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Power Vacuum in Syria?; Trump Nominees on Capitol Hill; Man Questioned in CEO Killing. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 09, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:47]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A potential break in the case, investigators now questioning a man in Pennsylvania in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO. What we're now learning of a person in police custody.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Plus, a stunning collapse and a power vacuum. Hours after the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad loses control of Syria, the U.S. launches attacks on dozens of ISIS targets in the country. Concerns are growing that the terror group could try to take advantage of the turmoil there, and there is a new warning about the fate of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile.

And charm offensive. Some of president-elect Trump's picks for key national security positions head to Capitol Hill, working to win over top Republican senators before their confirmation battles.

In the meantime, Trump is laying out aggressive day one plans, including pardons for January 6 rioters.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

We do begin with a major development in the manhunt for the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. New York police are heading right now to Altoona, Pennsylvania. They are going there to question a 26- year-old man who is now in custody.

Two sources telling CNN the man detained had a gun with a suppressor -- you may think of that as a silencer -- and also multiple fake I.D.s. And this just in. The man has been charged with offenses related to the gun recovered.

SANCHEZ: Now, you may recall, last Wednesday, a gunman seen using a suppressor killed Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel. Let's get right to CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller.

John, sources are indicating to you that a McDonald's employee tipped them off to this person.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: That's right. And this story is developing bit by bit. So, as it develops, what we

now understand is that a patron may have approached the employee, pointed the individual out and said it looks like the guy in the picture wanted for the New York murders, and that the employee may have placed the call to the Altoona, Pennsylvania, police, who then responded and found this individual.

But this is normal in a story like this where details start to come in one piece at a time. But, yes, that's how police were alerted.

KEILAR: all right, if you can stand by for us, John, we do want to bring in Bobby Chacon. He's a retired FBI agent who served nearly two decades in the New York office.

Bobby, what do you think about how this has come together after what's been a really intense search with so much public interest for this gunman?

BOBBY CHACON, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, it's kind of something I expected, although I did expect them to kind of get a bigger getaway, maybe even internationally.

But his face and those photos were plastered by your network and other networks literally globally. I was on the news in Australia recently. I mean, his picture went everywhere. So I was waiting for somebody to either pick up a phone, like happened in this McDonald's in Pennsylvania, or a friend, family member, classmate saying, I know who that is.

It was -- I think it was inevitable when those images were plastered up. And this is why the news like your show is so important, because you have to get that out there. And the police can't do that without the media's help. And so we pushed those photographs out.

And I thought it was just a matter of time before somebody recognized this guy, as just happened this morning.

SANCHEZ: And, John, I want to ask you about the details in his arrest, because he's been arrested -- oh, so we don't have John. I'm sure he's taking calls from sources as we speak on this fast- developing story.

Bobby, to you. Does it surprise you that he's been arrested on these gun-related charges? He's not yet been arrested or at least there's no indication that he's been confirmed as to be suspected to be the killer in this case, even though officials say that he had a suppressor and fake I.D.s on him, including the fake I.D. that officials believed was used in New York.

How soon before they point to him as the suspect, if all the evidence is pointing in that direction?

CHACON: Yes, well, it takes some time. It'll be a couple hours, because, remember, he was he has to be charged in Manhattan. So the Manhattan DA's office has to get the information from the NYPD detectives who are en route to Pennsylvania. They're going to be interviewing him.

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That takes time. Some of their forensics that they gather from him have to be matched to what was found at the scene. That takes a little time. So the DA's office in Manhattan now has to type up the charging documents that they have to go to court with in Manhattan to then get an extradition from Pennsylvania.

So all that paperwork takes a little time. But, right now, what's happening is, the detectives are interviewing them. They're probably stepping out and completing reports, either -- then e-mailing those reports to the Manhattan DA's office to other detectives there, so they can start typing up the charging documents in Manhattan, where the crime occurred.

