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Trump DOJ Released Epstein Files, Including Photos and Court Documents; Brown University Shooting Suspect Died from Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound; Investigation Seeking Motive in Brown University, MIT Killings; Atmospheric River Shifting South to Target California; Strong Winds and Dry Air Could Fuel Fires in Colorado; U.S. Strikes Targets inside Syria Tied to ISIS; Australian Prime Minister Declares Sunday a National Day of Reflection; Period Drama Going Strong on Jane Austen's 250th Birthday; Alabama Beats Oklahoma, Advances to Rose Bowl. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired December 20, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Survivors united in anger over the latest document dropped from the Department of Justice. We'll look at what's been included and what's been left out of the Epstein files.
Plus new details about the suspect in the deadly Brown University shooting. Now investigators are tracking his movements days after he died by suicide.
And as windy weather rips through much of the country, one state is on high alert. We'll go to Colorado, where people have been warned about an unprecedented fire threat.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber
BRUNHUBER: The deadline has passed but the Department of Justice hasn't released all of the documents from the Epstein investigation as they were ordered to last month.
It appears, at least after early reviews, to include no smoking guns and relatively few major revelations. But there are many more files that have not been released and Democrats are slamming the Department of Justice for not releasing all of the files. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GARCIA, RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: This is absolutely breaking the law. I mean, they have not produced, actually, what they were required to do, which was all the files by today in a way that was searchable for the public and that is not what's the case.
What we have essentially is one, we have a group of documents that have already been released to the public and so there's -- could be even more than half of the documents we're reviewing right now have already been released that already does not count for new information.
Then we have of what is appears to be new, including some photos and other documents those are highly redacted and we don't really have any explanation as to why they've been redacted or what is actually there in those documents and so we have right now are what we're seeing is not transparency.
This is not what the law passed. This does not meet the subpoena that the Oversight Committee has in place.
What it is, it is defying the Congress and, quite frankly, defying what the president signed into law in releasing all of these files.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: All right. So have a look at this. This is what those redactions look like, big black marks covering information that the Justice Department decided shouldn't be revealed.
The department says it's trying to protect innocent people mentioned in the files. The deputy attorney general insists it's not a cover up to protect president Trump or anyone else. Here he is.
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TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: There's no effort to hold anything back because there's the name Donald J. Trump or anybody else's name, Bill Clinton's name, Reid Hoffman's name.
There's no effort to hold back or not hold back because of that and so but again, we're not redacting the names of famous men and women that are associated with Epstein.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The files do include newly released photos of former president Bill Clinton. They show him in a Jacuzzi and a pool, as well as with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
A Clinton spokesperson says the former president didn't know about Epstein's crimes and cut off the relationship before those crimes came to light.
CNN's MJ Lee is one of our journalists who's been combing through Epstein files and she has more on the documents and the redactions.
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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: As we are going through these thousands and thousands of pages of documents and photos to try to figure out what's new, what's significant, are there people of interest that we should be taking note of?
This is just a partial release of the so-called Epstein files from the DOJ. And what's interesting is that Todd Blanche has essentially informed Congress, as of this afternoon, that this is happening in this way because of the sheer volume of the documents that we are talking about.
And what he essentially communicated is that we needed more time to figure out what information needed to be redacted, including on some information that the agency got recently.
Now one thing that is interesting is that he made clear in this communication to Congress that they made a decision to withhold and redact information that goes beyond what is stated in the law.
And just as a reminder, what is stated in the law is that there are five categories of information that can be redacted.
That includes identifying information about the victims. And just scrolling through these documents, you can tell, you know, there are photos, where there is a black box over a woman's face. That clearly falls under that category.
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But there are other examples as well, like child sex abuse, anything that shows physical abuse, anything that could hurt an ongoing investigation, something that could hurt national security.
But the fact that there are going to be more documents coming out on a rolling basis and that so many redactions, again, beyond what the law originally stated, is going to have huge political ramifications.
