Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Brown University President Says, Shooting Victims Were All Students; Search for Suspect After Two Killed, Nine Hurt in Brown University Shooting; Trump Vows Retaliation After Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Syria. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 14, 2025 - 03:30   ET

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

[03:00:00]

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Whether you're in the United States or elsewhere around the world, you are now in the CNN Newsroom with me, Ben Hunte, in Atlanta. Thank you for being here.

We are just learning that all 11 victims in the deadly shooting at Brown University are students. At least two people were killed, and nine others injured. The university's president says one of those students has been treated and released from hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA PAXSON, PRESIDENT, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Our focus right now is on supporting the families who have been affected by this the families of the two students who sadly lost their lives today, as well as the eight now nine students who are in the hospital. We've been in touch with their families. I will talk to them soon. But, you know, we will come together as a community and we'll get through this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: The suspect is still at large. Authorities released this video, which they say shows the suspect walking down the street wearing dark clothing. His face is not visible. He's estimated to be in his 30s. A professor told The New York Times that the shooting started to unfold in a classroom during a final exam review session.

A lockdown order is still in place for the surrounding community. The University says police officers are going into some non-residential buildings to help escort people to safety.

CNN's Leigh Waldman has been reporting from the ground in Providence near Brown University's campus, and she has the latest for us on the investigation.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hours after this shooting took place, we've seen city buses filled with students, taking them off of this part of the campus, moving them over to a reunification center that was also established on the Brown University campus. We've seen other students walking with their backpacks.

We stopped two of them, two PhD candidates who said that they didn't want to talk on camera after all that they had gone through. But they told us that when the shooting happened, they were barricaded inside of their office and then move by officials to a gym area where they're surrounded by other undergraduate students. We asked them, what is it like in there? And they said, it's chaos with everything that all of these students have gone through.

But I do want to direct your attention to that building off in the distance with its lights on. That is Burris Hall. That is the area of this campus where authorities have indicated that this shooting took place, two students killed, nine others hurt.

And we've seen a short video that appears to show the person who they think is responsible for this shooting, leaving onto Hope Street in the back there, and turning right onto Waterman. Now, the FBI has set up a tip line asking for anyone in this area to send in any information that they can so they can find who that person is.

But I want you to take a listen to what the university officials have to say about what's going on here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK DOYLE, PROVOST, BROWN UNIVERSITY: This is, as the mayor and the governor pointed out, an unthinkable act, incomprehensible, right? None of us could prepare our kids for this, the parents. We've been in touch with the parents. The president's not here right now because she was at the hospital attending to the students and she's now at the Nelson shelter in place location.

We've communicated and put the word out to the parents the perimeter that was spoken about earlier as part of the safe approach to managing the campus and getting students back in their dorm rooms. We'll continue to support them. That's our top priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: Now, the area that we are in is one of 15 areas indicated by Brown University as an area where law enforcement is heavily searching for the person responsible. It's more than 400 members of law enforcement, state, local FBI, Secret Service, all working together, all with one goal in mind, and that is finding the person who is responsible for what happened here.

Leigh Waldman, CNN, Providence, Rhode Island.

HUNTE: The FBI has launched a tip off site so members of the public can submit any photo and video evidence they may have of the shooter who is still at large. The website is tips.fbi.gov.

The Providence Police Department has also launched a tip line. They're asking anyone with tips or information related to the shooting to please get in touch.

Earlier, my colleague, Polo Sandoval, spoke to CNN's Chief Law Enforcement And Intelligence Analyst John Miller. He said the released video of the suspect may still help investigators, even though it doesn't show his face.

[03:05:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: A video that doesn't show much is better than no video at all. And what I mean by that, Polo, is it doesn't say anything to us. We can't look at it and say, I know that guy. But it may say something to someone in the area who said, oh. I saw a guy dressed like that, black jacket, black pants, black hat, you know, mask, getting out of a car in the parking lot on the far side of the Burris building or something like that. I mean, you never know what visual stimuli will cause someone to recognize something where they may have seen more or can direct them to another better angle from a different camera. So, it's worth putting out.

