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CNN This Morning

NYPD: New Images Show "Person Of Interest" In CEO Shooting; Trump Confident After Talks With North American Leaders; Warmer Temperatures To Reach Northeast This Weekend. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired December 06, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:34]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, December 6th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

New clues. Two days into the massive manhunt for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO, police following a growing trail of evidence.

Plus --

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: And let me be frank about this. Government is too big. It does too many things and it does almost nothing well.

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HUNT: Everything is on the table. Republicans meeting with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy about their plans to make major cuts to the federal budget.

And mission postponed. Another setback in NASA's plan for lunar exploration. So when will man set foot again on the moon?

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HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast, a live look at the nation's capital on this Friday morning. Good morning, everyone.

I'm Kasie Hunt. We made it. It's Friday. It's wonderful to have you with us.

There are new clues this morning in the manhunt in New York. A flirtatious smile could be the mistake that trips up the man that police are calling a person of interest wanted for questioning in connection to the Wednesday killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. This newly released surveillance footage capturing the man smiling after the clerk at the hostel he was staying at asked him to lower his mask.

A source tells CNN he used a fake New Jersey driver's license when checking in. That was on Manhattans upper west side, and there is also new video of the suspect suspected gunman on an e-bike escaping from the crime scene and heading towards Central Park.

As far as his trip to New York, sources tell CNN he got there by greyhound bus ten days before the shooting. The bus route started in Atlanta, but it's unclear if that's where he first boarded the bus.

The words "delay" and "depose" were found on a live round and a shell casing at the murder scene. Sources tell CNN, UnitedHealthcare's parent company was aware of threats against its executives.

We're joined now by Scott Duffey. He is a retired supervisory FBI special agent, director of the Criminal Justice Institute of Wilmington University.

Scott, thanks very much for being with us this morning. That hostile image where he was apparently asked to show them his smile. Is that going to be the thing that ultimately undoes this case for him?

SCOTT DUFFEY, SUPERVISORY FBI SPECIAL AGENT (RET.): Yeah. Good morning, Kasie, and thank you for having me on this morning.

It's definitely a step closer. So we've seen all these video footages that law enforcement has been getting and then releasing to the public with regards to a white male. A light skinned male, however he's been described with the hoodie some sort of face mask that's covering the lower portion of his face. And then to have this photo that's just -- it's just a better part of evidence to lead to the identity of this individual.

And you can see already what they're tracking, the fact of a Greyhound bus where he stayed a few days before. The fact that he may have an electric bike as his escape means of transportation, these are all just fantastic pieces.

HUNT: Scott, what is the impact of the time that is elapsing here with this manhunt? I mean, obviously police are learning more as time goes on but is there a risk in the trail getting colder if they continue to not be able to identify this man?

DUFFEY: Yeah, I would say not with regards to identifying. They're going to identify him. It's a little bit slower than they would have wanted. Obviously being in New York and getting that information out, especially as quickly, with regards to the time of the morning, you're just flooded with video cameras watching just about your every move. Law enforcement and so not being able to capture him within hours of this fatal shooting is definitely an issue.

But as the trail gets colder. Yeah, those breadcrumbs kind of disappear with regards to pieces of evidence that will, um be with him at the time of his location and his arrest.

[05:05:01]

But I can guarantee you law enforcement will identify him and capture him.

HUNT: So we were looking just there at video of him on that bicycle, and it shows now the surveillance video that he goes into the park with this, you know, Peak design backpack. It's a photographers backpack that's, you know, pretty notable. And then he leaves the park without it. And yet they don't seem to be able to find the backpack.

What are the hurdles to locating it?

DUFFEY: Yeah. So did somebody pick it up that hasn't yet made contact with law enforcement? There is it? Does he have a place?

We already know that he's done very good job in pre-planning. Not only his mode of travel, but where he stayed, and then leading up to the hours of the shooting. So finding that backpack is key to law enforcement, not only the backpack itself, but its contents.

And so with -- with every day going by without him captured and additional evidence that he might have left behind, yeah, that's a concern to law enforcement but they still have plenty of ground to cover.

