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Suspect Arrived in New York City 10 Days Before CEO Shooting; Trump's Post Says Embattled Hegseth Will be Next Secretary; Syrian Rebels Advance Toward The Major City of Homs; Just Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 06, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:51]

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN HOST: Where is the backpack? One of the biggest and most distinctive pieces of evidence from the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO remains missing. Ahead, new details on the manhunt and the gunman's movements in the days leading up to the shooting.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Plus, President Elect Donald Trump says the support for Pete Hegseth is strong and deep. It is the first time in recent days that Trump has publicly endorsed his pick for Defense Secretary. Ahead, what this signals, especially as Hegseth's nomination is in peril.

And a CNN exclusive report. Our Jomana Karadsheh is the first Western Journalist to enter the Syrian city of Aleppo since rebel forces gained control. Ahead, we'll show you what our cameras captured, especially as the rebel offensive gathers steam. We are following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

TAUSCHE: Right now, major clues emerging in the search for the suspect in Wednesday's killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. We're told testing is underway after detectives found DNA on a water bottle and a cell phone at the scene. A law enforcement official also tells CNN police are using facial recognition technology and sending the suspect's image to every member of the NYPD. CNN's Omar Jimenez joins us now. Omar, what more do we know about this possible DNA?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so we're getting a sense in general of all the different methods that investigators are using to try to piece together any sort of substantial clue or evidence that could get them closer to not just finding out where this person is, but who this person is as well.

So when you talk about the DNA samples that they found, according to a law enforcement source that's spoken to CNN, the DNA was gotten -- they got it from a swab essentially of a water bottle that was found at the scene, a water bottle that they believe the shooter may have sipped from even leading up to the shooting as well.

And then they recovered a cell phone on top of that. That could have some touch DNA as well. Bottom line, police say they are done processing those materials and have turned it over to the office of the chief medical examiner as well as of this moment for further testing.

And of course, you talked about the facial recognition technology. We've seen a few images of this person come through, the ones of him unmasked. They've described him as a person of interest, but nonetheless someone that could be very significant to their investigation, if not the suspect himself.

And so putting that image through their technology and sending it to every member of the, of course, large New York Police Department sort of shows where their priority is right now to, again, try to track down anybody who may know who this person is or has seen this person to try to at least find some clue of a location.

TAUSCHE: But leaving behind a water bottle and a phone would seem to be a pretty crucial misstep by someone who has taken so many other precautions to try to hide his identity.

JIMENEZ: Well, it's not just that, too, but of course, you know, law enforcement are looking for a backpack that may be missing because we know the shooter was seen with a backpack as the shooting unfolded.

[14:05:09]

And then they tracked him toward Central Park. And then later on, someone matching the description or someone they believe could be the suspect is seen without the backpack leaving the park.

So where is that backpack as well? That's another major question that they're asking. And then, of course, we know this person used a fake ID to check into the hostel as well. But when you talk about those, what some would call mistakes over the course of this, a former FBI agent who we actually had on air a little bit a short time ago said, and I want to quote here, "Those are mistakes that will eventually lead to his capture."

I think what he was trying to do was trying to be a professional. He thought that he was being professional by paying the cash and the fake id. And so again, someone from an investigative background believes that these sort of missteps could actually really help law enforcement here.

And we're going to be look to see -- we're going to look to see if we actually hear a little bit more from law enforcement today. We're trying to see if that could be a possibility and maybe get some insight into how effective some of these clues actually are in their investigative efforts.

TAUSCHE: Time, of course, being of the essence with the suspect at large. Omar Jimenez, our thanks to you. Brianna.

KEILAR: We have Retired NYPD Detective Michael Alcazar with us now. He's an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Thank you so much for being with us. You're looking at what investigators publicly are saying they have. Certainly they have more, but we know that they have a lot of threads to pull on here. The hostile, the shell casings, a smudge, fingerprint on a water bottle, a cell phone, a Greyhound bus. What does that tell you about the chance to catch this guy?

MICHAEL ALCAZAR, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: I think our chances are good. The DNA evidence is important. Everything's for courtroom testimony so we can link him to the crime, right? We have his image. I'm sure there's a lot of tips coming in through Crime Stoppers helping us identify the suspect.

My gut feeling is there, we already -- the NYPD, already knows who he is. We're just looking for him, we're on the hunt for him. So once we apprehend him, it's key that we link him to the scene via all the DNA evidence, all the fingerprints that are left on the spent shell casing, the live round, the bottle, the cell phone. So this is all for, again, for Courtroom testimony and presentation.

