. She's so fear-stricken, has so much lingering pain and trauma by what happened at her high school. She can't even enter that building and her university because of this.

She chose Brown specifically because of the safeguards in place, because of how strict gun laws that they have here in Rhode Island. And she thinks that more needs to be done here to keep her and other students safe. This keeps happening. This is their reality they're forced to live in.

BERMAN: You know, Leigh, that reminds me of a conversation I had not too long ago with a survivor from Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut, who then went to college, you know, 10 years plus later, headed to college. And she told me that she had to talk to her prospective roommates before they showed up at school. And she had to warn them that she wakes up at night, sometimes in terror, still thinking about everything she'd experienced so long ago in Connecticut, that she carried that with her all the way to college.

I think they carry it with them their entire lives, which makes it all the more tragic here, as more and more students have to deal with it almost no matter where they go.

Leigh Waldman, terrific reporting. You're on the scene of the vigil. We'll let you talk to some of the people there. You arrived here not long after the shooting itself. It has been a very long 24 hours for people here in the Brown community. Thank you, Leigh.

The shooting took place just about 4 o'clock yesterday. It's now 25 hours since. Campus here emptying out, still processing what they can as they continue to work on the investigation. Let's go back to Wolf. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, John, thank you very much. I want to bring in CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence Analyst John Miller and CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. John, first of all, what's the latest you're hearing from your sources at this hour?

[17:09:55]

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, they're still going through all of these steps and trying to figure out the right order of those steps in terms of processing the physical evidence that they have from the scene to compare it to the evidence they seized when they took this person into custody and detained him in that hotel room to see if they can match that up to give that to a local prosecutor or a U.S. attorney for a charge, and whether that charge is going to be a holding charge for possession of the weapons, if their legal status is in question in Rhode Island, or a charge related directly to the shooting is yet to be seen.

BLITZER: John and Juliette, I want you to both to stand by. There's this vigil going on in Providence, Rhode Island, right near the campus of Brown University. I want to listen in briefly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Thank you. Thank you, mayor. We gather together this evening in shared grief, in shared shock, a sense of safety shattered. But as we gather together, the important word is together. As Councilwoman AnderBois just said so beautifully, the ways in which we care for one another, that is what makes Providence Providence. That is what makes Rhode Island Rhode Island. That is the light in these dark times. As the mayor just said so beautifully, this is a time when we are lighting the Hanukkah menorah.

We'll go light the first candle outside Temple Bethel very shortly. And we do it outside because we share the light. No matter what our faith tradition, no matter what we believe, each and every one of us can share that light. We can use our light to kindle other lights, to care for one another. And that is how we get through this dark moment, one step at a time, sharing our light, caring for one another, committing to be together in community for the long journey that lies ahead.

BLITZER: We're going to continue to monitor this vigil that's going on in Providence, Rhode Island, not far from Brown University. We'll stay on top of this, get back to it as it unfolds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to go back to John Miller first. Juliette, stand by. John, we know this so-called person of interest is not a resident of Rhode Island, came from Wisconsin, drove all the way. Are we learning anything at all about a possible motive?

MILLER: Well, investigators are trying to piece that together, which is, yes, today, we were told the person of interest was not a student at Brown University. Law enforcement sources, more than one, have told me he either is a student or was a student. Now, how could that happen? If he was suspended or expelled, did he leave college housing and end up in that hotel? Did he come back? Is that connected to motive or did he go home to Wisconsin and return? All of that still being pieced together.

What we're waiting to hear is what the school officials, city officials or police officials have to say about whether, in fact, he was a student and what his status was and whether that is connected to motive. They've been very careful, and they've been very clear that they have reasons for holding back this information because it is relevant to the investigation.

So, we're in a waiting mode here, but I just wanted to kind of bring that up because it's one of those facts in the case that still needs to be resolved.

BLITZER: Juliette, based off of John's excellent reporting, what do you make of the very few details we actually do know about this so- called person of interest?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I mean, I think it begins to relate to a story or at least the, I think, overwhelming evidence now pointing to a this was not random but very targeted towards Brown.

