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Suspect in CEO Killing Charged With Murder in New York; Pepperdine Students Sheltering in Place as Wildfire Explodes in Size; CNN Goes Inside Bashar al-Assad's Luxury Car Garage. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 10, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking overnight, the suspected CEO killer is in custody. This morning, we have new details on the arrest, what he was caught with, his privileged past, and the medical issues he apparently suffered from as police try to piece together a motive.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And a fire emergency is playing out right now at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Classes canceled, students being told to shelter in place this morning as crews are battling wildfires moving toward campus.

And is Pete Hegseth smoothing out his once rocky path to confirmation, once rocky as in last week? The shift today among some of the lawmakers who will decide his fate and chances of becoming defense secretary.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara Sidner is out today. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, new details on the man charged with murdering a CEO in New York City. There's a lot here, so pay attention. At this moment, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione is behind bars in Pennsylvania, charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. And this morning, we're standing by to learn when he will be extradited here to New York.

Police say he was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days and roughly 300 miles away from the site of the killing. Police are now piecing together an assassination plot as new clues into a possible motive surface. According to court records, the suspected killer had 3D printed ghost gun on him, several fake I.D.s, $8,000 in cash and a three page handwritten manifesto, if you will. He had that all on him when he was caught. In his writings were the words, these parasites had it coming.

We've got new details on his past, a wealthy Maryland family, a private school valedictorian, the graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, last known address in Hawaii. We have an extensive online profile being gone through right now. Apparently, it includes a photo posted to X of what appears to be an X-ray image of a spine with hardware from some kind of surgery he might have had. His former roommate told CNN of his apparent back troubles. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

R.J. MARTIN, SUSPECT'S FORMER ROOMMATE: Before he moved in, I remember he said he had a back issue and he was hoping to get stronger in Hawaii.

When he first came, he went on a surf lesson with other members and unfortunately, just a basic surf lesson, he was in bed for about a week. We had to get a different bed for him that was more firm. And I know it was really traumatic and difficult. You know, when you're in the early 20s and you can't, you know, do some basic things, it can be really, really difficult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. With us now, CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller. John, good to see you.

So, much information over the last several hours. Just bring us up to speed on the latest.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, the latest is he's been charged here in New York with murder and associated charges. So, that means that the Manhattan district attorney determined yesterday after this arrest without any further tests or things we don't know about, that they had enough probable cause and physical evidence and scientific evidence to connect this suspect to this murder here.

Next step would be, does the suspect -- he'll be assigned an attorney. Does the suspect waive arraignment and says, take me back to New York, or does he fight -- I'm sorry, waive extradition, or does he fight extradition, which will probably not change the process, but slow it down.

BERMAN: All right. What's the lesson here, John, in this, you know, five, six-day manhunt?

MILLER: So, we learned a lot of things in the course of this. And when I say we, I mean all of us, because we literally watched it together. As journalists, as viewers as investigators, when you see -- I guess the new maxim is you can run, but you can't hide while you're running. We got a glimpse inside the NYPD's video canvas teams and how they fanned out and found hundreds of pieces of video that didn't tell them anything, even though he passed by here on a bike or something, but they recreated his route. And then they found those pieces of video where you saw his eyes clearly, the Starbucks video being the first, the video at the hostel where, for that one moment, he takes down the mask.

[07:05:01]

And then using technology where taxis in New York log in their passengers and log them out where they were picked up and where they were dropped off, and they extract the video from that cab that was the one that left closest to where he dumped the bike and ended up near the bus terminal where you got a clear look into his eyes. But for those things, we would be having a different conversation.

BERMAN: Completely. I will say, for all the high technology, it was old fashioned, you know, have you seen this man photos of this suspect that ultimately sealed the deal for him at McDonald's?

MILLER: Isn't that interesting? I mean, it's still the shoe leather. They had to get out and walk. It wasn't done on a computer, but instead of, have you seen this man? It's, do you have a picture of this man for us?

