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Megachurch Shooter Had Two Rifles; Willis Could be Disqualified from Case; Polls Open in New York; Senate Passes Foreign Aid Bill; Stewart Returns to "The Daily Show"; Insurance Switch Leads to Issues with Asthma Meds. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 13, 2024 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lakewood Church building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom was - was screaming. And then my mom said, come, come. And we ducked.

LAVANDERA (voice over): Two off-duty officers working security for the church responded to the gunfire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two people down. We need an ambulance.

LAVANDERA (voice over): The suspect was shot and killed at the scene, and her child was shot in the head and is in critical condition.

CHIEF TROY FINNER, HOUSTON POLICE: I want to ask for prayers for this seven-year-old kid whose fighting for his life.

LAVANDERA (voice over): The second victim was a 57-year-old man who was hit in the leg by gunfire. He's been released from the hospital.

One of the off-duty officers who shot and killed the shooter is an agent with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, who had just recently finished training in active shooter response.

KEVIN J. LILLY, CHAIRMAN, TEXAS ALCOHOL BEVERAGE COMMISSION: These two officers held their ground. They held their ground in the face of rifle fire at point-blank range.

LAVANDERA (voice over): Police say after she was shot, the suspect said she had a bomb, though no explosives were found in her backpack or the car she drove to the church. Investigators also carried out an extensive search of the shooters home in the city of Conroe, about 40 miles north of the Lakewood Church, as they continue to dig into a more clear motive of this shooting attack.

The shooter has used multiple aliases, including both male and female names, has a criminal history and has been previously convicted of assault and unlawful carrying of a weapon, among other charges. Police say they found anti-Semitic writings connected to the shooter.

CHRISTINA RODRIGUEZ, WITNESS: We're all still pretty shook up and we're pretty scared. But I mean, like, we're not going to allow that, you know, this fear to be in us because like this is our church and this is a place of prayer and worship, and we still want to come back and we still want to pray and worship here

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (on camera): And beyond the mental health issues that police investigators have been describing, they also say that Moreno was involved in a dispute with her ex-husband's family. Several of those families, we are told, are Jewish.

Phil and Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Ed Lavandera, thank you very much for that reporting.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, also this morning, a judge, overseeing the Trump election subversion case in Georgia, says the district attorney may be disqualified from the trial. Fani Willis is prosecuting the former president and several co-defendants. She may be required to testify about her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade regarding misconduct allegations.

Now, Trump and his co-defendants not only want Willis removed from the case, they want the case dismissed entirely. Trump's team claims Willis had an improper relationship with Wade, and the question of whether she benefited financially from it remains at the center of things.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins us live in Atlanta.

Nick, what more did the judge say? What happens on Thursday here?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Phil.

Thursday is going to be a major day, a defining day in this case, especially now that the door is open for Fani Willis to potentially be disqualified. The presiding judge in this case, Scott McAfee, signaling think he's taking these allegations very seriously. And if he sees any evidence that Willis financially benefited from this personal relationship with her lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade, then she could be disqualified.

Listen to what he had to say in part during Monday's hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE SCOTT MCAFEE, SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY: The state has admitted a relationship existed. And so what remains to be proven is the existence and extent of any financial benefit, again if there has -- if there even was one. So, because I think its possible that the facts alleged by the defendant could result in disqualification, I think an evidentiary hearing must occur to establish the record on those core allegations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: And there will be testimony at this hearing. Another one of the major headlines from Monday's hearing is that Fani Willis may be called to testify in her own defense. All of it depends on what other witnesses say first. And Ashleigh Merchant, she's the lawyers, the defense attorney, who brought these allegations to light, and she's signaled that she is expected to call Terrence Bradley, a former law partner and friend of Nathan Wade, who represented him at one time during his divorce proceedings. She says that Bradley will say that not only did Willis benefit from this financially, but that she is lying about when her relationship began with Nathan Wade, and it actually began before she hired him. All of that is expected on Thursday. A significant day in this case. And it could lead to a change in this case overall.

Phil.

