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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Suspect In Brown University, MIT Shooting Found Dead; U.S. Suspends Green Card Lottery Scheme After Brown Shooting; Five Killed In Strikes On Two Alleged Drug Boats; Trump Signs $900 Billion Defense Policy Bill Into Law; Tears At Tribute To Firefighter Killed In Hong Kong Blaze; Storms Set To Bring Rain, Strong Winds To Atlantic Seaboard. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 19, 2025 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

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PETER NERONHA, RHODE ISLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL: Which led us to the photographs of that individual renting the car, which matched the clothing of our shooter here in Providence.

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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: We have more details now from the Providence police chief who spoke with my colleague Brian Todd.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here is Police Chief Oscar Perez. Chief, thank you. It's been a long night. From what you know, what can you tell us about a possible motive for both the Brown shooting and the MIT shooting, which you have connected to this one man?

COL. OSCAR L. PEREZ JR, PRIVIDENCE POLICE CHIEF: Yes. We don't have a motive, as you know, it is developed extremely quickly. At this point, we're going to look further into it. We're working very closely with our partners, our federal partners, to find out more. But I can tell you that the city is relief.

I think that the men and women of this Department of Sakatanana Detective division did their job, but we haven't really learned the motive. It's very difficult to know much about an individual when you don't know their identity and their name. We do now, obviously, and so we'll do that job.

TODD: The second person who was involved in this, the person who came within proximity to him.

PEREZ: Correct.

TODD: Such a dramatic break. You really can't underestimate how dramatic that was. Right. Talk us through that. What that man did for you and this investigation. PEREZ: It was dramatic in the sense that we had already video footage. Right. And were observing two individuals interacting with each other. We didn't know if they knew each other. We knew we had a person of interest. And then we have this second individual that's sort of like having an interaction at one point, even chasing that person.

TODD: He chased him.

PEREZ: Correct. Chased him. And so we didn't know if there was an argument going on. We weren't sure. And so there's a lot of doubts. Right. You don't even know if that -- is that a domestic? Was that it was he -- was that other person even involved in this horrific incident? So those were all questions.

So when we came forward and actually verified and corroborated what we were thinking, that he didn't know the person, that the only reason he chased after him was he was trying to learn more about him because he had seen him inside Brown, that they had a disagreement inside Brown, and then he provided us with a description of a vehicle that this person, this subject of interest, was manipulating, had a fob, was locking it, dislocking it, went open the door.

So we knew that was this person's vehicle. That was a break in the sense that he gave us a description for a cop.

TODD: Backing up just a little bit here.

PEREZ: Yes, yes.

TODD: He had a disagreement with him. He had some kind of an argument with him. Any more detail on that? And how long before the shooting was that confrontation, that argument?

PEREZ: Yes, that was -- that was before. That was before.

TODD: About how long before, do you know?

PEREZ: It's -- it happened around 2 o'clock or so.

TODD: OK.

PEREZ: And so, yes, it was a few hours prior, but he called his attention. And to your point, sometimes it's just those moments where department, we're looking for anything, but we may already have more. The only thing is that we didn't know that what type of car. By placing the car into the system, flock license plates readers. Then we learned the real vehicle, learned the real plate. Then we learned that he had rented it. A person of interest. And that's what led us to.

TODD: Did this other person, though, did he say what made him suspicious about this alleged shooter? What got into his mind that this guy is bad news?

PEREZ: Yes, well, he was at -- the tipster was actually a Brown graduate. He spent a lot of time at Brown. Seems to me that he's part of that community and he realized that's someone he had never seen before and that's what pulled his attention.

TODD: Talk to me about these final moments of this shooter's life. Was he -- did he kill himself as law enforcement was close to him, or do you think he might have done it hours before? When do you think he might have done this?

PEREZ: So that developed and that occurred just before we started the press conference. And so I'm not really sure if that happened prior or before, but I know the FBI Evidence Recovery Unit is up there also my BCI is up there, my detectives. So I'm not sure how long he was there for, but I'm sure the medical examiner will be able to find that answer out.

TODD: Anything else you can tell us about this alleged shooter's personal life? He lived in Miami. Did you talk to any family and friends? Did they come forward? Did you get any other information about what he was doing for a job?

PEREZ: No, nothing yet. Again, we just found out his identity late last night. And our mission and priority was to put him in handcuffs. And so we placed every energy there was. We came in extremely early this morning and we're still here. It's almost midnight.

