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How Long Babies Are Breastfed May Impact Test Scores; Woman Accused In Plan To Kill Hiking Buddy's Wife; Chris Christie Files To Run For President; Prince Harry Testifies Against U.K. Tabloids. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 06, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: There's a correlation, there's no causation that can be extrapolated from the study because there could be other factors. Walk us through this.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: That is exactly right, Brianna. What the researchers did they looked at data on about 5,000 children in the U.K. They looked at how many of those kids were breast fed as infants and then later in the children's lives when they were 16 years old, the researchers looked at their test scores. And the researchers did find that children who were breast fed for up to 12 months or more were linked with a 39 percent higher likelihood of having high test scores.

But with that being said the researchers did account for the mother's socioeconomic status, they accounted for her cognitive abilities. But they still only found this correlation. They saw that there could have been other factors at play here if the children were breast fed more, maybe had more skin-to-skin contact and so forth.

And in general, here in the U.S. the CDC recommends that if you are able to breast feed, do that exclusively for a baby's first six months. Then while you are introducing food and up to a year you can kind of also continue breast feeding while introducing food. And that's what is recommended here. And there are health benefits associated with breast feeding. But the new study suggests there might be an association between a child's educational achievements later in life as well -- Brianna.

KEILAR: There were other factors, right, that there were researchers sort of saying, listen. You have this issue of people who can breast feed or have the time. There are people who may -- especially if looking at people in the U.S. compared to the U.K. -- they may have maternity leave, right, or an extended maternity leave. They may have more money and with that comes a host of other advantages that could also be factors in this.

HOWARD: That's right. There are so many factors that can play a role in your child's educational achievements later in life. And like you said, if a mother does have the flexibility to breast feed, it's likely that the child is benefiting from other factors in the family's lives as well. For women who cannot or may not have that ability to breast feed, they should not see this study and feel, you know, like they aren't at that same level -- their kids won't be at the same level of achievement. So that's definitely not a message we want to get across.

The CDC does say for women who are able to and would like to breast feed, the health benefits that can come with that for a baby, is it can help -- it's associated with a lower risk of asthma in a child's life, a lower risk of obesity, type 1 diabetes, and then for mothers who breast feed there are possible benefits as well. That's associated with a lower risk for the mother of developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.

But again, Brianna, I think the message for mothers here is, it's best to do what is best for you and of course get the support from family and friends while you are experiencing having a new child in the home.

This is a conversation topic. I will tell you. Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much for that -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Coming up, rule number one. When hiring any hitman, don't do it. But rule 2 is don't complain about how long they're going to take to get the job done. We're going to explain in just moments.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: A Tennessee woman is behind bars charged with hiring a hitman to kill the wife of a man that she met on a dating site. The Knoxville woman befriended the man as a hiking partner but he ended up marrying somebody else. And when he told her that he was engaged the criminal complaint states the woman said, quote, I hope you both fall off a cliff and die.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is here to talk about this story. This complaint, Dianne, it is something.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, it is wild. Look, the payments were made using an online forum that is called Online Killers Market. So, there was quite a trail left for authorities. They say that Melody Sasser of Knoxville, Tennessee began this quest of hers to have the wife of a man she met on match.com killed. She had made it quite apparent to this woman that she wanted her dead. But authorities say that she went much further. Actually paying hitmen to do this.

A foreign services agent informed authorities in the United States, saying that she had paid for an order for murder on that Online Killer's Market through several bitcoin purchases over the span of several months totaling more than $9,700. Now, according to the complaint, they say that she put the first order in on January 11th, 2023.

The description said, quote, it needs to seem random or accident or plant drugs. Do not want a long investigation.

[15:40:00] According to this complaint you then see tense descriptions of this woman, including her photo, what kind of car she drives, where she lives. Even the woman uploading data and descriptions that she had obtained from Fitness Online tracking apps like Strava, informing the would be killers of when she had been walking alone and what her paths were when she was working at home.

Again, she included a photo of this woman here, details about those cars. A few months later it appears she became frustrated that no action had been taken, Brianna.

She said on March 22 on something she uploaded to the forum, quote, I have waited for two months and 11 days and the job is not completed. Two weeks ago you said it was been worked on and would be done in a week. The job is still not done. Does it need to be assigned to someone else? Will it be done? What is the delay? When will it be done?

