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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Brown University Shooting Suspect Found Dead; U.S. To Pause Diversity Visa Program In Wake Of Shootings; Suspect in Brown University, MIT Shooting Found Dead; U.S. Justice Department Faces Friday Deadline to Make Files Public; Trump To Give Another Speech Touting Rosy Economic Outlook; Trump Signs Executive Order to Reclassify Marijuana; E.U. Reaches a Deal on Financial Support for Ukraine; TikTok Deal Reached to Spin Off U.S. Assets to American Investors. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 19, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make the changes to the Kennedy Center. I mean, I've talked to people in the arts, left, right and center, and they were like, God bless the man for what he's done, for reviving that place and restoring it for the future. I don't know, maybe name a wing after him, but not rename the whole thing.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Ethan, Alicia, thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: Really appreciate you being here on a big news night. And let's keep that going right now with another hour of the story as and we start with breaking news.

UIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

MICHAELSON: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. We are following breaking news. The man suspected of killing two students at Brown University and a professor at MIT has been found dead. Police say he is 48-year-old Claudio Valenti, a former student at Brown.

Officials found his body in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, with two firearms, a satchel and evidence that was matching the Rhode Island crime scene. The U.S. attorney in Massachusetts later announced that Valenti was also responsible for killing an MIT professor near Boston on Monday.

New Hampshire's attorney general says a Brown University custodian and a man who came into contact with Valenti, quote, blew this case right open.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER NERONHA, RHODE ISLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL: To me, this was always going to be an investigation where something was going to break it open. We were going to pull threads. We were going to gather evidence that would lead us in a particular direction.

And I will say that if were with you less than, well, I guess now more than 24 hours ago, we had that picture of that second individual. And I would say within an hour, no more than two, I think it was under an hour, that person came forward to two Providence police officers over on the east side and said he had information that he was that person and he had information that could help this case.

And I remember last night watching his interview and he blew this case right open. He blew it open. And that's how these cases sometimes go. You can feel like you're not making a lot of progress. You can feel like you're chasing leads and they don't work out. But the team keeps going because, you know, those of us with experience know that you're going to pull a lot of threads and it's not always the first one that's going to get you where you need to go. But when you do crack it, you crack it.

And that person led us to the car, which led us to the name, which led us to the photographs of that individual renting the car, which matched the clothing of our shooter here in Providence. That matched the satchel that we see here in Providence. He was found dead with a satchel with two firearms and evidence in the car that matches exactly what we see at the scene here in Providence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: We've got team coverage. CNN's Danny Freeman is live in Salem, New Hampshire. CNN's Brian Todd is live in Providence, Rhode Island. Danny, let's start with you and that manhunt and what happened behind you.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Elex. Amazingly, after six days of frantic search, really all across New England, two cases ultimately were closed here in Salem, New Hampshire, of all places. And that's because police discovered 48-year-old Claudio Valente dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in this storage facility behind me.

Now, earlier Thursday we had gotten indication that police had come and convened on this particular area. And Elex, I'll just tell you, when we got here, it was quite chaotic. There were a ton of neighbors that were out here just looking at the spectacle, an enormous amount of media presence here and of course police really swarming this entire area, checking a number of storage unit facilities and of course this one behind us.

And the whole reason that they ended up here was because they'd found an abandoned rental car that they had connected to the suspect here, Valenti. And then also they realized that Valente himself had a connection to this specific storage facility. More on that in a moment.

But basically when they found that abandoned car, according to the Rhode Island Attorney General, they could see evidence from outside of the car looking in that right away confirmed that there was a connection to the Brown University shooting.

And then because they had identity of Valente, they also were able to discover that Valente himself had a storage unit that he started renting back in November in this particular complex. So, just before 9:00 p.m., Elex, the FBI executed a search warrant in the storage facility behind me, specifically in that storage unit.

And that's where they found the suspect dead with that self-inflicted gunshot wound. And then as you heard of the sound bite right there, also two firearms and crucially, that satchel that all of us saw in so much of that surveillance video that had been released earlier this week from Brown University.

