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Larry Nassar, Disgraced Physician, Stabbed Repeatedly in Florida Federal Prison; Gun Violence in America; Gunman for Series of "Random" Shootings in NYC Detained by Police; Police: Cleveland Shooting Spree Leaves 9 People Injured; Schumer Calls on FDA to Investigate "Prime" Energy Drinks; Singer Harry Styles Hit by Flying Object at Concert. Adele Cautions Fans Against Hurling Objects onto the Stage. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired July 10, 2023 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:30:00]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: This just into CNN, we've learned that convicted former sports doctor Larry Nassar has been stabbed multiple times while serving his sentence inside a federal prison in Florida. The former doctor for USA Gymnastics, you'll recall, was convicted for sexually assaulting hundreds of gymnasts, including some Olympic medalists and was serving decades behind bars for it.
Let's get the very latest on what's happened though here. Brynn Gingras is following this. Bryn, what have you learned?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, we're getting some information from a union president for the corrections officer there in Florida where Larry Nassar was housed at a federal prison in Sumterville, Florida. What we're told is he was stabbed 10 times. According to this union president, two times in the neck, two times in the back, and six times in the chest.
Now, according to this union president, it was because of the corrections officers life-saving skills that were able to help Larry Nassar and then he was transported to a hospital, where we're told he is currently in stable condition. We're also told by the Bureau of Prisons that no other staff or other inmates were injured in this incident that happened yesterday at that prison at about 2:30 in the afternoon.
As you said there, Kate, Larry Nassar is that disgraced doctor who, in 2018, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting more than 250 women, including famous Olympians like Aly Raisman and Simone Biles. If you also remember, during his sentencing hearing, it lasted for a week where about 150 or more came forward with victims' impact statements, extremely powerful testimony against this doctor. But currently there is now an investigation under way inside that federal prison after we're learning he was stabbed ten time behind those bars. We'll continue to update you on this, Kate. BOLDUAN: Yes. Now -- I mean, it's pretty amazing when you see how and where he was stabbed, that he's in stable condition. We'll get a late -- we'll check in with you in a little bit. Thank you so much, Brynn.
Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. It was another weekend of deadly gun violence here in America. At least, nine people were injured in a mass shooting in Cleveland, Ohio early Sunday morning. According to local police there, they believe a single suspect fired on a group of people before fleeing.
And New York Police have finally identified a 28-year -- a 25-year-old accused in the shooting. Thomas Abreu allegedly went on a deadly and seemingly random shooting spree, Saturday, in Queens and Brooklyn that left one person dead and three other people injured.
CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller is here with us. What more are you learning about what happened in New York? People were -- man, that was a really scary situation where you have somebody on a scooter, correct?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: That's right.
SIDNER: Shooting people.
MILLER: So, you've got a figure on a scooter, there's no license plates on the scooter, so it's a ghost scooter. He rolls up behind people, in front of people, shoots them point blank almost from, you know, this -- the position at the curb, and then takes off again. The first shooting happens in the 75th precinct in Brooklyn. This is a high crime area. They're accustomed to shootings there, they respond to that, and the first thing they do is look for a video there, but there isn't much video there from security cameras, street cameras, and so on.
Then they see three shootings in fairly rapid succession in Queens. Normally, a Brooklyn shooter wouldn't be shooting in Queens. But the shell casings that they recovered in Brooklyn and the shell casings they recovered in Queens were an odd brand name.
SIDNER: OK.
MILER: And they're saying, you got 9 millimeters here from this brand? We have the same three in a row.
[10:35:00]
So, they get a piece of video from the Queens shooting of the individual on the scooter with the gun out doing the shooting. And they blast that out to the NYPD smartphones.
SIDNER: OK.
MILLER: 34,000 police officers, at home, on their day off, at work, in their patrol cars --
SIDNER: Get that.
MILLER: -- they're all seeing this image. Officers in Queens spot a likely suspect, chase him, he gets away. Other officers catch up to him, knock him down, get him into custody, recover that weapon. And that is how quickly this came together.
SIDNER: Wow.
MILLER: He was under arrest by 1:10 p.m. Not much of the criminal background. He's got two arrests for an assault and one for a possession of a forged instrument. No contact with authorities before. He's an emotionally disturbed person, but they clearly believe he is.
SIDNER: Certainly terrifying. And you talked about the scooter that didn't have any identification, and the fact that the bullet casings were unusual. Do they know what kind of gun was used here?
MILLER: So, really interesting question. The gun is a ghost gun. It is one of this personally made firearms devices, people make them and sell them on the street, or you can order them and make them yourselves based on YouTube video. This mirrors a Glock-type semiautomatic weapon. No serial number. Untraceable as to its origins.
