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NYPD Thinks CEO Shooting Suspect No Longer in New York; The Renaissance of Notre-Dame Cathedral; Trump Expresses Confidence in Pete Hegseth Despite Rumors of Sexual and Alcohol Abuse; South Korean Parliament to Vote on Yoon Impeachment; CNN Crew Arrives in Syria as Rebels Seize Third City; NYPD Find Backpack Believed to Be Shooter's; Jamie Foxx Gives Details on Health Scare. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired December 07, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to all of you watching in the United States and around the world. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, police say they are closing in on the suspect's identity in the brazen killing of a health care insurance CEO in New York as the FBI ups the reward for information that leads to an arrest.
South Korean lawmakers are set to decide the fate of the country's president after his short-lived martial law declaration. We'll have the latest with a live report from Seoul.
And Donald Trump makes his first post-election trip overseas as France welcomes world leaders for the highly anticipated reopening of Notre- Dame.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Hong Kong, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Anna Coren.
COREN: The FBI is putting a new reward on the table as investigators search for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown New York on Wednesday. The bureau is now offering up to $50,000 for any information that would lead to an arrest and conviction.
Well, the announcement comes as police appear to be getting closer to identifying the suspect. On Friday, a law enforcement official said police found the backpack they think the gunman wore during the shooting. It's now at a forensic lab where it's being analyzed for more evidence.
Investigators are also telling "The New York Times" the gunman may have used a so-called veterinary gun to kill Thompson. The weapon is used to put down animals and it creates less noise than many other firearms. As CNN's Omar Jimenez reports, police believe the suspect is no longer in New York.
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JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: We have a pretty good sense of where he has been in New York City and we also now have reason to believe that he is outside of New York City.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, the top brass of the largest police department in the country are telling CNN the person they've been hunting for around the clock for days could be anywhere.
CHIEF DETECTIVE JOSEPH KENNY, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have numerous assets from numerous, numerous different units from within the detective bureau and the department itself that are working on this. So it's all hands on deck right now. Could it lead us out of state?
Absolutely.
JIMENEZ: The NYPD says they believe the gunman who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, outside of his midtown hotel Wednesday morning, may have left the city on a bus, miles north of the shooting site.
KENNY: We have video of him entering the Port Authority bus terminal. We don't have any video of him exiting.
JIMENEZ: And they don't know which bus or where it was heading or when. They still don't even have his name.
MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR FBI PROFILER: I think the bus is important because there's less scrutiny when one takes a bus.
And I think he felt at least felt or believed that he could blend in better and would not be necessarily somebody that would come to the attention of authorities like he would if he took a plane or even Amtrak. So I think it was a strategic decision.
JIMENEZ: And while how he escaped the city remains a mystery. His journey into it is coming slightly more into focus. Officials believe he arrived by bus on November 24th, around 9:00 pm The bus initially departed from Atlanta and may have made as many as 13 stops along the way but it's unclear where he actually boarded.
TISCH: We're getting leads into our tip line and we chase every lead that we get.
KENNY: We could have detectives sit in front of a -- you know, a monitor looking at video for eight hours to come up with an eight second clip.
JIMENEZ: Police also today sent a water bottle and a cell phone found at the scene to the chief medical examiners office, hoping for a DNA hit. One crucial detail authorities do have these pictures of the suspect unmasked in the hostel he had checked in two days before the shooting using a fake ID and cash.
TISCH: He's been traveling and walking around the streets of New York City, largely in a mask with his face covered. We had to go through lots of video evidence to get that one money shot of him with the mask down.
JIMENEZ: And we learned part of why they wanted to release that mask down photo is because they wanted that photo to be seen outside of New York City, meaning they probably had some sort of suspicion that this person might not be in the area anymore.
And then, of course, throughout all of this, one of the big targets for investigators was where this backpack was, a backpack seen worn by the shooter at the time of the shooting.
Well, it's part of why they launched a pretty big canvas throughout Central Park to try and find it. And now law enforcement believe they have found the backpack that belonged to the shooter, which, of course, could be critical because of potential clues inside this bag.