You'll also remember, whether it was the Charlie Kirk assassination or the Luigi Mangione shooting of Brian Thompson in New York City, they'll go with an image that they have, and then as they expand that video canvas outward, they may come up with better and better images and release them as they get them. So, this is the beginning, not the end.

So, they're going to know the caliber of the weapon just by the shell casings, unless there were no shell casings, at which point they'll know. The caliber of the weapon by the bullets they recover at the scene and from victims at the hospital that it was a revolver.

But, you know, looking at that video, one of the things we see is we see a guy who is walking briskly but not running, that you see a guy who is dressed in such a way that he is not going to attract attention, you might not notice him at all. But you also see that his left hand is free, but his right hand seems to be, at least from behind from the angle I saw, seems to be jammed in his pocket. So, you have to ask yourself, is his hand still holding that smoking gun in the pocket? Is he worried about being stopped or confronted by somebody? Is he willing to shoot more people at that moment to get away?

It tells us we're looking at an individual who had a plan. These have three common outcomes, all too common, but we'll acknowledge that. Number one, the shooter is confronted by police and neutralized or shot and wounded or killed. Number two, the shooter is cornered by police and takes his or her own life. Number three, the shooter surrenders or is subject to arrest right then and right there. The shooter getting away into the ether and being the cause of a manhunt, highly unusual.

So, they're going to be looking for -- while they are searching for this image, they're going to be looking for other things. Sure, they'll look at the shell casings. They'll run them through bin, see if that gun has been involved in any other shootings they can link that brass to. But they're also going to be looking for who has been fired from a staff job at the university who was suspended, who was accused of something? Is there someone who has been making persistent threats to a teacher, to a class, to a student? They're going to be going back through everything that the Brown University police has, everything that the human resources people at Brown have, anything that's popped up on social media to see.

While we're trying to figure out who the shadowy image is, is there someone out there who is presenting to us as a threat who we can start down the road of taking a look at this person and see if that person is someone with a motive and someone who should be looked at in this?

The shelter in place is usually lifted because the gunman's in custody or down, and they've eliminated that very common thing of whether there was a second gunman. Here, you've got an individual dressed in dark clothing who is still out there and presumably still armed and definitely dangerous and moving in the darkness perhaps within a close proximity. I think the shelter in place, at least until daylight, is probably a logical conclusion for the college and the police based on the safety issue.

On the other hand, you know, when the light comes out tomorrow and crowds are going to be out there and life is resuming, as the mayor said, people have to go about their lives. Providence is not a place that hasn't had a shooting or two in its time. It's a city that's struggled with crime. This is just a different kind of crime, and, you know, they're going to have to recover from it come tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Joining us now is a Brown University student who is currently on lockdown, Theo Coben. Theo, thank you so much for joining us.

I know this sounds like a silly question, but how are you doing right now and what's the situation where you are?

THEODORE COBEN, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Thank you for having me. I'm doing well at the moment. It's pretty -- it's a sleepless night. I don't think I'll be, I don't think anyone will be getting much sleep tonight.

I'm currently in my dorm. We're all in shelter in place. Most of the residential halls are under that same shelter in place order. Some students who were in the academic buildings or administrative buildings at the time after all those floors were cleared, we were shuttled to the athletic center.

[03:10:08]

But for the majority of students still in their dorms, were, we're still here, we're still in our dorms. We've got our doors locked.

HUNTE: Can you just walk us through what students were told when the lockdown first started and how information has been shared with you since then?

COBEN: I think it's very important to note that it was a solid eight or ten minutes before we got an official alert from the university.

HUNTE: Wow.

COBEN: But well before that, students were aware of the events taking place, especially through social media. I knew within about 30 seconds of the shooting that it had taken place when a student posted on Yik Yak, which is an anonymous forum at college campuses, that there were two students shot on Thayer Street outside of McMillan Hall. And from that point on, all students knew what was going on, or at least all who had seen that.