Yesterday, as we discussed, you know, the appearance of a shooter in a room on a Saturday, where rarely there are college students around, that was filled with people, suggested some pre-knowledge of at least what the calendar or cycle of what the academic year was like, and someone who could fit in, presumably because he gets out without any video, without any pictures, sort of walks out with barely a video showing him, the one that was showed to the world, and then leaves.

So, that is consistent with one of two theories, right? It's either totally random and he's radicalized by something or there's an intimacy in that, in a perverse way with Brown.

[17:14:56] So, I think that is where the university -- I mean, that is why we're waiting to hear from the university about any ties, whether they're student, grad student or employee, it's a big community, and then moving forward. And that's the second piece that we're seeing. You just showed this vigil. I don't know if that was a rabbi talking about Hanukkah but, obviously, the school has moved from response, the lockdown, to figure out who it is. There'll be an investigation.

The school now -- you know, everyone is leaving. When they return in January, how is the school going to rebuild community and rebuild a sense of safety? I'm a parent of an alumni. I, as a parent of an alumni, I'm getting emails even from the university about what is happening and what they hope to do in the new year.

BLITZER: I have a niece who was a student at Brown University. So, obviously, all this hits home for a lot of us with the personal connections. John, officials who have detained this person of interest in a hotel room not far from the campus of Brown University, what are you hearing about the items that were recovered and the answers he gave officers when they showed up?

MILLER: So, it's interesting, Wolf, because when they bang on that door at 3:45 in the morning and tell him to open up, and he opens up the door, they talk to him inside, their question was, where have you been this afternoon? Where have you been tonight? Where were you at four o'clock today? And according to law enforcement sources who have been briefed on that conversation, number one, he maintained his cool demeanor. Number two, he said, I've been here at the hotel the whole time. And then they said, you know, we're going to take you in, and we're going to interview you in Providence.

They recovered two items that are very significant. One, a 9- millimeter equipped with a laser sight, which is consistent with what witnesses described to police as the type of gun he had, a gun with this device attached to it with a laser beam. And two, a revolver.

Now, from the 9- millimeter, they could compare that the shell casings at the scene and get a match very quickly using the technology that ATF has called NIBN, which is the national integrated ballistics network, where they can make that match, and they can from the revolver as well, if it was fired in that attack, because now, they have the gun and they would have whatever ballistics -- whatever bullets came from it.

So, there are things they can do that can make scientific matches that could make it easier to bring a specific charge in a relatively short time. But there's a lot of other things they want to do, including science and including go through other items recovered there.

I'll close with this. One of the questions is, the man in the video, those, you know, dark black or gray pants, that jacket, that hat, what witnesses described possibly a gray camouflage mask, did they recover those from the hotel or from a car? Those are all the pieces to this puzzle they're trying to put together.

BLITZER: Yes, good questions, indeed. John Miller and Juliette Kayyem, to both of you, thank you very much. We'll stay in close touch with both of you to be sure.

The tragedies in Providence, Rhode Island and Australia come on the same weekend. The families in Newtown, Connecticut are marking 13 years since the Sandy Hook shooting. We'll take a closer look at how this could revive the conversation about how to stop gun violence here in the United States.

Plus, a father and son accused of carrying out a violent, deadly attack targeting Jews in Australia. What we're learning about the attackers, their victims, and the heroes who stepped in to stop the bloodshed. Our breaking news special coverage will continue.

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[17:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Australia's prime minister is describing the attack at the Bondi Beach as -- quote -- "an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation" -- end quote. There can be no doubt about that, especially as we learn more about the victims. Their ages range from 10 years old to 87 years old. CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has more on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Wolf, the very latest we're getting from the police in Australia is that they have identified the two attackers, that there were just two. They thought perhaps there may have been a third. They've ruled that out. The attackers were a father and son. The father, 50 years old, he is dead, shot by police at the scene. The 24-year-old son also shot by police at the scene. He's in hospital in critical but stable condition.