BERMAN: All right. In 30 seconds or less, the writings, what are they taking from that?

MILLER: They're analyzing that note because the question that investigators have, and we do too, is what kind of note is it? Is it a claim of responsibility that was meant to be found? Was he going to strike again and send this note in to us, the press, or the police? Or was it a suicide note on the idea that he expected not to be alive? And he said, you know, this is how I would account for what I did.

BERMAN: Yes, these are important questions. All right, John Miller, as we said so much still to come. Thank you for your reporting on this. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We're also following some breaking news. A wildfire in California has exploded in size overnight, and it's nearing Pepperdine University. Students right now being told to shelter in place.

The fire tripled in size in barely an hour, and it's now burned 18,000 acres in Malibu. It's 0 percent contained, triggering some mandatory evacuations and red flag warnings are in effect for over 12 million people across Southern California.

Pepperdine University, though, just sent out a message on social media moments ago in part of it, saying that university believes the worst of the fire has passed. The shelter in place will remain in place until at least daylight. So, a lot happening as we speak.

Let's get over CNN's Derek Van Dam who's tracking the very latest. What do you see, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well, this is still a very fluid situation, Kate, considering that we do believe that the most intense Sta. Ana winds will actually occur right around daybreak. So, that's something we're monitoring very closely.

But I want to take you to this Cal Fire website. I'm going to have my producer, Monica, actually drive this in the background. What you're looking at here are the latest warnings. We're in Southern California. Here's Malibu.

This is Malibu Canyon Road. And this is the area we watched the fire rapidly grow in size overnight. So, roughly around 350 acres at about 2:00 A.M. Eastern Time this morning, and then it blew up to over 1,800 acres. So, this is the current perimeter of the actual fire. There are mandatory evacuation orders for parts of Malibu. But as we zoom in closer to Pepperdine University, here it is, there was actually, according to university officials, helicopters taking water from some of the nearby lakes in what's known as Alumni Park. You can see them right there. They took water from those lakes and helped extinguish some of the flames in and around the Pepperdine region near the Franklin fire. There are still spot fires that according to university officials are not threatening life or structures. But because there is no power across much of Malibu, they're going to maintain that shelter in place at least through daylight this morning.

So, let's go a little bit further east. Here's Pacific Coast Highway. Here's Malibu Road. And then this is an iconic figure of Malibu. This is the Malibu Pier, which according to the city of Malibu, has also taken on flames from the Franklin fire as it crossed over the Pacific Coast Highway within the past 40 minutes or so. There are structures that there are currently burning, and they say that the pier has been impacted as well. Remember, this is a landmark park of that area.

So, here's some of the footage coming out of Pepperdine University. When you look at the reflection in the window of the flames near the library, where the students were asked to shelter in place, that is terrifying. That is something you don't want to see.

Particularly dangerous situation still in place across Southern California, L.A and into Ventura counties. Remember these are rarely issued by the National Weather Service. Last time was in November of this year for the mountain fire that caused so much destruction in portions of Ventura County. These are rare, but they're becoming more common as our climate continues to warm.

Check out these wind gusts from the fire, 93 miles per hour. And some of those higher peaks, again expecting to even top out this morning as we hit daybreak. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Derek, thank you so much. We'll be checking back with you throughout the show. Absolutely, thank you very, very much.

Coming up still for us, CNN on the ground in Syria as the reality of what happens now with Bashar al-Assad out, fled to Russia. What happens now in that country? Who's in charge of that country? This new reality setting in. Our Clarissa Ward has exclusive new reporting from inside Syria. That's coming up next.

And falling and from falling out of favor to falling in line, potentially, there's new reporting out about how some top Republican lawmakers seem to be coming around to some of President-elect Donald Trump's more controversial cabinet picks.