And so our mission was to make him -- to make an apprehension. And obviously when the tactical team entered the storage unit, we found out he had taken his own life so.

TODD: You heard a lot of questions to the university president and the police chief about the cameras, the lack of cameras in the building. What's your view on that? I know you're not the police chief of Brown University. Should the building have had more cameras than the old part where the shooting took place? Could those have made a difference in the investigation?

PEREZ: Listen, we have a great relationship with Brown. I think as an icon. I work very closely with the chief. And I'm sure that they're going to look, like the president stated, they're going to look at whatever it is that they need to look at to fix whatever it is that they need to fix.

But we're here to assist and we're here to keep the city safe. And so at the end of the day, I'm here and we're going to talk and realize if there's anything that we can change and fix and help. But I think they do a great job and they are partners of us.

TODD: Lastly, Chief --

PEREZ: Yes.

TODD: -- give it -- just give us and our viewers a sense of how you feel at this moment, your sense of relief, the sense of relief that this city is now feeling.

[04:35:00]

PEREZ: Yes, I feel three things. First and foremost, I feel relief. I feel that we brought justice to the family, the victims, the parents' from mommy and dad. And obviously, I also feel extremely proud of this department. I think that 32 years of service, I've never seen anything like this. But I know that I'm part of a great team and this is the reason I put this uniform on a daily basis.

TODD: We thank you for your time, Chief. Thank you for the investigation and good luck.

PEREZ: Thank you.

TODD: Thank you, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Kim Brunhuber spoke earlier with Brown University student Will Thomas. Will's also on the executive council of Team Enough with the Brady Gun Control Initiative. And Kim asked what the past few days have been like.

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WILL THOMAS, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: This past week I think has been a really difficult one to process, both for myself and for the greater Brown community. I mean, from sheltering in place on Saturday, like first in a grocery store to then barricade it inside my friend's off campus house, like, that was a super stressful and scary experience.

And then Saturday we, or on Sunday, we woke up to the text that like, we could go back to campus, but the shooter was still at large, so there was a lot of confusion there. And so I think the news coming out Thursday was definitely a relief in terms of, like, our immediate safety and the safety of our community.

But I can't help but keep Ella and Mukhammad and their families and close friends in my thoughts. That's all I've been able to do for this past week.

And so, yes, while it's kind of an instant relief, we can't forget that there's still a community that's grieving and there's still so much that we have to do.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And I do want to get to some of those solutions, but, you know, certainly a community grieving, as you say. Now, the president and Homeland Security Secretary Noem are now pointing to the fact that the shooter came to the U.S. as an immigrant, saying he never should have been let in.

I mean, you've been working on gun violence prevention for years, ever since a shooting scare at your Virginia high school. I mean, what's your reaction when you see the conversation kind of be shifted like this to immigration?

THOMAS: Yes, this is kind of what happens when you have a country that has a really troubling gun culture. We refuse to take accountability for the fact that our continued inaction around gun violence prevention legislation is what allows these events to continue taking place.

I mean, yes, the president put out this deflecting statement, but he also put out a statement saying things like this happen and the tragedy that happened in my school this past weekend doesn't have to happen. Right. There are effective policies and solutions that through my work at Brady and with Team Enough, we know that if these policies were implemented and federal, state and local levels, lives could be saved.

And yet we have a gun industry and a gun lobby that continues to prioritize their profits over lives of young people like mine.

And so I think the comments that you referenced are just further distraction from the fact that we are a country with nearly twice as many guns as people. And that needs to change.

BRUNHUBER: What specifically needs to change, do you think? What do you actually concretely, sort of priority item? What would you want to see done by lawmakers, universities, from all of us?

THOMAS: Yes, I think some big ones for me and for Brady and Team Enough as a whole are ERPOs, Extreme Risk Protection Orders. These are policies that can really help intervene in a situation where a person might be in crisis and a threat to themselves or those around them with their firearms.

I think also emphasizing safe storage, a lot of times firearms that are used in school shootings are taken from places where they haven't been stored properly and therefore can be accessed by people who shouldn't be able to access them. But kind of overall, I think there needs to be a shift, like I mentioned, in the culture we have surrounding guns in our country.

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

THOMAS: And that starts with gun owners as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Well, the U.S. is now pausing its diversity visa lottery program. Officials say the Brown University shooting suspect used that program to enter the country legally. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posting this on social media, saying the suspected shooter entered the U.S. via the visa lottery in 2017 and was granted a green card, but then goes on to say, quote, this heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country.

