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Walshe Is Accused Of Killing His Wife, Disposing Of Her Body; Fed Cuts Rates A Quarter Point, Signals Short-Term Hold; U.S. Senate To Vote On Competing Healthcare Bills. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired December 11, 2025 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
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LARRY TIPTON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR BRIAN WALSHE: If someone -- if specific search terms like "how to dispose of a body," the results could simply be "Here, take the body to a cemetery. Something like that.
RANDI KAYE, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Prosecutors also shared this surveillance video of a man resembling Walshe from early January 2023 throwing away black trash bags in a dumpster near Walshe's mother's home and various other locations. The jury was shown photos of several items recovered from the trash that appeared to be covered in blood.
GREG CONNOR, PROSECUTOR: The police went to those dumpsters. Rugs, a Tyvek suit, a hammer, shears, snips, a hatchet, and a hacksaw.
KAYE (voiceover): Jurors also heard from a forensic scientist who testified he found traces of blood at the Walshe home on a kitchen knife, the stairs leading down to the basement, and on the basement floor.
Prosecutors have previously said Ana Walshe's blood was recovered in the basement of her home and that the couple's DNA was found on items located in dumpsters.
During a police interview played in court Walshe told investigators he had no idea how graphic internet searches ended up on his 6-year-old's iPad. Those searches began before dawn the day Ana Walshe allegedly died and included "how to clean blood from wooden floor."
BRIAN WALSHE, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER OF ANA WALSHE: I mean, I don't use that iPad, so that's really weird.
KAYE (voiceover): Ana Walshe's former boss also testified. He spent New Year's Eve at the couple's home and was the last person known to have seen Ana alive other than her husband. He offered this detail about when Brian Walshe called him to say his wife was "missing."
GEM MUTLU, ANA WALSHE'S FORMER BOSS AND FRIEND: I said, "Listen, did you guys have an argument or something? Did you have a fight?" Well, his response was "No. Did it look like we had an argument? You were there." I said, "You've got to call the police." His tone was not panicked.
KAYE (voiceover): Why would Brian Walshe allegedly kill his wife? Prosecutors have suggested he knew she was having an affair. He was also the sole beneficiary of her $2.7 million life insurance policy.
Walshe faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder.
Randi Kaye, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump says he's not happy with the latest interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. We'll tell you what he wanted instead.
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[05:37:05]
ABEL: Welcome back to EARLY START. This is your business breakout. Let's check some of today's headlines now.
We have shares of software giant Oracle falling 11 percent in afterhours trading. That follows the release of closely watched second-quarter results, which show earnings beat expectations, but revenue came up short. This despite strong demand for the company's artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Elon Musk plans to hold a massive initial public offering for his SpaceX company. That is according to Bloomberg, which reports SpaceX plans to raise $30 billion next year. The money would help finance the company's ambitious plans, including the developments of its future heavy rocket called Starship.
Gold prices are easing on overseas markets amid lowered expectations for interest rate cuts in 2026. The U.S. Federal Reserve indicated Wednesday it was in "wait and see" mode on a question of more cuts. Lower rates tend to boost prices of assets, such as gold, that don't pay an income. Silver hit a record high earlier continuing to rally after the U.S. added it to its critical minerals list last month.
As expected, the Fed cut interest rates by a quarter-point on Wednesday, the third-straight time it's done so, but that wasn't good enough for President Trump who says he wanted a half a point reduction. He could start getting his way next year when he gets to appoint a new Fed chair widely expected to be his top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett.
More now on the Fed's decision from CNN's Matt Egan here in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: The Federal Reserve delivered the quarter-point interest rate cut that was widely expected. This is the third-straight interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve, and it does drop the key Fed rate to fresh three-year lows, now almost two full percentage points off the peak. So this is good news for borrowers who are struggling with debt. It's also good news for businesses who are struggling to find affordable loans.
But look, make no mistake -- this was not an easy decision from this increasingly divided Federal Reserve. There were three dissenters. That's very unusual. Usually this is a unanimous decision or maybe one dissent -- the first time we've seen three dissents since 2019. And what's notable is there were dissents again on both sides.
Fed governor Stephen Miran, the White House economist -- he wanted an even bigger interest rate cut of half a percentage point, but two other Fed officials -- they didn't want an interest rate cut at all. They wanted the Fed to keep rates steady.
Now this divide -- it makes sense because the Fed is kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place here, right? Unemployment is rising. That's one of the major concerns here. But at the same time, inflation is stuck. It's been kind of stubborn around three percent. But Fed officials are hopeful that inflation is only stuck around three percent because of the president's tariffs, and they think that as the tariff effects wear off then inflation will be allowed to cool.
