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Haley Slams Trump For History Of Attacking Veterans; Video Captures Sound Of Gunfire During Megachurch Shooting; Star-Studded Super Bowl Ads Feature Michael Cera, Beyonce & Tom Brady. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired February 12, 2024 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: He is canceling some of his scheduled -- important parts we should note of his schedule, which indicates that I think he believes this treatment will last at least a few days.
SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: Yes. And we're not hearing just how many days he will be in the hospital, but our hearts go out to him. All right. Right now, Nikki Haley is on the campaign trail in South Carolina as Donald Trump is spending his day before a Florida judge. And this morning, Nikki Haley, I think the strongest we've ever heard from her, slamming Donald Trump for his controversial comments on NATO, and comments about her husband who currently is overseas serving in the military. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You mock one veteran, you're mocking all veterans. But this is a pattern, Dana. He's done this over and over again.
The closest he's come to harm's way is a golf ball hitting him and on a -- on a golf cart. These men and women sacrifice for us every day. They're willing to shed blood.
That's the values that made this country great. And anybody that excuses what he continues to say against the military is hugely mistaken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: With us now, Democratic strategist and former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, Basil Smikle, and political commentator and Republican strategist, Joseph Pinion. You both nodded your head in sort of half grunted when Nikki Haley made those comments. And I can't tell if it was in affirmation or some kind of reaction too.
BASIL SMIKLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I was the half grunt.
BERMAN: OK. Well, what did you guys think of that?
JOSEPH PINION, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Look. I think she makes some valid points. When you're attacking people who have raised their hand to serve on behalf of a grateful nation, certainly, you're not where your feet need to be planted. I think obviously, when you look at where the Republican Party wants to be, we want to be trying to reach out to those military families as we stare down the barrel of the potential for a third world war, the closest we have been to such global instability since the last time we had a World War.
So, yes, obviously, the statements are regrettable, to say the least. But I think ultimately, in the end, I think what more people are focused on whether you agree with it or not, is the state of affairs in the world. And obviously, the news that came out from the Department of Justice as it relates to the state of mind of the current commander-in-chief.
SIDNER: But one of the big stories that has come out today speaking of the state of affairs in the world is that Donald Trump basically invited Putin to do whatever the "hell he wants." Because he said if NATO doesn't pay their fair share, then that's what I would do as president. What are your thoughts on that?
SMIKLE: Reckless isolationism quite frankly. I mean, I know that there are a lot of his supporters that may feel comforted or at least feel connected to him by sit -- for him to say, you know, look, we've done our fair share with NATO, we don't need to be able to pick up the rest of the world's check here. Similar comments have come out in the past about the UN.
But when you pair that, for example, with what we were -- what we were hearing with Nikki Haley, you know, he has a pattern of this. He's gone after John McCain, for example. He's gone after generals when he -- when he ran in 2016. So, this sense that Donald Trump is somehow going to be a different person than he was a few years ago is just completely erroneous.
He is an individual who is not moved -- is not one for hyperbole, even though there were a lot of his supporters that want us to think that words are dangerous. So as Joe is talking about all of the concerns in the world right now, think about how important language and words are, particularly if you're president of the United States.
BERMAN: With your forgiveness, can I ask you about something --
SIDNER: Of course, John.
BERMAN: -- that doesn't have to do with the impending fate of the world right now, which is President Biden kind of trolling a lot of people on social media following the Super Bowl. To bring people up to speed --
SIDNER: Yes.
BERMAN: There was a conspiracy theory that somehow the Super Bowl was rigged because Taylor Swift is dating Travis Kelce.
SIDNER: Kelce.
BERMAN: And Taylor Swift was going to endorse Joe Biden --
SIDNER: Right.
BERMAN: After the Chiefs would win, etcetera, etcetera.
SIDNER: OK.
BERMAN: I can't even make sense of what a conspiracy it was.
SIDNER: Because it doesn't.