Obviously, some impatience there with her that it had not happened yet. The Online Killer Marketplace telling her they could assign it to someone else. But they didn't feel that it was safe at that point. Thankfully, authorities got involved before hand, Brianna. When they approached the woman who was the target of the online hit, they said she immediately asked about Sasser and of course they were able to arrest her before anybody was hurt in this. But again, maybe if you don't want to get caught in this you shouldn't use a hitman at any point in time. But using the Online Killer Market might be a hint that you're going to do something nefarious.

KEILAR: Yes, it is laughable if it weren't so serious. Dianne Gallagher, thank you for that report -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: We have some news just in to CNN. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has made it official. He has filed to run for president. The Republican is expected to formally announce his candidacy tonight at a Town Hall in New Hampshire. We've got CNN's Kristen Holmes with us, who is been following this story closely. So, Kristen, what more are we learning about this upcoming announcement?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the one thing to keep in mind is that Christie is going to really paint himself as the anti-Trump candidate. And he's going to be the first Republican to do so. As we have seen as more and more Republicans have gotten into the race, they are hesitant to take on Trump directly by name. Christie is not. This is going to be his second time running and is a rematch against the former president.

The thing to keep in mind here is that they used to be pals. Christie was in charge of the transition at one point. Now they are pretty much enemies. And you've heard Christie go after Trump over and over against his policies and he's uniquely positioned to do so because he knows how to get under Trump's skin.

He has called him a loser over and over again. So, this is just going to be another addition to this growing field. But the other thing to watch is just how ugly it gets now. We already saw it getting more heated between Ron DeSantis and Trump. Adding in Chris Christie who has taken off the gloves. Who has said that he's going to go after Trump and as I said, is uniquely positioned to get under his skin. This is likely to get dirtier and dirtier as we continue.

SANCHEZ: And he was a huge advocate for the former president, even at different times when he was in office facing all sorts of controversies, Christie backed him. Now we're going to see the gloves, as you said, come off. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Coming up, royal revelations in a London court today. Publishers say they learned the details of an intimate fight between Prince Harry and an ex-girlfriend through a well-placed source. We'll tell you who that allegedly is.

[15:45:00]

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KEILAR: Prince Harry on the stand today to take a stand against British tabloids. He is suing the U.K. publisher of "The Daily Mirror" alleging that the news group hacked phones and used other illegal means to get his private information. Harry testified in London for hours. He's going to be back tomorrow doing what has rarely been done by royalty before. In fact the last time that a senior royal gave evidence in court was 130 some years ago.

Today Harry said tabloid articles that were the result of phone hacks damaged his relationships. He blamed one for planting, quote, seeds of distrust between him and his brother Prince William.

We have CNN's anchor and royal correspondent Max Foster with the latest on this from London. Max, what more did Harry reveal today?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Well, it's a lot of what we've heard before. So, the basic allegation that the British tabloid newspapers had used illegal methods to get information about him from him and people in his circle. Phone hacking, specifically in this case. And making up false stories basically and how it absolutely had a huge impact on his upbringing right back to the age of 12 when a lot of these stories started when he was at Eaton College.

And at the same time it was a cross-examination. So, that was what was extraordinary about this. We haven't seen a senior royal in a cross- examination situation for more than a hundred years. Very unusual to see him. I was able to watch the court case virtually. Very unusual to see him under that type of pressure and what the Mirror Group were doing, was going through all these different stories that Harry cited and suggested basically they didn't come from phone hacking.

They came from other sources, either within the palace for example or for example a story about Chelsea Davy, his previous girlfriend. Who said -- it was said, had a big argument with Harry after a party one night, that infamous party where he wore a Nazi uniform. There was apparently an argument about Harry flirting with another girl. That was done through phone hacking, according to Harry's side. But actually what the Mirror Group said, this actually came from Chelsea's uncle.

[15:50:00]

So, there un-picking all of the specific allegations that Harry's been making in what was a very long day for him and it continues tomorrow.

KEILAR: Listen, it would it be it would be easy for them to cast a doubt into what he saying. That is certainly true. I want to bring royal historian Kate Williams into this conversation. He, I think that we should tell people it's not without precedent that royals' phones have been hacked. When we]re looking at this particular court case, we're talking about things that happened in the past. But Kate's phone, Harry's phone, William's phone, they had been hacked before numerous times. What about the British tabloids right now, are they still out of control?

KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: You are absolutely right. Phones have been hacked. They were hacked of both royals and celebrities and particularly, famously they were hacked of murder victims. That people were listening to the voicemails in the day when, you know, the days before texts, the day when we left all kinds of long messages on voicemail. So, you did get voicemails and this is what they were illegally hacking into, illegally hacking into using sort of quite dubious agents or agencies to do it. And it was, as you say, out of control.

