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New Videos Released in Manhunt for Brown University Shooter; L.A. District Attorney Expected to Get Nick Reiner Case Soon; Australian Police Say, Early Indications Shooting Inspired by ISIS. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 16, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, the Rhode Island manhunt more urgent and more intense. Investigators are releasing new photos and videos hoping they will lead to an arrest. We are live at Brown University as police comb for clues.

Plus, the search for a motive in the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner. Ahead, a closer look at their son Nick's passed as the district attorney is expected to get the case soon.

And an FDA warning to major retailers selling recalled baby formula linked to a botulism outbreak, what you need to know.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Also happening now, motivated by ISIS. New reporting this hour on the deadly terrorist attack in Australia, and new stories of heroism emerging from Bondi Beach.

Plus, breaking this morning, unemployment hitting a four year high, retail sales their weakest in five months, what this all says about the U.S. economy.

And new deadly U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, giving an update to lawmakers this morning.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

Happening now, an active manhunt intensifying for the killer who struck the Brown University campus. Police are releasing this new video of a person of interest walking through Providence, Rhode Island, in the hours just before the attack that killed two students and wounded nine others. The FBI is now offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED DOCKS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, BOSTON FIELD OFFICE: It's painstaking work and we are asking the public to be patient as we continue to run down every lead so we can get victims, survivors, and their families, and all of you, the answers you deserve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We'll have the very latest on the investigation in just a moment. But, first, we are learning more about the two students who were actually killed at Brown University, Ella Cook, a sophomore from Alabama. The governor ordering flags lower to half staff until Friday in her honor. Cook was vice president of Brown University's Republican club. One member of her church back home described her, and I'm quoting now, as a faithful bright light.

And Mukhammad Aziz Umurzukov, an 18-year-old student from Virginia, an online fundraiser, says he dreamed of becoming a neurosurgeon and helping people. Here's how friends are remembering them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMARI MANS, MUKHAMMAD AZIZ UMURZOKOV'S ROOMMATE: He's kind. He reached out to me as soon as we got our roommate assignment. And then most importantly, he was just present. Whatever you asked him to do, he was always there for you.

What I do know is that Brown's grieving, I'm grieving. The loss of him would be felt throughout this community because his soul truly did reverberate throughout the community.

LUKE CHRISTOPHER, KNEW ELLA COOK: He was always a person who just radiated us. She was really smart.

GAVIN THORNHILL, KNEW ELLA COOK: I'm just super proud of her and what she was able to accomplish in her short life. I absolutely hate that it was taken away from us so short.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our deepest condolences to their families and their friends. May their memories, as we say, be a blessing.

CNN's Leigh Waldman is in providence for us. Leigh, what are you learning this morning about the latest developments?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we know that the FBI is currently inside of Brown University in the building where this shooting happened, Quantico examining all the evidence, trying to reconstruct that scene.

We drove around this neighborhood just a few moments ago. Yesterday, a heavy show of force, U.S. Marshals, FBI, state and local police combing through, sifting through the snow, knocking on doors, looking for that surveillance video. Today, not as heavy of a presence in this neighborhood surrounding Brown University. We did see some unmarked vehicles, a canine unit throughout this neighborhood.

But yesterday, that search undercover revealed, rather, three new videos of this suspect, a person of interest two hours before this shooting took place. You can see sort of a clear image of his face. That's what they're hoping someone who recognizes this man, maybe recognizes his distinct gait, will call in, give a tip that will lead to an arrest.

[10:05:00]

The FBI describing this person as about 5'8", describing him as stocky, but also noting that he is considered armed and dangerous.

Now, we're speaking to people who live here. Most students have left Brown University, but people who live in this community, they're not feeling safe right now. They're feeling anxious, uneasy, knowing that there's a killer on the loose. Take a listen.

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PROF. TIMO VOLLBRECHT, BROWN UNIVERSITY: I am pretty spooked. We're pretty shaken up. I have students that I deeply care about at the school who I'm very worried about.