The police say that they've been to both premises associated with these two men. One was a temporary accommodation, the other was their permanent residence. The 50-year-old, they say, was a registered gun license owner, that he had six weapons registered to him, and the police said that they've recovered all of those weapons.

The police also say that they have recovered two IEDs from a vehicle associated with these two attackers. They describe them as quite rudimentary, needing a wick to initiate them rather than a sort of a more sophisticated fuse or timer -type device, indicating perhaps they may just be very simple pipe bombs. The police say that they've taken those away, that they were active devices, but they've now been made safe.

[17:25:03]

Now, there was a question at the press conference that caught my attention. One of the journalists there asking the police if they could comment on the suspicions that an ISIS flag had been found in that vehicle as well. Now, the police saying that they weren't going to comment on it, perhaps significant that they didn't rule it out, that they didn't say that hadn't happened. The police saying very important that they get to the bottom of what was the motivation for this attack.

And the other unfortunate details we're learning from the police as well, that death toll continues to climb. And among the dead, a 12- year-old girl, an Israeli citizen. The rabbi who'd been organizing the event organized it over recent years. And very tragically, another among the dead, a holocaust survivor. Wolf?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Very sad, indeed. All right, Nic Robertson, thank you very, very much. Coming up, we're going to go back to Brown University. A vigil is underway this hour after the mass shooting there. We'll take you to that scene. Our breaking news special coverage will continue.

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[17:30:00]

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BLITZER: Back to our breaking news coverage out of Providence, Rhode Island and yesterday's shooting at Brown University that left two students dead and nine others injured.

I'm going go back to CNN's John Berman. He's live on the campus of Brown University. John, many students are clearly leaving now after finals and classes were all canceled. I'm sure they're eager to get home to friends and family after the horrible ordeal. Update our viewers.

BERMAN: Yes, the students have been telling us it's almost a scramble now to find out how to get home. In some cases, they're trying to move their flights up by as much as a week, get on a train if they can to Boston or south to New York, and just get out. The campus is slowly emptying out. Those who are still here are trying to make sense of what happened.

The governor of Rhode Island has directed state buildings to lower flags to half-staff. And obviously, resources are available here to students who are still present or have gone to try to process everything that happened.

The latest on the investigation, a person of interest is in custody. No charges have been filed yet. But according to our John Miller and Brian Todd, both of whom are doing fantastic work on this, really leading the investigation here into what authorities know, they tell us that these authorities are trying to tie the person of interest, the weapons that were found on him when he was taken into custody, a revolver and a Glock 9-millimeter, trying to tie that to the shell casings used at the shooting in the building, which is right behind me. That is a process. They are also deciding whether to look for a DNA match on the weapons themselves.

He was taken into custody about 30 minutes away south of where I am at Brown University, a hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island. So, if this person of interest was the person who carried out the shooting, he was able to get away by a fair distance, several miles, and for whatever reason, stopped in that hotel, didn't try to get any further.

Again, not much activity left on campus now. They've opened up the roads here. Hope Street is the street where the actual person of interest caught on video, was seen walking down just after the shooting. This street is now finally open after being closed for about 23 straight hours. But not many students left because they started to head out.

There is a vigil taking place at a park nearby where the people of Providence, the city of just under 200,000, where people can gather and share these moments of pain. Our Leigh Waldman has been there with the people, really remembering those who were lost and talking about ways to move forward. What are you seeing, Leigh?

WALDMAN: John, more than 200 people are here gathered in this park, hoping to lean on one another, to draw on strength from one another. We actually have a student, Luce Allen, with us right now. Luce is a student at Brown, a freshman at Brown. And you tell me, you were about 10 minutes away from going inside of the building where everything happened yesterday. If it's not too painful for you, walk us through all of that.

LUCE ALLEN, FRESHMAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Yes, of course. So, I was about 10 minutes before the shooting. I was just outside the building. I was returning to my friend's car. What we were going to do is we were going to go in the building and study for the finals we had over the next couple of days. Just before that, the friend invited us to his apartment, which is just a mile and half off campus. And it was that snap decision that caused us to go away from (INAUDIBLE) to the apartment.