The State Department says that program grants up to 55,000 immigrant visas each year from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

The U.S. military carrying out two more strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean against alleged drug trafficking boats, killing five people. U.S. Southern Command confirmed those strikes on Thursday in a social media post, saying the military hit the two vessels because they were, quote, engaged in narco trafficking operations. At least 104 people have now been killed in this ongoing campaign by

the U.S. military against alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

[04:40:00]

Now, so far, the Trump administration has not provided evidence these boats hit in the strikes did in fact carry drugs. This all comes, of course, as the U.S. has also increased its military presence in South America with a focus on Venezuela. Just this week, President Trump ordering a total blockade of all sanctioned Venezuelan oil. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has called the blockade illegal and vowed to fight it.

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NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELA PRESIDENT (through translator): What they did to the private ship carrying Venezuelan oil already paid for and destined for international markets is a serious crime under international law and binding treaties. Venezuela will continue its course. We will keep exporting our 14 economic engines and products from Venezuela will reach global markets because we are a free country and will guarantee free trade for Venezuela, the Caribbean and all of South America.

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HILL: U.S. President Donald Trump has approved close to $900 billion in funding for military programs. A White House official says he signed the National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday. That's a crucial piece of legislation. But as Kristen Holmes reports, some items in that legislation may not be to Mr. Trump's liking.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Thursday night signed the National Defense Authorization Act. Now, this is a annual must pass bill that really outlines lawmakers priorities in defense spending for the upcoming fiscal year and for the White House in this $900 billion spending bill, there were both some wins and some losses.

Now, in the wins category, this will codify more than a dozen of President Trump's executive orders. And just to give you a few of them, because these are some of the ones that were most critical to the White House. Authorizing active duty troops on the U.S.-Mexico border. That's one of them. Prohibiting DEI programs at the Department of Defense, obviously something President Trump has kind of hammered home as part of his agenda. Deploying a golden dome missile, defense shield. So those are all in the win categories.

But it wasn't all wins for President Trump and for many Republicans, particularly America First Republicans, and particularly Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. So in terms of America first policy, there is a piece of this that was not a win for the White House, and that was that it authorizes $400 million to Ukraine for both 2026 and 2027. That is in, of course, military aid, something President Trump has tried to get away from.

But the other part of this that is so fascinating and again, President Trump signed this is it will withhold part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel budget until he discloses all the footage from those attacks or those strikes on these alleged drug boats. And obviously, this has been a point of huge contention.

Pentagon has said they're not going to release any of these videos or at least parts of these videos, particularly that second double tap strike. Now you're seeing that his budget, at least his part of his travel budget, is going to be closed or cut until he actually produces that footage. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

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HILL: President Trump has signed an executive order to reclassify marijuana from what's known as a Schedule 1 drug to a Schedule 3.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain. This reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct marijuana related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers and future treatments. I promise to be the president of common sense. And that is exactly what we're doing.

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HILL: Schedule 1 drugs do not have any acceptable medical use. That includes drugs like heroin, LSD and ecstasy. As for Schedule 3, that includes drugs like Tylenol or which is of course a commercial name for acetaminophen, over the counter drugs which have a moderate to low potential for addiction. It's important to note this order does not federally legalize marijuana.

President Trump set to head to North Carolina in the coming hours where he is expected to deliver a speech hailing the state of the U.S. economy even as polls show that voters are increasingly concerned about rising prices. He told reporters he plans to once again blame former President Joe Biden for the message he inherited. It is the same message President Trump pushed during his primetime address on Wednesday.

And when it comes to the data, here, we are learning inflation unexpectedly slowed in November to 2.7 percent. Economists, though, pointing out those numbers are actually distorted because of a historic government shutdown, which led to less information and data coming in. And also there was concern about how the shutdown may have impacted that.

Investigators heading now to North Carolina after a private jet crashed shortly after takeoff, killing seven people, including a top four former American race car driver. That crash happened on Thursday in the town of Statesville. In this video taken by witnesses, you see, of course, the smoke coming from that. [04:45:04]

The video showed the plane bursting into flames as it hit the ground. Emergency crews battling that fire. On board the plane, former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle along with his wife and their two children. NASCAR says Biffle was one of its 75 greatest drivers. There are no reports of survivors.