That's where he has to be charged. So he's charged with probably carrying a suppressor, which is illegal on most guns, just to hold him in Pennsylvania. The charges in Manhattan have to be brought by the Manhattan DA's office. And they're probably typing that paperwork as we speak, in constant communication with those in Pennsylvania as to what they can put into the charging documents in Manhattan.

KEILAR: And, John, you're back with us now.

Talk to us a little bit about the things that would need to come together to make this case.

MILLER: Well, it has the potential to be an extraordinarily strong case, based on the evidence we know about.

So people briefed on the investigation have told us that they have extracted DNA from a phone, from a water bottle that he drank from, from a power bar that he ate, and these things were discarded along the trail where he fled after the shooting.

Now, if this individual who's in custody is the person behind this crime, the DNA should match to the individual, the print may match to the individual because you can't eliminate that somebody else didn't handle the phone. But the gun that he's arrested with, with the suppressor, that's going to be key.

Once they fire a bullet through that gun and look at the shell casing and look at the bullet, matching the ballistics on both ends is a very well-honed science. So there is a lot that goes beyond the circumstantial that would allegedly tie him to this crime.

SANCHEZ: And, John, what about some of the documents you're learning that he apparently had with him when he was encountered by police today and eventually arrested on those gun-related charges?

MILLER: Well, this was initially described to us as maybe a manifesto.

What it is, is a relatively short, meaning about two pages, of a document that talks about the health care industry, that talks about inequity, that suggests that violence is one of the answers.

And it is being looked at as something that is probably going to be key to this investigation, when you find a man in a McDonald's allegedly with a gun, a silencer and a document railing against the health care industry when you have the head of the largest health care insurance provider in America gunned down by an individual of similar description with a similar weapon.

KEILAR: And, Bobby, as we're getting details about this McDonald's employee calling police after recognizing the face of this individual, just kind of stunning to think of how that moment went down.

Talk a little bit about how it appears this really did come down to that photo and the reach of it so broadly and to local law enforcement responding to a tip.

CHACON: Yes.

And I'd wonder how many tips countrywide, nationwide have gotten because, he doesn't look unique, so there are other people that probably look similar to him, and whether or not other police departments have responded and kind of ruled people out and things like that.

But certainly this employee saw those photos on a news network somewhere, and was -- it created a strong enough memory in her mind that when she saw this guy as a customer with no mask, obviously, she saw his face. And she thought, that looks just like the guy.

And she was wise enough to and sharp enough to call the police and check it out, because that's all you have to do is call 911. The police come over, check it out. And as they're questioning him, all of a sudden, more -- suspicion grows. He's got a backpack. He's got a gun.

And then it takes off. But it's great that the public was able to -- this was a crowdsourcing-type thing. People were looking at that image. You guys were blasting that image everywhere. And it had its reach. And now it's had its effect.

SANCHEZ: Yes, potentially a major break in the case just six days after the shooting and killing of this CEO.

John Miller, Bobby Chacon, thank you both. Appreciate your time.

Back here in Washington -- I hate it when that happens -- it's the start of a big week on Capitol Hill for three of president-elect Donald Trump's most controversial picks to join his incoming administration. Right now, his embattled choice for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is back for a second week, trying to rally support as he faces an allegation of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct.

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And we're told that Hegseth is intensifying his focus on winning over three key female senators, Iowa's Joni Ernst, Maine's Susan Collins, and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski.

KEILAR: Two other Trump picks, Kash Patel, who is his choice for FBI director, and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, are also up on the Hill today, both expected to face some tough confirmation fights.

Let's go to CNN's Kristen Holmes, who is in West Palm Beach near Mar- a-Lago.

Kristen, what more do you know about Hegseth zeroing in on these three female senators who have raised questions about his past?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna and Boris, we should go back to last week, because they believe, and that -- they being Trump's team as well as Hegseth and his allies, that they are in a very different place today than they were at the end of last week.

Now, part of that is because we saw Donald Trump coming out twice, once on TRUTH Social, once in an interview with NBC, saying that he supported Hegseth, two, because of what we have heard from Joni Ernst. Essentially, they had a very frank conversation.