Also potential opportunities for DNA and fingerprinting as well. They've been taking the bag for testing just to make sure it's what they're looking for.
But even with all of these new details about where this person has been and items this person may have left behind, the two central questions remain.
Where is this person now?
And who is this person? -- Omar Jimenez, CNN, New York.
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COREN: But that money shot the commissioner just mentioned has so far failed to positively identify the suspect. And so have facial recognition technology and fingerprints. The leader of one company that helped identify other high-profile suspects in the past explains why.
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DONNIE SCOTT, CEO, IDEMIA GROUP: Most Americans may believe that law enforcement has images on everybody in the United States.
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That's very much not true. So if he happens to not be a resident of New York, who happens to not have been arrested before, odds are he's not going to be in their criminal database or their mug shot repository.
And so what's likely happening across all law enforcement is they're looking for this image in their local systems to see if this perpetrator exists in their galleries.
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COREN: Well, police now say there's no indication the suspect had any prior interactions with the victim. But one expert says he did spend considerable time and effort planning his attack.
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KIRK BURKHALTER, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: An investigation like this, where steps were taken to conceal his identity -- he went to great lengths to do that.
And then, you know, disappeared like "Where's Waldo" in the middle of Manhattan, which is very easy to do and clearly planned this out for quite some time. And that's -- so this is not your just run of the mill, you know, going in to rob a bank and run out or the average gang shooting.
This is something that was planned out well, methodically done. And it's going to take a while to piece together thousands of pieces of information and evidence that are being put forth to the investigators right now.
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COREN: Well, guards on both sides of the borders with Canada and Mexico have been told to be on the lookout for the suspect.
Well, Paris' magnificent cathedral Notre-Dame has been restored and thousands will celebrate its official reopening in the coming hours.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has just arrived in Paris to attend the ceremony. That's according to BFM-TV (ph). He will join U.S. first lady Jill Biden, Britain's Prince William and dozens of other world leaders and high-profile guests for the grand event.
Well, French president Emmanuel Macron will host the ceremony in the spectacularly rebuilt medieval cathedral and 2,000 people are expected to attend the invite-only event. The reopening comes just five years after a raging fire gutted the roof and some of the interior.
Well, besides attending the Notre-Dame ceremony, Trump is expected to meet with French president Emmanuel Macron and he may cross paths with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well. CNN's Alayna Treene has more.
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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Donald Trump was on his way to Paris Friday evening for the reopening of the Notre-Dame on Saturday, five years after a fire caused major damage to the historic cathedral.
Now this is Donald Trump's first overseas trip since being elected. And it's really a great opportunity for him to kind of rub shoulders with other world leaders, I'm told, as some 50 heads of state are planning to attend.
Now I'm also told that Donald Trump and French president Emmanuel Macron are expected to meet privately tomorrow at the presidential palace. And then shortly after that, Macron is also slated to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Now, as of now, according to my conversations with Donald Trump's team and the transition, they have -- they say that they have not engaged in serious discussions for a meeting between Donald Trump and Zelenskyy.
However, I'm also told that there's going to be a reception around the event, with all of the different foreign leaders and that there's a possibility, of course, that Trump and Zelenskyy could run into each other or have a pull-aside and kind of a side conversation at this event.
Now I'd also be remiss not to note that Trump was personally very eager to attend this as soon as the invitation was received. We were told that Donald Trump told his team that he wanted to go.
And I would also note that he's had a long-held fascination with the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was again severely damaged by a fire in 2019. At the time, Donald Trump was in office and was watching the footage of the fire burning while on board Air Force One, commenting on social media about how horrible it was.
Now we also know that Donald Trump loves ceremony and grandeur and especially as it relates to construction sites and especially one as historic as this. So this was something that Donald Trump was very eager to be a part of, I'm told -- Alayna Treene, CNN, Washington.
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COREN: The president-elect is publicly showing support for his embattled choice for Secretary of Defense.