BERMAN: But it was a big, big conspiracy. This is what -- this is what President Biden posted after. I can't read the small print, but what does it say? He basically says, like just how I planned it. And that's what Biden posted on his Twitter handle after the Super Bowl. Thoughts?
PINION: Look. I think all of this is quite silly. I actually think that the hyper-focus on the nature of the conspiracy theories themselves are even sillier. There have been plenty of conspiracy theories. There was conspiracy theories about the end of Game of Thrones, which most Americans still have not gotten over, right?
SMIKLE: Which was Joe Biden's fault.
BERMAN: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
PINION: And no one actually tried to blame anyone's political affiliation for the origins of the conspiracy theory. So, I think again, some people are having good fun. Some people take it too seriously. In the end, Patrick Mahomes has asked himself a little bit deeper into the Mount Rushmore of the NFL greats.
SIDNER: Yes.
SMIKLE: Listen. As a lifelong Cowboy fan, I did not have a horse in this race. Long-suffering I am. But they're hilarious until they're not. Remember Pizzagate.
BERMAN: Right.
[11:35:07]
SMIKLE: You know -- so, on the one hand, you want to be able to dismiss these and say, look, you know, this is just people being silly. Don't pay attention to them. But the reality is, and this is going back to my earlier point about language and words, that there are a lot of Donald Trump supporters that are hanging on to every word, every conspiracy theory, and they matter because they turn into action.
So, we just have to be mindful that as we joke about this, some people have historically gotten hurt because of it. And we just need to be more mindful and vigilant about being able to dismiss them off for it. All right.
PINION: I would simply say most Republicans are not automatons who are waiting for the Twitter gods to tell them what they should be doing with their lives. Most Republicans did not think that they missed their appointment on January 6 because they had to go to work. At the end of the day, we're focused on an America that can be uplifting for all people, an economy that works --
SMIKLE: Yes.
PINION: Global situation that that's he feels stable right now. Many of those things in a state of upheaval. I think that remains the focus. I think that's why even though most Americans have said to the tune of nearly 70 percent they do not want to see a Trump versus Biden rematch, you're seeing again, this renewed focus on these core incorrigibly issues.
SMIKLE: Important issues. That's important.
BERMAN: Gentlemen, great discussion. Thank you both so much for coming in. Appreciate it.
SIDNER: Thank you.
BERMAN: So, a source tells CNN that the semi-automatic rifle used to open fire on a Houston Megachurch had the words free Palestine written on it. What we know about the shooter and the child she brought with her?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:41:01]
SIDNER: New video coming into CNN this morning in which you can hear the moment a woman opened fire inside Pastor Joel Osteen's megachurch in Houston. A man was giving church announcements in Spanish when the shooting began. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Wow, that was really disturbing. Sources are telling us the woman used an AR-15-style weapon with the words free Palestine written on it, according to our John Miller. She was shot and killed.
A child was with her. And another man there were also wounded. We are not sure if that child is her child or someone else's. There's a lot of confusion at this hour. But investigators are there and so is CNN's Ed Lavandera. He is outside that Houston church.
Ed, what are you hearing? Is there any new details coming out yet? Because obviously this was such a chaotic scene, and there's still confusion over who this child was. Was this her child? Was it someone else's? And how did this all happen and why? ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, trying to piece all this together at one of the most prominent megachurches here in the country like the church behind me. Investigators say that the woman entered here on the west side of the church. And we've also learned in the last few hours that the FBI and ATF has been assisting in a search of a home in the city of Conroe, which is about a 45 to an hour's drive north of the Houston area that searches. That home has gone on throughout the evening hours.
We don't know many details as to exactly what was uncovered there. And that sort of thing. But we are expecting to hear from Houston police here in a couple of hours around 2:30 Eastern Time, 1:30 Central Time for the latest updates on this investigation.