Now, we've been out here for many hours. We've seen investigators out here all night, presumably inside that facility, combing over the entire storage unit where, again, Valente was found. But also we've seen them outside here really combing over a car as well, presumably the car that led them to this spot in the first place.

And then we actually saw that car being wrapped in a silver tarp and taken away again, presumably to be analyzed for more evidence. And investigators really hoping that maybe information inside there or inside the car can point to what may have led this suspect to commit allegedly these two really horrific acts.

Now, the last thing I'll say, Elex, is I spoke to a lot of residents out here who frankly, were stunned that this manhunt, really, these two manhunts ended up here in Salem, New Hampshire. But there was truly relief that this nightmare in New England finally has come to an end. Elex?

MICHAELSON: Yes, you think about it such a sort of random place for this whole thing to end. Brian Todd, you were inside this press conference that went for over an hour, and then you spoke to the police chief. What was it like being a part of that? Give us some behind the scenes. And what did the police chief tell you?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Elex, excuse me, it was kind of surreal being in there the entire time because there was just so much information coming. But there is still one key piece that is outstanding, and that is motive. I asked the police chief about that again, and after the news conference ended, here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. OSCAR L. PEREZ JR., PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND POLICE CHIEF: We don't have a motive. As you know, this developed extremely quickly. At this point, we're going to look further into it. We're working very closely with our partners, our federal partners, to find out more. But I can tell you that the city is relieved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So the city is relieved, but they don't have a clear motive for the shootings at Brown University and the killing of the professor at MIT. But officials did say that the suspect, again identified as Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, 48 years old, of Portuguese origin, did attend the same university in Portugal as that MIT professor at the same time in the 1990s, clearly inferring that the two of them knew each other.

And we did learn from a law enforcement source talking to CNN that the alleged suspect specifically targeted that professor -- that authorities believe that he targeted that professor.

A couple of other key details, that this suspect was 48 years old, that he had -- he enrolled at Brown in the fall of 2000, and basically he did not drop out. But he stopped taking classes in the spring of 2001 and then formally withdrew a couple of years later. He was in a graduate program for physics. He did not get a degree, according to the school president.

I specifically asked her, were there any disciplinary issues when he was there? Were there any disputes, anything like that involving him, which might speak to a possible motive, even though it was 25 years ago? She said, none that we know of. She said, but these are old records. So this is something, Elex, that they're going to go back and look at to see what possible motive that he had for the shooting.

But she did -- the president of the university did say that as a physics student at that time, he would have probably spent a lot of time in that building where these shootings were committed.

One other quick thing, you play the soundbite of Peter Neronha, the attorney general for Rhode Island, talking about this other person who had confronted him on campus a couple of hours before that. The police chief also talked to me about that. Both law enforcement officials telling us that person really blew the case open. He came forward on Wednesday shortly after they had put out kind of a bulletin asking for him to come forward. They knew he had been in proximity with them.

He came forward and gave them details, according to the attorney general. He said, quote, he led us to the car, to the name, to the photographs, to the clothing and to the satchel that he was carrying. That person's involvement critical.

Elex, he had confronted him in a bathroom in the same building that the shooting occurred, according to the police chief, a couple of hours beforehand. He had words with him. He even chased him at one point because the suspect was acting so suspicious. The suspect, according to the police chief, turned around and said, like, why are you harassing me? And then the two men walked away from each other.

But it's very chilling when you think of this one person coming so close to him, knowing that he's acting suspiciously a couple of hours before the shooting, confronting him, having words with him, chasing him, and then the two men separate. You know, you think of what could have possibly gone one way or the other at that point.

But this person's also considered kind of a hero tonight because he came forward with that critical information that led them to the suspect. And it was only about this time last night, according to the attorney general, Elex, that they didn't even have a name. So all of this unfolding very, very quickly.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And that decision to put out that video and ask for this person of interest to come forward seemed to work because he saw it and came forward and gave him that information.