But, yes, information has been it really tough to pick apart. We've gotten around 10 or 11 official updates from the university through our emails, but a lot of them can be somewhat confusing, so, yes.

HUNTE: And speaking about some of that confusion, there are plans to evacuate students, right? What are you being told about the next steps there and how prepared do people feel?

COBEN: Yes. So, we've been told to prepare, you know, like a quick grab bag of, you know, a blanket, tooth brush, things like that in the event that R.A.'s (ph) evacuated. However, it seems that the people that the president just sent out an email, it seems that the people who are in residential halls will be staying here for the night and that the people who were in academic buildings and shuttled to the athletic facility will be staying there for the night. So, it appears that's our status for the moment.

HUNTE: Can you tell me a bit about what the atmosphere is like among the students right now to have something like this happen in a place where you should feel safe? What's going on?

COBEN: Well, it's difficult to talk about atmosphere when most of us are in our individual rooms. But I will say to the atmosphere on social media that I've observed has been one of great unity. I think everyone is obviously very worried, still scared. The shooter is still at large. But I think this could actually be an opportunity for the whole campus to come together. And I've already seen that, you know, whether it's getting phone calls from friends that I haven't heard from in a year to reaching out to people who, you know, I maybe have lost contact with, it feels like a very tight-knit environment now. And I can only imagine that that's going to -- that atmosphere will continue throughout this next semester, throughout my time here at Brown.

HUNTE: As you're sitting there right now talking to me, what do you want people watching this to understand about what this moment feels like on campus?

COBEN: It feels surreal. You know, we always hear about the stuff on the news and you always -- it's a cliche. You know, it can't happen to me that's on the news. And today it happened. Interestingly, the last few weeks we've had flyers put up by the gun violence prevention group on campus in the library that said gun violence is the scariest thing imaginable, something along those lines. And it happened, you know, it happened.

HUNTE: It did and we're so sorry that it did happen. We'll leave it there for now. Theo Coben, thank you so much and please try to get some sleep if you possibly can.

COBEN: Yes. Thank you.

HUNTE: Next, one Brown University student has seen all of this before when she survived a deadly shooting at her high school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOE WEISSMAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: It feels like I'm 12 again, and I think it feels like it's 2018 again for my family as well. We're going through the exact same emotions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Still ahead, the survivor talks about going through the same horrific ordeal twice.

See in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:15:00]

HUNTE: You are looking at footage of students at Brown University being evacuated from a building after Saturday's deadly shooting. The students told CNN they were studying for exams in a small room when they heard about the attack. Officials say at least two students were killed and nine were wounded when the gunmen opened fire on campus. It happened at an engineering and physics building where multiple exams were scheduled to take place.

Police have released this video of the suspect, which shows him near the scene but doesn't show his face. The shooter is still at large.

Well, earlier, CNN's Jessica Dean spoke to a Brown University student who was one of the first people to call the police. Sophie Holman was looking for a classroom to study in when she heard gunshots, and here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOPHIE HOLMAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT (voice over): I walked into the building. I didn't have to swipe my card, so the building was open, as it usually is during the day. And so I was just walking around looking for a classroom. They usually hold sections in that building, but every so often a classroom will be open and, and people will usually just spend time studying there because it's quiet.

And so I was walking through the halls. I was by the Hope Street entrance and exit when I first heard the gunshots. When I first heard them, I thought it was -- you know, as a college student would in an engineering building, I thought it was just maybe something from the wood shop, or it was something, you know, it was an experiment gone wrong. But once I continually heard them and I heard someone and I saw someone run past me, I thought it -- you know, I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. [03:20:09]

So, I started running behind the girl that ran by me. I could tell she was a student by the athletics parka that she was wearing.