SIDNER: All right. We saw those used in Philadelphia recently, according to the commissioner there. I do want to ask you just quickly about the shooting in Cleveland. At this point, no suspect in custody, correct?
MILLER: So, no suspect in custody. Police have very promising leads. They believe that this is going to possibly turnout to be somebody who was thrown out of the establishment. They say that the targeting -- the reason that you don't have fatalities here is most of the shots were in the lower extremities, legs. So, he, kind of, opened fire on the front of the place, and whoever was standing there.
So, they're going over whatever videos available in the place to isolate anybody who may have been ejected over the last few days and the video they have of a possible suspect to see if they can pull that together.
SIDNER: A lot to do. Very difficult weekend in the United States again with gun violence. John Miller --
MILLER: Again. Again.
SIDNER: Again. Thank you so much for coming.
MILLER: Thanks.
SIDNER: Kate.
BOLDUAN: Ahead for us, why an energy drink is coming under such scrutiny now from a senior U.S. senator. What is it about "Prime"? We'll be back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:00]
BOLDUAN: "On Our Radar" this hour, new video showing the moments after a deadly knife attack outside a kindergarten in China. Police say, six people were killed and one person was wounded in the assault, including children and even parents. The 25-year-old suspect has been arrested, according to police. We're reaching out to the local authorities to find out more about the victims and what happened here.
After quite a bit of legal back and forth, Tennessee's ban on gender affirming care for transgender miners -- minors will now be allowed to go into effect. This is after a Federal Appeals Court lifted an injunction against the ban. The law, which was passed in March, was originally set to take effect on July 1st and will now take effect immediately. It means health care authorities in the state are prohibited from performing gender-affirming surgeries and giving hormones or puberty-blockers to transgender minors. More legal challenges against the state ban are expected.
And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says, the U.S. economy appears to be back on the right track following the Junes job -- the June jobs report, but she cautions a recession is still possible. Listen to how she put it.
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JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: It's not completely off of the table, but we would expect with the job market, as strong as it is now, to see a slower pace of ongoing job gains. But as that stabilizes at a high level, we should expect the monthly jobs gains to be coming down toward a more normal level.
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BOLDUAN: And that latest data coming in just on Friday when we learned the economy added 209,000 jobs in June, that's down from more than 300,000 added the month before.
Sara.
SIDNER: All right. A popular energy drink is being scrutinized. "Prime" is the beverage brand funded by and founded by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI. Now, that group has both an energy drink and a sports hydration drink, but this is about the energy drink which is growing in popularity with children even though it does have a warning label saying it's not recommended for anyone under 18. But now, Senator Chuck Schumer is calling on the FDA to investigate the drink over its really high caffeine content and the way it's being marketed.
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: A lot of the parents may never heard of it, but their kids have, because "Prime" is engaged in a vast advertising campaign aimed at kids even though kids aren't supposed to drink a drink with this much caffeine.
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SIDNER: CNN has reached out to the FDA and "Prime" for comment on its energy drink, but has not received a response. We should note that the company also makes a "Prime" hydrate beverage, which is a sports drink, that though does not include caffeine.
CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell joins us now. Just out of curiosity, I haven't heard of these. I'm clearly, you know, not watching a lot of Logan Paul.
[10:45:00]
But what is -- how high is the caffeine content in this drink, because we're watching some of the adds that they're concerned about in Congress.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara. So, the energy drinks here, which come in cans, contain 200 milligrams of caffeine per 12 ounces. And to put that into context, that's about six cans of Coke, in terms of the caffeine content --
SIDNER: Whoa.
TIRRELL: -- or about two cans of Red Bull. Red Bull cans are a little bit smaller, but that's a lot of caffeine in one sitting. And in terms of the, you know, recommendations for caffeine content for kids, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no caffeine for kids under the age of 12. Some pediatricians say for older kids over the age of 12, maybe up to 100 milligrams per day if they're drinking a soda or two. And for adults, the FDA says about 400 typically doesn't affect people.
But the concerns on that there could be health impacts on kids from caffeine, like not being able to sleep, dehydration, increased anxiety, or even impacts on their development, cardiovascularly or neurologically. So, they really recommend kids and adolescents don't drink energy drinks at all, Sara.
SIDNER: This is -- one can of Red Bull sends me to the moon. I can't imagine two, and then six cans of Coke, that's how much caffeine is in this. What could the FDA do here?
TIRRELL: Yes, I've been talking with experts this morning this morning, including Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, he said, you know, what is -- perhaps more likely. If they do anything, would be a, sort of, public health advisory. Really putting out information out there for parents just so that they know these drinks in the can form the energy drink version have this much caffeine. And of course, the hydration form, which comes in the bottles, doesn't have caffeine, just so people know about it. Any, kind of, more strict enforcement action may be a more difficult thing for the FDA to do, he told me.