Well, Trump is now defending Pete Hegseth in his first network television interview since taking back the White House. He expressed optimism over Hegseth's confirmation chances, even though he faces allegations related to sexual misconduct and drinking.
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TRUMP: He loves the military. And I think people are starting to see it. So we'll be working on his nomination, along with a lot of others.
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC ANCHOR: Since you bring him up, do you still have confidence in Pete Hegseth?
TRUMP: Yes, I do. I really do. He's a very smart guy. I've known him through Foxx, but I've known him for a long time. And he's basically a military guy.
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Every time I talk to him, all he wants to talk about is the military. He's a military guy.
WELKER: Have you gotten assurances from senators that he's going to be confirmed?
TRUMP: No.
WELKER: Do you think he can make it?
TRUMP: No, I think he will, yes. I've had a lot of senators call me up saying he's fantastic.
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COREN: Well, Trump also said he does not believe Hegseth has a drinking problem but he does acknowledge that there are concerns.
U.S. vice president-elect JD Vance is also putting his full support behind Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon. Vance insists this nomination will not be abandoned.
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COREN: South Korean lawmakers are expected to vote at any moment on a measure to impeach the country's president but that vote is now in doubt after a number of ruling party lawmakers walked out; 200 lawmakers are needed for the vote to be carried out.
Meanwhile, the leader of Yoon Suk-yeol's own political party says his early resignation is now unavoidable. A few hours ago, Yoon addressed the nation. He apologized for this week's short-lived attempt at martial law and vowed to accept the consequences.
Well, our Ivan Watson is live for us in Seoul.
Ivan, explain to us this walkout.
What has happened?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a dramatic evening here at Korea's national assembly. We're right outside the main legislative chambers. And as you can see, it's crowded here. These aren't just journalists but actually a lot of people who have been chanting to impeach President Yoon.
The lawmakers are inside the chambers, just around the corner from where I am right now. And about 20 minutes ago, a large group of lawmakers from President Yoon's own political party, the People Power Party, left the legislative chambers before the impeachment vote was set to begin. And the crowd here really went nuts.
I think there's some footage there of people kind of following these lawmakers in the halls of the national assembly, chanting, "Impeach Yoon, go inside, traitors, cowards."
And what we do know, going into this impeachment vote, is that the president's party have tried to thread a needle, on the one hand, calling for his early resignation; on the other hand, saying they would not support a vote of impeachment.
Now I'm going to have you listen to something that the leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party, that he said earlier today, laying out why they want President Yoon out of power here.
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LEE JAE-MYUNG, SOUTH KOREAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): The greatest risk facing South Korea right now is the very existence of the president.
The only solutions are the president's immediate resignation or an early exit through impeachment. I will do my utmost to ensure the president's resignation or impeachment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now I don't know if you can hear it in here but there's a low-lying rumble and that's the murmur of everybody's cell phones.
They're livestreaming what's going on inside the parliament chambers as some of the lawmakers have been reading out the names of Conservative Party members who have left, who are not participating in this expected impeachment vote. And there's some really additional context that's very important here.
Let me bring you back to what happened here Tuesday night. That's when President Yoon declared martial law, shocking this country. And lawmakers flocked into this building and police and soldiers tried to stop them from getting in. They voted to overturn martial law.
We have since learned from some senior officials, one particular in the national intelligence service, that President Yoon himself called that individual and issued orders to arrest the head of the main opposition party, the head of the president's own party, as well as a number of other top politicians here in Seoul.
This is part of why President Yoon right now has such low approval ratings, part of why more than 70 percent of people polled in a recent survey here in Korea support his impeachment.
Whether or not the impeachment succeeds today, it would need two thirds of the assembly to vote in favor and that may not happen. The opposition vows that it will have it, will hold more impeachment votes in the weeks ahead to try to mount pressure on Yoon to step down or be impeached.
There are also protests taking place around Seoul right now in front of the national assembly. Estimates from police of more than 20,000 people who had gathered there in front of the compound and in other parts of Seoul as well.