Hong Kong is honoring the firefighter who died in the line of duty battling that inferno that devastated a huge part of the city last month. The body of 37-year-old Ho Wai-ho was laid to rest with full honors during a ceremony just a short time ago. Thousands of people turned out for the procession through the city to pay their respects. Last month's fire killed at least 160 people as it quickly engulfed residential buildings.

It burned for nearly two days. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Up next here, the U.S. grappling with rain in the northwest. Strong winds in the southeast. Above average temperatures as well heading into Christmas. The picture that paints we've got the full forecast after the break.

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TRUMP: In the fall, we will host the first ever Patriot Games, an unprecedented four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state and territory.

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HILL: President Trump they're announcing the first ever Patriot Games, part of the celebration of America's upcoming 250th anniversary. Some Democrats mocking the newly announced Patriot Games. California Governor Gavin Newsom compared it to the infamous "Hunger Games" series of books and films on social media, posting a clip from that movie along Odds Be Forever in your favor.

The Kennedy Center's Board of trustees voting on Thursday to change the facility's name to the Trump Kennedy Center. There are some very important questions, though, about whether the board even has the authority to rename the arts Institution. In 1964, Congress designated it as a memorial to President Kennedy. And there are also questions about the vote itself.

While the White House said that vote was unanimous, Democratic Representative Joyce Speedy, who's an ex-officio member of the board and was on that call, said that was not the case, that it was not unanimous, noting she was kept muted and not able to vote. Members of the Kennedy family have also condemned the move. Tens of thousands of customers in the southeastern U.S. are without

power after strong thunderstorms caused damage and winds as well caused damage across several states. Those winds accompanied a cold front stretching from Kentucky through into Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama. The Storm Prediction center says wind gusts measuring over 60 miles per hour or more than 95 kilometers per hour, were reported in some areas on Thursday.

CNN's Derek Van Dam has more now on the dam winds, which are now headed for the Atlantic seaboard along with the forecast for the weekend leading into Christmas week.

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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The big story this week has certainly been the wind as well as the atmospheric rivers impacting the western parts of the U.S. well, not one of those stronger storm systems has moved to the Atlantic seaboard. And there's a lot of wind energy still associated with this.

You can see the millions of Americans right where some of our biggest and most populated parts of the country are located. They're going to be impacted by winds in excess of 30 to 40 miles per hour. And with the increased demand at the airports, the added number of customers, as well as the winds and the weather impacting this, you better believe that there could be some travel delays not only on the roads, but also in the skies.

It's all part of a larger storm system that is moving through that will bring rain to the I-95 corridor through early Friday morning. It quickly exits, but behind it, that's when the real wind starts to pick up from the north and west. And this is going to cause some potential delays.

Check this out. This is the forecast. Airport delays because of the weather. LaGuardia into JFK, potentially into Newark, even as far south as the airports in and around Baltimore, as well as the nation's capital and as far north as Boston Logan.

So something to keep an eye out, double check your flight. Add some extra time to get to the airport today. Atmospheric river impacting the western parts of the country yet again. We've got this direct connection to the tropics. So a lot of rain for the coastal areas of Oregon and Washington.

High elevation snowfall. The difference here from last week's storms is that this will be slightly colder. So we'll start to see more frozen precipitation, especially across the northern spine of the Rockies into the Cascades and as far south as the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range as well. But right along the coastline of California, Oregon and Washington quick 2 to 5 inches of rain could add more flooding concerns for the region.

This is the other big story if you were looking for a cold, white Christmas. While looking unlikely, much of the snow that blanketed the country over the past couple of weeks should melt with good chances of above average temperatures. We'll call it Mary Torchmas. Right. It is hot out there, or at least it look -- it's looking like it'll be well above average for a majority of the country right through the Christmas holiday period. Back to you.

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HILL: All right, Derek, thank you. Well, if he ever needs perhaps a little moonlighting gig, Charles the Third might have a fallback if, you know, the British king thing doesn't work out.

[04:55:00]

The King visiting the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in London's Covent Garden for its opening. And as you see here, the monarch was put to work pouring a pint of the tricky stout Guinness. And we're told he's really a natural. Here's what the Guinness Experience ambassador Leo Ravina told him.

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LEO RAVINA, GUINNESS EXPERIENCE AMBASSADOR: If you just pop it back down and let that settle one more time, and that is an absolutely perfect pint of Guinness. Congratulations.

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HILL: Congratulations. Even for British Royal, it seems it is never too late. Perhaps if you want to try something new. Thanks so much for joining us here on Early Start. I'm Erica Hill in New York. Stay tuned. The news continues after the short break.

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