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New Details On Six-Year-Old Who Shot Teacher; NASA Updated On Artemis II Moon Mission Preps; NYT: Ex-NY Gov Andrew Cuomo's Sister Urged Supporters To Publicly Attack His Accusers; Weigh-Loss Drug Wegovy Shows Heart Benefit In Trial. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 08, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:02]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Gen. Wesley Clark, always good to have you on.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Coming up, newly unsealed warrants revealing the disturbing remark allegedly made by a 6-year-old boy after he shot his first-grade teacher.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:00]

KEILAR: In Newport News, Virginia, a newly unsealed search warrant reveals disturbing comments allegedly made by the 6-year-old boy who shot his first-grade teacher earlier this year. According to the warrant, the boy told a school employee, quote, I shot that "B" dead. CNN's Brian Todd is following the story for us. I mean, it's shocking what happened.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

KEILAR: Shocking to hear what he allegedly said. What else did he allegedly say?

TODD: It seems, Brianna, with every piece of information we get on this story, it just gets more and more disturbing. This is what we've got now from unsealed search warrants that we just got from our affiliate WTKR -- they obtained it from the courts. These warrants indicate statements that this 6-year-old boy gave to a school employee who was restraining him in the moments after he shot that teacher Abby Zwerner on January 6.

According to these documents, these search warrant documents, he said, quote, as you said in the intro, quote, I shot that expletive dead. Another quote, I did it. Another quote from him, I got my mom's gun last night.

A bit little more information we're getting on the moments right after the shooting according to the unsealed records. On Abby Zwerner's statement to police later that day, she said that when he pulled the gun out of his pocket in the classroom she said, quote, what are you doing with that? So again, this young man, he was restrained by another school employee.

A very brave school employee we have to add. Because this young woman ran out of the room after Abby Zwerner ran out of it. She ran into the room, saw the gun on the floor next to the boy -- that's another new piece of information from these documents -- she restrains him until the police got there and then he makes these comments to her.

Again, quote, I shot that expletive dead. I did it. I got my mom's gun last night.

We reached the attorney for the mother, his name is James Ellenson, the attorney. He said, quote, the child had extreme emotional issues and we are working to see that he improves every day. Mr. Ellenson told me on the phone that the child has been in therapy and there has been improvement shown.

We also just now, Brianna, got a response from the Newport News public school. Because police did allege and these documents that some of the information from child protective services and other information that they needed to get on this incident at Newport News schools was not really giving them. But Newport News schools just sent us a statement saying that since the tragedy, the Newport News public schools has worked closely with police. And while they can't comment on legal actions, they're working to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone involved.

So I mean, the Newport News schools doesn't come out so well in this. But again, the quotes from the boy are just stunning. I mean, showing seemingly no remorse. But again, we have to reiterate that the attorney for the mother just told me that he's been in therapy and that he's been improving. She will be sentenced on federal gun charges in October.

KEILAR: And will be watching for that in October. Brian Todd, thank you so much -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, two years after his departure from office, "The New York Times" is reporting on the role that Andrew Cuomo's sister allegedly played in smearing his female accusers. We're going to have the "New York Times" details coming up.

And a new study finds that Wegovy may do more than help with weight loss. It could also lower the risk of heart attack and stroke. We'll have the results ahead.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: This just in from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA has just provided an update on preparations for the Artemis II moon mission. The mission will take a crew on a ten-day journey around the moon late next year, taking NASA one step closer to exploring the lunar surface in 2025 and most importantly eventually Mars. Today, we learned the Artemis crew saw their spacecraft recently for the first time.

So let's get right now to CNN's Kristin Fisher. She is just outside the Kennedy Space Center there in Titusville, Florida. Kristin, what are your takeaways from the updates?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, today was a really big day for the Artemis II crew, because for the very first time since they were announced as a crew back in April, they came to the Kennedy Space Center altogether for the first time and got to see their spacecraft that they're going to fly all the way to the moon likely in late 2024, the Orion spacecraft.

And it was inside a building not too far from here. We got to go see it. And you know, for a crew this is really a moment where it makes things real. When you finally get to see the spacecraft that you're going to fly. So that was a pretty neat moment.

And then after that, NASA leadership held their first big update since the crew was announced about four months ago. And they say that they are still on date for the November 2024 launch date. But Brianna, the big question now is, what happens to Artemis III? That's the mission where NASA holds to land astronauts back on the moon. Put boots on the moon for the first time since the Apollo program h. And that much day is really and question. Largely because of SpaceX's starship which is supposed to land the astronauts on the moon.

And you'll remember a few months ago, we saw a launch attempt for SpaceX's starship essentially blow up shortly after liftoff. And so, Jim Free, the NASA's associate administrator, said that he a few weeks ago was really concerned that that was going to push the launch date back into 2026.