[01:10:03]

Brian Todd, Danny Freeman, who have been working this all day and all night. It's after one o'clock in the morning on a chilly night in New England. Thank you both for your tireless reporting. Really appreciate it.

Joining me live now from the much warmer Palm Springs, California, retired FBI special Agent Bobby Chacon. Bobby, we got so much information that came at us. What stood out to you based off of your experience?

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: The connection he had both with Brown University and with the MIT professor. I mean, I really thought this was going to be more of a random type of thing or ideological type of thing, but it looks like he had a personal connection to the MIT professor, having gone to school together and then obviously a connection to Brown University and that very building where he probably attended classes back in 2000.

MICHAELSON: And yet the way he carried them out so different, right?

CHACON: So different. So one is very personal up close. This is somebody I know, somebody I went to school with. Probably resented some of the success that the professor had. That professor was a world renowned expert in his field and connected kind of to the field of physics, which the suspect was or the killer was pursuing a PhD in. That interests me. But yes, much more personal.

And then certainly the Brown University shooting was much more impersonal and much more random. That he just decided to select that room and that group of innocent people to kill. It'll never make any sense and it's just heart wrenching.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And it's got to be so upsetting for those family members, the randomness of it. Meanwhile, you were on with us, you know, a few days back, talking about the fact that it seemed like they were at a complete dead end in terms of the FBI, that they were throwing a Hail Mary by putting this video out there. This is what you do when you don't know anything. And yet what do you make of the fact that it seems like the video paid off?

CHACON: Yes, well, that's why you do it, because sometimes it does work. It's, you know, probably a little bit better chances than a Hail Mary. Although if Aaron Rodgers throwing it's probably about the same. But I think that, you know, I think sometimes those work and when you are, excuse me, doggedly pursuing an investigation, you do everything in your power to do it. You throw stuff out there.

The media helps greatly. They're, you know, they're pretty much partners in this. They're the ones that get it out to the public and keep on the story, and that's how people see it, and that's how breaks come. And that's -- that's what they got in this case. They got the break they needed by, you know, staying with the story by staying with, you know, keeping the story alive by the media, keeping the story alive, and that's how they got the big break.

MICHAELSON: It's interesting to me that individual that's being called the hero tonight did not come forward before that video came out, though, that he didn't come forward with that information right when it happened.

CHACON: Yes, I've heard him described as a homeless man in that and alternatively as a janitor. You know, sometimes people are living on the street, they are hesitant to go to authorities. They don't think the authorities will believe them, that kind of thing. So I think this person may have put it, or somebody put it on Reddit, put the tip about the car on Reddit, and then somebody saw it, alerted the police to, you know, somebody should follow up on this person.

And then, of course, they -- they got the video and they put it out, and the person said, oh, that's me. They want to talk to me. They don't want to talk to me as a suspect. They want to talk to me as somebody who came into contact with the suspect at the time.

And so I think it gave them a bit of a cushion, a comfort level, if you will, to go to authorities that he may not have had initially, but when they came out yesterday and said, look, we just want to talk to this person, we want to know what they know, what they saw, I think that may have given him that level of comfort to say, OK, I can go talk to the police directly now instead of trying to get this information out otherwise, you know, and he says, you know, I saw him use the key fob to open the doors of that car and then to lock it again and then get away from it.

And then when he walked away, the witness kind of walked up to the car, looked in the car, noticed that the license plate had been tampered with or it was a Florida license plate or something. And so he had very, very vital information. And once it was in the hands of the right people, the case was concluded quickly.

MICHAELSON: Bobby Chacon, who has talked with us throughout this process here on The Story Is. And it's nice to be able to talk to you now that there is a resolution, and it seems like there's no longer a threat out there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

CHACON: Thank you, Elex. Thank you, Elex. Thanks.

MICHAELSON: Some news tonight. The U.S. is pausing its diversity visa lottery program. Officials say the Brown University shooting suspect used the program to enter the country legally.