ALEX BROWN, MANAGER, CEREMONY TEA HOUSE: We have really just nothing to go on, no, nothing to kind of give us any kind of a direction. I don't know if I -- you know, should I worry about when I have to walk home tonight?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: Now, we are hearing a desperate plea from Brown University and from law enforcement asking anyone who is in this area around the time that this shooting happened to give any information they can to a law enforcement authorities. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Leigh Waldman on the scene for us at Brown University, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. Happening now the Los Angeles district attorney is expected to get the case against Nick Reiner today. Police say he is responsible for the deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner. A source says Nick was seen having an argument with his famous father at a holiday party just hours before the bodies were found at their home.

BLITZER: And this morning there's growing outrage over President Trump's comments about Rob Reiner, who was openly critical of the Trump administration. Listen.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He became like a deranged person, Trump derangement syndrome. So, I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way, shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And Michelle Obama told Jimmy Kimmel last night that she and her husband, Barack Obama, had planned to see the Reiners the evening they were killed. She also said this about President Trump's remarks. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: Let me just say this. Unlike some people, Rob and Michele Reiner are some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know. They're not deranged or crazed. What they have always been are passionate people in a time when they're not -- there's not a lot of courage going on.

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BROWN: CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Los Angeles. Stephanie, what more are you learning about this case?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are expecting to get this case to move from the Los Angeles Police Department's investigation, Pamela, and then onto the district attorney. We're waiting to hear when that could happen. Obviously, that may give us more clues.

At this point, we do not have a motive, and at this point we do not know the how, how the two Reiners were killed. And maybe we will learn some of that when we hear from the district attorney's office if we do hear from them today.

But we are also learning more about Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son who the police department said is, quote, responsible for the deaths of his parents. We do know that he has battled addiction over the years. This is something he's spoken about openly. We know that in 2015 he co-wrote a movie about it being Charlie, that his father directed about addiction. The first time he went into rehabilitation was at 15 years old.

But take a listen to him talking about the struggles that he's had at different times dealing with his addiction and also how it relates to his parents.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I was smart about it and I just was like, you know what? I want to go home. And so I just stayed sober long enough until I could go home. And then, yes, I just -- and then I went home and did it.

I got totally spun out on uppers. I think it was coke and something else. And I was up for days on end. And I started punching out different things in my guest house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you weren't you pissed? Like weren't your folks like you got to go and you were pissed that they were like, you got to go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they told me I had to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's why you got upset? So, that's --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't remember the specifics of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do or you don't?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: Now that is from the Dopey Podcast, and that was recorded in 2018. And that podcast deals with people's addiction and their road to recovery there. So, that was some time ago, but it does give some clues about fighting. He has also said at certain points he's been homeless.

Nevertheless, while we know all of this, Pamela and Wolf, none of it explains why police believe he is the one who killed his parents. So, still so many questions out there and just a grieving town and also industry without the titans of industry, Rob and Michele Reiner, here any longer. This is tragic.

BLITZER: Yes. This is so, so heartbreaking, indeed.

All right, Stephanie Elam, thank you very, very much.

[10:10:00]

Also new this morning, we're seeing some dramatic new dash cam video of bystanders confronting the gunman in Bondi Beach, Australia. This was just before the mass shooting. The two have been identified as Boris and Sofia Gurman, a Russian Jewish couple, both in their 60s and lived in the area. Both were shot and killed.

We're also learning more about the apparent motive for the attack. Listen to what police are now saying.

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KRISSY BARRETT, AUSTRALIAN POLICE COMMISSIONER: Early indications point to a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State, allegedly committed by a father and son. There is no evidence to suggest other individuals were involved in this attack. However, we caution that this could change given it is early in our investigation.

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BROWN: CNN Senior International Correspondent Will Ripley has the latest on the investigation. Will?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf and Pamela, that new dash cam video may be giving investigators their clearest picture yet of how this attack unfolded. Investigators found what appears to be an ISIS flag inside the suspect's car, like the one visible on the windshield in that footage, evidence authorities say points to an attack inspired by Islamic State ideology.