[15:45:00]

Today at this press conference, he really reiterated those concerns, Brianna, and said, you know, that he's going to hold these SpaceX contractors and other NASA contractors to a December 2025 date for the Artemis III mission. But you know, he said that he went down there a few weeks ago. He took a look at it. He's starting to feel better but, Brianna, that launch date for Artemis III is still very squishy. But the Artemis II crew and that launch date much more firm, and that crew very excited after seeing their spacecraft for the first time -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, well let's hope that things solidify, because we want to see this all happen. Kristin Fisher live for us from Florida. Thank you -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: He was one of the most nationally known governors in this country until he was forced to resign after a series of allegations of harassment. Now a "New York Times" investigation has found that former Governor Andrew Cuomo's sister was encouraging his loyalists to publicly shame and undermine his accusers, CNN's chief Washington correspondent and anchor of "THE LEAD" Jake Tapper is following today. And Jake, it seems that this investigation was based in part on text messages from Madeleine Cuomo, his sister, and a group who supported Cuomo.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: That's right. So "The New York Times" Nicholas Fandos reviewed a trove of 4,000 text messages, voice memos and emails between Madeline Cuomo and this Democratic activist group. And you have in this trove, for instance, Madeline Cuomo, the governor's -- the former governor's younger sister saying good morning just spoke and he think a distraction could be helpful today.

And she suggests that at one point, photos of Charlotte -- that's Charlotte Bennett, one of the governor's accusers -- photos of Charlotte and her sex kitten straddle taken from her Instagram account. Bimbo photos, really despicable, unsophisticated girls.

It's that kind of encouragement that Madeline Cuomo gave to this activist group that was all over the internet slamming the governor's accusers and acting as if they were this spontaneous, organic organization.

SCIUTTO: I imagine Madeline Cuomo or the former governor have responded.

TAPPER: You would imagine correctly. Let me make sure that I have this correct. So a spokesman for Andrew Cuomo says, quote, the governor does not personally have nor does he follow social media accounts and he was not directly or indirectly involved in these online efforts. When he's had something to say he has not held back from doing so publicly -- that's a spokesman for Andrew Cuomo.

And then Madeline Cuomo responded to CNN about the "New York Times" report also saying, to the extent I invoked his name, it was so that the group felt their efforts were appreciated, but not at my brother's direction or his knowledge. To be clear, I acted on my own with the people of WDNY -- that's the organization. And without my brother's involvement in anyway.

That of course, is contradicted by the message in the trove. We're going to talk to Debra Katz, Charlotte Bennett's attorney, about the shocking story from "The New York Times" later today on "THE LEAD".

SCIUTTO: Understood. Thank you so much Jake. Of course, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts in just a few minutes' time -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Next, could the popular obesity drug Wegovy have more benefits than weight loss? A new study points to yes and we're going to tell you what they are.

Plus, talk about a big catch. A $1.1 million catch to be exact. This is it here. We're going to tell you what the mayor of Tampa accidentally reeled in.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SCIUTTO: Health news today, a large clinical trial of the weight loss drug Wegovy is showing that the drug also lowers the risk of heart attack and stroke in people who have cardiac disease. It's the first time a drug intended for weight loss has also shown a benefit in reducing cardiac events. CNN's Meg Tirrell is here with more. So Meg, I mean, you've got to call this good news. What did the study find?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes Jim, this is really what doctors are calling a landmark trial. Because it was known that if patients had type two diabetes and they take a drug like this, they could reduce their risk of having a heart attack or a stroke or another cardiovascular event pretty significantly. But this has never been shown in a drug for weight loss in people who don't have diabetes. And so what they found in this trial of more than 17,000 people who'd had a previous heart event, like a heart attack or a stroke, that this could reduce their risk of another event by 20 percent.

We know that these drugs provide a lot of weight loss but we haven't seen that protective benefit. What people are really focused on here is this potentially may open up insurance reimbursement for these medicines because they're pretty expensive. $1,350 per month. And right now the insurance coverage isn't great. So if this study, once it gets through the FDA. It's published in a peer review journal and this is added to the drug's label. It's expensive but that could open up insurance coverage in a much bigger way. And so, this is something people are very excited about for the health benefits and also more people who could benefit from those because they actually get coverage of the drug.

SCIUTTO: Insurance companies on the other hand, maybe not celebrating as much. Meg Tirrell, thank you so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Next, she served more than 30 years as a police officer but nothing could quite prepare the mayor of Tampa for what she reeled in while on a fishing trip with her family. Why she immediately called the sheriff ahead?

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: So, the mayor of Tampa, Florida, made a big, expensive catch while fishing off the coast of the Florida -- the coast of Florida Keys last month with her family. It was not a fish. The U.S. border patrol says Mayor Jane Castor spotted a package floating in the water. The package as it tuned out -- and it's not that fish --

KEILAR: No, that is a fish to be clear.

SCIUTTO: That is actually a fish. The package they found contained something else. There you go. As it turned out, 70 pounds of cocaine, estimated street value $1.1 million.

KEILAR: That is a lot. So the mayor says that she saved the exact location of the package on her watch as the family hauled it out of the water and then she contacted the sheriff's office to report the drugs. Worth noting, that before Castor became mayor, she was a 31- year veteran with the Tampa Police Department.

SCIUTTO: So might have been able to recognize that.

[16:00:00]

I don't go fishing a lot, I'm from New York City. I've never seen that floating in the water.

KEILAR: Probably other things in New York. But I don't know, I would want to catch a 70-pound fish. I'd be mad. That's what I would be, I'd be mad. I want like a marlin or something.

SCIUTTO: No reward. There was no reward.

KEILAR: Yes, unfortunately, I don't think so.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.