[01:15:00]

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posting this on social media late tonight, saying that the suspected shooter entered the U.S. via the visa lottery in 2017, was granted a green card. She says, quote, the heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country, end quote. The State Department says the program grants up to 55,000 immigrant visas each year from countries with low rates of immigration to the US.

In the wake of the mass shooting at Brown, the community is now looking towards healing and recovery. We'll hear from the university's president, a current student. Our coverage continues after the break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. DANIEL MCKEE, RHODE ISLAND: The unthinkable happened in our state. The unthinkable happened in Providence. The unthinkable happened at Brown University. And we're going to be forever changed.

But our commitment from the state level is to continue to support Providence, Brown and the people of the state of Rhode Island in the recovery. That's going to take a great deal of time. But I do say this. The professionalism that I saw in the law enforcement should make everyone that lives in our state and beyond our borders very -- feel very safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:20:42]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NERONHA: This guy was changing plates. One of the reasons it was so hard to find was he knew what he was doing. He was changing plates. And so, you know, that's why the collective work of following and finding this car was made more difficult, because this guy was changing plates. So we got a main plate and we got a Florida plate on the same car in New Hampshire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: That is one of many details on the Brown University gunman who police say took his own life in a storage unit in New Hampshire. Authorities say Claudio Valente also killed an MIT professor at his home near Boston on Monday.

According to police, the 48-year-old was a former Brown University student whose last known address was in Miami. They believe that he acted alone, and although they don't yet have a motive for the Brown shooting, they say he knew the MIT professor.

The Providence community is remembering the victims of the mass shooting at Brown University. There are flowers and candles at makeshift memorials for the two students killed in Saturday's attack. Meanwhile, the mayor of Providence says all six of the hospitalized survivors of the shooting are now in stable condition. A total of nine people were wounded. President Brown says she hopes the community will come together to heal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA PAXSON, BROWN UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: Nothing can really fully bring closure to the lives that have been shattered over the past week. But this may allow our community to move forward and begin a path of repair and recovery and healing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Joining me now live is Tristan Keyser-Parker, a student at Brown University. Thanks so much for being with us. You are a senior. You were in the engineering building when the shooting took place. How are you feeling right now?

TRISTAN KEYSER-PARKER, BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Yes, I mean, I think I, like many Brown students, am feeling some relief that this guy is no longer out there and a danger to us and to others. I think for a lot of the community now we can really begin to stop being scared and begin to grieve for especially MukhammadAziz and Ella and their families.

MICHAELSON: When you hear about him, that he went to Brown years ago, that he was connected to the shooting of this MIT professor, what do you think?

KEYSER-PARKER: Well, I will say I think a lot of students, and myself included, we're kind of relieved that he only has a very faint connection to Brown. I've said before, I think Brown is a really close, tight knit community. And a lot of us really didn't think that anyone in our community now would do something like this.

And so he's connected to Brown, but only from 25 years ago and he didn't even finish his degree. It is really tragic that his escaping from Providence allowed him to go and commit another horrendous crime. And that's no one's fault. But it is really sad.

MICHAELSON: This long press conference tonight on CNN that went over an hour with authorities talking at quite length about what happened here. Did they do enough to bring you and your peers closure? What did you make of the press conference?

KEYSER-PARKER: Yes, I mean, I think it seems that the guy who confronted the shooter on the day of and ended up giving the crucial tip was really a hero. I think the authorities ultimately did all they could. It's easy to look back and say that there's mistakes made, but there always are. No one at Brown wants Brown to be a security state or surveillance state. And I think they give a very complete description. If you want an even more complete description, you can read the affidavit.

MICHAELSON: Right. How do you -- and what do you think about, you know, you say security state, what do you want Brown to look like next? And how do you feel about going back to school?

KEYSER-PARKER: I genuinely hope that Brown in some ways changes as little as possible while grieving and remembering those that we've lost.