And then right when we got through the doors to the apartment at 4:15, we'd check our phones, get a text that there was a shooting just outside MacMillan, and it was just the most, like, terrifying, unbelievable experience, to think that we were so close to being involved with that situation.

WALDMAN: Overnight, there was this extreme lockdown for students across the campus for the surrounding community as this manhunt was underway. How did you and your friends you were with, how did you hold up during that time? Were you scared about this manhunt?

ALLEN: Yes. Scared is an absolute understatement.

[17:35:00]

I think, at first, we were just in absolute shock at the situation. And as more time goes on, the shock just kind of became like fear, like unbelievable that this is still going on. And honestly, just so much concern for our friends and our loved ones who are still stuck back at campus. You know, one of my closest friends here was in the classroom where it happened. I received an audio message from her, that it was so unbelievably frightened and scared and worried.

And I just -- in my situation, I had access to the news, I had access to food and to water and bathrooms, which many people didn't have access to. So, I was just doing my best to inform the people on campus, keep them up to do with the media coverage and everything. But man, it was just incredibly difficult.

WALDMAN: My heart breaks for you and your friend who were touched so closely by this. For you, Luce, looking at hundreds of people here wanting to support this community, what does that mean to you after going through this?

ALLEN: Yes. As tragic as this is, I do truthfully believe that this will inevitably make our community stronger. I know all of us are suffering right now. There are so many people, regardless of how close they were, that are scared, they're horrified, whether people in the Brown community or people in just the local Providence community as a whole. But I do believe that we are going to get through this together.

And seeing the response to this within the past 24 hours and seeing kind of everyone open their arms, come together, you know, bring in new people who they have never met in their lives just because the situation is so insane, it's heartwarming and it makes me proud to be at Brown, truthfully. And yeah, I feel like we will be stronger moving forward.

WALDMAN: Thank you so much, Luce.

ALLEN: Yes.

WALDMAN: You know, I think this really does speak to what you said. But seeing so many people out here, it shows that this community will stay together and be stronger together. John?

BERMAN: It was great to hear from Luce, Leigh, and you've done such a wonderful job, talking to everyone since you arrived on the scene just hours after the shooting. Luce is a freshman in this class, principles of economics, which was taught in the building, you know, just behind me. He is in an introductory level class for economics, and hundreds and hundreds of kids take it.

Every freshman I've spoken with knows someone, if not in the class, who is literally in the room, one of the 60 people in the room when the shooting happened. So, this really has sort of had ripple effects throughout the freshman class, and I know that they're just dealing right now with all these feelings.

I liked hearing from Luce talking about how it's going to bring closer together, and I'm sure he's right about that, especially with people as poised, I think, and as responsible as he is.

Great work, Leigh. Thank you very much.

We're going to much more on the breaking news here from Brown University, plus much more on the situation in Australia. Our special live coverage continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

BLITZER: There's more breaking news coming into CNN right now. Multiple law enforcement sources telling CNN, the so-called person of interest detained in connection with the Brown University shooting has been identified as 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson of Wisconsin. On Sunday afternoon, CNN observed the FBI at a Wisconsin home owned by Erickson's family. Authorities have not publicly identified the person in custody right now.

I want to go straight to CNN's Leigh Waldman in Providence. You're standing by, I understand, with the mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley. Update our viewers.

WALDMAN: Wolf, it's good to be with you. We have the mayor standing by here. Mayor Smiley, you've been at the forefront of everything that has happened here at Brown University. Sources are saying that this is an individual, Benjamin Erickson, who traveled from Wisconsin here to Rhode Island to commit this act. What are you hearing from law enforcement that you've been talking to?

MAYOR BRETT SMILEY, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: So, we are still actively pursuing the investigation and are not able to confirm the detained person of interest's identity at this time. I know this is hard for my community, to feel like they're not getting new facts and information at this time.

