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Suspect In Brown University, MIT Shootings Found Dead; Australian Prime Minister Announces Gun Buyback Plan; U.S. Justice Department Faces Today's Deadline To Make Epstein Files Public; E.U. To Finance Ukraine Without Using Frozen Russian Assets. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired December 19, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:24]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Erica Hill. It's good to have you with us on this Friday morning. It is December 19th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

Straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT : After six days of frantic searching all across New England, two cases were closed.

TRISTAN KEYSER-PARKER, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I hope that we can continue to be a trusting place as we always have been.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Some frustration in the Justice Department sources have told me that it's because the guidelines are somewhat unclear.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Related to full and complete disclosure of the Epstein files, we do expect compliance.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: President Trump has signed an executive order to reclassify marijuana.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have people begging for me to do this

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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HILL: The man suspected of killing two students at Brown University has been found dead. Police say 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente, a former student at Brown in 2000, is responsible. Officials found his body in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, where they also found two firearms, a satchel and evidence, which they say matches the Rhode Island crime scene. The U.S. attorney in Massachusetts also announcing Valente was

responsible for the killing of an MIT professor near Boston just two days after that shooting at Brown. New Hampshire's attorney general says a man who came into contact with Valente, quote, blew the case right open. Police tracked his rental car to the storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER NERONHA, RHODE ISLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL: This guy was changing plates. One of the reasons he's so hard to find was he knew what he was doing. He was changing plates. And so, you know, that's why the collective work of following and finding this car was made more difficult. Because this guy was changing plates. So, we got a plate and we got a Florida plate on the same car in New Hampshire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So, this, of course, now marks the end of that six day manhunt for students at brown. It is also a bit of a sigh of relief, and perhaps a bit more calm on campus, even as they are mourning those lives lost.

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TRISTAN KEYSER-PARKER, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Brown is such a beautiful community, and I hope that we can continue to be a trusting place as we always have been. Obviously, I think it wouldn't hurt to maybe add a few security cameras, but I still want Brown to be the kind of place where people feel free and not watched all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Danny Freeman has more from Salem, New Hampshire

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DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After six days of frantic searching all across New England, two cases were closed here in Salem, New Hampshire. And that's because 48-year-old Claudio Valente was found dead in a storage unit behind me at this storage facility. Law enforcement said that he was the man, the suspect who committed that mass shooting at Brown University, and the person who also killed an MIT professor earlier this week.

Now, earlier on Thursday, police convened on this spot here in Salem, New Hampshire. When we got here, I'll tell you, it was pretty chaotic. A ton of neighbors had come to just watch the entire thing.

A bunch of media members were here as well. Police really swarmed the area. We're searching many of these storage units in the area, and it was all because police had gotten word that there was an abandoned car here that was connected to this suspect, and then also realized that this storage facility itself was also connected to the subject.

Well, when police found this abandoned car, which was a rental car, the attorney general of Rhode Island said that they could see evidence inside the car just from standing outside of the car that right away connected their suspect to that Brown University mass shooting. Well, it turned out, Valente himself actually rented a storage unit here in this facility back in November. So just before 9:00 p.m. on Thursday evening, the FBI executed a search warrant for the storage unit that Valente, the suspect here, had rented out. And when they were able to breach that storage unit, they ended up finding Valente with that self-inflicted gunshot wound and a satchel which had been seen on many of the surveillance videos that police had released earlier in the week in connection to the Brown University shooting.

Now, investigators, ill tell you, have been out here all throughout the evening, combing over not only the inside of that storage facility, but also the abandoned car. At one point, we saw a car getting towed away, seemingly by law enforcement that was covered in a tarp, and we watched investigators taking methodical photos of the car on all sides. I'll tell you the process to go through evidence inside this storage facility clearly is going to take some time.

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Hopefully investigators are learning what the motive might have been by things that they might be finding and discovering inside of that storage unit, but we'll have to wait and see on that front.

Meanwhile, I was speaking to residents here in the area of Salem, New Hampshire, who were frankly stunned that this, of all places, is where this search ended. But there was also tremendous amount of relief, this nightmare for New England has finally come to an end.

Danny Freeman, CNN, Salem, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Joining me now from Knoxville, Tennessee, former FBI supervisory special agent Jason Pack.