[07:10:11]

And Jay-Z and Beyonce spotted on the red carpet one day after a civil lawsuit is filed against him involving Sean Diddy Combs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: All right. Happening now, we have exclusive reporting from CNN's team on the ground in Syria, just days after the fall of the Assad regime.

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Loud explosions rocked Damascus overnight, plumes of smoke hanging over the city.

CNN's Clarissa Ward, one of the few western journalists on the ground in the region, Clarissa is with me now. Communications have been tough. We have you. Please just tell me where you are. What's behind you?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, John, we are actually here in one of several garages belonging to Bashar al- Assad. We are on the compound of the presidential palace. And you can see this is a man who had expensive tastes. We've seen Aston Martins, we've got Lamborghinis, we've got Ferraris.

I want to add as well, that we've been walking through this compound. There are many garages. We were just in a lot where there were dozens and dozens of armored cars, if you can believe that. I don't know how anyone would need so many armored cars. And I'm bringing you over here because you can see this collection of classic cars over here.

And the reason this is all significant, John, the reason that we're talking about this, that we're showing you this, is because, really, this is indicative of the deep, deep corruption of the Assad regime, which is a big part of why this whole uprising started in the first place. Back in 2011, Bashar al-Assad had been ruling for some years, his father, for many decades before, and the levels of corruption and greed, the opulence and the lavish lifestyle when so many Syrians were struggling to put food on the table.

You imagine, John, the last 14 years, Syrians have been under bombardment. They've been tortured, maimed, kidnapped, killed. And meanwhile, Bashar al-Assad was living literally like a king, with garages full of cars, with palaces, with incredible mosaics and marble.

And we actually watched in the presidential palace some ordinary people who managed to sneak in, walking around with their jaws dropped. They could not believe how he was living at a time when Syria was suffering so acutely.

And so this really is a metaphor for the root of the rot, for where it all started, and what it really means, the spirit of this Syrian uprising. Obviously, we're not going to sugarcoat it. There is a lot of anxiety in this moment. There is a lot of anxiety about the makeup of rebel forces, about whether there will be chaos, whether there will be strict Islamic law.

And so, it's not that everybody is out in the streets celebrating, but most Syrians are united in finding these displays of wealth and opulence truly sickening and indicative of the sickness of the Assad regime, John.

BERMAN: Of course, you can add my jaw to the list of those that have dropped at these images behind you, these rows and rows of luxury cars given what's happened in Syria. Also, I guess my surprise that days after the Assad regime fell that they're still there and in one piece. So, explain to me the state of civil society in Damascus right now. Is there law and order?

WARD: Right now there is. There was half a day when Assad first fell, where there was looting in the streets, it was quite chaotic. Then you had more rebel forces from Hayat Tahrir al-Shem coming down from the north with orders to really secure the capital, and they're the ones who are in charge of this entire complex.

They are not letting anybody get in and out. I believe we're some of the few who have managed to get in here. And they have taken pains again and again to keep telling us that the cars have not been touched, that the cars will not be moved, that the cars will not be stolen because they see their lack of corruption as being a badge of honor and a real contrast to the behavior of the regime.

There was in the presidential palace in parts evidence that in those initial hours or that first day after Assad fell that people had come in and ransacked the palace. But, again, the rebels were really stressing to us, this wasn't our group. We don't do this.

Now, I will say one small detail that I found interesting, John. When we went into the palace, the rebels who were guarding it would not talk to me or look at me until I put my scarf on. And so as much as they are making these moves and saying things such as, you know, people can wear what they want, this is a pluralistic society, we respect the rights of minorities, you do still have absolutely extremely conservative tendencies from the majority of these rebel forces who are now controlling much of this country, John.

[07:20:09]

BERMAN: And that has been one of the major questions, Islamic fundamentalism, what role will it play among the people who may rule this country going forward?

Clarissa Ward, we're so lucky to have you there in front of these cars, symbolic of what has happened in Syria for the last several decades, symbolic of what is happening at this very moment that you were allowed in to show people these pictures. Thank you for the work you and your team are doing. Please keep us posted.