But being able to bring an individual to justice is a top priority for us. And in order to do so, we need to have strong evidence and then clear charges with a case that then we can successfully prosecute. And so, it's important for us to continue to only share the information when we're ready to share it.

But I do want the members of my community to know that we are still very actively engaged. We're working on now over 24 hours of work. And the Providence Police, Rhode Island State Police, our federal partners in the FBI and the ATF are still processing evidence, still following up on any additional tips and leads that we've received. And when we have verified information that's ready to be shared, we'll share it with the community.

WALDMAN: I know the police chief, Colonel Perez, earlier said this is a very fast-moving investigation. Can you give us any indication of how close you all are to naming this person of interest?

SMILEY: The chief was speaking about the complexity of the investigation. We had hundreds of students, which results in a lot of evidence, backpacks and jackets left behind, to look for things like DNA evidence and any other evidence that may be useful in this investigation. It's just a lot to sort through. That's one of the benefits.

[17:45:00]

One of the things we're so grateful for is the partnership and the assistance that we've received from others. Providence Police is an excellent police department, but we couldn't do this on our own, at least not at the pace that we want to be able to do it. And so, we are taking all the help that has been offered, and we're grateful for that.

But the investigation is ongoing, is well underway. We are, in fact, making progress, but we'll only share updates once it's verifiable and ready for public consumption. And I know, at least, my neighbors don't want to do anything that would compromise eventual prosecution.

WALDMAN: My last question for you, mayor. To see what should have been a holiday celebration, now coming together to mourn, what does this mean to you?

SMILEY: You know, the city does a series of Christmas tree lightings around the city and tonight is also the first night of Hanukkah. And so, this was previously scheduled. And we had a conversation about do we still do this or not. And we decided that, in fact, we all needed to get together.

As folks can probably see, it's chilly, it's snowing, and yet there's hundreds of people out here right now. We've got one of our local musicians in song. And I see my neighbors hugging one another. I see some tears. People really want to be there for one another.

In the hours since all of this started, the ripple effect is starting to happen where everyone in Rhode Island is sort of famously two degrees of separation from one another, and they're starting to hear about a family friend whose kid was nearby or a professor who they know was working in the building.

And so, it's all getting very personal for us, very fast, and the way in which we respond when something terrible happens to someone we love as we come together. And so, it's sad that we have to gather like this, but this is really the best of Providence behind me right now, and I'm sure this won't be the last. This is just the beginning of what I expect will be a long healing process for my city.

WALDMAN: Thank you, mayor. I appreciate it. A strong, small, but strong state here coming together. And you can see that for yourself. Wolf?

BLITZER: Leigh Waldman, thank the mayor for us as well. Appreciate it very, very much. I want to go right now to our law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller. John, the breaking news this hour, we just broke it. Sources telling CNN that the person of interest in this shooting is identified as 24-year-old Benjamin Erickson of Wisconsin. What else are you learning?

MILLER: Well, he went to high school around Milwaukee, went to the University of Wisconsin after that. He was coming out of high school, I guess, at the end of COVID, and then then served in the U.S. Army in Fort Meyer, which is just, you know, outside Washington, D.C. It's one of those bases where you have a lot of specialized units that have to do with Washington.

He, we are told, was part of an elite ceremonial unit, an honor guard that did marching presentations and things with horses. Apparently, not deployed into any combat or war zone, as far as we can tell, checking with our contacts at DOD, and no criminal background.

It does appear, based on his own posts, that he switched from University of Wisconsin to Brown University for the fall semester of 2025, and that is something that, as you and I have discussed earlier today, we're kind of sorting out against the statements that were made by officials that he was not a student there. It may have been that he was suspended or otherwise moved out and was not a student at the time of the shooting, which he is allegedly connected to.

Now, why can't authorities tell us any of this? Right now, as we sit here, we believe he has not been charged. He is in custody. He's being held. We're not clear what those charges are while they're being drawn up. But until he's formally charged, there's not an awful lot they can say about someone who is in custody but not charged.