[05:40:19]
Now, as far as what happens next, the Fed is signaling that they're really in "wait and see" mode. They're only penciling in one more interest rate cut next year. That's because they do expect inflation to continue to cool but they don't see unemployment surging from here. They're penciling in 4.4 percent unemployment at the end of next year, which is the same as the current unemployment rate. And they've also upgraded their GDP forecast.
Now, after this meeting, Fed chair Powell -- he's only got three more meetings as the chair of the Fed. And I asked him during the press conference about whether or not he's given any thought to what he wants his legacy to be. Take a listen to his answer.
JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: My legacy? My thought is that I really want to turn this job over to whoever replaces me in -- with the economy in really good shape. That's what I want to do. I want -- I want inflation to be under control, coming back down to two percent, and I want the labor market to be strong. That's what I want.
EGAN: So bottom line, rates are coming down once again, but it's very unclear when the Fed will be able to lower interest rates again and how much lower rates will go. Much will depend on what the economic data says.
Matt Egan, CNN, Washington.
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ABEL: Many Americans are bracing for a spike in healthcare premiums as Obamacare subsidies are set to expire and Congress has yet to find a solution. We have more on that ahead.
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[05:46:15]
ABEL: Welcome back. I'm Brian Abel. Here are some stories we are watching today.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner says she hopes Venezuela will soon be a bright, free, and democratic country. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado held a news conference with the Norwegian prime minister last hour following her daring journey from Venezuela, where she's considered a fugitive, to Oslo.
Officials in Washington State are advising 100,000 people to evacuate their homes amid severe flooding. The state's governor has declared a state of emergency asking for federal assistance. Emergency officials expect floods to overtop levies and floodwalls in some areas.
U.S. senators are set to vote today on competing healthcare bills, but neither is expected to pass. Congress is facing increasing pressure to find a solution before the end of the year when Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire. Millions of Americans will see a surge in their health insurance premiums if no deal is reached by then.
For now, it's unclear if lawmakers will make any progress with just a matter of days left in session before the holidays.
CNN's Arlette Saenz is following all of the developments from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Senate is barreling towards dueling votes on healthcare as the Obamacare premium tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year. Democrats and Republicans are each presenting their own plan for a vote on the Senate floor on Thursday, but neither is expected to pass. Lawmakers are working in a very short time period to try to address these subsidies but right now there does not appear to be a clear resolution in sight.
Now, Democrats have presented an option that would extend those Obamacare subsidies for three years. They argue that they are in crunch time and the only answer at this point is a clean extension of those subsidies, but that's something Republicans have said they cannot get on board with. Instead, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning to put forward a bill -- a proposal from two GOP senators that would try to shift money instead into health savings accounts and does not specifically extend or address those subsidies in any way.
For Democrats, that's a nonstarter, raising a lot of questions about what lawmakers will do in these closing weeks of the year to prevent insurance premiums from spiking. Right now there are bipartisan negotiations happening behind the scenes, but no one has really coalesced around one plan.
But even if the Senate were to pass something that extended those premiums it would be an uphill battle over the in House where House Speaker Mike Johnson has been very explicit in saying that his Republican Conference will not vote to extend those subsidies even though Johnson has started to face some pressure from vulnerable House Republicans who do want to see some type of resolution to this -- an extension of those premium tax credits -- as they are preparing for tough races heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
But there is still a lot of uncertainty about how and if lawmakers will be able to address this with that end-of-year deadline for those subsidies now very well in sight.
Arlette Saenz, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump says he can put his peace plan between Cambodia and Thailand back on track.
You're hearing gunfire that echoed in this Cambodian border town on Wednesday, two days after fighting between the two countries flared up again.
[05:50:00]
The peace deal brokered by Mr. Trump two months ago is now on the verge of collapse, but he said this on Wednesday.
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With Thailand and Cambodia, I think -- I think I can get them to stop fighting. I settled it once. I think I can do it pretty quickly. I think we're scheduling a phone call tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Thailand's military released this video on Wednesday saying it shows a drone dropping a bomb on a target in Cambodia. The conflict is part of a territorial dispute along their border, and both countries blame each for starting the latest round of fighting, which is the heaviest since July.
The stunning new details about the audacious heist of the French crown jewels at the Louvre. A French Senate probe heard that the thieves escaped with just 30 seconds to spare. The head of the inquiry says that guards or police were less than a minute away from intercepting the jewel thieves. The probe also found that only of the two cameras covering the break-in point was working, and when the alarm did sound investigators say police were sent to the wrong location.