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Whether or not this impeachment passes today, this story, this political crisis is certainly not over -- Anna. COREN: No, and this walkout, Ivan, I mean, the PPP, the People Power
Party, they're certainly not going to endear themselves to the public. There will definitely be backlash as a result of this decision tonight.
Ivan Watson in Seoul, we appreciate the update and keeping across the story for us. Thank you.
Well, the Syrian military is now fighting rebel forces on two fronts. Still to come, a new group of fighters are emerging in the south, taking over another city.
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COREN: Syrian rebels now claim they've captured a third city as Bashar al-Assad's regime struggles to maintain control.
New video shows people pulling down the statue of former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad in Daraa, where the rebellion was born in 2011. Rebel forces say they've taken over the city while opening a new southern front.
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Syria's defense ministry has not confirmed if they've lost control of the city. The U.S. is now urging Americans to get out of Syria or make emergency plans if they decide to stay, calling the situation volatile and unpredictable.
Well, CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is the first Western journalist on the ground in Aleppo since the rebel takeover. She has this exclusive report, including an interview with the main rebel leader.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swift advances that have stunned the world and took the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad by surprise, reigniting a civil war many thought was over.
We've come to Syria to see for ourselves what's happening here on our drive across towns left battle scarred by a decade long war, signs of the regime's hasty retreat.
ABU MOHAMMAD AL-JOLANI, HAYAT TAHRIR AL-SHAM (through translator): The seeds of the regime's defeat have always been within it.
KARADSHEH: In an undisclosed location in Syria, we sat down for a CNN worldwide exclusive with the man leading the offensive Abu Mohammad al-Jolani and his group broke away from Al Qaeda years ago. Now, he leads the armed rebels who appear closer than ever to toppling the Assad regime. AL-JOLANI: The Iranians attempted to revive the regime, buying it time and later the Russians also try to prop it up, but the truth remains, this regime is dead. It was Iranian proxies on the ground and in the skies, Russia, that saved Assad.
But Russia is bogged down with its war in Ukraine and Iran is scrambling its most powerful proxy, Hezbollah was decimated by Israel. It appears Assad's patrons have abandoned him.
In Syria's second city, Aleppo, they're erasing every sign of the 50 years of the Assad dynasty's ruthless rule. We're the first Western journalist here since the city fell.
One of the first things that people did when rebel forces took over the city of Aleppo was toppled the statue of Bassel, 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.
Some forced out of their homes years ago, are beginning to return.
Did you ever imagine this moment possible?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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: Euphoria of victory lingers in the air, but the apprehension is also palpable in this ancient city, home to minorities who have endured persecution at the hands of jihadists.
Since the takeover of the city by the Islamist dominated rebel forces, they've been really keen to send this message to the Christian minority of Aleppo that they will be safe and that they have nothing to fear. The pope appointed Catholic bishop of Aleppo, knows the threats all too well. Extremists have tried to kill him in the past.
Father Hanna Jallouf says many terrified Christians have already fled as the rebels advanced, but he and other priests will not leave.
We reassured our faithful that, God willing, everything will be okay, he tells us. Overall, the security situation has been under control. It allowed us to assure people no one will come near our churches and properties.
Rebel leader al-Jolani, who once vowed to bring strict Sharia rule to Syria, says those days are behind him.
AL-JOLANI: There must be a legal framework that protects and ensures the rights of all, not a system that serves only one sect, as Assad's regime has done.
KARADSHEH: People listening to this are going to wonder why they should believe you. You are still a specially designated global terrorist by the United States with a $10 million bounty on your head your group is a proscribed terrorist organization by the United States, by the U.N., by the E.U., and others.
AL-JOLANI: I say to people, don't judge by words, but by actions. I believe the reality speaks for itself. These classifications are primarily political, and at the same time wrong. I define a terrorist as someone who intentionally kills civilians, harms innocents or displaces people.
KARADSHEH: But the U.S. and others would say is that you were parts of groups that did exactly that.
