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Kamala Harris Visits Planned Parenthood Clinic, A First For A Sitting Vice President Or President; Jury Deliberates Fate Of Father Of Michigan School Shooter; Death of Oklahoma Nonbinary Teen Ruled A Suicide; IDF: Israel Plans To Move 1.4 Million Displaced People From Rafah; Risk Calculator Helped Actress Olivia Munn Discover Her Breast Cancer. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired March 14, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:31:20]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Happening right now, a historic visit by Vice President Kamala Harris to a Planned Parenthood in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The vice president there describing a health crisis affecting American women ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade.

We have her remarks. We're going to play them for you now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I will tell you it is because right now in our country we are facing a very serious health crisis. And the crisis is affecting many, many people in our country, most of whom are frankly silently suffering.

After the United States Supreme Court took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America, from the women of America in states around our country, extremists have proposed and passed laws that have denied women access to reproductive health care.

And the stories abound. I've heard stories of and have met with women who had miscarriages in toilets, women who we're being denied emergency care because the health care providers there at an emergency room were afraid that because of the laws in their state that they could be criminalized, sent to prison for providing health care.

I'm here at this health care clinic to uplift the work that is happening in Minnesota. As an example of what true leadership looks, which is to understand it is only right and fair that people have access to the health care they need.

And that they have access to health care in an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect.

And please do understand that when we talk about a clinic such as this, it is absolutely about health care and reproductive health care. So everyone get ready for the language, uterus. (LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: That part of the body needs a lot of medical care from time to time.

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: Issues like fibroids. We can handle this. Breast cancer screenings, contraceptive care. That is the kind of work that happens here, in addition, of course, to abortion care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We've been listening to Vice President Kamala Harris. As she says, she's trying to uplift the leadership, the important work being done at a Planned Parenthood in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Sharing humorous moments with the crowd that has gathered there, but also warning Americans about extremists who she says are taking steps to limit access to reproductive health care for women across the country.

This is part of a reproductive rights tour that the vice president is taking across the country. A major step as we get closer to November's general election and the White House's efforts to reelect both Vice President Harris and President Joe Biden to the White House.

We want to focus now on another big story that we're monitoring. Jurors in the involuntary manslaughter trial of James Crumbley are in their first full day of deliberations.

Mental health, gun security, parental responsibility all key factors in this case against the Michigan father whose son shot and killed four of his Oxford High School classmates back in 2021.

[14:34:59]

Prosecutors are accusing Crumbley of being grossly negligent, ignoring trouble signs of his sons deteriorate curry rating mental health when he bought the then-15-year-old a gun that was used in the massacre.

Let's go to CNN's Jean Casarez, who is in Pontiac, Michigan, awaiting a verdict.

Jean, we were here just a few weeks ago when James' wife, Jennifer, was convicted by a jury in that case, of a jury, was relatively quick and their deliberations.

What are we expecting to see here in James' case?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's actually 10 hours of deliberation for Jennifer Crumbley. And this jury, first full day of deliberations, they've been at it since 9:00 this morning. So we're now at about 2:30.

What's interesting in this case is that it's a less complicated case in the sense that James Crumbley did not have a lot of texts with a lot of different people.

Jennifer had so many texts that she was participating in right at that pivotal moment when that shooting took place.

On the other hand, James Crumbley is the one that purchased the gun. James Crumbley is the one that was the registered owner, that had the care, the control, the custody of that gun.

He is the one that actually went to the house to see if his son had taken the gun, which, in the minds of the prosecutors, that means he knew his son could have committed this mass shooting.

Of course, the defense countered that by saying it wasn't until it happened. He went to the school originally and then he decided, I need to make sure, and when he found out the gun was gone, he immediately told police, turned his son in, just like any good citizen would do.

But this jury can look at things in so many different ways. The devil could be in the details.

You know, I've focused on the jury so much when I was in that courtroom. They didn't take a lot of notes, but they we're so intent. They were looking at the witness, witness after witness.

They weren't looking around the room. They weren't looking down. They weren't doing -- they we're focused on that.

So they must know what they're doing because there have been no questions. And that's unusual, Boris. Because there are normally questions during the course of deliberations. Nothing today.

So we are waiting to see if they do render that verdict as the state proceeds.

SANCHEZ: A case to closely watch.

Jean Casarez, thanks so much for that.

Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A tragic follow-up to a story that we told you about last month concerning a non-binary teenager in Oklahoma.

Autopsy results reveal that 16-year-old Nex Benedict died by suicide. Benedict reportedly told their mother that they faced bullying at school and had been brutally beaten in a fight.

President Biden just released a statement on Nex, reading, in part:

"In memory of Nex, we must all recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children. Bullying is hurtful and cruel and no one should face the bullying that Nex did."

CNN's Natasha Chen is following this story for us.

Natasha, what more can you tell us?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police say they had suspected suicide, but now we can officially say that after the medical examiner's report.

And yesterday, the superintendent of Owasso Public Schools called this devastating, and that they have counselors on campuses to help students and faculty work through this difficult moment.

Now be clear, we do not know whether or how the fight that occurred the day before this death contributed in any way to the suicide.

What we do have is body camera footage of a police officer asking Nex, in their own words, what happened at that fight. This interview happened in a hospital room.

What we're going to show you is Nex describing how the same students seem to have been harassing them, but that they hadn't really reported this to adults because they, quote, "didn't see the point."

And that, in this instance, they were in the girl's bathroom. Nex was being made fun of for how they laughed, apparently, and they poured water on one of the students.

Here's what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEX BENEDICT, NONBINARY STUDENT: They can't mean -- they grabbed my hair. I grabbed onto one of them. I threw one of them into a paper towel dispenser and then they got my legs out from under me and got me on the ground and started beating the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) of me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: I did reach out to the family's attorney to see if the Benedict family has another message to share, but their previous statement in February said that the facts they know of are troubling and they're trying to figure out how this happened, trying to hold people to account.

The Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for LGBTQ-plus individuals, placed a complaint saying, citing that Nex's family noticed the bullying started happening after the Oklahoma governor signed a bill into law that forbids trans and gender expansive youth to access restrooms consistent with their gender identity.

[14:40:00]

Now, on March 1st, the Department of Education said they are going to investigate possible violations by the district of sex discrimination and disability discrimination.

To that, the district says they are "committed to cooperating with federal officials, but they do not believe that the complaint is supported by facts." They say it's without merit. I do want to also note that the Rainbow Youth Project USA, a national

organization devoted to preventing LGBTQ-plus youth suicide, have noted a 238 percent increase in crisis calls from Oklahoma since Nex died -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes. Natasha Chen, thank you so much for that.

And we know this story is impacting a lot of people. If you or a loved one have thought about suicide or need help addressing your mental health, there are people to talk to. Call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 to connect with a trained counselor.

We'll be right back.

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[14:45:32]

SANCHEZ: Any moment now, the first maritime shipment of humanitarian aid could arrive in Gaza. World Central Kitchen launched the vessel from neighboring Cyprus earlier this week.

The organization says it's carrying about 200 tons of food, which is about 500,000 meals. Experts, though, have warned that that is just a fraction of what's needed in the Palestinian enclave.

We're also learning that the Israeli military plans to move more than a million displaced people from Rafah before a planned assault on the border city in Gaza.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has been following the latest developments from Jerusalem.

Jeremy, the big question here is how this is going to work?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly is. And we've seen in the past is there have been major issues with the distribution of the -- of humanitarian aid in terms of that ship that is arriving and questions there.

Now, in terms of the displaced people who would be moved from Rafah ahead of a major Israeli military offensive, the Israeli military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, saying that the Israeli military is preparing to create, quote, "humanitarian conclaves."

Which he said would have food, would have water, housing, hospitals, field hospitals that would be established in partnership with other foreign countries.

It's not clear exactly which countries would be participating, what the scale of this project would be.

But what is clear is the scale of the challenge here. One-and-a-half million people are currently living in that city of Rafah.

And U.S. officials have expressed serious concerns about how exactly they would be able to evacuate that number of people in a short amount of time ahead of a planned Israeli military offensive.

I've been told that that evacuation would likely take at least two weeks to actually complete.

But there are still a ton of details that we don't know yet about this civilian evacuation plan. In fact, we don't have a sense yet of whether the Israeli war cabinet has actually approved these evacuation plans. Although the Israeli military had been presenting a working plan to the Israeli prime minister.

But the United States has made clear that if there is not a sufficient plan, if this is not done in an appropriate manner in terms of evacuating these civilians, that an Israeli military offensive into Rafah would be disastrous. And President Biden indicating that it would potentially be a red line.

So enormous pressure being brought to bear on Israeli officials. And enormous questions still remaining about the feasibility of this evacuation and exactly how it would happen, the conditions that these people would be moved to once they are evacuated from that city.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much for the update from Jerusalem.

So Actress Olivia Munn says that she was diagnosed with breast cancer just two months after a normal mammogram. But there's a tool that helped detect her cancer that's available free and online. You should learn about it. We'll talk when we come back.

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[14:52:57]

SANCHEZ: Actress Olivia Munn just revealed that she was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer despite getting a recent normal mammogram.

KEILAR: Yes, very unusual. And she's now sharing her very personal journey on social media about her decision to have a double mastectomy and how an assessment tool likely saved her life.

CNN health reporter, Jacqueline Howard, is here with details on what this tool is and how it can help other women.

Jacqueline, how did Munn say that she and her doctor discovered her cancer?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, Brianna, what happened here, Olivia Munn says that her doctor actually calculated her breast cancer risk assessment score and found that she has a 37 percent risk of developing breast cancer in her lifetime.

So based on that score, they did additional evaluations after the mammogram. They took an MRI. They did an ultrasound. And that's how they diagnosed Olivia Munns breast cancer with that additional imaging. But the risk assessment was key in this journey. And the breast cancer

risk assessment, itself, it's a tool that calculates your risk of developing breast cancer in five years or in a lifetime based on your own personal medical history and your own family history.

And there are different models of this tool, but many you can take online yourself.

There's one at BCrisktool@cancer.gov. Now, this one is specifically for women 35 and older. But you answer the questions, calculate your risk score, and you're given your risk.

For some women, this tool isn't as accurate, like for women who have gene mutations associated with breast cancer or those with their own personal history of breast cancer.

But knowing that this tool is available, it's really empowering for patients. And if you do decide to take this assessment yourself, definitely talk with your doctor about what your risk score means for you -- Boris and Brianna?

[14:55:00]

SANCHEZ: So, Jacqueline, if someone takes this risk assessment online and then, as you said, talks to their doctor about it, what might the results mean for how often they should get mammograms or when they should start screening?

HOWARD: That's why it's important to talk to your doctor. Because your doctor can help you really understand what your risk score means for you.

If you and your doctor do realize that you're at average risk, then it is recommended to start mammograms in your 40s. But if you're at high risk, you're recommended to start earlier or start or have mammograms more frequently. So that's why this discussion is important.

And really, for any patient, you want to have a discussion with your doctor as early as at age 25. And just to keep the conversation going as to what your breast cancer risk means for you and for how often you should screen. So that's the main takeaway.

SANCHEZ: Jacqueline Howard, thanks so much.

Coming up right here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee spent a day in a federal courthouse as his lawyers tried to get the classified documents case delayed or thrown out altogether. The latest when we come back.

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