Investigators are now looking beyond Australia. The father and son recently traveled to the Southern Philippines, a region long plagued by ISIS-inspired violence. Philippine officials say the pair arrived on November 1st for what they described as military-style training, staying nearly four weeks before returning to Australia, just over two weeks before the attack here at Bondi Beach. Authorities stress the purpose of that trip remains under investigation.

And here at the beach, the grief remains raw. The prime minister visited on Tuesday meeting with families and victims, and also Ahmed Al Ahmed, the man being widely hailed as a hero, for running toward gunfire and wrestling a rifle away from the attacker, an act authorities say likely saved lives.

Ahmed remains hospitalized, needing multiple surgeries for gunshot wounds. His parents are Syrian refugees. They say his actions were driven by instinct and duty.

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MOHAMED FATEH AL AHMED, FATHER OF MAN WHO TACKLED BONDI BEACH SHOOTER: My son is a hero. He served with the police and he has the impulse to protect people. When he saw those people on the ground covered in blood, his conscience and morals compelled him to attack one of the terrorists and take away his weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Right now, authorities emphasize the investigation remains active. There's no evidence at this stage of additional suspects, but investigators continue reviewing travel records, communications, and online activity as they work to determine how and when the suspects may have been radicalized.

Meanwhile, the crowds and candlelight vigils here at Bondi Beach continue to grow, and funerals are getting underway for some of the victims, including an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old girl. Wolf, Pamela?

BLITZER: All right. Ahmed was certainly a hero. He saved lives. Will Ripley, thanks very much for that report.

Still ahead, levy breach, tens of thousands of people told to evacuate their homes in Washington State after really intense, more flooding. The new concerns with more rain now on the way.

BROWN: And nearly 8 million Americans without a job, people spending less. Could the new figures out this morning be a warning sign for the economy?

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BLITZER: Breaking News, the unemployment rate here in the United States hit a four-year high, according to the November jobs report, the numbers just out. They were released earlier this morning after being delayed by the longest government shutdown in U.S. History. BROWN: President Trump's director of the National Economic Council addressed the report just a short time ago.

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KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: The government shutdown is a time of heightened economic uncertainty where a lot of people just sort of hold off on hiring, hold off on this and that until they see that we're actually going to get the economy, the government up and running again.

And so I think that the data that we're looking at now is partly colored by the government shutdown and a bounce back from that is something that I think all observers should expect.

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BROWN: CNN Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich is digging through the data. Vanessa, what are the numbers telling you?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, we know that these reports were delayed both from November and October, but it really confirms what economists have been warning for months now that we are seeing a softening labor market.

In the month of November, 64,000 jobs added, that is better than estimates. Economists were predicting 40,000 jobs. But look at that unemployment rate now sitting at 4.6 percent, the highest level we've seen in four years. And the last comparison we have is the unemployment rate in September, which was 4.4 percent. So, now you have nearly 8 million Americans out there looking for jobs right now.

We also got October's numbers. This was a unique picture because we were expecting losses. Look at that, 105,000 jobs lost in the month of October. That is mainly because of the federal government buyouts that were offered through DOGE were ending September 30th. So, you're seeing a lot of those people who are working for the government falling off the payroll in the month of October.

But look at that, the unemployment rate, we don't know what it was for October, so we really have to look at September and the month of November.

But if you look at this bar chart that we have for you here, you can see that in the last six months, there have now been three months of job losses. And that is significant. That's a very different picture than what we have seen the last four years since COVID.

The sectors in November, so people can see where the jobs are, healthcare adding -- that's the bar chart I was talking about on the right hand side of your screen, you could see those job losses, three months there, but sectors in November where there were jobs added.