And as you mentioned, Sara, the woman who showed up here was wearing a long trench coat, was carrying this assault-style rifle underneath there when she began opening fire. And you can hear from that video clip from inside the church just how chaotic and confusing it must have been for many of the parishioners who were inside.
Investigators and church officials, Joel Osteen, who is the lead pastor here says that it could have been a lot worse had it happened at a different time that they were in between services. In fact, the Spanish language service was supposed to start here at Lakewood Church in about a half hour after this shooting started. So, this was a point in time where there were people kind of moving back and forth throughout the area and in the -- in a transitional period as they were getting ready for the next service here at this church on Sunday afternoon, Sara.
SIDNER: Yes. Really disturbing details. And that was really hard to hear all that gunfire going off inside of a church. Ed Lavandera, thank you to you and your crew for being out there and gathering details for us this morning. John?
BERMAN: All right, shifting gears here. The best and the worst of the Super Bowl ads, including the one that folks in Boston might call wicked pissah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touchdown joining me on MPs. Playing coach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm open. He needs no introduction. My partner.
Sometimes, it's really hard to be your friend.
You said you're going to support me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:48:55]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHAEL CERA, ACTOR: I'm Michael Cera and I'm pleased to announce that this is my cream. Cerave. You didn't know? Generosity. The truth has been hiding in plain sight. I am Cerave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Yes, that was a no for me. But anyway, that was --
BERMAN: I laughed out loud at that.
SIDNER: Of course, you do.
CANNING: That -- I laughed out loud.
SIDNER: That is the difference between your humor and my humor. I was like creeped out. But that was Michael Cera.
BERMAN: That's why I laugh out loud. I laugh out loud.
SIDNER: Who's Michael Cera? Here's what didn't creep me out. Beyonce. One of the list of best ads last night. Wasn't on stage of course for the big game or in the stands with her husband, but she -- you know -- the ad joked about her trying to break the internet. Here's that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Broke the internet again.
BEYONCE, SINGER: Did you post this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Well, not on purpose.
BEYONCE: I was coming in hot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Verizon 5g. The network is crazy powerful. I bet you can't break that. bed.
BEYONCE: A bet I can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait what?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:50:11]
BERMAN: All right, Beyonce slays. Let's stipulate that.
SIDNER: Always.
BERMAN: But we've talked about her quite a bit. So, we're going to move on now to other subjects. With us now New York Times TV critic, Mike Hale. Mike, it's so great to see you.
I think you hated the Michael Cera ad. At least that's what my wife was reading to me last night in your wrap-up. And I'm like, no, that was so funny. So, how did you get that so wrong? MIKE HALE, TV CRITIC, NEW YORK TIMES: Well, and I -- but thanks first. Thanks for having me on. You can't take the list too seriously. It was really something we did for fun.
And I was throwing this thing together as the game was going on. So, things didn't necessarily end up you know exactly where they might belong But no, I thought that Michael Cera ad was a -- was actually a lot of fun.
SIDNER: John is still giggling, and I'm concerned with his -- he does seem to -- he can't -- he can't stop.
BERMAN: Yes.
SIDNER: It wasn't for me.
BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) That's what I love.
SIDNER: And I also -- you survey -- it just did -- I don't know. It just wasn't for me. But what was there the both of us --
HALE: But I would make a point about the Michael -- sorry, go ahead.
SIDNER: Go ahead -- go ahead -- go ahead.
HALE: I will make a point about the Michael Cera ad, and you referred earlier to the Dunkin Donuts ad with Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, and Matt Damon. And I think these ads really illustrate something that we kind of take for granted now. We don't even notice it. But the extent to which so many of these ads are based on the public personas of celebrities.
SIDNER: Yes. And we're looking at that ad right now. This one cracks me up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT DAMON, ACTOR: Sometimes it's really hard to be your friend.
CERA: You said you do this for me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you like them?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: I thought that was really funny. I know you liked it. But I liked what you said about you -- this -- it sort of breaks up their persona and pokes fun at themselves, which works, right?