So, I ran out of the Hope Street exit. I ran one block east, and then I called the police at 4:04 P.M.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And that is among the first calls that they have a record of, that that is about as early as they had a record of being called. And so did you see anyone or anything? You heard the gunshots. What else did you see?

HOLMAN: Yes. So, I just walked in. I heard the gunshots. There was a girl walking towards me in the hallway, in the building. And then she started running and I kept on walking a little bit and then I was like, oh, crap, you know, this can be what I think it is. And so I just started running after her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Zoe Weissman is a student at Brown University. Tragically, this is not her first school shooting. Zoe also survived the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida back in 2018. She told CNN's Jim Sciutto she's trying to comprehend going through this trauma not once but twice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEISSMAN: I am numb, but I'm also really angry. I think the sadness will set in when we, you know, get all the victims identified and find out who we lost as a community. But right now, I'm just angry that there's kids like me in this country who have had to go through this not once, but twice.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: No question. You remember that after Parkland, as has happened after some school shootings there, there's a moment of expectation that there might be change, there might be actual action, and too often it fades, right? It just disappears. I mean, we've had that after Sandy Hook, after Parkland. We had it after Uvalde. Occasionally some incremental progress but nothing seemingly con consequential. That has to be frustrating as a victim of this.

WEISSMAN: It is -- I can't even put into words how frustrating it is, and I think that the common denominator around all of that is in action on the part of Congress. I think that we've seen time and time again, Congress has failed to show that they actually care about their constituents. And if they did, it would immediately pass comprehensive gun violence prevention bills.

SCIUTTO: Tell me how you're doing right now. Because I've been speaking to students on campus, and as we understand it and as the mayor has described it, there's still a shelter in place, are you still in a shelter in place -- under a shelter in place order?

WEISSMAN: Yes. So, I'm safe in my dorm, but we can't leave our dorms. We can't leave our buildings. So, physically, I'm safe. And I've had lots of friends and family reaching.

SCIUTTO: How is your family doing with this? Because, of course, they went through this with you once before, they must be concerned about you tonight.

WEISSMAN: Yes. The first person I called was my mom, which was the same thing that happened with Parkland. And just seeing her go through those emotions all over again makes me feel so bad for her. And I think it feels like I'm 12 again, and I think it feels like it's 2018 again for my family as well. We're going through the exact same emotions.

SCIUTTO: Goodness. I'm certain she's concerned about you, and as a parent, I can only imagine going through that twice. No one should have to go through it once. Tell me how you're -- as you reach out to friends there on campus, fellow classmates, how the student community is taking care of each other tonight.

WEISSMAN: Yes. So, so far, thankfully, all of the friends that I've reached out to and have reached out to me have been safe.

But, you know, a lot of them have actually been reaching out to me for advice on how to deal with something like this, which is crazy that I have that experience, the ability to do that. But, you know, I think everyone's been checking in with each other, making sure it's physically safe, and I think that aftermath is going to come soon after -- comes over.

SCIUTTO: Well, Zoe, I'm glad you're safe tonight. I'm sorry you've had to go through this trauma yet again. And please do con continue to stay safe. Because, as you know, there's still a shelter in place and that's for a reason. So, take care of yourself and thanks so much for joining.

WEISSMAN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Okay, we continue our breaking coverage of the shooting.

Still ahead, one reporter describes the scene at the site where survivors were reuniting with their families.

[03:25:04]

See you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: Welcome back to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta.

Back to our breaking news out of Providence, Rhode Island, where shooting at Brown University left two students dead and nine others injured as they prepare for final exams. The suspect remains on the run. One student tells CNN she was studying an engineering and physics building before hearing five or six gunshots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE SUN, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT (voice over): I was studying in Barus and Holley, which is the engineering building where I think the shooting happened. So, I was in the front area and I heard like multiple gunshots, like bangs coming from the back where the classrooms are. And I basically fled immediately, me and the other people that were studying there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Well, authorities described the suspect as a male estimated to be in his 30s. He was seen wearing dark clothing, in this video released by police.