KEILAR: There's, you know, the words delay and depose found on a (inaudible). This person do things to clearly cover their tracks, there's always the possibility likelihood that police will capture him, right? We see that. Anyone, I think, who would commit a crime like this must know that. Do you think that even in that case, there's potentially a desire on the part of the shooter to have a motive kind of precede him before that happens?

ALCAZAR: Perhaps. Perhaps he was -- maybe he was anticipating that he might get stopped or arrested on the scene. Maybe he put those markings on the bullets as a statement. Or it could all just be subterfuge. Maybe he's just misdirecting us.

So very interesting, all the information. We hope to capture and arrest this guy so we can do an interrogation and find out what his motive is, if any other players were involved, if anybody funded him. Did he do this by himself? So (inaudible) it's going to be the arrest.

KEILAR: Yeah. Does this speak to a motive or is it a diversion? The suspect used cash, used a fake ID at the hostel. We have a picture from the hostel of a person police believe is the suspect. Is it normal for criminals to be in something like this, to be pretty methodical about trying to cover their tracks, but then also to slip up like this, taking the mask down so you can see the full face?

ALCAZAR: I mean, we rely on bad guys to make mistakes. He seemed pretty methodical until again, he dropped his -- his mask. And of course, he left all the DNA, you know -- you know, our DNA, our fingerprints are left everywhere. It could be on the countertop of that -- that hostel. So as prepared as you think you might be, you know, there's mistakes that people make all time, and law enforcement relies on that.

KEILAR: Yeah. What do you make of the fact that the suspect and having been there 10 days before the killing happened. The suspect knew where Thompson was staying, seemed to know the path that Thompson would take to the conference, was certainly at least waiting for the time that he might be heading to the conference, and was then able to identify him as he passed him. What do you make of all that?

ALCAZAR: Yeah. As an investigator, you know, we know they arrived 10 days before, so it's careful preparation on the perpetrator's part. As an investigator, I want to think, did he get information beforehand, prior?

[14:10:03]

You know, we always have to entertain that avenue of investigation.

I mean, for him to -- to hide himself right there in the sidewalk and then wait for the victim to walk past him in the few days that the victim was there, that is very careful preparation. I know people have entertained the idea that he might be a professional. I had my doubts in the beginning, but now that I've seen all this prep, the weapon he used, you know, he might be a professional.

He might have some training, he might have some military training. Potentially, he could be from -- I mean, he's so young, right? Where does he get this training from? He looks young anyway. Could he be from outside the country? All these things come into an investigator's mind. These are the ideas we come up with in theories, and we stick with something that's plausible. So a lot of moving parts for this arrest.

KEILAR: Yeah. But a very clear picture of this guy's face that no doubt investigators are cross referencing, using facial recognition technology to see whether it's on the web or other photos. Michael, thank you so much for your insights. We do appreciate it.

ALCAZAR: You're very welcome.

KEILAR: Kayla.

TAUSCHE: Today, a new show of support for Pete Hegseth from President Elect Donald Trump himself. Hegseth, of course, is his choice to be the next Defense Secretary, who's been embroiled in allegations of sexual assault, money mismanagement and alcohol abuse.

The President Elect posting this online this morning, quote, "Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep, much more so than the fake news would have you believe". A source says that Trump's allies are noting they've heard no hard nose on Hegseth's nomination, at least among the Republican senators that he's met with this week.

Let's get the latest from our Congressional Correspondent, Lauren Fox. Lauren, it's still early days for this nomination, but what are you hearing about whether the Trump transition will stick with Hegseth in the end?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you look at where they started the week, Kayla, and where they ended the week, if your Hegseth's team on Capitol Hill, you're probably feeling pretty good about how things wrapped up this Friday. You know, over the course of the week, there were a lot of questions about how he was going to handle some of these very difficult meetings with people like Senator Joni Ernst as well as the incoming Republican Leader John Thune.

But what you saw from some of these high stakes meetings is that some lawmakers came out and made clear that they were not going to just say they were opposed to Hegseth. Some even said that they could get to yes, eventually. You know, that's what I heard from Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota who met with him as well as Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who said he had a really frank discussion at various points, really pushing Hegseth on questions about his past alcohol use and that he got a promise from Hegseth that he would not drink if he got the position of leading the Pentagon.

And I think that that makes Hegseth's team, as well as the Trump transition feel pretty comfort about the fact that perhaps they started the week in one place, ended the week and maybe even a better place than they had expected. Obviously, things can turn on a dime. There are a lot of questions about whether or not anything else comes out about Pete Hegseth.

You know, Kevin Cramer told me we cannot have any more surprises. And he really did hammer home that point with Hegseth making it clear that in the Senate and in the confirmation process, that is the last thing that you'd want. Again, we are a really long ways away from the potential public confirmation battles.