AL-JOLANI: Personally, I have not done these things. The situation must be understood in its historical context. I didn't go to Iraq with those intentions. I went to defend the Iraqi people.
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When I returned to Syria, I didn't want to bring what happened in Iraq into Syria. That's why there were disagreements between us and ISIS.
KARADSHEH: Al-Jolani is already preparing for a post-regime Syria, the revolution rises from the ashes and this time it seems its flames are consuming the House of Assad -- Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Aleppo, Syria.
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COREN: The internet is full of supposed leads about who killed a top health care insurance executive in New York. Still ahead, why amateur detectives think they've uncovered clues hiding in plain sight.
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COREN: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
We are looking at live pictures of the national assembly in Seoul, where an impeachment vote is occurring right now that is involving President Yoon, who declared martial law late Tuesday night. And the national assembly is now voting to impeach the president.
However, a short time ago, we saw dozens of lawmakers walk out of the national assembly. Those are members of the president's party, the PPP. We understand that only two lawmakers from the PPP remained inside the national assembly for this impeachment vote to go through.
Eight votes from the PPP were needed for this bill to pass. But we are waiting to learn the outcome of that impeachment vote.
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As soon as we know, we will be crossing live to Seoul and our Ivan Watson, who is standing by.
Well, let's now get you up to speed with the manhunt for the suspected gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York hotel on Wednesday.
Well, police say facial recognition technology has so far failed to identify him, even though investigators have this image of his face. There's also no indication he had any personal interaction with Thompson. The FBI is now offering up to $50,000 in reward money, as police say the suspect has likely left New York.
Well, guards at the borders with Canada and Mexico have been told to be on the lookout for him.
Well, the killing has led to a flood of online posts, where amateur detectives come up with all kinds of theories about the crime. Well, their work can be sometimes helpful but, as Randi Kaye reports, it can also get in the way of the investigation.
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RILEY WALZ, AMATEUR SLEUTH: I checked the docks around the hotel where the shooting happened.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Riley Walz is an engineer and an amateur sleuth who lit up the internet when he posted online that he thought the assassin who killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO in New York City escaped the crime scene on a city bike.
WALZ: That was the only bike that left the area around the hotel and headed northbound.
KAYE (voice-over): Walz shared the results of his sleuthing on social media and with the New York Police Department. On X, he posted that the bike left the dock near the scene at 6:44 am He also posted his data, writing, can't believe my little data nerd experiment actually amounted to something in the real world. Turns out Walz had it wrong.
Police later confirmed the assassin escaped on an e-bike, not a city bike. Then came the backlash.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So apparently some little snitch street journalists tracked the assassin's city bike and posted it on the internet.
WALZ: Lots of people online are calling me some kind of snitch, even though I ended up the information I gave wasn't even correct.
KAYE (voice-over): Amateur sleuthing is a way of crowdsourcing detective work without the professionals. And in the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, like so many others, theories are plentiful online.
In one post in the subreddit about guns, users speculated about the gun Brian Thompson's assassin fired, writing the shape, size and hand position are all consistent with a B&T VP9 pistol. Other amateur detectives suggested the shooter's bag was a peak design everyday backpack 30 L camera bag.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to give you my theory on Brian Thompson's murder based on the information that we have.
KAYE (voice-over): On TikTok, endless theories on the case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So theory number one is that, OK, so the bullets left behind had like a message on them.
KAYE (voice-over): Some sleuthers even casting doubt on the NYPD's investigation. This one noting the images of the alleged assassins.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you paid close attention to these pictures, it's two different people that they put out.
DANIEL BRUNNER, RETIRED FBI AGENT: That's the good and the bad of the internet these days.
KAYE (voice-over): Dan Brunner is a retired FBI agent.
BRUNNER: The swell of what the people think, the swell with the people say they see that can definitely influence how it's portrayed in the media and send law enforcement entities in the wrong direction.
Like after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, when online sleuthers (sic) on Reddit and 4chan combed through photos and videos of the aftermath and wrongly identified a bunch of people as the bombers.