Jason, good to have you with us this morning.

You know, picking up a little bit where Danny left off there, what we heard from -- from officials last night, too, is that he knew what he was doing, that this was -- that the suspect was, quote, sophisticated at hiding his tracks. As Danny noted out, there is a lot to now investigate in that storage space.

And part of the questions, which include the motive, right, are the potential connections to this MIT professor. We know that they apparently were in the same academic program in Portugal in 1995 through 2000, but otherwise making that connection will be key.

How do you anticipate -- how will they begin to do that?

JASON PACK, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Good morning, Erica. Thanks for having me back.

I think one of the ways they're going to do that, the FBI has a legal attache office over in Madrid, which covers Portugal. So they'll start maybe by there, by working with the Portuguese authorities to go back even to 1995, to begin to trace any of those overlaps. If there's any sort of record at all, and then move over to the United States. Now that we know the who that important question of the why, as you said, is super important.

So, they're going to start interviewing witnesses. They're going to start interviewing associates of the suspect doing search warrants at residences associated with him, the FBI, Miami field office most likely is already at a residence or a place where he was last known down there. So you'll see activity in various locations throughout the days and weeks ahead to try to figure out the why.

HILL: It is -- it is notable that we heard from authorities. They do believe, of course, the MIT professor was targeted. They don't believe, though the students at brown were a target. And while its likely that the suspect did take classes in that building, the president Brown saying they don't hold records back that far to know which classes were in the building at that point.

That being said, the fact that he was in that building, it was people who noticed him. It was this call for the public to, if you saw something, say something that really helped crack this open.

How often is that the way that these cases, in your experience, do get solved?

PACK: The tips from the public, Erica, are just crucial. And the high-profile investigations I have worked, it's always been a tip from the public and some good digital forensic evidence, as well as just going and knocking on doors and talking to people. The low-tech ways that really come together to solve these people.

The greatest weapon that law enforcement has is the cooperation of the public. And that has been evident in this case, too, from that witness that came forward just 24 hours ago, there was not any -- it looked like there was really nothing publicly that was, you know, in forwarding the investigation. So, they go from that to identifying the suspect. And then that key piece of information seemed to be that tip of the license plate, which really led to probably looks like a credit card information. And the person used his real name for the credit card for the rental car. And that led them to a storage facility.

Can you imagine being in the command post and getting that piece of information? After all the pressure and all the things going on like, wow, we have a really hot lead here, and it turns out that's where he was.

HILL: And to your point too, right? Being led to that facility because we had heard how, you know, how we had really covered his tracks, right? Using an untraceable phone in other instances, not using credit cards in his name. So clearly, some advanced planning here.

That too will be part of this investigative process to understand how far back this planning went. PACK: That's right. We're going to look at what's called the pathway

to violence. So, you don't just wake up and decide to go do this. The investigators are going to be looking at what was that actual grievance? Was it a personal relationship with this professor? Was there some sort of unknown grievance that occurred between the two of them? Were the people at Brown really? You know, involved, or was it just against the institution?

And so, when you turn your attention from an institution which is a little more generic to a specific person, that makes it more personal. So, investigators are kind of likely start in that direction.

HILL: Uh-huh. The administration announcing secretary of homeland security, Christina, announcing that they're pausing the diversity visa lottery program, which is how the suspect came into the country in 2017. He was here legally. The fact that the immigration, the pardon me, the administration is focusing on immigration status. In your experience, has that been a significant factor in shootings like what we see here or even in gun violence in this country

PACK: Well, I think anytime you get a lead about how somebody got into the country, it's a good idea to go back and make sure, you know, it's not a widespread problem. So that we have done that in the past. But I don't think that had anything to do with it this time.

But it's certainly a good idea to know who's in your country and if there are other people with similar ideologies. It seems in this case, though, that it seems more targeted toward the professor and some other grievances that they're hopefully going to find out later on through this investigation. The work is just starting, even though the immediate danger has passed. Erica, there's a lot of work to do.

HILL: There certainly is. Obviously, people -- people want they deserve answers if they can get them. How difficult is it to track down or to pinpoint, I should say, a motive? If the suspect is dead.