And I also think we should talk about the ramifications that that is going to have on the survivors, because one of the things that the survivors are very much looking for in a big picture way, as they go through these files, is a sense of a better understanding of why some of these internal decisions over the course of many years were made.
Including, you know, what charges did the department decide to not bring on certain people?
What were the decision making processes that took place over the course of many years that they've never gotten the answer to?
So this is going to be a long-running process. And I can tell you with certainty that survivors are not going to be happy about what they are going to see as, still, the continued lack of transparency here.
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BRUNHUBER: So as MJ explained, the trove of documents is incomplete, oddly redacted and, in many cases, lacks context. It did, however, include some revelations about a complaint made to the FBI by one of Epstein's victims, Maria Farmer.
Now that complaint from 1996 accuses Epstein of stealing nude photos of Maria's underage sisters. And it underscores the fact that Epstein had been on the radar of law enforcement years before he faced any charges.
CNN spoke with Annie Farmer, Maria's sister, about the newly released files and the challenges survivors face as they dig through them.
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ANNIE FARMER, MARIA'S SISTER: You see it in writing and to know that they had this document this entire time ...
And how many people were harmed after that date?
It just, you know, we've been saying it over and over but to see it in black and white that way has been very emotional. And with I'm with Maria today.
I know she felt a tremendous amount of relief and redemption but also sorrow in thinking about, you know, people like Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who are not here to see this and be a part of, of really forcing the government to be transparent, finally, about this case.
I still have big questions about whether it was, you know, did they not take it seriously or were they protecting Epstein because of whatever relationship he had with the government?
Right, like there's just so many questions and why we hope for, again, more transparency. But yes, this is really, really significant to many of us.
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BRUNHUBER: President Trump spoke in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Friday night, where he touted his economic accomplishments and insisted the economy is improving. He also repeated his call that the government should give money for health care directly to Americans, rather than funding subsidies for insurance coverage. Here he is.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Let the money not go to the insurance companies. The problem is the Democrats were shut down the government because they are totally beholden and so simple, the money should go to the people.
The people should then take all of this money and buy the best health care there is. I took office last January. I inherited a mess and very simply, I'm fixing it. Joe Biden gave us the worst inflation in the history of our country.
One year ago, our country was dead. Now we are the hottest country anywhere in the world, because we finally have a president who puts America first. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: At that rally, Trump also claimed credit for cooling inflation. Now the latest Consumer Price Index report indicates that it's slowed. But economists warn that the government shutdown likely impacted the data, making it potentially unreliable.
Ballistic evidence shows that Claudio Neves Valente was responsible for both the shooting at Brown University, where two people were killed, and the death of a professor at MIT.
The Rhode Island attorney general made that confirmation after the body of the suspect was found in a self-storage facility in New Hampshire on Thursday. Former classmates described Neves Valente as brilliant but arrogant and difficult. His motives are still unclear. CNN's Danny Freeman has more.
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MAYOR BRETT SMILEY, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: Our Providence neighbors can finally breathe a little easier.
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, relief across New England as two manhunts come to a dramatic close.
The man suspected of opening fire on a Brown University classroom and killing an MIT professor, identified as 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, found dead Thursday evening in a storage facility in New Hampshire with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
CHIEF OSCAR PEREZ JR. PROVIDENCE POLICE: It was all about groundwork, public assistance, interviews of individuals and good old-fashioned policing.
FREEMAN (voice-over): After hundreds of tips and several leads, police got two big breaks.
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First, a Reddit post flagged to investigators, which read in part, "I'm being dead serious. The police need to look into a gray Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental. That was the car he was driving."
Then this person, who investigators said was in proximity to their suspect on the day of the shooting, came forward with key details, including information about the suspect's voice, his appearance, his car.
And even a confrontation where the man asked the suspect, "Your car is back there, why are you circling the block?" according to a police affidavit.
PETER NERONHA, RHODE ISLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL: I remember last night watching his interview and he blew this case right open. He blew it open. FREEMAN (voice-over): Once they had the description of the man and the rental car, pieces started to fall into place, including a connection to the murder of MIT professor Nuno Loureiro outside of Boston.