BLITZER: He's being called by authorities a person of interest. He's not being called a suspect. That's significant, right?

MILLER: Yes. And, I mean, it is a bit of a difference without a distinction. Meaning, if he decided, am I under arrest or can I go now, he's not free to leave. So, he's being detained. It means he's in custody. That means he is not free to go.

The question is, are they going to charge him? Do they have enough at this point? Have the tests come back? Do they have what they need to charge him in connection with this shooting or do they have enough to charge him in connection with something else and the possession of those firearms if he is not officially and didn't purchase them there and so on?

[17:49:58]

So, not a lot of clarity on that coming from officials. But Mayor Smiley, who has been literally the picture of calm and measure in his statements throughout this ordeal, has said that they are keeping that close to the vest in order to protect any future prosecution by being meticulous.

BLITZER: As they should be. John Miller, thank you very, very much. And we'll have much more of our special coverage of the shooting at Brown University right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: This was just moments ago on The Ellipse just south of the White House here in Washington. The lighting of the national menorah, an annual tradition, which is especially poignant, very poignant moment for the nation tonight, especially for the Jewish community, after that horrific tragedy in Australia. The lighting of this menorah on this, the first night of Hanukkah, has been a tradition since 1979 here in Washington.

And police around the world are now increasing their presence at Hanukkah events following the attack in Sydney, Australia. And now, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sharply criticizing the Australian government on its silence on the anti-Jewish sentiment in the country. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country. You took no action. You let the disease spread. And the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Brian Levin is the founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism, and he's joining us now. Brian, thanks very much for joining us. Prime Minister Netanyahu says Australia poured what he calls oil on the flames of antisemitism through inaction. First of all, do you agree with that?

BRIAN LEVIN, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HATE & EXTREMISM: Not entirely. To say that Australia did nothing is incorrect. New South Wales, where this attack took place, recently tightened some of its hate crime laws, for instance. Australia also got into a diplomatic tiff with Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats because of their possible connection to some antisemitic attacks that took place there.

That being said, we have seen a literal explosion of antisemitic hate crime and aggression around the world. And interestingly enough, Australia, the NGO that covers Australia, showed even with the decline from a record in 2023, 2024 rather, just this past year, 2025 year to date, was still triple, triple the number of antisemitic incidents that we had before October 7th.

So, Australia needs to do more. Less than 1 percent of the population there is Jewish. But we saw an extended string of terrible attacks, including multiple arsons, vandalisms, and physical attacks on Jews in Australia. And it looks like that, perhaps, what would be fair to say is the government there is playing catch-up. But I wouldn't say they've done nothing. I think that's unfair.

BLITZER: How have the antisemitic attacks, not just in Australia but elsewhere, actually changed after the October 7th Hamas terror attack against Israel? LEVIN: Excellent question. And what was so interesting is when I looked at data from London, from Paris, from Germany, from Australia, literally around the world, we saw an almost lockstep increased in antisemitic hate crimes as collected by not only governments, but NGOs as well.

And we're at a point, I think this is important to mention, that we're at a point now where the kind of brazen antisemitism now is different than it was just 10 years ago. Indeed, in the United States, we've had a tripling in anti-Jewish hate crime as enumerated by the FBI just over the last 10 years, and we've seen a literal collapse of the kind of moderation that we've seen on social media.

So, governments have to do as President Washington said in his letter to the Touro synagogue in 1790, and that is the United States should give bigotry no sanction and to persecution no assistance. But what we have to do is make this a global effort because in light of October 7th, we saw increases upon increases in anti-Jewish hate crime that existed prior but had really exploded thereafter. And one of the things that we're concerned about are these kinds of mass attacks. And indeed, Australia is one of the worsts that we've seen in modern history outside of the Near East.

BLITZER: Brian Levin, thanks for your expertise. Appreciate it very, very much. Thank you.

LEVIN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And the next hour of "Newsroom" starts right now.

[18:00:00]

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

BLITZER: I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.