Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Source: Megachurch Shooter Used A.R.-15, "Free Palestine" Written On It; Defense Secretary Austin Back In Hospital For "Emergent Bladder Issue"; Chiefs Prep For Victory Parade After Super Bowl Win; Super Bowl Commercials: Winners & Losers. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired February 12, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:33:14]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: New details about the deadly shooting in Joel Osteen's church. A law enforcement source telling CNN that the woman who opened fire used an A.R.-15 rifle that had the words "Free Palestine," written on it.

She also had a small child with her when she entered the church on Sunday afternoon.

Now police are saying that two off-duty officers engaged with the woman and killed her. The child was critically injured in the gunfire.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is on the scene in Houston.

Ed, I understand we just learned the identity of this suspected shooter. What more do we know?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, search warrant documents filed this morning in Montgomery, which is just north of Houston, identify the shooter here at the Lakewood Church as 36-year- old Genesee Ivonne Moreno. Could actually be pronounced Genesse. We're not exactly sure on the pronunciation.

According to these court documents, the woman was shot by two off-duty officers working security at the church after she had pointed her weapon at them. The documents say that the officers fired in self- defense.

The documents also detail new information that we have not yet heard, which includes that she had arrived here, as we reported, with a child.

But was carrying a yellow rope that was consistent with a detonation cord for an explosive device as well as substances that are consistent with explosive devices.

It also says she also said that she had a bomb. Investigators have said they have not found evidence that is the case.

[13:35:00] But that is one of the reasons that investigators went to her home in the city of Conroe, which is about 40 miles north of Houston and have been searching that home overnight. And we are learning more details about that.

Investigators say they are looking for any kind of information that might point and explain what exactly she was doing or if she was really intending on creating some sort of explosive device.

But inside this church, it was terrifying moments just before 2:00 yesterday afternoon, Alex, moments before the Spanish language service at the Lakewood Church services was supposed to begin when this woman arrived here.

We do not know if the child that was with her belongs to -- if she is the mother of the child or who exactly the child might be.

We are told the child is in critical condition. And there was another gentleman that was wounded in all of this. He is expected to survive as well.

But very treacherous moments here as all of the shooting unfolded. We have seen videos of the shooting scene. There was extensive gunfire that lasted quite some time.

We also should mention that the investigators in Houston are expected to hold a press briefing in about one hour. So we expect more details to come as we get a sense of where this investigation continues to move along -- Alex?

MARQUARDT: We know you will be listening to that closely for more details, as will we, and we will get back to you then.

Ed Lavandera, thanks very much for that report.

Still ahead, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is back in the hospital just a few weeks after a previous stay. What we are learning about his condition, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:55]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has returned to the hospital. This time for what the Pentagon calls symptoms suggesting an emergent bladder issue. He was admitted into the critical care unit at Walter Reed Medical Center on Sunday evening.

It is not clear when he will be released. In the meantime, he has transfer duties to the Pentagon's number two, Kathleen Hicks.

Last month, Austin came under heavy criticism for failing to immediately notify the White House and the general public about an unexpected hospitalization after he experienced complications from an initial surgery for prostate cancer in December.

The Pentagon will be holding a briefing here in the next hour where we do expect to learn more about his condition.

In the meantime, I'm joined by Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt. He is a urologist at Orlando Health.

Maybe you can help us understand this a little bit. It sounds like they are saying that this is suggestive of something. Maybe they don't have a full grip on what is happening here.

But an emergent bladder issue following surgery and complications from that surgery, he is in critical care. What might that look like and how serious could this be?

DR. JAMIN BRAHMBHATT, UROLOGIST, ORLANDO HEALTH: So I'm sorry to hear what has happened with him.

But when we actually think about what could be going on now, we have to take a step back to understand what happens during a prostatectomy.

So when he had his initial surgery on December 22nd, they take the prostate out, the surgeons take the prostate out and then reconnect the bladder with the rest of the urethra.

Today, fast forward about six weeks, when he's having this emergent bladder issue, it could be a few things.