[01:25:05] Brown is such a beautiful community and I hope that we can continue to be a trusting place as we always have been. Obviously, I think it wouldn't hurt to maybe add a few security cameras, but I still want Brown to be the kind of place where people feel free and not watched all the time. I think when I go back to school, I will still feel safe in this community because I trust this community.

MICHAELSON: Tristan, thank you for your time. Thanks for sharing your perspective. I'm sorry what you've gone through, but it's really great to be able to talk with you.

KEYSER-PARKER: Yes. Thank you for your coverage.

MICHAELSON: Thank you. Still to come, a one on one interview with the Providence police chief about this case that confounded investigators for the better part of a week. You talk to our Brian Todd. We'll show you that. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:47]

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news.

Dramatic new developments in the hunt for the Brown University shooter as police work to determine a motive. We are told that they have no clear sense of why the suspect fatally shot two people at Brown last weekend and then killed an MIT professor on Monday.

Portuguese national Claudio Valente found dead in a storage unit in New Hampshire on Thursday after killing himself.

Valente completed three semesters of graduate school at Brown, studying physics, but did not receive a degree. That was decades ago.

CNN's Brian Todd asked the Providence police chief about the investigation late tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here is Police Chief Oscar Perez.

Chief, thank you. It's been a long night.

From what you know, what can you tell us about a possible motive for both the Brown shooting and the MIT shooting, which you have connected to this one man?

OSCAR L. PEREZ JR., PROVIDENCE POLICE CHIEF: Yes. We don't have a motive. As you know, this developed extremely quickly. At this point, we're going to look further into it. We're working very closely with our partners, our federal partners, to find out more.

But I can tell you that the city is relieved. I think that the men and women of this department are second to none. Our detective division did their job. But we haven't really learned the motive. It's very difficult to know

much about an individual when you don't know their identity and their name. But we do now, obviously. And so we'll do that job.

TODD: The second person who was involved in this, the person who came within proximity to him --

PEREZ: Correct.

TODD: Such a dramatic break. You really can't underestimate how dramatic that was, right? Talk us through that. What that man did for you and this investigation.

PEREZ: It was dramatic in the sense that we had already video footage, and we observed two individuals interacting with each other. We didn't know if they knew each other. We knew we had a person of interest.

And then we had this second individual that's sort of like having an interaction. At one point, even chasing that person.

TODD: He chased him?

PEREZ: Correct. Chased him. And so we didn't know if there was an argument going on. We weren't sure. And so there's a lot of doubts, right? You don't even know if that -- is that a domestic -- was that -- was he -- was that other person even involved in this horrific incident?

So those are all questions. But so when we came forward and actually verified and corroborated what we were thinking. That he didn't know the person, that the only reason he chased after him was he was trying to learn more about him because he had seen him inside Brown, that they had a disagreement inside Brown.

And then he provided us with a description of a vehicle that this person, this subject of interest, was manipulating, had (INAUDIBLE), was locking. This locking, it opened the door. So we knew that that was this person's vehicle.

That was a break in the sense that he gave us a description for a car.

TODD: Backing up just a little bit here.

PEREZ: Yes, yes.

TODD: He had a disagreement with him. He had some kind of an argument --

PEREZ: Correct.

TODD: -- an argument with him. Any more detail on that? And how long before the shooting was that confrontation, that argument?

PEREZ: Yes, that was -- that was before. That was before.

TODD: About how long before, do you know? PEREZ: It's -- it happened around 2:00 or so.

TODD: Ok.

PEREZ: And so yes, it was a few hours prior. but he called his attention.

And to your point, sometimes it's just those moments. We're a police department and we're looking for anything. But we may already have more.

The only thing is that we didn't know that what type of car. By placing the car into the system, black, license plate (INAUDIBLE), then we learn the real vehicle, we learn the real plate. Then we learned that he had rented it, the person of interest. And that's what led us to --

TODD: Did this other person, though, did he say what made him suspicious about this alleged shooter? What got -- what got into his mind that this guy is bad news?