LEAH B. FOLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS: There is a video footage of him entering an apartment building in the location of the professor's apartment.
FREEMAN (voice-over): The car was eventually found abandoned in New Hampshire, a storage facility where the suspected shooter rented multiple units.
NERONHA: There was evidence that was observed from outside the car that matched our crime scenes, meaning mask, clothing, satchel, which you can see on that video.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Inside one of the units, authorities recovered two 9 millimeter Glocks, high capacity magazines and a bulletproof vest.
The suspected shooter was a Portuguese national who once went to Brown more than two decades ago but didn't graduate and who studied at the same Portuguese university when the slain MIT professor was there. But it's unclear if the two knew each other.
Law enforcement officials tell CNN they do believe, though, the suspected shooter targeted Loureiro but do not believe he specifically targeted any of the victims of the Brown University shooting. But Providence's mayor telling CNN Friday they're not done searching for a motive.
SMILEY: We won't give up in trying to answer those questions. I think the Providence community, the Brown community really needs to know that in order to get true closure.
FREEMAN: Now one last thing that I'll add late on Friday, we actually got word that the suspect here Neves Valente, actually apparently died back on Tuesday, December 16th.
That's according to an estimation from the New Hampshire chief medical examiners office, which means that this suspect was dead, potentially for two days before police found him on Thursday evening -- Danny Freeman, CNN, Providence, Rhode Island.
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BRUNHUBER: Now we're learning more about how that suspect in Brown University shooting entered the country legally. In a post on social media, Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem said Claudio Neves Valente used the diversity visa lottery program to enter the U.S. in 2017 and was given a green card.
Then went on to say this, quote, "heinous individual should have never been allowed into that country. That program is now suspended." This comes as president Trump on Friday touted his new gold card visa
program. By paying $1 million foreigners can fast-track their visa applications. Businesses can also fast-track applications for employees by paying $2 million.
Trump's Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, says the program has generated more than $1 billion in just a few days and Trump says this is benefiting the U.S. Here he is.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: That's a -- essentially, it's the green card on steroids. And it's a pathway. And it's been an amazing thing.
And as you know, millions of people pour into our country from the border and not anymore, they don't. And now, when they come in, have to pay $1 million. And we've had a tremendous surge. And you're going to be happier than anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: There's rain and snow on the West Coast, while intense winds blow across the East. We'll have the latest U.S. weather forecast after the break.
Plus wind gusts of up to 100 miles an hour, paired with dry air, leads to the issuing of a rare, particularly dangerous fire alert in Colorado. That story and much more straight ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): It was a windy night in New York. Have a look at this crane spinning at a construction site during a wind advisory. Gusts of up to 50 miles an hour were forecast. The area was temporarily closed to cars and people as a precaution.
It wasn't just the Big Apple. More than 70 million people from Maine to North Carolina were under wind alerts on Friday.
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BRUNHUBER: On the West Coast, rain and windy conditions from the Pacific Northwest are moving south into California. Up to 10 inches of rain could fall over the next week, while mountainous areas could see an additional three feet of snow.
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BRUNHUBER: Colorado was on high alert Friday as dangerous wind gusts blew into the area. The Storm Prediction Center upgraded its fire weather forecast to extremely critical, its most severe level. More than 600,000 people in Colorado and Wyoming were under the alert.
Now the rare situation was driven by a combination of gusts up to 100 miles an hour, extremely dry air and near-record warmth. The fear is that fires would start and spread quickly and uncontrollably and wind strength would made suppression efforts difficult. Grass fires in Yuma County already for some residents to evacuate this week.
And joining me now is Jennifer Stark. She's the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service forecast office In Boulder, Colorado.
Thanks so much for being here early with us this morning. It looks like we got through Friday without a major fire. But you had 112-mile- per-hour gusts and conditions that match what we saw the day a deadly fire a couple of years ago happened.