But that is going to be another place where senators are going to be looking really closely to how Hegseth handles himself, how he handles some of the tough lines of questioning you might see. But again, this is going to take time to play out. They feel very good, though, about where things stand right now.

TAUSCHE: And then of course, there is the FBI background check, but it's just getting underway and that could also provide some surprises we will see. Lauren Fox, our thanks to you.

Let me turn now to CNN Zachary Wolf, he's the author of CNN's What Matters newsletter. He took a look at another Trump transition effort, increasing efficiency by potentially trimming $2 trillion from the government budget. Zach, we're talking, of course, about DOGE or the Department of Government Efficiency here. And you took a look at past attempts at a similar goal, which of course have their own names.

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER: That's right. Well, the first one to look at is the Grace Commission that was during the Reagan administration. The President Reagan went to these sort of like Trump, he went to outside business executives to get their recommendations on how to trim the government and control government spending.

It took them two years and they came up with a 47 volume list of recommendations, most of which were never, you know, became law because they couldn't get them passed through Congress. And then after that, of course, in the 90s, there was REGO or Reinventing Government. You saw Al Gore's picture there because he was in charge of it. That was an inside effort they got recommendations from across inside the government, it was a little more successful. They trimmed something like 350,000 jobs, although they probably shouldn't get credit for all of those because the Pentagon was already getting smaller.

[14:15:03]

But the point is, there have been multiple efforts like this just in recent memory, people or presidents trying to trim the size of government. And even the ones that were sort of successful haven't worked because government spending, we know, has skyrocketed.

Look at the math. Each year the government spends about $6.8 trillion. Start -- most importantly spends $3.8 trillion just on mandatory things, things Congress doesn't even control. We're talking Medicare, we're talking Social Security. After that there's $0.7 trillion that goes to interest on the national debt. They cannot pay that or the government would essentially lose its credit rating.

So and that number is getting bigger every single year with interest rates. That only leaves about $1.7 trillion for the government to spend every year. That's more than Elon Musk has said that he wants to trim from the government. So you would imagine if Elon Musk got his way, the entire government ceases to exist. Like the Pentagon, Homeland Security, all of those things come from that $1.7 trillion pot.

So it's hard to see how the math works. Add to that, the government's only taking in about $4.4 trillion every year. And these are 2023 numbers, by the way. They change from year to year. So you have a major deficit. It was $1.7 trillion in that year. So the math is really confusing and it's hard to see how they do it.

TAUSCHE: And already they're trying to reset some expectations. They started talking about two trillion more recently. They've been talking about, well, maybe we'll cut $500 billion. We'll see what if any of that ends up happening. Zach Wolf, our thanks to you on that story.

Ahead this hour on CNN News Central, it's a story you will only see here. CNN is the first Western media outlet in Aleppo, Syria, after rebels captured the city. We'll take you inside as families return to the area for the first time in years.

Plus, Qanon, the group that believes the government is controlled by a group of Satan worshipping pedophiles is apparently excited about President Elect Trump's pick to lead the FBI. We have a closer look at Kash Patel's history with the far right conspiracy group.

And, health officials are racing to identify a mysterious flu like illness that's killed dozens of people in the Congo. What we know about what's being called disease X. These important stories and more all coming up this hour on CNN News Central.

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[14:21:52]

TAUSCHE: Syrian rebels are staging what could be a major upheaval in the Middle East in a country where American troops are stationed. New video shows families fleeing the city of Homs as rebels close in after a surprising string of victories. Those gains are abruptly shifting the power dynamics in Syria after a long stalemate in a civil war. The rebels say their destination is Damascus, the country's capital.

Right now, the rebels control the area you see in green on this map. Kurdish forces, seen in yellow, control the northeast, signaling that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has suddenly loss control of nearly half his country. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh went to Aleppo as the first Western journalist on the ground there since rebels took over and asked people about their reaction.

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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are in Aleppo's old city here by its historic, iconic citadel. And it's really surreal being in Syria's second city just days after that lightning offensive by rebel forces, where they managed to capture the city in a matter of days. And you look around here, and it seems like business as usual.

Ahmed (ph) never left Aleppo, and she says their homes were destroyed. Her children are in Turkey, and she hasn't seen them in years. And she's hoping now that the city has changed hands that this means that she could see her children again.

Abdul (ph) was in Idlib. He's been there since the start of the war, and this is his first time back to his city.

MAN #1: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

KARADSHEH: He says they trust the rebels who are now returning them to their cities, and he says he's not afraid. Syrians have gone through so much and their resilience.

