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Former UC Davis Student Detained in Connection with Fatal Stabbings Close to Campus; UC Davis Suspect Found with a Large Knife When Arrested; North Carolina Republican Candidate Criticized School Shootings Survivors; WHO: COVID Global Health Emergency Over; Claims Brought Against Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired May 05, 2023 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: It is a ceremony not seen in the United Kingdom for 70 years. This morning, the countdown is on for the coronation of King Charles III. Last hour, we saw the king greeting guests outside of Buckingham Palace. There he is right there shaking hands with people. Soon, he is set to welcome international guests who are attending tomorrow's fanfare. Tomorrow morning at dawn here in the U.S., the actual ceremony that has religious as well as national themes. His wife, Camilla, will also be officially crowned queen.
Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: After a series of stabbings rattled the campus of UC Davis, police arrested a former student in connection with those attacks. They say 21-year-old Carlos Dominguez was arrested on two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder. Officials believe Dominguez is behind three stabbings that spanned five days, those attacks left two people dead and one severely wounded.
CNN National Correspondent Camila Bernal is joining us now from Los Angeles with more details. What more do you know about this suspect in the case who was a former student?
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He was, and that's what's interesting here, Sara, is that he was a third-year student at UC Davis. And the university says, he was separated due to academic reasons. They did not give an explanation as to exactly what happened, but we do know he was a student there. And look, it was really other students, members of the community that essentially helped police arrest him and led them to the suspect.
What authorities here say is that they received about 15 phone calls on Wednesday from members of the community who had been on edge after all of these stabbings, and they essentially followed him, saw that he matched a description of the suspect. And one of them following him to the point where authorities were able to finally find him and arrest him. Here is the chief of police and what he said happened after that initial arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF DARREN PYTEL, DAVIS, CALIFORNIA POLICE: We decided to first arrest him for possessing a large knife that was on his person when he was picked up. He was wearing a backpack and in the backpack was a large knife that was consistent with one that we were looking for based on evidence from the first homicide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERNAL: Now, authorities say that a lengthy interview followed. It said -- authorities said that it took hours, essentially, and that he was described as someone who was reserved.
[10:35:00]
They also say that they do not have a motive, but that they do have evidence, not just linking him to the crime but also showing that these victims fought back. Again, this is two people that were killed and one that was severely injured. She is still recovering at the hospital, so of course, this community hoping that she's OK, and also hoping to get more answers as to why exactly he did this. Sara.
SIDNER: Wow. Camila Bernal, thank you so much for that report.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: In North Carolina, the Republican front-runner in the race for governor is facing scrutiny right now for including mocking school shooting survivors like David Hogg and the other children who lived through the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. This is new reporting coming from CNN's KFILE that uncovered these postings by current lieutenant governor of North Carolina, Mark Robinson.
KFILE Senior Editor Andrew Kaczynski, he joins me now for more on this. Andrew, can you just lay out for us what you found?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yes, that's right. He has a lengthy history of attacking student activist survivors of that 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida. Calling them spoiled little bastards and prostitots (sp?) for their advocacy for gun control. Now, many of these attacks on the students were deeply, deeply personal.
And I want to show our viewers just a few of them. First, take a look at this, I guess meme that he shared, and this is just coming two weeks after the shooting. In a post, he said that the students rode a river of blood to 15 minutes of fame. We should also note, by the way, that Robinson is -- was 50 at the time he made these posts. The students were 16, 17, 18. That one coming less than a week after the shooting.
In this other post that we'll see here, Robinson refers to the students as communists for their advocacy for gun control. Talking to, you know, people in his mentions on Facebook who said that -- was referring them to Nazis. He said actually they were communists. And then take a look at this last post here where there was quite a harsh response to people who were mocking these students at the time. Robinson actually makes light of it, tweeting the crying laughing emoji to people who said that they shouldn't be making fun of these students. He was saying that they were children who should know their place.
BOLDUAN: You -- Andrew, you reached out to Robinson's campaign on this. What did they say?
KACZYNSKI: So, we did reach out to his office earlier. We did not get any response to any of these comments, which you -- are still on his Facebook and Twitter right now.
BOLDUAN: OK. Andrew Kaczynski, thank you so much for that reporting.
John.
BERMAN: A major announcement this morning from the World Health Organization, COVID no longer a global health emergency. So, how might this change your everyday life?
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[10:40:00]
BERMAN: All right. A major announcement from the World Health Organization just a few moments ago, they say that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency. This is three years into the pandemic.
CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is with us now. So, what does this actually mean, Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: John, let's take a moment and mark the day. The public health emergency that the WHO declared, that was January 30th of 2020. And today it ends, May 5th, 2023. Now, does this mean that there's no more concern about COVID? There is still concern. There is a concern that it should still be followed because you don't know what mutations are out there, you don't know what waves there might be. So, it's an acknowledgment, really, that the crisis is for sure over, but there are still reasons we should be following it. Let's take a listen to the Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove of WHO.
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DR. MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, COVID-19 TECHNICAL LEAD, WORLD HEATH ORGANIZATION: Epidemiologically, this virus will continue to cause waves. What we are hopeful of is that we have the tools in place to ensure that the future waves do not result in more severe disease, don't result in waves of death, and we can do that with the tools at hand. We just need to make sure that we are tracking the virus because it will continue to evolve.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COHEN: Dr. Van Kerkhove also mentioned that we need to be looking out for new viruses. If this pandemic taught us anything, is that new viruses evolve all the time and we need to be on the watch for them. John.