I mean, how close a call was this?
JENNIFER STARK, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE, BOULDER, COLORADO: I'll tell you, we were really on the edge of our seats here at the weather forecast office in Boulder, Kim.
We were really nervous about the potential for another widespread fire event, given the extreme winds that we experienced. We had wind gusts measured at 112 miles per hour in Boulder County and we really haven't had much snowfall, so we were quite concerned.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And I understand this was the first time Colorado ever saw one of these particularly dangerous situation warnings for fire weather.
Now that we're on the other side of it, I mean, walk us through what made you decide to issue that warning?
STARK: So after the Marshall fire, which happened December 30th, 2021, it spread into communities in Lewisville and Superior and destroyed over 1,000 homes and many businesses.
And we really wanted to raise awareness, heightened -- for heightened fire weather conditions. So we started including that wording, PDS, "particularly dangerous situation," to our red flag warnings to really get people -- people's attention.
Make preparations, be ready to evacuate quickly if needed. If a wildfire were to start with these types of winds, it would be almost impossible to stop.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, a couple of people died in that Marshall fire as well as, you know. So the power company shut off electricity to tens of thousands of people to prevent sparks from downed lines. Some people went, you know, more than 24 hours without heat, without hot water. Many still don't have it.
I mean, it's so inconvenient for so many people. But we've seen in places, you know, I've seen firsthand in California the devastation that happens when the power isn't shut off in these windy conditions.
Right?
STARK: Absolutely. And you know, we had multiple trees come down and those bring down elevated power lines. We had power poles snapped. And that brings down lines. If they're active, they're immediately going to start a fire. And it can spread very quickly when it's driven by 80, 90, 100 mile per hour wind gusts.
So we did work with the power companies to share our knowledge about the weather conditions. They have a team of meteorologists. They know their equipment. So they're best poised to make that decision. But we're happy to work with them and share our knowledge about the weather.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, it -- just curious. I mean, you know, it's -- we're talking about wildfires here in December. I mean, is that the, you know, this level of fire danger the new normal for Colorado?
STARK: Well, I think it really depends on -- each season's very different. As you mentioned, in 2021, with the Marshall fire, we had had no snow leading up to that fire season. We were in a similar situation here this December and throughout the fall with only a little bit of snowfall in Denver in early December.
That's all gone now. It's all evaporated, melted out and fuels are now cured again. So I think every season we need to be really cognizant of what has happened with the precipitation leading up to these wind events.
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Some wind events may not be as big of an issue if we've had antecedent precipitation and snowfall or if there's snow cover on the ground. So I think every event bears watching.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And certainly many fear that, with climate change, drier conditions will lead to more situations like the potential for what we're seeing now.
So looking ahead here for folks who are now getting their power back and so on, trying to regroup, I mean, what should they be watching for in the days ahead?
Is the danger gone?
STARK: For now, I would say it is. For now, we are expecting a return to warm temperatures. Still dry weather. We don't expect another wind event in the near future. I think we're going to have dry conditions and not a white Christmas here in Boulder or Denver or anywhere on the plains of northeast Colorado.
And if we do get another wind event, we will have to be aware of conditions and fire concerns again.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Well, it's -- certainly hope folks can stay safe, especially around the holidays. Really appreciate your insights on this. Jennifer Stark, thank you so much.
STARK: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Well, the Justice Department has released thousands of documents from its Jeffrey Epstein files but there are thousands more that haven't been released. And there are also many unanswered questions. We'll have the latest just ahead.
Plus, the U.S. launches strikes in Syria. President Trump says it's retaliation. We'll look at what we know about the attacks coming up next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's check some of today's top stories.
Donald Trump's Department of Justice has released thousands of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files. Many are heavily redacted with blackened-out pages and many more haven't been released. Democrats and some Republicans are slamming the Department of Justice for not releasing all of them.
President Trump spoke at a rally in North Carolina Friday night. He touted his economic accomplishments and claimed credit for a recent report that found inflation cooling.