More than 400 law enforcement officers responded to the scene. Officials are still telling residents to shelter in place, but the mayor says he's not recommending people cancel their weekend plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT SMILEY, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: We know there's a lot of fear and anxiety in the community right now. And we want folks to know that while it is the case that the shelter in place remains in effect for the broader brown community, that includes campus and the neighborhoods surrounding the campus, we are doing everything we can and we've been receiving tremendous assistance from our partners in law enforcement. The governor, under his leadership with the state police, has been terrific.

[03:30:00]

The FBI, the ATF and many communities around Rhode Island have assisted.

Additionally, Providence Fire has been deployed to venues of assembly. We know that this is a busy time. It's a Saturday night in the holiday season. And so you may see firefighters at the mall, at PPAC, at Roger Williams Park. And we don't want anyone to be concerned that there are any issues, but rather we want folks who are out in the community tonight to see a person in a position of authority and to feel safe in our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Earlier, CNN spoke of Carlos Munoz, a journalist with the Boston Globe, who was on the ground in the aftermath of the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARLOS MUNOZ, JOURNALIST, BOSTON GLOBE (voice over): When I got down there, there were, I would say, maybe a hundred police officers standing in the middle of the road with rifles and shields waiting for some news, I suppose, but also students who were coming out of the building. There were people looking out of the tower of the library building. And we talked to a couple of students who were actually inside one of the science labs, a PhD student, and he said he hid for two hours in his lab until police arrived. And then they had searched the lab for a suspect, which they didn't find.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): My understanding is that you at one point, were or may still be at a family reunification center, at a fitness center on the campus that's being used for that purpose to reunite some of these students with their parents. I mean, you were there. What was that like? I cannot imagine what it was like for both these parents and these children after experience such a horrifying afternoon.

MUNOZ: I am still here right now and, you know, it actually just started snowing now, which is the first snow we've had this year. And students are standing outside waiting to be reunited with their families. We just had two busloads full, city busloads full of Brown students who arrived and went inside. And there's still parents trickling in from all sides of the center who are looking for, you know, their kids.

And, you know, we've seen a couple walk out and some of them arm in arm with their parents just, you know, rushing to get out of there.

SANDOVAL: You know, for the last several hours we've heard from investigators, we've heard from authorities, from students. I'm wondering if you may be able to just provide some context about the community as viewers see this around the world. I mean, what should people know about not only Providence, Rhode Island, but also Brown University, which is very much a part of that city? It is literally built into that city.

MUNOZ: Brown is kind of the heart of Providence. College Hill is right next to downtown. There's a river separating it. And once you cross that river, you're on the Brown campus. Right next to you also the Rhode Island School of Design campus.

And students over here are extremely social. I mean, we constantly, in the summertime, see people out on the lawn. In the wintertime, you see people walking across the pedestrian bridge nearby. And they're just, you know, they're just being students and know one of the most, I guess, schools in the country just studying, and this week is final. So, you know, I think people are particularly just, you know, busy this week.

And usually the area where the campus is and where this shooting took place is a food area, in general. There's a lot of places to eat right there. And you'll see people walking around, but, today, it was completely chaos.

I mean, and the scene keeps getting bigger and bigger. I mean, from where we were, we were pushed back several blocks as the night went on, and now it's kind of expanded for several miles around the campus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Well, as the search for the gunman continues, this video of the suspect could provide vital clues. He's dressed in all black or dark clothing and is walking down a residential street.

CNN Senior National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem weighs in on the importance of releasing information about the suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: They have acknowledged though that unless you know him, you would not -- you're not going to be able to identify him. The goal of the release of this video would be family, girlfriend or someone close to them would say, oh, that looks exactly like the person I know from the back.

Universities are supposed to be open. You have lots of different pieces of a university. You have faculty, you have staff, you have students, you have grad students. You have their families all around the world.