Some media published their photos, leaving those innocent people fearing for their lives. Still, Brunner says internet sleuthing can do a lot of good.
BRUNNER: People using the crowdsource resources from using their computers to figure out, look at the clues and maybe find something that law enforcement hasn't considered or isn't looking at. All these people, we multiply law enforcement's capabilities by millions.
KAYE (voice-over): That may be true but some are simply fed up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I want to say right now is that this is not the time for internet sleuths to do their thing. You all can take a break.
KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, as we told you earlier, police have found a backpack they believe belonged to the shooter. But it took two days of searching to discover it in New York's Central Park. As Harry Enten explains, the search was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
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HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The number one thing that should stand out about Central Park is it's just freaking huge. I mean, that's the number one thing that should stand out. It makes up
6 percent of Manhattan. There are eight lakes and ponds, so you could potentially drop that backpack anywhere. There are 700 or more garbage cans as of 2021.
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Again, a lot of places that you might have to search in Central Park if you're trying to find somebody or find a backpack. But more than that, it's really easy to blend in in Central Park and escape there without people noticing.
Why is that?
Because get this: there are about 50 exits and entrances from Central Park and, more than that, there are about 40,000 winter weekday visitors. So you can get out of the park really easily and you can really blend into the park quite easily.
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COREN: Well, police say the suspect has likely left New York, taking an interstate bus from the city's George Washington terminal. It's unclear what the destination was but it could be anywhere from Boston to Philadelphia.
Well, the manhunt underway is huge. One former top police official estimated as many as 1,000 police personnel in New York alone could be working on a case like this. But it's far from the first time a manhunt has captured the nation's attention and lessons from history could offer clues for the ongoing search for a killer. CNN's Brian Todd reports.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An intense manhunt, consuming the public's attention, putting increasing pressure on the police, a script with many similar dramatic chapters in American history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These kinds of investigations have a kind of a snowball effect in terms of people being interested in it.
TODD: April 15th, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds. A terrified city is placed on lockdown. The perpetrators slip away but --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The perpetrators were identified very early on due to lots of cameras that were present.
TODD: A relentless manhunt was underway for two brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Later that week, after they killed an MIT police officer and committed a carjacking, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a violent confrontation with police. His younger brother remained on the loose. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My message to the suspect is to give himself up, to stop any further violence toward anyone.
TODD: A day after his brother was killed, a wounded Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured hiding inside a boat in a backyard in Watertown, Massachusetts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a clear view of a boat that seems to be shrink-wrapped in some plastic where they are focusing their lights on and we can hear officers yelling.
TODD: October 2002, the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area is paralyzed by a series of random sniper attacks. Over three weeks, 10 people are killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People were getting shot at gas stations. They were just -- anywhere you would go out in public, everyone was on edge, because am I the next victim?
TODD: In late October, John Allen Muhammad and his 17-year-old criminal protege, Lee Boyd Malvo, were apprehended at a rest stop in Maryland. Muhammad was later executed. Malvo remains in prison. Two manhunts for two notorious killers each played out over a period of years.
After he planted a deadly bomb in Atlanta's Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics and after police initially suspected the wrong man, Eric Rudolph planted bombs at abortion clinics in Georgia and Alabama. He wasn't captured until 2003.
Over the course of 17 years, Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, mailed or hand delivered bombs across the U.S. that killed three people.
He was captured in 1996 after his brother tipped off law enforcement. Both Rudolph and Kaczynski had eluded capture by hiding and surviving in the wilderness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can find ways to live off of the land, especially if they're experienced, right?
Rudolph was experienced.
TODD: Some notorious manhunts have been resolved when relatives of the suspects came forward to give law enforcement crucial information that led to their capture, as what occurred in the Unabomber case.