Trump also repeated his call to send health care money directly to citizens instead of funding insurance subsidies.
Investigators say ballistics and DNA evidence confirm that Claudio Neves Valente was responsible for both the Brown University shootings and the death of an MIT professor.
The suspect, who took his own life, attended the same academic program as the professor in their native Portugal and later studied at Brown University. A motive hasn't been identified.
BRUNHUBER: All right, now back to our top story, the newly released Epstein files. Entire pages are redacted and the Justice Department withheld more information than it was supposed to.
Republican Thomas Massie said the partial release, quote, "grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law."
Some survivors also expressed frustration as they struggled to find information about their own cases. CNN's senior legal analyst Elie Honig breaks down the latest release and the new questions it raises.
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ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there's a lot of stuff there. Let's start with that, right. There are hundreds of thousands of documents. But I think the two biggest questions that I had remain unresolved.
The first one is, are there other people who could be charged criminally who engaged in this crime with Jeffrey Epstein and with Ghislaine Maxwell, who have not yet been charged?
I don't think we have an answer to that still, as of this point.
And then the second big question, which I don't think this document production answers is, why was Jeffrey Epstein given that sweetheart deal by federal prosecutors in Florida back in 2007?
We did learn from this document disclosure that he had several victims coming forward, going to the FBI, going to prosecutors as far back as the 1990s. Yet those prosecutors in 2007, 2008 chose to give him a state-level plea, where he only did 13 months, much of it on work release. And that's another big question that, in my view, remains outstanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. has struck a number of targets in Syria linked to ISIS. One official tells CNN the strikes hit dozens of targets, including infrastructure and weapons caches. President Trump says the strikes are retaliation for an attack that killed two American service members and a civilian interpreter on December 13th.
The gunman who killed the troops was part of Syria's internal security service. Syria says it's steadfast in its commitment to fighting ISIS. But the gunman's connection to ISIS aren't clear and the group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau is following developments from Rome.
So Barbie, take us through the latest on those U.S. strikes.
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, we know that there were about 70 targets hit. These were infrastructure, as you said, weapons caches. We also know that there were detentions and deaths.
Now one of the things that the U.S. Trump administration has been clear to say that this was not an act of war. It was an act of vengeance. This Operation Hawkeye, as it was called, because the two service members were from the U.S. state of Iowa, which is known as the Hawkeye State. It was deemed as successful.
Let's listen to what president Trump had to say about it
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I ordered a massive strike on the terrorists that killed our three great patriots last week. Two soldiers, one interpreter, all great people. And it was very successful. It was precision. We hit every site flawlessly. And we are restoring peace through strength all over the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NADEAU: And you know, Kim, when you listen to that confidence, it would -- it would suggest that that this is over now. But it's unclear whether this is just the end of the beginning of some surge or the beginning of the end of relative peace in the region. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, certainly an important question.
And in terms of the political fallout in Syria, what does that look like?
NADEAU: Well, it's an incredibly difficult time right now. Of course, the Syrian president, president of the new regime there, was just in the United States at the White House a month ago. And they just signed on to this U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.
So when you've got a lone gunman, as he's been being described right now, who was part of -- certainly part of the -- suggested to be part of the security and intelligence.
It really begs the question whether there are more people out there, more of these lone gunmen or lone perpetrators who have sympathy to ISIS and who are not on board with Syria, joining up with the U.S. to fight ISIS.
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So the situation is incredibly important for the United States. Donald Trump has promised peace in the region, peace in the Middle East. And any fissure in that peace doesn't bode well anywhere across the region. Kim
BRUNHUBER: Barbie Nadeau in Rome, thank you so much.
The U.N. secretary general speaking out about the ongoing problems facing Gaza. Here he is.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: It breaks my heart to see the ongoing scale of human suffering in Gaza. Families are enduring the unendurable. Children are forced to sleep in flooded tents.