[03:35:00]

Brown is an interesting university. I'm a parent of an alumni. It has that sort of quintessential New England feel of courtyards, but then it basically sprawls into the city and into Providence, including this building, which was close to campus, but you know, surrounded by private areas.

Look, we know the European countries have been in lockdown for long periods of time during massive terror attacks. We know Boston Marathon lockdown lasted 8, 10, 12 hours and then was released before one of the Tsarnaev brother was found in Maine after that massive shooting a few years ago. The community was under lockdown for three days. Look, at some stage, the benefits of the lockdown are outweighed by, I think, the trauma of the lockdown. And I suspect if they don't find him, you know, by noon or late morning tomorrow, they're going to have to start to get the kids moving, if not already, in terms of at least escorting them back to their rooms and then locking down the dorms.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: The White House is calling for prayers for the victims of the shooting. Here's President Trump's remarks on the situation shortly after he arrived at a White House on Saturday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: So, I've been fully briefed on the Brown University situation. What a terrible thing it is. And all we can do right now is pray for the victims and for those that were very badly hurt, it looks like. And we'll inform you later as to what's happening. But it's a shame. It's a shame. Just pray. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: The shooting is part of a disturbing trend happening here in the U.S.

Still ahead, we're looking at the big picture of mass shootings in the country and their growing number in recent years. See you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

HUNTE: Welcome back. As we continue to follow the deadly shooting at Brown University, we're also just getting word of another potential shooting incident in another part of the world. Police in Australia say they're responding to a developing incident at Sydney's Bondi Beach.

The Sydney Morning Herald says there are reports of multiple shots fired at the famed beach. Police are urging the public to avoid the area and advising anyone at the scene to take shelter. We'll bring you more on this developing story as we do get it.

More now on the other breaking news, we're following from Providence, Rhode Island, where at least two students have been killed after a shooting at Brown University. Nine other students were injured and the university's president says one of them has been treated and released from hospitals. So, that's some good news.

A manhunt is still underway for the shooter who is believed to have fled on foot. Police have released this video of the suspect, which shows him near the scene, but doesn't show his face. Officials say he opened fire inside a seven-storey building that houses classrooms and lab space. Authorities are now investigating why that building was targeted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF OSCAR L. PEREZ, PROVIDENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT: That's something that we need to look at, right? Why was this building? Why was this classroom? And as well work very closely with ground police to see what type of resources they have in the building so that we can utilize to find the evidence that we need to follow and identify who this individual was.

REPORTER: One quick follow-up, when you look at that video --

PEREZ: Yes.

REPORTER: -- he's going right down Waterman, comes up Hope Waterman, what does that tell you? He seems fairly calm. He's not running. He's walking at a brisk pace. Your background, what does that tell you about this suspect?

PEREZ: I tell you this individual, so you see it nationwide, you never think it would happen here in the city of Providence, but that's the dynamic actions that they do. And it's exactly what you saw and it's something that we have to investigate further to figure out who this individual was. But we'll take that into account.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Emergency officials took part in a joint training session just a few months ago. The Brown University Police chief says the training included university and local police. It also included fire and rescue officials. The university's police chief says it prepared them for an urgent response to Saturday's mass shooting.

The United States has seen 389 mass shootings this year alone. That's according to the Gun Violence Archive. CNN and the GVA define a mass shooting as one that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter.

In the first year of the pandemic, the -- when schools were closed, there was a major decline in gun violence on school grounds. However, that number has now steadily increased year over year. CNN cross checks the reports of school shootings against school and police accounts, as well as media reports.

This Saturday, a mass shooting at Brown University is Rhode Island's first school shooting since 2008. There have been at least 75 school shootings so far this year, including the one at Brown. 43 of those were on college campuses. In all of those incidents, at least 31 people were killed. More than 100 others were injured too.

An ambush in Syria killed two U.S. soldiers and a civilian interpreter on Saturday. Still ahead, the latest on how President Trump is responding to alleged ISIS attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

Faster.