PEREZ: Yes. Well, he was a -- the tipster was actually a Brown graduate. He spent a lot of time at Brown. It seems to me that he's part of that community. And he realized that that's someone he had never seen before. And that's what caught his attention.

TODD: Talk to me about these final moments of this shooter's life. Was he -- did he kill himself as law enforcement was close to him? Or do you think he might have done it hours before? When do you think he might have done this?

PEREZ: So the development that occurred just before we started the press conference. And so I'm not really sure if that happened prior or before, but I know the FBI evidence recovery unit is up there.

Also, my BCI is up there, my detectives. So I'm not sure how long he was there for, but I'm sure the medical examiner will be able to find that answer out.

[01:34:45]

TODD: Anything else you can tell us about this alleged shooter's personal life? He lived in Miami. Did you talk to any family and friends? Did they come forward? Did you get any other information about what he was doing for a job?

PEREZ: No, no. Nothing yet. Again, we just found out his identity late last night, and our mission and priority was to put him in handcuffs.

And so we placed every energy that was -- we came in extremely early this morning and we're still here -- it's almost midnight.

And so our mission was to make him -- to make an apprehension. And obviously when we -- the tactical team entered the storage unit, we found out that he had taken his own life. TODD: You heard a lot of questions to the university president and the

police chief about the cameras, the lack of cameras in the building. What's your view on that?

I know you're not the police chief of Brown University. Should the building have had more cameras in the old part where the shooting took place? Could those have made a difference in the investigation?

PEREZ: Understand, we have a great relationship with Brown. I think that that's an icon that we work very closely with the chief. And I'm sure that they're going to look like the president stated. They're going to look at whatever it is that they need to look at to fix whatever it is that they need to fix.

But we're here to assist, and we're here to keep the city safe. And so at the end of the day, I'm here and we're going to talk and realize if there's anything that we can change and fix and help. But I think they do a great job and they are partners of us.

TODD: Lastly, Chief.

PEREZ: Yes.

TODD: Just give us and our viewers a sense of how you feel at this moment, your sense of relief, the sense of relief that this city is now feeling.

PEREZ: Yes, I feel three things. First and foremost, I feel relief. I feel that we brought justice to the family, the victims, the parents, for mom and dad.

And obviously I also feel extremely proud of this department. I think that 32 years of service, I've never seen anything like this, but I know that I'm part of a great team and that's the reason I put this uniform on on a daily basis.

TODD: We thank you for your time, Chief.

PEREZ: Sure. Thanks.

TODD: Thank you for the investigation --

PEREZ: Thank you.

TODD: -- and good luck. Thank you, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Brian Todd for that.

Coming up, a new photo dump in the Jeffrey Epstein case, and it comes ahead of a big deadline. We'll show you the pictures next.

[01:36:46]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: An individual was identified as Claudio Neves Valente. Date of birth -- and he was a 48-year-old man. He was a Brown student. He was a Portuguese national. And his last known address was in Miami, Florida. And I will tell you that he took his own life tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Providence, Rhode Island's police chief there describing how the manhunt now over for the suspect in the mass shooting at Brown University.

Authorities say the suspect was found dead after taking his own life in a storage unit in New Hampshire. Federal prosecutors say the suspect is also responsible for killing an MIT professor in Massachusetts days after the shooting in Rhode Island.

Police say he changed the license plates on the rental car he was using, which made it more challenging for investigators to find him.

Brown's president says the suspect was a former student at the Ivy League school who dropped out more than 20 years ago. Many questions remain, including potential motive.

Other news now. To Washington, where it is now Friday morning, deadline day for the Justice Department to release its investigative files on the Jeffrey Epstein to the public. It's not clear what the parameters will be, but House Democrats say there must be no further delays.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): I am hopeful. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt that tomorrow we're going to get all of the files.

But if we look at past behavior, I'm not sure that's going to happen. We may get a partial release. We may get highly-redacted information that doesn't tell us much.