All right, remarkable. Pete Hegseth says his comments on women in the military were misconstrued. What we are now learning about his chances of being confirmed.

And this morning, we are getting brand new details about Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

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BOLDUAN: Today, Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon is back on Capitol Hill once again.

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And, once again, there is there to meet with another Republican senator who has yet to say he's won her support for confirmation. Pete Hegseth is going to be sitting down with Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski has said that she absolutely is going to raise the question of the allegations against him in their meeting, as well as asking him about his views on women in combat.

It comes also as other Republicans are offering up some indication that they may be coming around to Hegseth. You be the judge. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said yesterday she will support Hegseth, quote, through this process. Read into that what you will. But those two women are definitely critical in the question of what will happen with this confirmation.

Let's get the very latest. CNN's Alayna Treene is tracking all of this for us. What are you hearing this morning, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, I do think, Kate, you're absolutely right that I think Hegseth faces another big test today when he meets with Senator Lisa Murkowski. She is someone who has never been afraid to buck her party, to buck Republican leadership, and so she's going to be a key meeting for him, as well also Senator Susan Collins, who we're told he's expected to meet with tomorrow.

Now, also today, Hegseth is expected to meet with Senators John Cornyn, Steve Daines and Cindy Hyde-Smith, so, again, really making his rounds and trying to meet with these different senators behind closed doors.

One of the key things I'm told from my conversations with Trump advisers and those working on the transition is that this whole process is about figuring out what his vulnerabilities are now so that later on, when this plays out in the public setting, which they hope he will actually get to, that it will be a much smoother process.

Now, one key person, of course, that has been central to all of this, and you mentioned her, is Senator Joni Ernst. She's a former Iraq War veteran. She's someone who has also been very hard on sexual abuse in the military, working to clean some of that up. She met with Hegseth again yesterday. She described the meeting as going pretty well, and one thing as well in all of this, you mentioned Hegseth's comments about women in combat. He tried to clean that up yesterday as well. He said that, when he was trying to clarify these comments that he actually believes women are some of the country's greatest warriors, that he wants them to remain in the military. That's something Ernst commented on as well.

I want you to take a listen, though, to what Senator Joni Ernst told our own Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You said supporting the process. It doesn't sound like you're a yes yet. Is that fair?

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): I am supporting the process.

RAJU: (INAUDIBLE) those assault allegations. Do you believe those denials?

ERNST: I'll refer you back to this statement.

RAJU: Is there pressure getting back home and primary caucus playing with this?

ERNST: We have been talking these same issues every meeting that we've had and he had really thoughtful answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, Kate, again, she's saying she's supporting the process, not saying whether she's, you know, definitely in support of him.

But to take a step back, just to bring in some of the Trump world thinking on this, Donald Trump remains to be very firmly behind him, I'm told. And part of that is because they, as of now, believe that there are no hard nos on Hegseth, unlike what happened with Matt Gaetz a couple weeks ago when he ultimately withdrew.

However, that could, of course, change very quickly. One big thing that everyone is waiting for is to see what happens with that FBI background check that Hegseth said he was submitting himself to. So, that's going to be one thing to keep looking out for.

And, again, a clear thing I'm hearing as well in my conversations is that a lot of people at Mar-a-Lago and on the transition team believe that Trump cannot cave into senators on Hegseth. They believe doing that again would give them more power. And so he's really trying to keep propping him up throughout this entire process. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. Very interesting, very clear. There's lots of power struggles going on over lots of these confirmations. It's good to see you, Alayna. Let's see what happens today. Thank you very much.

We're also following some more breaking news on a fast-moving wildfire out west. We're going to stay on top of this. The California fire tripling in size in barely an hour. A student at Pepperdine University is going to be joining us. Classes have been canceled.

And a first of its kind, a publicly accessible A.I. video generator and why it is right now being totally overwhelmed.

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