PACK: It's difficult. Unless they -- he left something somewhere for investigators to find. Theres no way to interview them. You'll just have to piece it together through social media, through interviews. It's a very difficult process.

And I've -- in my experience, it's not a one size fits all. There's not one particular reason. It's usually a mixture of several different things. And each types of these cases have their own set of facts. And the reasons are different for every one of them.

So, putting different reasons together to come up with the best possible picture is the task that lies ahead today for investigators and in the weeks ahead.

HILL: Yeah, as you noted the work just beginning. Jason, always appreciate your insight. Thank you.

PACK: Thanks, Erica

HILL: Australia is taking action following the mass shooting tragedy there. The country's prime minister announcing a national firearms buyback plan following Sunday's Bondi beach shooting, which left 15 people dead. They, of course, were celebrating at a Hanukkah event. The government will buy back surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms in an effort to get them off the streets. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also declaring Sunday to be a national day of reflection.

Meantime, hundreds of surfers and swimmers held a paddle out in the waters off Bondi Beach. It's a tradition often carried out when the community suffers a loss. Surfers who participated say it was a powerful show of unity

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was magic just to see the community back together. What do you reckon, mate?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, it was amazing. Amazing. I think crowd exceeded expectations, but that's what it's all about, right? It's pretty cool to see Bondi back open, everyone getting back together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming back. We're coming back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was being said out there? I think it's tricky to hear when there's almost a thousand people out there, but I think everyone was sort of reflecting in their own way and just seeing the energy back in the community. It was beautiful

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Well, it's now just a little after 5:00 a.m. in Washington, where the Justice Department has been scrambling in an effort to meet today's deadline to publicly release their investigative findings on Jeffrey Epstein, the top House Democrat says Congress does expect officials to fully comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFRIES: Related to full and complete disclosure of the Epstein files, we do expect compliance. But if the Department of Justice does not comply with what is federal law at this point, there will be strong bipartisan pushback.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Meantime, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee publicly sharing another 60-plus images from the late sex offenders estate. It's important to note no contacts was provided with the images, but some of them show an unidentified female body covered with quotes from the novel "Lolita", as well as photos of Bill Gates, Woody Allen, philosopher Noam Chomsky, and conservative firebrand Steve Bannon.

There are also images of foreign passports belonging to female, and a screenshot showing part of a text exchange where someone is writing about sending girls to an unidentified place. Countless other secrets remain under wraps as Justice Department

officials race to redact thousands of pages. And we're learning they're getting a little frustrated.

Here's CNN's Katelyn Polantz with our exclusive reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The law requires transparency around the Epstein files by Friday today. But sources who are speaking to Evan Perez and I extensively about the work that's going on inside the Justice Department to make those files ready for public release, it's quite clear that the task is a difficult one, a complex one, one where there could be mistakes and also one where we should expect a lot of redactions to the files.

Now, my understanding from sources is that these redactions, they're guided by some internal memo that the Justice Department has provided National Security Division lawyers who are working basically since Thanksgiving to redact the thousands of pages in the Epstein files.

Those guidelines, they list a lot of exemptions, meaning things that should be redacted from the Epstein memos, things that would be blacked out by the lawyers. And it's not just to protect victims and personal privacy around victims. That was something that we've known since the law was passed by Congress for transparency that that would be protected in these files.

But there are other things that the Justice Department may want to protect. So, lawyers are they are working on this. Some of them are working on more than a thousand pages to get them out or prepared before the deadline. The guidance that they're receiving has led to some frustration in the Justice Department.

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Sources have told me that it's because the guidelines are somewhat unclear. They're very complicated and that there are so many exemptions, ways to do the redactions here that it's not exactly the same thing as doing redactions for, say, FOIA or classified information or even in past projects that the National Security Division has had to work on to make massive documents releases. This is its own thing to release these Epstein files.

There's also the possibility of mistakes because there are many redundancies across the documents. So, emails that might be repeated over and over again or things like that. This is a situation where some things that should be redacted may not be and some things that shouldn't be redacted might get covered up in the release.