Buildings already battered by bombardment are collapsing under the weight of rain and wind, claiming more civilian lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Despite that dire assessment, a U.N.-backed monitoring group says an influx of humanitarian aid means Gaza is no longer experiencing a manmade famine. But they say most people are still facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
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A special envoy for Russian president Vladimir Putin is expected in Miami for more talks with the U.S. on Ukraine. A Russian source told CNN Friday that Kirill Dmitriev was on his way to the U.S. to be briefed on revised proposals to end the war.
A Ukrainian delegation wrapped up its own talks with the U.S. and European negotiators in Miami on Friday and they've agreed to continue diplomatic work. Meanwhile, Ukraine says it struck a tanker linked to Russia in the Mediterranean for the first time.
A security source says a drone hit the vessel belonging to the so- called shadow fleet, which helps Moscow evade sanctions on its oil exports. In his annual end-of-year news conference, Russian president Vladimir Putin said Moscow has done its share of compromising to achieve peace in Ukraine.
He said he practically agreed to U.S. president Donald Trump's proposals during their summit in Alaska in August. Putin says the ball is now in the court of Ukraine and its allies.
Tributes continue to pour in as Australia mourns a deadly tragedy. The prime minister has declared Sunday a national day of reflection. We'll go live to Sydney after the break. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, you're looking at a show of unity in Australia after a tragedy that killed more than a dozen people. A group of surf lifesavers lined Sydney's Bondi Beach earlier, honoring the victims of last week's shooting.
Meanwhile, police are executing search warrants to learn more about the attack. Investigators say the alleged attackers, a father and son, were driven by Islamic State ideology. The father was killed by police. The son survived and is charged with 15 counts of murder and dozens of counts of attempted murder.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has declared Sunday an official day of reflection. He's encouraging Australians to light a candle at 6:46 pm, marking the attack's one-week anniversary.
And joining me now from Sydney is Daniel Lo Surdo, a breaking news reporter for "The Sydney Morning Herald." Thanks so much for being here with us.
So as we mark almost a week since the attack, now, what are investigators focusing on right now as they try to piece together exactly how this happened?
DANIEL LO SURDO, "THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD": Yes. Hi, Kim. Investigators are focusing, I suppose, on all the circumstances that have led to Sunday's terror attack.
Earlier this week, they charged the surviving gunman, Naveed Akram, with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of murder, to reflect the 15 victims killed on Sunday and one count of engaging in a terrorism act.
From here, it's about liaising with law authorities from across the world, especially in the Philippines. Those two men, the gunmen, were in the Philippines for almost the entirety of last month before returning to Sydney from Manila.
So there's a big push there to liaise with those Filipino authorities to understand what they were doing in the Philippines, if they were engaging in activities which related to Sunday's terror attack and just seeing and understanding all the circumstances which led to this devastating attack.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And one of the things I imagine they're looking at is, you know, authorities looked at Naveed Akram back in 2019 over his alleged ties to an ISIS cell. But then they closed the case.
So where are they now in terms of answering questions about how someone on their radar ended up involved in the deadliest terror attack the country has seen?
LO SURDO: Yes, there's a lot of unanswered questions at the moment. Authorities are naturally vowing to leave no stone unturned. But you're right there, Kim.
Our ASIO, the spy agency here in Australia, did look at Naveed Akram several years ago for his association with an ISIS cell. Following that investigation, they granted the gun license to his father, Sajid, who held six rifles in his suburban Sydney home because of his affiliation with a recreational gun club.
So a lot of questions to be answered by those national security authorities as to how both Naveed Akram was still on the streets and being unmonitored, despite his affiliation with those Islamic State figureheads.
And also how, following that, Sajid Akram, his father, was allowed to purchase so many guns which were used in this attack.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Let me ask you about the guns. You talked about that.
I mean, how is that sitting with people there in Australia?
Because, I mean, the country has such strict gun laws. And take us through what the government is actually proposing to do about it
LO SURDO: Yes. You're right, Kim. As you may know already, following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, Australia, the then-prime minister, John Howard, introduced a suite of gun reforms to curb the number of firearms on the streets in the property of Australians.