Multiple sources told me and my colleague Lauren Fox back last week they weren't sure where it was going to land. However, we saw a little bit of what they believe was a shift in Joni Ernst's talking points over the weekend. It went from essentially being just concerned to moving towards the idea that he should get a confirmation hearing, that she was going to meet with him again.

They view that all in a positive way. Remember, all this comes down to the math here, whether or not he can get across the finish line. Does he have enough votes. And they believe they ended last week and are starting this week with no hard no's, which for them is a very good place to go. So that's what we're looking at today.

We also know, given the nature of what the allegations are against him -- there is alleged sexual assault, which he has denied, there is alleged alcoholism, which he has also denied, -- that they believe that they're going to have a tougher time with some of these female senators.

You actually heard Pete Hegseth's mother on "FOX & Friends" just a few days ago essentially imploring these female senators, only saying, I hope you will give him a chance. He's actually not a bad man. Now, this, of course, came after "The New York Times" reported an e-mail that she had written Hegseth back in 2018 when he was going through a contentious divorce in which she said that he was mistreating women.

She has since said she has apologized for that. So let's go to the other two that are up on the Hill today, because that's obviously very critical as well.

Tulsi Gabbard, one of the reasons why this is going to be so critical, one, she has a past. She used to be a Democrat. Now she's Republican. People have a lot of questions about her. She's viewed as a very controversial figure. But, so far, at least from the public posting we have seen, it seems

as though her meetings are going well. Joni Ernst actually just posted this on Twitter. She said: "Wonderful catching up with Tulsi Gabbard, a strong, proven leader."

So, clearly, there, both women served. They are both former military. So, clearly, they're showing that she has some support for Tulsi Gabbard in a way we have not seen for Pete Hegseth.

The other one being Kash Patel, who would be up for head of the FBI. That's going to be a very interesting dynamic, just given the fact that that job doesn't actually exist right now. Christopher Wray is technically in that job for a full 10 years.

And just a reminder, Donald Trump put Christopher Wray in that job when he was back in office. It's a 10-year term. And he would have to fire him before Kash Patel could even take that. Kash is seen as a loyalist who has set some pretty outrageous at times things to a lot of Republicans.

So whether or not they can make this work, that's another one that's going to be important for the president-elect, so keeping eyes on all three of these controversial figures up on the Hill.

SANCHEZ: We will see how these picks move forward.

Kristen Holmes live for us in West Palm Beach, thank you so much.

Still ahead: the stunning fall of the Assad regime in Syria after five decades of brutal dictatorship. So who's in charge right now, as fears grow of a potential resurgence of ISIS?

KEILAR: Plus, president-elect Trump laying out sweeping and aggressive plans he wants to enact on day one, including possible pardons for January 6 rioters. We will get reaction from someone who was there the day of the insurrection.

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KEILAR: Uncertainty in Syria today after the stunning fall of one of the world's most brutal dictators.

Syrians who lived under the iron fist of the Assad regime for more than five decades can be seen storming and looting their now former palace. The ousted President Bashar al-Assad and his family are now in Moscow, we have learned, granted asylum by Russia after narrowly escaping the rebels' lightning offensive.

Our CNN crews are inside the capital city of Damascus as the world now waits to see what happens next in this pivotal part of the Middle East, where rebel forces are now in charge.

CNN's Clarissa Ward is one of the first Western journalists on the ground there. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can see there are a lot of people out on the streets today. It's not scenes of celebration. It's not scenes of looting, like we were seeing today.

Now people are trying to make sure that they have stocked up on all the supplies that they might need. Take a look at this line here. We're outside of bakery. These people say they have been waiting more than half-an-hour, some of them. They're waiting for bread.

We have seen lines like this around the city. People are lining up for cash. They're lining up for gas. They are trying to make sure that they have enough food to ride out this transitional period, where nobody really knows what's going to happen. Now, you can see behind me, at the end of the road there, that is the Central Bank of Syria.

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Yesterday, there was extensive looting there. A lot of people in the city started to feel a little bit concerned that this was going to be a chaotic period. Then more rebels arrived in the capital. The looting appears to have stopped.