SIDNER: This is a good reason why the kids might be bouncing off of the walls. That's a lot of caffeine for adults, even. Thank you so much, Meg Tirrell. Appreciate it.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, Harry Styles is the latest artist to be hit in the face by an object thrown on the stage. What is the deal with people throwing things at some of the world's biggest performers during their concerts these days? We've got the details of what happened, coming up.
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BOLDUAN: Here we go again, unfortunately. Harry Styles hit in the eye by an object that someone threw at him while he was on stage during a concert in Austria. This is becoming some sort of a weird and wild trend right now. Styles is the latest of the list of performers being hit and injured when things are coming just flying out of the crowd.
CNN's Chloe Melas has more on this. This look -- I mean, it looked -- you've seen like it -- not only does it look like it hurts, but we've seen images afterward where these performers are actually getting injured by this. What happened with Harry Styles?
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: First of all, this is becoming more frequent, right?
BOLDUAN: Yes.
MELAS: And this is going to change how we all see concerts, and that is the worst about it. And I love live music. I was at a concert this weekend, and just to think that people are doing this, it's outrageous. So, Harry Styles performing in Vienna, he has this object come flying at him, hitting him in the face, hitting him in the eye. He grabs his face, he pauses for a moment, but he keeps going and he continues the concert.
But when you look at what happened to Bebe Rexha in June --
BOLDUAN: Yes.
MELAS: -- someone threw a cell phone. It hit her in the face, hit her in the eye. She was hospitalized. The man subsequently, who threw the phone, was being charged -- said that he -- he got charged, criminal charges, he said that he was taking part in a TikTok trend, right? Of how, you know, these --
BOLDUAN: Was that where this is coming from?
MELAS: Unclear, but obviously, we know on TikTok --
BOLDUAN: Yes.
MELAS: -- we know on social media, people try to do things to go viral. We saw Drake had a cell phone thrown at him -- BOLDUAN: Right.
MELAS: -- hit on the wrist. But we've seen Kelsea Ballerini, we've seen a bunch of artists. Ava Max have things thrown at them. And this is an issue. And look, of course, we've seen people throw things at concerts for years. This isn't some new phenomenon. But was we're seeing is that it's happening more frequently.
BOLDUAN: What are performers to do about this? I mean, you -- I guess, you can ban people from bringing their cell phones in, but not really. I mean --
MELAS: Well -- so, here's what's going to happen, right. You're going to see, live nation, and some of these concert promoters take stricter actions at these concerts. So, it used to be that you couldn't bring a big purse or a big bag with you --
BOLDUAN: Right.
MELAS: -- and it has to be a certain size. Now, you're probably going to have to check your things when you go to a concert. You will, Kate, probably have to, at some point, check your phone, which I imagine at the end of that concert, how long it's going to take to get out of that venue, one person ruining it for everyone, right? So, you might even see, I was talking with Jim Acosta this weekend, perhaps netting put up which might, you know, cause you -- your view to be obstructed, right?
BOLDUAN: It might be just going to change --
MELAS: Right? So, it's going to --
BOLDUAN: As you said, it's going to change the experience.
MELAS: -- it's kind of going to ruin the experience for everyone because people just can't be respectful and keep their hands to themselves, right?
BOLDUAN: Was anyone -- I mean, it's hard in -- amongst it's dark and it's thousands and thousands of people, but was anyone caught the -- was anyone caught who --
MELAS: So, it's unclear --
BOLDUAN: with Harry Styles?
MELAS: Right. So, it's unclear, and that's the problem. These concert venues, they're dark.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
MELAS: People are throwing things, whether it's a bracelet or rock or even odd things. Like Pink, recently, at a concert, somebody threw their mother's ashes on the stage. And she said --
BOLDUAN: What? MELAS: -- she said, look, I don't even know how to process this. Now, Adele, recently spoke out about this. I don't know if we have time for that. I saw it. But she spoke about don't throw things at my concert. Take a listen.
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ADELE, SINGER: People are throwing -- on stage. Have you seen that? I -- dare you. Dare you throw things at me. Stop throwing things at the artists.
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MELAS: And then she, I think, like, shot a t-shirt --
[10:55:00]
BOLDUAN: Like the t-shirt cannon thing.
MELAS: -- at -- to the audience. But no one's going to mess with Adele. But please, follow what Adele is saying. Stop throwing things at concerts, right.
BOLDUAN: All right. I mean -- all right. Thanks for covering it. It's good to see you, Chloe.
MELAS: Good to see you, too.
BOLDUAN: Sara.
SIDNER: The Kremlin surprising the world this morning. A Russian official says the man responsible for the rebellion in Russia actually met with President Vladimir Putin just days after that revolt. It's the latest twist in the Wagner-Russia sage. We have the very latest on that ahead.
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