He banned, for example, semi-automatic rifles and rifles which can be used for, you know, the mass killing of a population.
But you're right, there's been outrage about the fact that Sajid Akram could hold six firearms in a suburban Sydney home there. You know, the consensus here in Australia is there is no reason why someone living in the suburbs needs that many guns.
And the response has been swift. Prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced a gun buyback scheme to replicate what was initiated almost 30 years ago. That will -- this scheme will work to collect and destroy hundreds of thousands of guns, which will be banned under new legislation coming forward.
In New South Wales, that's the state in which Bondi and Sydney is located, there'll be legislation introduced into parliament on Monday to restrict the number of firearms, a maximum amount of firearms, to four guns per person. So that will bring it down from what was in place.
And, of course, if Sajid Akram was still alive today, he wouldn't be allowed to have his six firearms that he used on Sunday under those new laws.
BRUNHUBER: I want to turn to the victims. I mean, you've been speaking to some of the victims' families.
What are you hearing from them about how they're coping?
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And is there a sense of anger about how this was all allowed to happen?
LO SURDO: Yes, it's been naturally out of utter devastation over the past week. We've seen several of these 15 victims now laid to rest.
That includes 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest victim of the terror attack, and 87-year-old Alex Kleytman, who was a Holocaust survivor, who came to Australia when he was young from the then-USSR and sadly was killed on Sunday.
So there has been a lot of anger. The problem and the scourge of anti- Semitism in this country has been alive and well over the past two years, since October 7th. There's been a rising incidence of anti- Semitic incidents.
So there's a lot of anger in the Jewish community but also the community at large that, you know, there was very active commentary and concern about anti-Semitic incidents. And there was messaging that this could, you know, such behavior could result in violence.
And we've seen it on Sunday. And yes, there's a lot of people in the community who are very upset with the federal government and governments at large's (sic) failure to act on this earlier and to potentially prevent something like we saw on Sunday.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. You talk about hate and anger but we've also seen the opposite. We've seen an outpouring of love and admiration; the hero bystander who wrestled a rifle off of Sajid Akram, I mean, there's been so much goodwill and money pouring in from around the world.
LO SURDO: You're right. Ahmed al Ahmed is that man, the hero bystander who ambushed and wrestled a rifle off Sajid Akram, forcing him to retreat back toward the bridge where they began the assault.
Yes. You're right. He received his $2.5 million check from over 43,000 donors from his hospital bed earlier this week. And it was a really lovely video. You can see he's very grateful for the support.
Maybe he was grateful for the support as much as he was the cash. And he issued a rallying cry. He asked everyone to stand together and to stand in unity against such evil acts. And he also declared, just cheekily, that Australia was the best country in the world.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And we'll see a lot of that standing together on Sunday on that day of reflection. I'm sure so much emotion, from so many people who've been affected by this throughout the country.
Daniel Lo Surdo, thank you so much for speaking with us. Really appreciate it.
LO SURDO: Pleasure. Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Police say three people were killed and at least 11 injured in a knife attack in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, on Friday.
The premier says a man let off smoke bombs at a train station, then attacked people as he ran to a subway station. Local news video shows him throwing canisters on a busy street before walking toward a shopping mall, carrying a large knife, where customers rushed to get to safety.
The suspect had an outstanding warrant for evasion of Taiwan's compulsory military service. Police say he acted alone and died when he fell from a building during a chase after the attack.
We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) BRUNHUBER: When Colin Firth cooled off with a swim in the BBC's
"Pride and Prejudice" 30 years ago, the Mr. Darcy actor charged up a new interest in period drama. With the recent celebration of the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birthday, the trend is only getting stronger. CNN's Ivana Scatola looks at some dramatic moments.
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IVANA SCATOLA, CNN INTERNATIONAL SENIOR REPORTER (voice-over): Jane Austen didn't write this scene this way.