Analysts say that could happen in the current New York manhunt but that could depend on whether this suspect might have tried to avenge a relative who may have had a bad experience with UnitedHealthcare -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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COREN: Coming up, Paris is ready to host dozens of heads of state and thousands of others. The iconic Notre-Dame cathedral is reopening after a raging fire almost destroyed it. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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COREN: The grand reopening of the historic Notre-Dame Cathedral is just hours away and Paris is ready to celebrate the renaissance of the 800-year old Catholic Church after that devastating fire back in 2019.
About 50 world leaders and high-profile guests are set to attend, including U.S. first lady Jill Biden, president-elect Donald Trump and Britain's Prince William.
Notre-Dame's interior is now gleaming, almost like new. Workers using painstaking medieval techniques rebuilt the church at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, raised largely through donations.
Well, joining us now from Paris is Simon Kessler, filmmaker and director of "Notre-Dame: Race against the Inferno."
Simon, good to see you. You obviously documented the fire and then its aftermath. Take us back to that moment in 2019.
SIMON KESSLER, FILMMAKER AND DIRECTOR: Yes. I mean we have to remember that April 19th, 2019, was a night of hell. It was seven hours, seven hours where the fate of a nearly 900 year old monument was almost changed completely.
And, in fact it all came down to 15 minutes, 15 minutes where the flames almost reached the belfries, in which there are the big bells.
And at this point in time, the leader of rescue operations, Jean-Marie Gontier, said, OK, if the fire reaches the bells, then the bells might fall. If the bells fall, the towers will fall and Notre-Dame might collapse.
And so this is a moment where history accelerated in a way, you know where this monument that we all grew up with and never changed, almost got destroyed. Now seeing it --
COREN: Yes.
KESSLER: -- seeing it back to where it was is extremely relieving, of course.
COREN: Of course. Well, I want to ask you. I mean, you obviously spent time with the firefighters who saved Notre-Dame from collapsing. But you've obviously witnessed its reconstruction and restoration.
How do you feel about this reopening?
KESSLER: Yes. I mean, I think there was a lot of disbelief when the fire happened. And now there is a similar disbelief that the cathedral is back to where it was; in fact, that the cathedral is almost looking better than what it looked like.
[04:45:08]
I think for me, it's a great lesson that what we hold for permanent, what we take for granted can actually disappear from one day to the other. And so we have the privilege now to both have experienced that lesson, that great reminder, that what we take for granted needs to be preserved.
And at the same time, we still have the cathedral.
COREN: Thank goodness. Simon, talk to us about this transformation that the cathedral has undergone.
And have you been inside since it was all finished?
KESSLER: I haven't been inside since it was all finished. We've only seen photos so far. What I can say is, what it looks like is that it took five years to do what should have taken many more years.
And I think Parisians, French people but even the world population needs to realize what a great privilege it is. You know, most pieces of world heritage that get destroyed either through war or climate disasters don't get a chance to rise back from the ashes.
What Notre-Dame has been through, what we have, what we've allowed her to go through is unprecedented and we need to measure the extent of that privilege.
COREN: Notre-Dame has always been one of Paris' most popular tourist attractions.
But do you think, considering what it has endured, has it become even more sacred now?
KESSLER: Yes, I think it's a symbol more than ever. It's a symbol of resilience, of course. I think, we need to remember that what we, you know, have always taken for granted can disappear. What we have, what we think will stay forever can disappear. And rejoice that it hasn't.
COREN: I'm sure you can't wait to get inside and take a look. Simon Kessler in Paris, thank you for joining us.
KESSLER: Thank you.
COREN: Well, CNN's special coverage of the Notre-Dame reopening begins at 1:00 in the afternoon Eastern. That's 7:00 in the evening in Paris. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.
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[04:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING) COREN: Actor-comedian Jamie Foxx is publicly discussing last year's
mysterious health scare that left him in hospital. Well, Foxx gets candid about the medical scare in his new Netflix special. CNN Elizabeth Wagmeister reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: First of all, I want to say thank you to everybody that's prayed, man, and sent me messages.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jamie Foxx speaking to his fans last year, three months after he collapsed while filming a movie in Atlanta.