All four of the suspected break-in crew have been arrested but the French crown jewels are yet to be found.
Still ahead, a landmark honor for Italian food. We will hear from an Italian chef for his thoughts on having the first national cuisine recognized as cultural heritage by UNESCO.
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[05:55:52]
ABEL: Pizza, pasta, prosecco, and everything in between. Italian cuisine has just been designated an intangible cultural heritage. It is the first gastronomic style to be recognized by UNESCO, the U.N.'s cultural body.
CNN's Isa Soares went into a restaurant's kitchen to find out what the honor means to an Italian chef.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA ASCIUTI, CHEF AND OWNER, 081 PIZZERIA: Prego.
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Grazie.
As an Italian, what does this recognition mean?
ASCIUTI: This recognition means a lot. We -- in Italy, our country is -- 90 percent it's about food, so to be recognized worldwide about the passion and the love and the effort that we put --
SOARES: Yeah.
ASCIUTI: -- in the kitchen, it means a lot.
SOARES: So that -- what's that/
ASCIUTI: That's parmesan.
SOARES: Parmesan, parmigiano -- ooh.
ASCIUTI: A lot of basil.
SOARES: Um. Oh, it smells so good. So good. I love basil. You can never have too much cheese. That's just my opinion, right? What do you think?
ASCIUTI: I think, again, balance is important because you want to -- you don't want to overpower --
SOARES: Yeah.
ASCIUTI: -- one ingredient to the other. So there is a limit on -
SOARES: OK. Well, what about, you know, a bit of cheddar. You're looking at me, like, go away, and you see his eyes. Your eyes actually rolled. No cheddar. None of that.
ASCIUTI: (INAUDIBLE). I'm a purist.
SOARES: Oh -- well, goodness. You're very protective.
ASCIUTI: No pineapple, no chicken, no barbecue.
SOARES: But not on this one or any pizza? No pineapple?
ASCIUTI: Not on the Neapolitan.
SOARES: But all the others you're OK with?
ASCIUTI: Oh, yeah. It's OK to experience.
SOARES: OK, all right.
Oh, this looks good. This is really good.
How do you think, Andrea, this recognition will be received at home in Italy? How do you think people will take that?
ASCIUTI: I think most of the Italians will be -- will be proud. Food, as I said, is 90 percent of our day.
SOARES: Essential -- like, your life, right?
ASCIUTI: I remember my mom asking me every day what do you want to have for lunch?
SOARES: Yes.
ASCIUTI: What do you want to have for dinner, constantly. Sometimes, even obsession.
SOARES: Yeah. I feel that that's why I ask my kids every day.
ASCIUTI: Yeah.
SOARES; I'm running out of ideas.
Was there a food when you were growing up -- Italian food that you felt this is Italian? This speaks to me in terms of identity -- and you can't say pizza.
ASCIUTI: Pasta.
SOARES: What kind of pasta?
ASCIUTI: Um, say pasta patate is a must in Napoli. It is one of our most traditional dishes. And yeah, chef is --
SOARES: It is good. And I'm guessing not from a jar.
ASCIUTI: Not from a jar.
SOARES: Well, I'll let you do that.
How long does that normally take, Andrea?
ASCIUTI: Uh, 90 seconds to two minutes. That's the way we like it.
SOARES: Let's do this.
The question then I'm sure people will want to know is why do you think, Andrea, that Italy deserves it? Why not Spain? Why not even my home country of Portugal? We've got good food, too.
ASCIUTI: I --
SOARES: Why, respectfully?
ASCIUTI: I didn't say that. We --
SOARES: No.
ASCIUTI: I'm very respectful of other kitchens. I'm just saying that Italy really deserves it --
SOARES: Yeah.
ASCIUTI: -- because of the intensity --
SOARES: Yeah.
ASCIUTI: -- and the effort that across the old country --
SOARES: Yeah.
ASCIUTI: -- we put into food.
SOARES: Look at that. Mozzarella has made it.
ASCIUTI: Mama mia, no?
SOARES: Very good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[06:00:00]
ABEL: OK, delicious.
The U.S. Powerball jackpot has risen to an estimated $1 billion after nobody won the grand prize in Wednesday night's drawing. It's been growing steadily since September when two winning tickets split the last jackpot and that was almost $1.8 billion, the second-largest in Powerball history. The next drawing will be held on Saturday.
Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.