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SCATOLA (voice-over): But Mr. Darcy's impromptu swim in the BBC adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" 30 years ago would make the world swoon and earn actor Colin Firth and his linen shirt a place in the cultural canon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): If you read interviews with the makers, they were not at all expecting this moment to kind of take off like it did. But it's such an intimate, vulnerable moment for him as well. While being quite sexy, it's a very potent combination.
SCATOLA (voice-over): Today, this iconic scene inspires comic takes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me, parents are in good health.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SCATOLA (voice-over): TikTok commentary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was like the 2024 equivalent of being seen in like a thong Speedo.
SCATOLA (voice-over): And just like this scene in the Netflix series, "Bridgerton."
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SCATOLA (voice-over): But the scene could have looked quite different.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The producers of that scene did their research about how someone of Mr. Darcy's standing, what would he have done if he wants to dive into a lake in his own house?
And basically he would have gone in naked. But Colin Firth, as far as I understand, wasn't up for that. So I'm sorry, Colin Firth fans.
SCATOLA (voice-over): The result: a sexual tension we're now used to seeing in period scenes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The emotional yearning that is so much a part of Austen adaptations is really beautifully encapsulated in that moment. SCATOLA (voice-over): There was an explosion of Austin adaptations at
that time but it's "Pride and Prejudice" that may have the most enduring legacy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No Austen adaptations since can kind of avoid working in its shadow.
SCATOLA (voice-over): Future works followed its example, using moments when characters are not properly composed to humanize their romantic leads.
The 2005 Hollywood take on "Pride and Prejudice" shows a disheveled Darcy when he first proposes to Elizabeth.
The 2020 version of Austen's "Emma" has Mr. Knightley throwing off his clothes, suggesting what's going on beneath his buttoned-up exterior.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Clothing in the past had more etiquette and conventions around it. It's how people read you. When we've seen someone so put together as Mr. Knightley and to start to kind of come undone is a beautiful way to signify to the audience that they are disturbed by love.
SCATOLA (voice-over): Whether it's Firth's '90s breakout moment or the phenomenon that is regency core, passion for the era continues 250 years after Jane Austen's birth.
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BRUNHUBER: The Alabama Crimson Tide is heading to the Rose Bowl after making a huge comeback in the first round of the college football playoffs.
[05:55:03]
The Oklahoma Sooners held an early lead Friday night but Alabama fought back and took home a 34-24 win. Ninth-ranked Alabama will now face the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in Pasadena on New Year's Day.
So here's a look at the matchups today. First up is Miami and Texas A&M, then Tulane and Ole Miss with James Madison and Oregon wrapping up the first round. And if that's not enough football, there are two NFL games tonight with playoff implications. The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Washington Commanders.
The Eagles are trying to clinch back-to-back NFC East titles. The late game is a classic NFC North clash between the Packers and the Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago. And it should be right around freezing for the kickoff. Former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson weighed in on the weather and offered his predictions.
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KEYSHAWN JOHNSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER: There is not a lot of teams that want to go to cold weather. You don't want to go to these cities that's cold. You just don't want to do it. And Chicago can put themselves in perfect prime position to have a home playoff game in the freezing cold. So they're a sneaky one.
Now when we switch to the AFC --
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
JOHNSON: -- the Denver Broncos, the Buffalo Bills, another one in the cold weather. I mentioned Denver. The Chargers are there but the Chargers are most likely going to have to travel to one of these cold weather-type cities, either Pittsburgh or Buffalo or a Baltimore or even --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
JOHNSON: -- to the degree at some point, maybe a Denver. There is no West Coast teams. Jacksonville maybe. You're not going to get in a dome in Indianapolis. So it's kind of - -right now --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
JOHNSON: -- you -- there is a lot of people kind of just stacked up against each other. But if I had to choose, right now, I would say NFC, Philadelphia, coming out of the NFC, OK --
MICHAELSON: Repeating. OK.
JOHNSON: -- repeating to come out of NFC, even though their season has been like this and the Denver Broncos coming out of the west.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Have a great weekend. "CNN THIS MORNING" is next.