FOXX: And I know a lot of people were waiting, you know or wanting to hear updates but to be honest with you, I just didn't want you to see me like that, man.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): But now --
FOXX: What had happened was --
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): -- Foxx is ready to tell all in a Netflix stand up special out Tuesday.
FOXX: I'm so glad to be here.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Where he shares new details on his mystery hospitalization in 2023, which CNN has now learned was a near-death experience.
DEMECOS CHAMBERS, FOXX SPECIAL ATTENDEE: He was talking to somebody personal to him and then he just passed out on the elevator.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Demecos Chambers is a longtime Foxx fan. He was in the audience for the Netflix taping in Atlanta back in October, the first time Foxx has spoken about his unknown condition since this brief clip surfaced on social media last summer.
FOXX: Bad headache, asked my boy for an Advil. I was gone for 20 days.
CHAMBERS: Jamie didn't know but his health was declining greatly while he was in the hospital, like he was literally on the brink of death.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Chamber says Foxx explains how one of his daughters unknowingly kept him alive, playing their special song on a guitar as he was in a coma. It's the sound he woke up to weeks later.
CHAMBERS: His heart started picking up and his responses on the medical devices started increasing and his health came around. He eventually woke up, was literally due to his daughter playing a song that was kindled at him -- kindled to them both.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Chambers says Foxx seems strong on stage, not just speaking but singing and dancing and playing the piano and of course,
joking that he woke up from his coma with a beard looking like Django, one of his most famous roles.
FOXX: Just like old times, baby. Just like old times.
WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Foxx was filming the aptly titled "Back in Action" with Cameron Diaz at the time of his medical emergency. That movie is now complete and comes out on Netflix next month. For Chambers, though, it's his up close and personal moment with Foxx that will mean the most.
CHAMBERS: I just wanted to see Jamie. I just wanted to see my good the guy that I grew up off of perform on stage. It takes a lot to move me and that moved me.
WAGMEISTER: Now there's been a lot of buzz around this upcoming Jamie Foxx special and a lot of people are wondering, aside from his health, what else is Jamie Foxx going to talk about?
Now if you've been following this Sean Diddy Combs saga, well, there's actually been a lot of rumors across social media and in the tabloids about whether Jamie Foxx is going to address those allegations that Diddy is facing now.
Demecos, who I spoke to in that piece, he is a longtime Jamie Foxx fan who was lucky enough to be at that taping of the special. He does tell me that Jamie Foxx does make some jokes about Diddy. Now we'll see what makes the cut.
Of course, not everything is going to be included. When I reached out to Netflix, they declined to comment on the contents of this special. But for Jamie, this is a very big deal. It's the first time that he is going to be addressing his fans personally and at length about this big medical mystery.
[04:55:00]
And he hasn't even done any interviews. I am being told that he will not be speaking to the press before this special, which is highly unusual. Of course, usually you want to promote something that you are launching. But for Jamie, he wants this special to really speak for itself -- back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Elizabeth Wagmeister there.
The Princess of Wales hosted her fourth "Together at Christmas" carol service at Westminster Abbey in London on Friday evening.
She celebrated with her husband, Prince William, and their three children. The theme of the service was love and empathy. Catherine has only recently returned to public life after undergoing treatment for cancer. She shared a message about vulnerability and empathy, writing, "In
times of joy and sadness, we are all each others' light," and adding that, "The story of Christmas encourages us to turn to love, not fear."
A record breaking era for Taylor Swift is coming to an end and it was probably beyond her wildest dreams. The last three shows of the superstar's Eras Tour began last night in Vancouver, Canada. High- ranking politicians and celebrities joined fans as Swift performed her three-hour show. It included the greatest songs of her 18 year career.
Swift will have given more than 150 shows during the two-year long extravaganza. It's made an estimated $2 billion, the highest grossing tour in history and Taylor Swift is expected to call it all a wrap at her final show tomorrow.
Well, thank you so much for joining us this hour. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. I'll be back with more news after this short break. Stay with us.