[10:20:04]

Healthcare has been pretty consistent. You see 46,000 jobs added there, construction, 28,000 job losses in transportation and then in manufacturing, guys, that is the sector that the president is hoping will continue to add jobs given all of these tariffs that he's been putting in place.

The reason for that, of course, trying to move manufacturing back to the United States, but 5,000 jobs lost there in the month of November.

BROWN: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much for breaking it down for us.

And coming up, quote, not presidential. Some Republicans criticized President Trump for mocking Rob Reiner's death. Congressman Don Bacon, a Republican, responded. We're going to speak to him live.

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BLITZER: Happening now, the search ratchets up for the killer behind Saturday's mass shooting at Brown University. Authorities in Providence, Rhode Island, have released new video of a possible suspect seen walking through neighborhoods in the hours leading up to the attack.

Joining us now is former FBI agent Scott Curtis. Scott, thanks so much for joining us.

I know you've seen these newly released videos. How helpful could they potentially be for tracking down the person who committed this horrendous crime?

SCOTT CURTIS, FORMER FBI AGENT: Well, I think it can help significantly, especially for people, friends, close friends and relatives of this individual there, if they've seen this video. They should be able to identify who this individual is. I know from personal experience people that I surveilled, having known them in the past, I could identify them even with their backs turned to me just based on their silhouette and their posture and whatnot.

So, this should be very helpful. It's not ideal. I think the main goal of the investigators at this point is can they continue to trace this individual's movements before the attack and after the attack, and can they place this person in a vehicle? I think that's going to be extremely helpful to the investigation.

BLITZER: It certainly will be. The FBI says, as you know, that the suspected shooter in these videos is, quote, approximately 5'8" with a stocky build, those words. How important are those details when shared with the public?

CURTIS: It could be helpful. I think it's more helpful to have the actual video and images of this individual. And if they can come across any better images, I would hope that they would share those with the public, again, to expand the possible identification of people that may have run into this individual before or afterward. I think it's interesting this individual was in that area for two hours before the attack happened there, you know, exposing himself and creating additional risk for himself. So, what was he doing in those two hours between that video we saw yesterday and the actual attack?

BLITZER: Is there anything that stands out to you, Scott, about the video, like the person's gait, the walking -- his nature and walking or other details?

CURTIS: Yes. I mean, again, people close friends and relatives of this individual should be able to identify this person based on those characteristics, based on those traits there. Again, I have personally done that in my experience there identified people just by the way they walk, by the way they moved about, by their silhouette, by their posture, mannerisms that they would have there. So, any additional detail could help narrow the focus of who this individual is.

BROWN: Hey, it's Pamela Brown. I have a question. What is the likelihood, though, that as we analyze the gait and other characteristics of this suspect that the suspect could know that this is surveillance video and be pretending to walk a certain way or, you know, be doing things to kind of throw people off?

CURTIS: Well, that's for individuals that are coming in contact with that individual now. But people that know or may have known this individual in the past would know how he walked and how he acted based on their experience and their interactions with him. So, it's going to be hard for him to, you know, completely remain anonymous in this world.

BLITZER: It's now been about, what, 66 hours or so since the mass shooting. How critical is time becoming to finding the person who did this?

CURTIS: Well, again, you know, as was put out there, this person is considered armed and dangerous. So, you have to wonder, you know, what else or who else this person may want to target or plan to target there. So, the quicker that we can get this person identified and in custody the public, especially in Providence, there will be relieved there and can go about their business and hopefully enjoy the holidays here coming up.

BROWN: Yes. And just to ask you, you know, we just watch him pacing. I wonder what you make of that. And for my question earlier, it just -- I was thinking of the Usual Suspects movie, you know, when at the end, suddenly Kevin Spacey is walking, and it was all that before. So, that's what made me wonder how much the likelihood of a suspect like this trying to do things to throw law enforcement off. But, I mean, the pacing is odd, right?

CURTIS: Yes, it's definitely significant, unique. Again, every, everybody has unique characteristics there that people notice, especially if you're in contact with those people on a regular basis there.

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