HALE: It does. But I think that when you do that -- you know the ad is really about one thing. It's about serving that celebrities' public brand. So, you can hope for something clever, you can hope for something stylish, and I thought that the BMW ad with Christopher Walken in particular, achieves that.
But you're probably not going to get something really creative or original because that's not really going to serve the celebrity. So, I think it's part of a -- you know, a trend kind of downward and creativity while the social media chatter goes up.
BERMAN: Yes. look. I mean, what are they advertising? They're advertising the celebrity more than they're advertising their product. These ads really are supposedly about selling stuff. To "Highlander, there can be only one." So, what was your absolute favorite commercial last night?
HALE: I really enjoyed the BMW ad with Christopher Walken. Though, the way that some people are fans of Taylor Swift and Beyonce, I'm a fan of Christopher Walken. And I thought he really nailed that one.
I enjoyed the Martin Scorsese-directed ad. I think it was for Squarespace with the aliens which exhibited another real theme of the ads last night which was we're all about aliens now. I think there were four or five different ads that were -- that were featured aliens coming to Earth either in a friendly or a not-so-friendly way.
I also -- another trend you could obviously see was that it's a very good time to be Tom Brady. He popped up everywhere. And if you can't be Tom Brady, be Dan Marino.
SIDNER: John --
HALE: That was the second-best thing to be.
SIDNER: John and I agree.
BERMAN: It's never a bad time to be. I don't think it's ever been a bad time --
SIDNER: To be Tom.
BERMAN: To be Tom Brady.
GHALE: Right.
SIDNER: I'm surprised at the State Farm ad with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. Like nothing -- like it was so cute. It was good. I liked it.
Was there anything that was controversial or bad that you --
HALE: I just don't like -- you know, what I was saying about celebrities, it was funny that there were two ads that were entirely based on a celebrity's speech patterns.
SIDNER: Yes.
HALE: The Walken ad --
SIDNER: Yes.
HALE: And the Schwarzenegger ad. And I felt like in the Schwarzenegger case, it was -- it was cute, but it was that one little joke, and they just did it over and over and over again. I just thought it got old really fast. So, that was my -- (INAUDIBLE)
It was also funny how that one the same ad suddenly popped up again and over time. And I don't know in that situation if they have to pay for it again. Is that another $7 million?
BERMAN: It's a great question.
HALE: But are they getting a freebie because you know, someone -- (INAUDIBLE) is gaming history.
BERMAN: I was wondering, do you want to have your ad in overtime because everyone's still there, or do you want to have it run earlier? Since you mentioned -- and if we still have it available, we play a little bit of the Christopher Walken so people can see just how funny in the joke. Let's play it for a second.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice ride.
CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, ACTOR: This was the real deal. Hundred percent electric.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the rental deal.
WALKEN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. Enjoy your coffee. That looks hot.
WALKEN: OK. Thanks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your dog's so cute.
WALKEN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So adorable. Wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: By the way, she's from Italy in Paris. I know you're watching that hardcore yourself.
[11:55:02]
BERMAN: Thank you for the clip, though on there. But, Mike, it was the -- I mean, he happens to be very funny.
HALE: Hey, you can't go wrong Christopher Walken. Yes.
BERMAN: He's great. Yes?
HALE: He shows that no matter how much you think of him as this dramatic guy, he underplays better than anybody, I think. So, it was really a well-thought throughout.
SIDNER: Mike Hale, that was fun. Thank you for making us laugh. Thank you, John for making me laugh.
HALE: Thank you so much for having me.
SIDNER: Still giggling.
BERMAN: And now, I feel guilty about the Michael Cera thing that maybe you liked it more than I thought you did. But I was -- we did like reading.
HALE: (INAUDIBLE) There's no joke. We all have our own.
BERMAN: You guys did a great job last night keeping current with the ads and weighing in on it. So, thank you for what you guys were doing during the game. Really appreciate it.
SIDNER: And thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