It does seem very calm on the streets. Of course, there are many people who are elated that Bashar al-Assad is finally gone. But there is also the day-to-day that people need to focus on to ensure that they have enough bread, enough gas, enough cash, enough supplies to get them through this tenuous transitional period.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Damascus.

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SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Clarissa for that update.

The Biden administration is welcoming the Assad regime's fall, yet they are clearly wary of the power vacuum that could follow. Not long after the dictator fled, the U.S. military says it struck more than 75 ISIS targets in Syria to prevent the terror group from exploiting the situation.

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LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: In terms of what has transpired, of course, as this unfolds, there is a potential that elements in the area such as ISIS could try to take advantage of this opportunity and regain capability.

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SANCHEZ: CNN's M.J. Lee joins us now live from the White House.

M.J., obviously, it's anyone's guess. What happens next in Syria. What is the president's plan to try to bring stability to the region? M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is

definitely a watershed development and a moment for the region that the Biden administration is tracking very closely.

U.S. officials, of course, are keenly aware of the potentially huge ramifications and also just the uncertainty surrounding the events of the last couple of days.

Yesterday, we did hear directly from President Biden himself, who said that the fall of Bashar al-Assad was a fundamental act of justice that presents, he said, a historic opportunity for the people of Syria to try to build a better future for themselves.

The president did in his speech outline a couple of priorities, including, of course, the protection of U.S. forces in the region, including, of course, inside of Syria, protecting and supporting Syria's neighbors, and also preventing the resurgence of ISIS.

And, to that end, the president announced that there were dozens of strikes aimed at ISIS targets inside Syria as well over the weekend. White House officials, as you said, Boris, making very clear that there is a moment of real uncertainty right now.

This is what White House spokesman John Kirby told our John Berman earlier today about the question of who actually is running Syria at the moment.

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JOHN KIRBY, NSC COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: I think they're trying to work that out amongst themselves, but it is an open question.

In fact, the very fact that it's an open question, John, gives us concern. As the president said, we're in a period of uncertainty here, and so we're going to be working through all the processes we can, including at the U.N., to make sure that there is adequate communication with these opposition groups and that we are all working together for the best aspirations of the Syrian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And the other very important and significant headline that we should touch on regards Austin Tice.

This is the freelance American journalist who has been missing in Syria since 2012, the president telling reporters yesterday that he does believe that Tice is alive, and he even went as far as to say, "We think we can get him back."

So, Boris, obviously, it's impossible to imagine everything that Tice's family has been going through over the last more than a decade, as they have been waiting for good news about their loved one -- Boris.

KEILAR: Yes. And that may give them some hope there. M.J. Lee, thank you so much.

We're joined now by Josh Rogin, columnist for "The Washington Post." Also with us, Hagar Chemali, former director for Syria and Lebanon at the White House National Security Council.

Josh, you hear Kirby there saying this morning it's an open question who's running Syria. Which way could this go?

JOSH ROGIN, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Right.

No, I mean, I would direct Kirby to watch what's going on in Damascus. There's a lot of interesting things developing. A man by the name of Mohammed al-Bashir has been appointed to form a temporary government. He's from the opposition -- one of the opposition technocratic governments that had formed to administer free areas of Syria in Idlib.

Jolani, the head of HTS, met with Bashir and Assad's prime minister to arrange a peaceful transfer of power. That's a positive sign. The state employees were told to return back to work. General amnesty was given to all Syrian military conscripts. The new government said all women can wear whatever they want, journalists shouldn't be harmed. They're getting their airports back up. They're going to get the banks back up.

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So be patient, John Kirby. It's going to take a little while, but so far, so good. That's not to say there aren't risks, but it's not an open question. It's a thing that a lot of Syrians are working on very diligently and they could use our support, by the way.

SANCHEZ: Hagar, I'm curious about the idea, as Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, put it, of the U.S. working with all groups in Syria, including those designated as terrorist organizations.