One could be where he is unable to urinate, so where he was put back together could be too tight and that's causing issues with his bladder emptying.

It could also be, where he's put back together, maybe there is an opening, maybe there's a leak that is causing fluid to go around the pelvis and the area, which may be causing issues.

He had a similar issue in January for two weeks where he had some fluid around the belly and other things. We don't know the details about that, exactly how he was treated. But we also don't know the details now.

But I can just assume it has something to do with the interlining channel after the surgery.

KEILAR: What is the process for ascertaining exactly what is going on and what might the treatment look like?

BRAHMBHATT: When we see a patient with a similar condition come to the hospital, we will get some imaging and some lab work. Obviously, we first have to assess what happened, get a full history.

On imaging, we might be able to see the area that the surgery was done in and there may be some fluid around that space.

We know when he was in the hospital earlier, his bowels had slowed down because of fluid around his belly. He may have something similar going on this time as well but this time it is labeled more of an emergent bladder issue.

We also get lab work to make sure there are no signs of infection.

So the pretty standard routine workup is just, what are they doing for him now? That is the real unknown even for me as a urologist. Because it all depends on what the diagnosis and what that true emergent issue is.

KEILAR: The Pentagon says the hospitalization is not expected to change his anticipated full recovery. What does that tell you, Doctor?

BRAHMBHATT: I think when they talk about recovery, they are talking about recovery from his prostate cancer diagnosis and the treatment for prostate cancer. So in this case, removing the prostate to get rid of his cancer.

So in terms of cancer recovery, he has all of the odds in his favor. It is just getting to that point in healing from the actual surgery itself, which is still the big unknown in this case.

What he is going through, I think everyone should realize, what he has gone through is extremely rare. Over 300,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in America every year.

Thousands of those, a large percentage of those will have their prostates removed. And a good percentage of those patients will be back to their normal activities, normal quality of life.

I think he just has an unfortunate case. So we hope that he will recover quick and be back to his duties.

KEILAR: Yes. We certainly do. We wish him the best in his recovery. Obviously, it has been a much longer road than anticipated.

Dr. Brahmbhatt, thank you so much for being with us.

BRAHMBHATT: Thank you.

[13:45:00]

KEILAR: So the Chiefs may have won the big game, but which Super Bowl commercials are you still talking about today? We are going to discuss the winners and the losers, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: All right, the Kansas City Chiefs already fielding questions about a repeat. I mean, give them a beat here, right?

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Yes, it has been just a few hours after they won the second consecutive Super Bowl last night. They defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime.

[13:50:04]

And afterwards, a Vegas nightclub -- (LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: -- at a Vegas nightclub --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: -- you can see their star players, Travis Kelce and game MVP, Patrick Mahomes, celebrating to Queen's "We Are the Champions."

Today, Mahomes said this about the chances of winning a third consecutive Super Bowl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: It is legendary. I mean, just to be able to -- no one has ever done it. We know it's tough to win back to back. We know other teams have done it. I mean, all you can do is come next year with a fresh mindset, knowing it will be even harder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: So we know who won on the field in overtime. Incredible end to that game. But who ruled the time off the clock? We are talking the commercials, which cost this year at least $6.5 million for just 30 seconds of airtime. That's according to sources.

Brand and marketing consultant, Peter Shankman, is here to weigh in.

Peter, I know what my favorite ad was, and I will play that in a second, but what was yours?

PETER SHANKMAN, BRAND & MARKETING CONSULTANT: I love Duncan. What a great start with some great celebrities and a very good touch of humor. Really big fan.

MARQUARDT: And it was part two of an ad we saw last year.

Let's play a little bit of that Duncan ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you like them donuts? I'm so sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had to see it, but I forgive you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Laius on the track.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right, then there's Tom Brady, let's not forget, and J-Lo saying, Tom, you can stay, after she kicks Ben Affleck out. (CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: That was so funny.

Peter, what makes this ad so great? Because it is my favorite as well.

MARQUARDT: Right.

SHANKMAN: It was hysterical, first of all. It was very funny, not only from the perspective that it did not force the brand into your face. It gave you celebrities that actually played off each other very, very well.