HUNT: What big picture are the security concerns for other healthcare executives as we, you know, sit here not really knowing there's suggestions obviously that this is related to concerns about things related to the health care industry, but we don't seem to know if its specifically UnitedHealthcare, if it might be more broad than that.

DUFFEY: Yeah, I can tell you that anything like this, especially with targeting and then successfully, fatally shooting an executive, much less a CEO of a major health care company, you have probably -- all CEOs and executives of major companies, but especially here, until we know more about the motive of the shooting, that health care executives, et cetera, insurance companies and the like have probably stepped up their security measures and then, of course, those in UnitedHealthcare making sure that their other executives uh, have plenty of security that would be provided.

So I imagine there is definitely a step up security not only for the short term, but for the long term.

HUNT: All right. Scott Duffey, for us this morning, sir, very grateful to have your expertise with us. Thanks for being here.

DUFFEY: Yes. Thank you. Good morning.

HUNT: All right. Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, not backing down from that tough confirmation fight as Pete Hegseth still stand a chance to become defense secretary after a week of trying to secure support.

Plus, everything is on the table. That was the reaction from one congressman after Musk and Ramaswamy bring their DOGE pitch to Capitol Hill.

And why Donald Trump is claiming his tough talk on tariffs is already getting results.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Justin came flying right in because we talked about 25 percent tariffs. That's just the beginning.

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[05:12:35]

HUNT: All right. Welcome back.

Donald Trump confident his approach with America's neighbors is working already. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have both spoken to the president-elect in the past two weeks amid threats from Trump to close the border with Mexico and slap tariffs on Canadian goods. Trudeau even taking the extra step of personally flying to Mar-a-Lago last weekend to speak with Trump about the tariff threat.

Here was Trump on Fox Nation last night.

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TRUMP: I spoke with Canada and Justin came flying right in because we talked about 25 percent tariffs. That's just the beginning.

I spoke the other day to the president, the new president of Mexico. Very nice woman. And we had a very nice conversation.

But she said, why are you doing this to me? I said, I'm not. I'm just putting a lot of tariffs on because you're allowing criminals to pour into our country and we can't allow that anymore.

And it stopped. It stopped. It was so fast. It stopped.

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HUNT: All right. Joining us now to discuss is CNN's Max Foster live from London.

Max, good morning. Always wonderful to see you.

So the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, did push back on Donald Trump's characterization of their phone call, particularly when it came to the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Let's listen to what she said. Watch.

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CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (through translator): Everyone has their own way of communicating, but I can assure you I give you the certainty that we would never and we would be incapable of it, propose that we would close the border. It has never been our approach, and, of course, we don't agree with that.

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HUNT: Max, what do you make of all this and of course, Trump basically saying that the threats that he puts out there on social media get the results that he's looking for?

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, so on Truth Social, he effectively said this after the meeting. He said Sheinbaum had agreed to stop migration through Mexico and into the United States effectively closing our southern border.

So that's what she was talking about there. I never promised to close the southern border so there's some misinterpretation, really, about what came out of that meeting. But I think she's making a point there. Everyone has their own way of communicating.

And she's speaking to what many world leaders have learned about Donald Trump is he speaks to a particular audience on the particular platform he's on.

[05:15:05]

As far as she's concerned, they had a really excellent meeting. She said it was. And there was some progress made. It's just this idea of closing the border down, but obviously that is what effectively Donald Trump was threatening himself when, you know, with these tariffs, he wants the big issue here is the southern border and the northern border with Canada.

And crossing it and the tariffs are going to come in if those two countries don't resolve it. That's the headline. We just have to see what he does in the moment because as she says, she can't close the border. And Justin Trudeau is going to struggle in the same way.

HUNT: Right. Well, and I mean, look, there's when you use the phrase close the border, that implies an entire shutdown of all of the economic back and forth that occurs on a daily basis, much different than perhaps, you know focusing in on asylum seekers have been the main challenge in terms of the politics of this for, for over the course of the of the campaign.