Just in the last few days, people have painted over this with the colors of the Free Syria flag. And this is something you see around the city, where people are trying to remove any signs of the Assad regime.

This is the Basil roundabout, named after the deceased brother of the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad. And one of the first things that people did when rebel forces took over the city of Aleppo, which toppled the statue of Basil, a symbol of the Assad regime. This is an area where there were fierce battles with regime forces.

And since then, in the past few days, there's been an airstrike that killed many people. You can still see the aftermath of that, the blood on the floor here. And speaking to people in the city, this is what they fear. They fear that there will be more Russian and Syrian regime airstrikes, that they will be back for the city of Aleppo.

Mohammed (ph), this is your first time back --

MOHAMMED ALI JOUDEH, DISPLACED RESIDENT OF ALLEPO: Yes --

KARADSHEH: -- to Aleppo in 10 years.

[14:25:03]

JOUDEH: Ten years, yes.

KARADSHEH: Did you ever imagine this moment possible?

JOUDEH: No, actually, no, no. We have in our imagination that we're going to come back. Actually, we had a lot of dreams about getting back to Aleppo, but we didn't actually believe that this moment is going to be true.

KARADSHEH: But are you worried about what might be coming?

JOUDEH: Of course. We all here, all the people here are worried about what's going to happen because the air strikes always attacked us --

KARADSHEH: But you can imagine living --

JOUDEH: Of course --

KARADSHEH: -- here again.

JOUDEH: -- of course. I love my country. I love my -- actually all of the Syrian place, the Syrian country, our country, we hope it's going to be clear from the Assad regime, all the Syria, not just Aleppo.

KARADSHEH: Speaking to people here, you get this sense of joy and relief to see the regime of Bashar al-Assad gone. But also there's this apprehension, anxiety, fear of what might be coming. People don't really know what to expect from these rebel forces who've taken over Aleppo.

But most people that we've spoken to say that their biggest fear is what the regime and its allies are going to do. A real fear of going back to the bloody days of the civil war in Syria. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Aleppo, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Thank you to Jomana for that report.

Let's talk now with retired Colonel Peter Mansoor, former aide to General David Petraeus. Peter, I wonder just how you are seeing this moment in Syria. It's kind of driven home by that extraordinary report of Jomana's there. But you have Abu Mohammed al-Julani, the militant leader of HTS, the main group driving the country's armed opposition, saying that the goal here is to overthrow the Assad government. Is that in the cards, in your opinion?

COL. PETER MANSOOR, U.S. ARMY (RET): The Syrian army clearly has shown (inaudible) part of the nation. The question really is, as HTS drives south towards Damascus, will regime elements hold firm and will they get any support from Russia or from Hezbollah, both of which have bigger fish to fry closer to their homelands. So this is an amazing attack. It's obviously been well planned and has been in the works for quite some time.

And as that amazing report on the ground in Aleppo shows, you know, the group is also ready to transition from a military organization to a governance organization. So, I think the offensive will stick, I think it will succeed because I think the Syrian army clearly has shown that it's not willing to defend the regime.

KEILAR: I mean, al-Julani, he's doing this (inaudible). And he claims that he's gone through a transformation and did an about face on past hardline rhetoric. What do you make of what is -- it's certainly a PR campaign. What do you -- what do you think about it?

MANSOOR: Well, you know, I'm from Peoria on this one. Show me, you know, show me your deeds and not just your words. The words are great. The HTS broke away from al-Qaeda in around 2016. They've said that they would not persecute Christians and other minority groups in the areas they control.

And so far, that's been the case. But we'll see going forward. You know, it is -- HTS is designated a terror group by the U.S. government and a lot of foreign governments as well, and that's based on its background. So al-Julani clearly wants to, you know, change that perception. And we'll see going forward, as they govern Aleppo and other areas that they have seized, how they -- how they act.

KEILAR: Yeah, if it's reality and not just perception. How is the U.S. viewing its interest in this fight? Because obviously, American officials have long opposed Assad, but of course they're interested, are -- but are they really interested in supporting rebels like al- Julani, who, as you mentioned, it's a designated terrorist organization, and he also has a $10 million bounty on his head from the U.S.

MANSOOR: Yeah, I don't think the United States is going to support HTS. Our interests lie in the northeast part of the country with the (inaudible) Syrian (inaudible) Kurdish forces and the area that U.S. special operations forces are helping to advise and eliminate the remnants of ISIS.

But, you know, the government is looking at what's going on and probably making a calculation now, which is better. You know, Assad, who's a murderer and has blood on his hands, or HTS, which is a non --

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