You know, knowing the back story of Ben and everyone in that group, right, marriages, divorces, it played out well. And then add Tom Brady being as a bonus with being told he could stay. I think it was very, very well done.

KEILAR: Very funny.

MARQUARDT: And Matt Damon, of course.

What are the ones you didn't like as much?

SHANKMAN: I think a lot fell flat. Particularly religious ads. The ad for "Come to Jesus" was very, very strange. It did not seem to fit.

Two seconds of being on Google, we find out, for some reason, it was paid for by the CEO of Hobby Lobby, who is very famously known for going to court to prevent women from getting birth control. It stuck in a lot of people's craws the wrong way.

KEILAR: We've noticed -- some people, I assume, Peter, liked the ad. Wouldn't you say? Some people probably liked that ad.

SHANKMAN: There were definitely some people online, some people on all of the platforms that did like it.

What was interesting, the backlash I did not expect. And I saw this almost immediately on Threads, on Twitter, on everywhere, was people saying, how come corporations, for lack of a better word, that - and this was repeated a lot. This actually trended for a bit.

How come a corporation has the money to spend $7 million for an ad but does not have to pay taxes? So in this election year, I think that might have been a tough choice for a lot of people.

KEILAR: It has people talking for sure.

MARQUARDT: It does. As do some of the more fun ones, the Verizon with Beyonce and Tony Hale and then Mountain Dew with Aubrey Plaza (ph).

So which other ones did you like, Peter?

(CROSSTALK) SHANKMAN: I loved Dove. Dove, I'm tickled at a 10-year-old. I loved

Dove, the "Hard Knock Life" commercial that showed young girls getting knocked down in gymnastics and kickball and getting back up and fighting, really made me happy. I loved that. My daughter liked that one.

KEILAR: Yes. That sort of body confidence message, I thought was good because --

SHANKMAN: Yes.

KEILAR: -- people talk about it. But it reminded you of, it is so important for girls and young women so that they will continue in sports. I like how they connected it to that as well.

MARQUARDT: And good range, from funny and light that we all laughed at, to more serious messages as well.

KEILAR: Very meaningful.

SHANKMAN: No question. I think it -- no question. I cannot let go without mentioning the fact they are making a wicked movie. I was literally screaming in my living room when I saw it.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Very cool.

OK, you liked holmes.com (ph), is that right?

SHANKMAN: I thought it was cute. Little rapper sort of jumped in there for about 10 seconds, completely unexpected. I thought that was cute.

Christopher Walken, for BMW, that everyone -- I am sure it'll happen. I'm sure that every person who comes up to him and says they're fans tries to do an impression.

(LAUGHTER)

SHANKMAN: I mean, that was funny as well.

And what else did I love?

[13:55:00]

Paramount had a phenomenal ad where they included Patrick Stewart and, for some strange reason, the band Creed.

(LAUGHTER)

SHANKMAN: I thought it was so out of left field that it actually worked really well.

KEILAR: Listen, I think we are also going to remember the RFK Jr ad, too, Peter. That was one that really left a mark, even in that family and very much publicly. SHANKMAN: It was interesting. The ad ran, it looked exactly like

Kennedy from the '60s, like an original JFK ad from the late '50s, early '60s.

Then, two seconds later, he tweets out an apology to his family, saying he had nothing to do with the ad. Except the ad was his top- pinned tweet all day and it still is at this moment. So something didn't fit right there.

KEILAR: He likes the ad and he is sorry for it.

MARQUARDT: And he made clear it was a super PAC --

(CROSSTALK)

MARQUARDT: -- that he does not control.

(CROSSTALK)

MARQUARDT: Yes.

KEILAR: Peter, it was great. The ads are really almost as fun as the halftime show. So we thank you for going through them with us.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Peter Shankman, thank you.

SHANKMAN: Always a pleasure.

KEILAR: I loved Usher roller skating, personally.

(CROSSTALK)

MARQUARDT: And --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: I was all about it.

MARQUARDT: Fantastic.

KEILAR: We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)