BERMAN: I have to say, when we put those dates up on the screen and you said let's just take a moment, what a time. I mean, what a stretch of time the world just went through. So, with the end of the global health emergency, what are the implications here in the United States?
COHEN: So, in the United States, our domestic public health emergency is scheduled to run out on May 11th. It's run out before and it was renewed. The thinking now among many people is that it won't be renewed. The May 11th really will be the end. We will follow in effect what WHO has done. And that will have an impact.
There are certain things that were paid for like COVID tests that likely won't be paid for, kind of depends what kind of insurance you have, Medicare or private or Medicaid. And so, that's -- you know, there are things that will definitely change, but hopefully it won't affect too, too many people. John.
[10:45:00]
BERMAN: Elizabeth Cohen, welcome news. Thank you so much.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: The iconic American product now at the center of tens of thousands of lawsuits. More on the CNN investigation into claims against Johnson & Johnson talc baby powder. If I could say it, we could get to it.
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SIDNER: This Sunday, CNN's new series "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" investigates claims made against one iconic American product. Thousands of people have alleged that Johnson & Johnson's now discontinued talc baby powder is responsible for their cancers.
[10:50:00]
And one case, a jury agreed, hitting them with a $4.7 billion verdict, and explores some experts' concerns that other everyday products could have on your health.
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SCOTT FABER, ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP: This isn't a problem that's just limited to baby powder. I mean, it's easy to imagine that puff of baby powder and the likelihood that we might inhale it. But there are many other things we put on our bodies every day that were just as likely to inhale. Think of a foundation or a blush or an eye shadow that you would put on your face.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: So, if the powder I put on my face this morning contained talc, you would say it wasn't safe?
FABER: So, personally, I would say certainly you took a risk that that product might be contaminated with asbestos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Yikes. An attorney for Johnson & Johnson maintains that the company investigated all scientific or suspected findings to the best of their abilities and that the product does not cause cancer.
Joining us now for more on her exclusive report is CNN's Pam Brown. Pam, how did you get interested in looking deeply into this story? And what do you think your biggest discovery is?
P. BROWN: Well, I have to say, that was an eye opener talking to Scott Faber, who you just played there. Saying look, you took a little risk here if your powder that you put on your face contains talc. I know we're going to talk about the FDA's regulation or lack thereof of cosmetics in a bit, but you know -- look, Johnson & Johnson talc-based baby powder is an iconic product, right? Just the Johnson & Johnson brand is cemented in American culture. It is such a big part of our daily lives. It is woven in our lives. I grew up with the baby powder.
And so, I was wondering as I embarked on this story and this investigation how can there be so many people, now 40,000 plaintiffs suing Johnson & Johnson who say, look, that baby powder contained asbestos which caused my cancer. And how can Johnson & Johnson say flat out, there was never any asbestos in our baby powder. We've done the testing, the science shows this, and our product is safe.
And so, we followed the journey of these three women who are bringing suit against this multi-billion-dollar company. And we look at the claims that they are making, what they are using to back up their claims, and then we sit down with the lawyer for Johnson & Johnson, Allison Brown, who says flat out, the product is safe. Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
P. BROWN: So, I mean, Johnson & Johnson is at the center of this. And so, it is essential to hear from this lawyer who has been defending Johnson & Johnson in court.
ALLISON BROWN, OUTSIDE COUNSEL FOR JOHNSON & JOHNSON: The first thing that is most important for me, that people know about these cases, is that they are doing an enormous disservice to a very important issue of women's health. What we can say with 100 percent certainty is that we have never confirmed a finding of asbestos in any product that has been sold and that decades of scientific testing and study have shown that our talc is safe and does not cause cancer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
P. BROWN: And it's really interesting, Sara, because I asked her about the FDA finding in 2019. The FDA found one sample, asbestos in Johnson & Johnson talc-based baby powder, and she said the FDA was wrong, that actually the lab where it was tested was contaminated and they did more than 150 tests outside of that, independently, it showed no asbestos. So, it's really interesting to go deep here and to look at all sides of this unfolding legal drama that continues to this day.
SIDNER: Can I tell you what surprised me about some of the things you found, and I haven't seen the whole report, but I have seen a little bit of it, that the FDA does not actually regulate personal care products or cosmetics before they hit the shelves. So, what does that mean? They have to self-regulate and we have to just trust that what they're saying is true?
P. BROWN: Essentially, yes. And of course, it's terrifying for us, Sara. Of course, we put on makeup every day for our jobs to go on television and so do so many women all around the world, right? But I learned through this investigation that cosmetics are regulated differently than other cosmetic -- I'm sorry, other consumer products. And that the onus is really on the companies to make sure their product is safe before it hits the shelves.
And it wasn't until December of 2022 where the FDA was given more authority, and that authority is after a company says their product is safe, the FDA can come in and say, let me actually look at that verification and they could order a recall, if necessary. But still, before it hits the shelves, it's the company that is the one verifying its safety, Sara.
[10:55:00]
SIDNER: Just is surprising. Pam Brown, thank you so much and thank you for doing this investigation. Speaking of which, tune in to "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" this Sunday, May 7th at 8:00 p.m. eastern for the premiere of "Shaken: Baby Powder on Trial."
John.
BERMAN: So, the Labor Department just released the April jobs report. What it says about the stability of the economy. I think you're going to like it.
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