Sullivan has said that the rebels have said all the right things. As Josh pointed out, there are positive signs. Obviously, it is a very delicate situation, though.

HAGAR CHEMALI, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL DIRECTOR FOR SYRIA AND LEBANON: The rebels have said the right things, but words are only going to go so far. I mean, we only have to look at the -- the proof is in the pudding, right?

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham is -- was formerly the al-Nusra Front. I was in the government when we sanctioned them, an offshoot of ISIS, by the way. And its leader, Mohammad al-Jolani, very publicly in 2017 disavowed global terrorism and cut ties with al Qaeda and tried to rebrand as kind of a more moderate, but still Islamist militia.

I really -- I want to stress that, that this is not the beacon of democracy. And that's been proven in how they have governed the northwest of Syria. So we only need to look at recent facts and examples of the fact that they have crush dissent in that region. They did -- they have jailed and tortured activists.

There were women who were living in that area who said that they were fearful and left, though they were not required to wear a veil and so on. And, that said, at the heart is an Islamist militia behind this that has governed with a conservative, if not radical Sunni ideology.

And so we have to see. They have said the right things, as Josh said. So far, so good. But my experience in this region of the world -- and, by the way, when we have seen Islamist militias in other parts of the world, in Afghanistan, for example, obviously, when they take over, is that they promise a lot of things, but then, when they take -- when they want to maintain control, they don't necessarily carry out those promises.

So we will have to keep a very close eye.

SANCHEZ: Josh, I also wanted to follow up on something you said about the U.S. potentially aiding in some kind of democratic process in Syria.

President-elect Donald Trump says the U.S. should just stay away and not get involved. Do you think the U.S. can actually stay out of this conflict completely, when there are so many players in that area, including ISIS?

ROGIN: Sure.

Just quickly to respond to something that was just said, listen, if you're a Syrian rebel, you have spent the last 14 years of your life fighting the regime that's bombing you and following any group that would join that fight. So I think we have to understand the context of how we got here.

And I think we have to realize that the HTS will evolve, OK? And the Syrian rebels are an amalgamation of many different groups that come from many different parts of Syria who are trying to work it out. And we just -- we have no reason to assume that they're going to impose some sort of Islamist Sharia system in Syria. It's not what they're doing. It's not what they're saying.

So I think we just have to understand that this is a new Syria, a free Syria, and the Syrian people are going to figure it out.

Now, how can we get involved without making all the same mistakes that all of our past administrations have made? Well, humanitarian aid, that would be a good thing. There will be a time to lift sanctions. And that should also help the economy. There's reconstruction. We can help them at diplomatic level.

There's U.N. council resolutions that can be implemented to help the Syrians form a transitional government to get to the democracy that they want, OK? And we can play a big role in that. And it doesn't require one troop or one American soldier.

Now, what the Trump people have said, what J.D. Vance on Twitter and what Donald Trump said on TRUTH Social, is that they want no part of any of it. OK, fine. The Syrians are going to figure it out with or without us, but we do have interests there. We do have allies that have interests there.

And there are outcomes that we can help that would be better for the Syrian people and better for the region and better for us. And I say we should try to help those people, those suffering people. And we have a big chance to do it. I hope the Trump administration, at least several people in the Trump administration will take advantage of that, because it could make the difference between people suffering or not.

And it could also help us and allies produce a Syria that's stable and safe and a productive part of the region, which the Assad regime could never do.

KEILAR: Hagar, what do you think?

CHEMALI: I -- listen, there are, as Josh said, many rebel groups in Syria.

And one of my concerns is that each of them have their own agenda. And in a situation of a power vacuum, they're each going to try and pursue that agenda. You also have some really very, very smart, very amazing thought leaders and oppositionists.

The HTS is not the opposition. It is an opposition. It is not the Syrian opposition. It's certainly not the opposition I worked with when I was in -- when I worked in the U.S. government. And those are the ones you're hoping to see be able to lead a stable transition to democracy. That was what we hoped back when I was in government.

And so perhaps HTS has been -- will be ultimately the vehicle to bring them in.