They have to release everything. We -- we will use every tool available to us, including if we need to go to the courts and if we need to take legal action to get the files released, we're prepared to do that. But we're going to see what happens tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, lawmakers have released more photos from the late sex offender's estate. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee publicly shared another 60-plus images earlier without context.

They include pictures of an unidentified female body covered with quotes from the novel "Lolita", as well as photos of prominent figures like Bill Gates, Woody Allen, philosopher Noam Chomsky, and conservative firebrand Steve Bannon. We also see images of foreign female passports and a screenshot

showing part of a text exchange where someone writes about sending girls to an unidentified place.

And I'd like to issue a correction. Last hour, when I was introducing our panel, I mistakenly said that Steve Hilton, who is California's candidate for governor, was in newly-released photos from the Epstein files.

I meant to say Steve Bannon. There was so much going on, I didn't even realize that I did it at the time.

Now that I've been told, I want to apologize to Mr. Hilton. To clarify, Steve Hilton had nothing to do with the Epstein files.

Other news now.

President Trump is heading to North Carolina in the coming hours. He's expected to deliver a speech hailing the state of the U.S. economy, even as polls show that voters are concerned about rising prices.

He told reporters that he plans to blame former president, Joe Biden, for, quote, "the mess" that he inherited, a similar message that President Trump pushed during this primetime address on Wednesday.

We're now learning that inflation unexpectedly slowed in November to 2.7 percent -- good news for the Trump administration. Economists point out that the numbers are a bit distorted because of the historic government shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain. This reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct marijuana- related medical research allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers and future treatments.

I promised to be the president of common sense, and that is exactly what we're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: President Trump has signed an executive order to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug to a Schedule 3. Schedule 1 drugs do not have any acceptable medical use. They include drugs such as heroin, LSD and ecstasy.

Schedule 3 includes things like Tylenol, drugs which have a moderate to low potential for addiction. The order does not federally legalize marijuana, though.

[01:44:48]

MICHAELSON: Earlier tonight, I tonight, I spoke to Kyle Sherman, the CEO and founder of Flowhub, the largest cannabis retail company in the U.S. about this decision.

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KYLE SHERMAN, CEO AND FOUNDER, FLOWHUB: Look, the average American isn't going to see a whole lot of change here because it really doesn't affect them.

This really affects research at the federal level. And then, of course, it affects some of the businesses that are operating in the legal, regulated market.

But for the everyday American, they're not going to notice any big change. It's not like a million dispensaries are about to open up in their community because of Trump signing this executive order today.

MICHAELSON: How does it change research?

SHERMAN: Yes, it's a great question. So because cannabis has been sitting in as a Schedule 1 substance since 1970, since Nixon spun up the controlled substances act and put cannabis there as schedule 1, it means cannabis really has had no medicinal value. And because of that, it makes research very, very difficult.

You have to go through this very onerous DEA process. It's extraordinarily political, very hard to do anything when it comes to medical research with, with these drugs that sit in Schedule 1.

With cannabis moving to Schedule 3, is that researchers can go get licensed easier. They can go study the positive effects of cannabis. And I think one of the interesting effects of having cannabis as Schedule 1 is that most of the research that was done prior really to today with this EO being signed, was all about the harms of cannabis. It was far easier to fund research that looked at the harms of cannabis, and continue to prove why it should sit in Schedule 1.

And now we're really opening the door to say look, like there's obviously medicinal value here. Let's take a deeper look at why it helps people sleep, or why it helps kids with epilepsy, or you know, why it helps people with Parkinsons. Those sorts of things.

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MICHAELSON: The U.S. military carried out two more strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday against alleged drug trafficking boats. Five people were killed. U.S. Southern command confirmed the strikes in a social media post saying that the military hit the two vessels because they were, quote, "engaged in narco trafficking operations".

At least 104 people have now been killed in the ongoing campaign by the U.S. military against drug trafficking vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

More ahead on THE STORY IS. Stay with us.