HUNTE: Authorities in Rhode Island have released this video of the suspect after a gunman killed two students and injured nine others at Brown University. The school's president says one of the injured has been treated and released. The suspect is seen walking down the street wearing dark clothing. His face is not visible. He's estimated to be in his 30s, and a professor told The New York Times the shooting started to unfold in a classroom during a final exam review session.

President Trump is vowing very serious retaliation after two U.S. soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in an ambush in Syria. U.S. Central Command and the Department of Defense say the attack was carried out by a lone ISIS gunman who also wounded three other people on Saturday. According to the Pentagon, the soldiers were operating as part of a regional counterterrorism support mission. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has since confirmed the attacker was killed by partner forces. So far, ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

Iowa's governor has confirmed the two soldiers killed as well as the three others injured were all members of the state's National Guard. Their identities are set to be released later on Sunday.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is at the White House with more on the Trump administration's reaction to the deadly incident.

JULIEA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While speaking with reporters here at the White House, President Donald Trump said that he is mourning the lives lost In this attack. Two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed. Trump referred to this attack as an ambush. He said that it was an ISIS attack against both the United States and Syria. He also promised retaliation. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We will retaliate, but this was an ISIS attack on us and Syria. And, again, we mourn the lost and we pray for them and their parents and their loved ones, very, very sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Just moments after he made those remarks, Trump reiterated that point. He said that there would be, quote, very serious retaliation. He also said that this attack took place in a dangerous part of Syria, part that is not fully controlled by them, and that the Syrian president was angered by this attack.

Now, according to Syria's official National News Agency, the U.S. soldiers came under fire during a joint patrol with Syrian forces and a U.S. helicopter intervened to help evacuate the wounded.

Now, I want to pull up a statement. This is from Sean Purnell, he's the chief spokesperson at the Pentagon, to add some more context. He said, quote, the attack occurred as the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement. Their mission was in support of ongoing counter ISIS, counterterrorism operations in the region. The soldiers' names, as well as identifying information about their units are being withheld until 24 hours after the next of kin notification.

[03:50:03]

This attack is currently under active investigation.

In another post, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the attacker was killed by partner forces. He went on to say, let it be known, if you target Americans anywhere in the world, you will spend the rest of your brief anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you down, find you and ruthlessly kill you. So, you have the president of the United States as well as the secretary of defense promising some form of action in response to this.

Julia Benbrook, CNN, the White House.

HUNTE: In the coming hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with western leaders in Berlin for the latest round of peace talks. Among those in attendance will be U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff. They'll be joined by European and Ukrainian delegations for further discussions of the U.S.-backed plan for ending the war.

The German chancellor will then host a summit with European leaders and Mr. Zelenskyy in Berlin on Monday.

Thailand says, fighting with Cambodia is spreading despite a ceasefire brokered earlier this year by President Trump. Thailand and Cambodia have been exchanging fire at several points along their disputed border since Monday.

On Saturday, Thailand declared a curfew in coastal regions and said its forces destroyed a bridge used by Cambodia to move heavy weapons. Cambodia accused Thailand of striking civilian infrastructure. On Friday, Mr. Trump said both sides had agreed to stop fighting. But on Saturday, Thailand's caretaker prime minister disputed that claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANUTIN CHARNVIRAKU, THAI CARETAKER PRIME MINISTER: There have been no ceasefire talks. No agreements were made. It was just to update the situation only in which I reiterated that on the border, the conflict between both countries, the two countries would -- well, Thailand would have to proceed to protect its sovereignty and its people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Severe winter storms in Gaza have killed at least 14 people, including 3 children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Many families living in tents and makeshift shelters have been overwhelmed by flooding and exposure. After two years of war, Gaza's drainage infrastructure has been crippled and many buildings rendered uninhabitable.

Oxfam accuses Israel of blocking access to critical equipment and supplies, and that's a claim that Israel has rejected.