Max, Trudeau is also such an interesting figure in all of this. And if anything he reacted even more strongly with that trip down to Mar-a- Lago. And now, of course, dealing with the reporting and fallout that Trump said, well, why doesn't Canada become the 51st state? How is that all playing for him at home but also with Donald Trump?

FOSTER: Well, I think, you know, Canadians have got used to the way Donald Trump speaks about Canada. They certainly don't see themselves as an additional state there. You know you've been there. I've been there.

It's a very proud, commonwealth nation actually, yeah. And they've got the king of England, of all heads of state, you know, he's the head of state there I don't know, there's some complication to go there. I have to have you can imagine a chat with King Charles, can't you, between Donald Trump, you know, when he visits at some point about whether or not he should take over Canada, I don't know.

I think people take what he says and what he does is two very different things. But there is genuine concern in Canada certainly about these tariffs because the majority of their trade goes into America. If it happens, it will decimate the economy. But, you know, will he do it? That's the big question.

HUNT: Of course, it always is. Max Foster for us this morning. Max, thank you so much. Have a wonderful weekend.

FOSTER: Thank you.

HUNT: All right. Still ahead here on CNN this morning, Pete Hegseth in a series of high stakes meetings on Capitol Hill. Can he get the votes to be Donald Trump's next defense secretary?

Plus, the end of an era. Taylor Swift's record breaking tour coming to a close.

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[05:22:07]

HUNT: All right, 21 minutes past the hour. Here's your "Morning Roundup".

House Republicans vowing to block the release of an Ethics Committee report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz. The committee had been investigating a number of allegations against him, including sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Gaetz denies all wrongdoing. He resigned from Congress last month after Trump picked him to be the next attorney general before withdrawing his name eight days later.

California is bracing for potential aftershocks. One day after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit 50 miles off its northern coast. The quake triggered a tsunami warning. Fortunately, one never materialized. The earthquake is the 12th strongest on record to hit the state.

And then there's this.

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HUNT: Taylor Swift's Eras Tour wraps up Sunday in Vancouver. It started way back in March of 2023. Swift performed more than 150 shows across five continents. Since then, the eras tour, the highest grossing tour of all time and the first to gross $1 billion. Taylor Swift has been on social media saying she's all the feelings are coming out here at the end.

All right. Time now for weather. Plunging temperatures continue here on the East Coast today. But relief apparently is coming late this weekend.

Let's get to our meteorologist, Allison Chinchar. Allison, good morning.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. Yes. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We've just got to get through a few more cold days in some spots before we finally see those temperatures, sadly, really just get back to where they should be this time of year.

Here's what it feels like right now. So this is taking into account the temperature, but also the wind. It feels like a very balmy zero in Marquette, Michigan, right now, ten in Cincinnati. Even Atlanta, a southern city, feels like 16 degrees outside that cold air really quickly coming down.

So you look at the difference of just 24 hours ago until now, it is 23 degrees cooler in Atlanta, 30 degrees cooler right now in Nashville than it was at this same time yesterday. Those temperatures will start to rebound this afternoon, 34 for the high in Cincinnati, 39 in St. Louis, getting into the mid-40s for both Omaha and Kansas City. But until that cold air clears out, you've still got that cold air mixing in over those warm lakes causing some additional lake effect snow across several states.

Here today, several more inches total is expected. That's why you've still got several of these winter weather alerts, but again, that cold air is finally going to start to retreat. Warmer air will start to slide into place, and some folks not just getting back to normal, but may actually get above average for a change.

But take for example, today still going to be on the cold side. Memphis going from a high of 40 today to the 50s through the weekend. Similar warm up for Atlanta and New Orleans. And then St. Louis going from 39 today back to the 60s by the end of the weekend.

[05:25:05]

HUNT: All right. Allison Chinchar for us this morning -- Allison, thanks very much for that.

All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, Pete Hegseth wrapping up a pivotal week in his bid to become Donald Trump's defense secretary.

Plus, Elon Musk Vivek Ramaswamy crossing the Capitol to pitch their DOGE plan to slash spending.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing is sacrosanct. Nothing. We put everything on the table.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's be honest about DOGE and this whole thing, it's a joke.

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