[01:47:08] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Australia's prime minister has announced a national firearms buyback plan following Sunday's Bondi Beach shooting, which left 15 people dead at a Hanukkah celebration. The government will buy back surplus, newly-banned and illegal firearms to get more guns off the streets.

The prime minister has also declared Sunday to be a day of national reflection, and that there will be a national day of mourning in the New Year.

Hundreds of surfers and swimmers held a paddle out in the waters off of Bondi Beach. The tradition is often carried out when the community suffers a loss. Surfers who participated say it was a powerful show of unity

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was magic just to see the community back together. What do you reckon, mate?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It was amazing. Amazing. I think crowd exceeded expectations, but that's what it's all about, right?

It's pretty cool to see Bondi back open. Everyone getting back together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming back. We're coming back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was being said out there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's tricky to hear when there's almost a thousand people out there. But I think everyone was sort of reflecting in their own way and just seeing the energy back in the community. It was beautiful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Investigators are heading to North Carolina after a private jet crashed shortly after takeoff, killing seven people, including a top former American race car driver. The crash happened Thursday in the town of Statesville.

Video taken by witnesses shows the plane bursting into flames as it hit the ground, with emergency crews battling the fire.

On board was former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his wife, and their two children. NASCAR says Biffle was one of its 75 greatest drivers. There are no reports of survivors.

The U.S. and Russia are expected to continue their talks on Ukraine peace efforts on Friday when U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is set to meet with Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev in Miami. That's according to a White House official.

Well, President Zelenskyy says Ukrainian diplomats will hold separate talks in the U.S. also in the coming day.

In Brussels, the European Union announced a new deal to finance support for Ukraine for the next two years. Clare Sebastian has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: European leaders had promised that they would not leave this summit until they had a clear plan as to how to fund Ukraine through the next two years.

And they kept that promise. In the early hours of Friday morning, after a marathon day of talks they came to a deal. But it wasn't what some had hoped or even expected.

The big focus coming into this was whether or not they would be able to use the cash balances from Russia's frozen assets here in Europe to fund a loan for Ukraine. They haven't managed to reach a deal on that.

Instead, they're going to borrow on the capital markets, and that will be guaranteed by unspent funds in the E.U. budget.

Either way, Ukraine will not have to pay this back until the war ends and Russia pays reparations. So European leaders here were keen to paint this as a win.

ANTONIO COSTA, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: The message we are sending to Russia today is crystal clear. First, you have not achieved your objectives in Ukraine. Second, Europe stands with Ukraine today, tomorrow and as long as necessary.

BART DE WEVER, BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER: Had we left Brussels divided today, Europe would have walked away from geopolitical relevance. It would have been a total disaster.

[01:54:51]

SEBASTIAN: So Europe has passed this test of its strength and unity. But this whole process did amplify divisions within the bloc. And it suddenly came down to the wire for Ukraine, which by the spring would be facing a cash crunch so large that its president who was here today, President Zelenskyy, warned that it might even have to cut back on its critical drone production.

That crisis, for now, seems to be averted, and Ukraine goes into the next phase of peace talks with the U.S. in a stronger position.

Clare Sebastian, CNN -- in Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Finally, TikTok has signed a deal to sell most of its assets to a new U.S. entity with an American investor group. Although the agreement is not yet finalized, the U.S. TikTok app with 170 million users will be controlled by a new joint venture. It includes tech company Oracle, the private equity firm Silver Lake,

and Emirati backed investment firm MGX. TikTok parent Beijing-based Bytedance would have a 20 percent share.

The app's future in the U.S. Has been uncertain since a law last year required Bytedance to spin off its U.S. assets or be banned. American lawmakers feared that the Chinese government could access Bytedance data and use that for national -- as a national security threat.

That's it for us. Thanks so much for being with us on this busy night of breaking news.

Hope you'll be with us tomorrow. Hope we'll have a chance to have some more fun. But this news tonight has been very, very important to cover.

The news continues with Kim Brunhuber after the break. Thanks so much for watching CNN.

[01:56:22]

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