Another wave of arctic air is set to sweep across much of the Northern U.S. in the coming days. Dangerously cold temperatures are expected to send some states plunging to new record lows for this time of the year.

CNN's Allison Chinchar brings us the latest forecast.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: More than 70 percent of the US population is expected to see temperatures either at or below freezing at some point over the next seven days, although most of them it's likely going to be in the next 48 hours. All of this blue color you see here is where that extreme cold is. And we're not just talking a couple of degrees below normal, in some cases, these areas or 10 or even 15 degrees below where they normally would be this time of year.

Now, we are going to start to see some of those temperatures rebound by midweek, especially across the Midwest. So, you see Minneapolis, Chicago, and St. Louis, bitter cold still on Sunday and even into Monday. But by the time we get to Tuesday, those temperatures do finally start to warm back up.

Now for the northeast, you will also see them rebound. It's just going to be a bit more of a delayed effect and adding about an extra day or two before you start to see those temperatures jumping back closer to normal. As we mentioned, it's a pretty big difference in the temperatures. So, that's not just -- again, not just five or ten degrees, but even colder than that, which means a lot of these areas could even break some potential records. All of these dots you see here on the map have the potential to break a record temperature because of how cold it is as we finish out the rest of the weekend. It also means if you have some outdoor plans, it is going to be brutally cold, not just from the temperatures, but also taking into account the very gusty winds in a lot of these places.

Take for example, the Chicago Bears game against the Cleveland Browns at kickoff is at 12:00 P.M. on Sunday local time. At the time of kickoff, the temperature will be eight degrees. But when you factor in the wind, it's going to feel like minus eight. And even though it will be warming, sort of, as we go into the afternoon, those temperatures really aren't going to get that much warmer even by the end of the game.

Another thing to note is the Chicago area is going to get snow through the overnight hours tonight and into the early morning, which means if you're going to the game, there's likely still going to be some snow around the area, and it's all from this clipper system.

Now, by the time we get to around 5:00 to 7:00 A.M. on Sunday morning, most of that snow is right there along the eastern seaboard. So, it will have wrapped up in portions of the Midwest, still kind of lingering across the northeast, at least through the late morning hours. And then finally that system begins to exit out over the open Atlantic. But you may still have some of those lake-effect bands that are still kind of lingering throughout much of the day on Sunday.

[03:55:05]

In total, once the system finally exits, this is what we are looking at in terms of snow accumulation. Again, you'll see a couple inches right through there in Chicago, most of these areas, about one to three inches total. The darker purple, that's where you could see three, four, or even five inches of snow. And the pink area here, especially in those higher elevations, not out of the question to pick up six to even ten inches of snow.

HUNTE: Scary moments for passengers onboard a United Airlines flight leaving Washington, D.C. The flight was supposedly spotted releasing fuel over Dale City, Virginia. Officials say the jet was headed to Tokyo on Saturday when it lost power in one of its engines during takeoff. The plane was forced to make an urgent return to Washington Dulles International Airport, but that triggered a fire that burned brush along the runway.

Officials say the fire was put out and the plane landed safely. No injuries reported from the 290 passengers and crew on board.

College football, the most prestigious individual award was presented on Saturday to Indiana's Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza helped lead Indiana to an undefeated perfect season. The Hoosiers quarterback beat out Ohio State's quarterback Julian Sayin and Notre Dame's running back Jeremiyah Love, as well as Vanderbilt's quarterback Diego Pavia.

During his acceptance speech, Mendoza thanked his teammates for helping him along the way. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FERNANDO MENDOZA, HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER: Congrats to all my teammates, my brothers. This is our trophy. I love you guys more than you know.

This trophy might have my name on it, but it belongs to all of you. It belongs the first time in Bloomington. Playing in front of Hoosier Nation is one of the greatest privileges of my life, and I'll carry that forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: All right. That's all I've got for you for now. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. I'll be back with so much more news after this quick break.

See you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:00:00]