One lawyer who is waiting on the outside to see how this goes, specializes in document redactions, told me that there's an expectation that the Justice Department could screw it up or could withhold things that they shouldn't withhold. So, the mistakes could include the disclosure of sensitive information. We're just going to have to wait and see, though, exactly how well this rollout goes. There are thousands of pages expected to be released, but exactly what may be new and noteworthy, that we will have to wait and see for when we read the release of the Epstein files.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Ukraine securing crucial financing from the European Union. Moscow, though also welcoming some of that announcement as it was made at a summit in Brussels. We'll take a closer look at that with a live report, plus a P.R. marathon for Russia's president underway at this hour in Moscow. Vladimir Putin is holding his annual news conference, taking questions from average Russians. We are monitoring that event.

And President Trump signing an executive order to reclassify marijuana. Why the move is significant for drug research. That's ahead

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HILL: Vladimir Putin is holding his annual end of year news conference in Moscow, this is usually a marathon P.R. event for the Russian president. He takes questions from the media, but also from average Russians. Putin often goes on for as much as four hours. Speaking about a wide variety of issues. For many people in Russia, it is truly must-see TV.

Among other things we've heard so far from Putin that Russia is ready and willing to finish the conflict by peaceful means. Important to note, though, he then quickly added, Russia's troops are advancing across the whole of the front line.

We are continuing to follow that event. We're going to keep you posted on any other major statements or announcements to come out of it.

Meantime, Ukraine securing some desperately needed cash for its operations in its war with Russia over the next two years. The European Union, announcing a deal to provide Kyiv with an interest free loan of more than $100 billion. The money, though it's important to note, will not come from Russia's frozen financial assets.

Remember, that was one of the options on the table. Well, that news really pleasing Moscow, which praised what it called voices of reason for preventing the illegal use of its assets.

Melissa Bell is following more of those developments and joins us now from Paris. So, where is that money then coming from, Melissa?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these were marathon talks. Sixteen hours in all. It took them, the European leaders, to thrash out this deal in the end, not the preferred option of either. Ursula von der Leyen and the commission president or indeed the preferred option of the German chancellor. They would have preferred for these frozen Russian assets to be used instead, Erica. It will be a joint E.U. debt not funded by the whole 27, by the way, by 24 of them, three of them opted out, including Hungary.

But this will be a loan backed by the bloc's common debt, common budget rather. So what that means is that Ukraine gets its financial lifeline. That is the big headline that's come out of it. Some 90 billion that will be loaned. Essentially, this was a country whose coffers were expected to run dry by the spring of next year. So, the pressure was on that some kind of solution could be found. And in the end, it was much to the relief, I think, of Europeans and Ukrainians.

Meanwhile, of course, all eyes very much on what happens over the course of the weekend. We know that now in Miami, will be meeting Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian, the head of the Russian, Russia's sovereign fund, with we expect Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to continue those negotiations on the proposed peace plan. What we've been hearing, though, in the last few moments from Vladimir Putin in Moscow, does not suggest any change of position on the Russian side, Erica, even as those emissaries prepare to meet in Miami, remember, on the basis of that, Ukrainian and European and American revised peace proposal, a 20 point peace plan.

Now we're waiting to hear what the Russians have to say about it. But listening to Vladimir Putin just now, in what we expect to be another marathon press conference that you mentioned a moment ago, what we've heard is that he stands by his position of June last year, which essentially means the entirety of the Donbas coming back to Russia. And his insistence, Russian insistence, rather, that there should be no NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine.

Now, both of those things do not align with the latest draft of the peace plan, as it will be presented to those Russian emissaries over the weekend in Miami. He's also just been speaking the Russian leader to video that was shot earlier this week. We saw President Zelensky make his way to Kupiansk. This is a frontline town, Erica, in the Kharkiv region that's been on the front line for much of the few years of the war. By dint of its strategic location, President Zelensky made his way there earlier this week, standing within a mile of the Russian positions, and to prove the Ukrainian claims that they had managed to take parts of the city back.

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We've just been hearing Vladimir Putin pour scorn on that, suggesting that Vladimir -- that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is an artist, and saying if you liberated the town, why then not come in? So, no suggestion for the time being, erica, either in the tone or in the substance that Russia is in negotiating mood.

HILL: Yeah, certainly not. Melissa, really appreciate it. Thank you.

The next phase of the Gaza peace plan. President Trump's top envoy set to meet with Mideast officials in Miami in the coming hours. We'll take a closer look at those potential developments and much more after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)