And they are very much -- the tabloid press are very much saying now, no, we get it legitimately through sources, we get it through tips. And this is what the case, as Max was saying, hinges on. Are the stories gained through phone hacking the voice mails, or are they gained through tips?

And certainly Prince Harry has also been saying that his mother's phone was completely hacked. And the story he talked about -- Max has mentioned Chelsea Davy, his girl former girlfriend, who said that she didn't want him to go as soldier and she rang him 12 times. Now this is what the paper said. And how would any friends know that? It had to be that they were accessing the call records, the call logs. Harry says that he heard that -- hears that weird sound on his phone, which suggests in fact it was being hacked.

So, certainly it knows that this happening in the past. Harry is saying it's happened to him. And (INAUDIBLE) explained today, what a terrible effect it had on him. And certainly the British tabloid would often say that in control, but many celebrities, many people of note will say that they are out of control and what is printed is gained through illegal methods and was done before.

KEILAR: This -- what we're hearing in this case, Max, is such a big theme in his memoir "Spare." He talks at one point about there being a GPS tracker on Chelsea's Davy's car that was discovered. But that book "Spare," his memoir, is actually used in this case by the defendant -- the Mirror Newspapers Group -- against him. Tell us how?

Oh, I'm sorry, Max is no longer with us. Kate, can you answer that? They are trying to use his words against him. WILLIAMS: Yes, they are saying here that it could have -- you know,

he's contradicting himself and questions that you said in "Spare" or he didn't. I mean, this is what was going to happen.

It's interesting, as Max mentioned, the last royal to be in the witness box was over 100 years ago. And that was the future heir to the sovereign, the Prince of Wales, son of Queen Victoria. He got involved in a scandal about a game of cards happening in a private house in which people were accusing someone else of cheating. And he had to appear as a witness to this and he was really handled with kid gloves.

They gave him a very short cross-examination, just 20 minutes. They really didn't want to ask him too many questions. This is not what we're seeing today. This is gloves off. And they are going through everything with a fine-tooth comb. And saying this contradicts that. This contradicts that. And what they are trying to is to suggest that really, he is not a reliable witness.

And they did try today to say, now you didn't write your witness statement, did you? It was 55 pages. But Harry did say, well, I gave all these Zoom calls to the lawyers and lawyers wrote it up. And I mean, really that's in terms of this kind of the court case, that's what the judge would expect. That's not -- the judge would expect -- not expect the person to (INAUDIBLE) but the lawyer to mark it for him. Harry to read and then to fact check. That's quite common.

So really what we're going to see is a lot of tough questioning of Harry over and over again and they want to imply that he is not a reliable witness. Because we know that phone hacking has gone on in the past. For in the past we know that. And they're just going to imply that he is not a reliable witness. So it's a battle.

KEILAR: Yes, he may not be a reliable witness. He has been a reliable paycheck for them for years and years and years. Kate Williams, thank you so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: All right. Look, nobody gives a shot about ducks when they're texting. Apple finally admitting that as well. We'll tell you about the big auto correct changes coming to your phone.

[15:55:00]

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SANCHEZ: This is big ducking news for heavy texters. Apple says it is finally fixing a really annoying autocorrect issue that doesn't let you fully express yourself. And honestly, I'm not so sure what "Ducking" took so long. You know what were doing here, right? Apple will finally stop autocorrecting your intentionally salty language to less offensive words to "ducking" in place of --

KEILAR: Darn.

SANCHEZ: Yes. It's new technology apparently is going to learn your habits over time and therefore pick up on words that you are intentionally thumbing in. I think that it's about ducking time.

KEILAR: I think so too. Have you ever accidentally -- has autocorrect ever made you send like a bad sex to your boss or something inappropriate?

SANCHEZ: I feel like there's a story attached to this.

KEILAR: I don't know. I don't remember what happened. But I did that. I did that once. I quickly corrected it.

SANCHEZ: Autocorrect is responsible.

[16:00:00]

KEILAR: The autocorrect, but also once I was autocorrected, I almost sent a text about White House rose garden back when I was a White House correspondent.

SANCHEZ: That seems like (INAUDIBLE) Rose Garden.

KEILAR: It just really would have shown that phone knew too much who I was --

SANCHEZ: I'm hoping that stop autocorrecting Spanish, so that all the curse words I write in Spanish will finally get sent.

KEILAR: We know that you are a Boy Scout. He doesn't curse.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that's what I tell the lawyers.

KEILAR: "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.