HARLOW: Wow, that would be a stunning development for sure.

Nick, thanks for your reporting on this throughout.

So, voters here in New York heading to the polls today in the special election to replace George Santos, as a big snow storm moves in. We'll take you live to a polling place, next.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Why am I back, you may be asking yourselves. It's a very reasonable question. I have committed a lot of crimes. From what I understand, talk show hosts are granted immunity. So, it has -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The one and only Jon Stewart is back. He returned to "The Daily Show" last night. How he could or could not influence the election and more.

Stay with us.

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[06:38:27]

MATTINGLY: Well, just a short time ago, polls opened in New York's third congressional district in what has become a very competitive race to replace the expelled congressman, George Santos. Democrat Tom Suozzi, who represented the district for three terms, is now challenging Republican newcomer Mazi Pilip.

It's a very high-stakes race that has gotten national attention with more than $21 million spent on campaign ads alone. The results could narrow the Republican's already very slim majority in the House. It will also give some semblance of a signal to which party's messaging on issues like immigration, the economy, is resonating more with suburban voters as we head into November.

CNN's Athena Jones is live at a polling place - polling location in Glen Cove, New York.

Athena, to start, I'm hoping this means I won't have to see 7,000 commercials a day related to this race on my television screen, underscoring just how much money has been spent. But I think it also gives a window into just how critical both parties are viewing this election.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Phil. Absolutely.

We're here at Glen Cove Middle School - a middle school in Glen Cove, New York. We've seen a few voters coming in, but a lot of eyes on this race. It's a big test of which party's messaging may prevail in November. Will it provide clues to that?

It's also being closely watched because of that very slim House majority you mentioned, seven seats. Any change in the makeup of that body will affect their ability to get work done.

But you did mention how -- one way we can see how important this race is, is how much spending, making it the most expensive race so far of the 2024 cycle at blanketing the airwaves. I'm - I'm not kidding when I say nearly every ad or every other ads is does either Pilip or Suozzi airing on television.

[06:40:05]

Here is what the two candidates had to say in the closing hours last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM SUOZZI (D), NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: The bottom line is, people are sick and tired of Washington, D.C.

My opponent, on the other hand, is the same old extremist viewpoints, just taking the same talk points straight from the top.

MAZI PILIP (R), NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: You have been lying to us and you are - will - have been lying about me. And I promise you, you're going to remember this day because Mazi Pilip will knock you down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And kind of like what we just heard in terms of their - their -- their fiery rhetoric towards one another, these ads have appealed a great deal towards fear and anger with Democratic ads focus on issues like abortion. Tom Suozzi's ability to work across the aisle. Talking about his history as a bipartisan negotiator on Capitol Hill. And on the Republican side, many of the ads, all of the ads aired by Mazi Pilip's campaign focused on the migrant crisis. So much as we've seen in other races, this race here, this local race, is very much nationalize with the issues facing Americans across the country. And so we'll have to see which message wins out here.

Suozzi has said that he has not really embraced Joe Biden and his willingness for him to come out and campaign for him. Mazi Pilip took a long time before she even responded to who she voted for. So, neither of these candidates has really embraced the standard bearer of their party, and both of them are expected to keep running in November for the general election. So, this is just the first test and a way to hopefully provide clues as to which party is going to win out the day in terms of messaging here.

Phil. Poppy.

MATTINGLY: Yes, national messaging, national money and definitely national party members keeping a very close eye on this.

Athena Jones with the latest, thank you.

Well, we also want to give you an update on what we were talking about at the start of the show. The breaking news, the U.S. Senate has now passed that $95 billion emergency aid package. It includes more than $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion in emergency defense assistance for Israel, and about $4 billion for the Indo-Pacific as well.

The final vote was 72-29, actually ticking up a couple more than I expected. A major bipartisan vote. Most of the opposition, with the exception of a couple -- one Democrat, one independent, were Republicans. Now it faces a very uncertain future in the House. Obviously it's a very big bipartisan vote. It's what the president has been asking for, for several months.

The speaker, Mike Johnson, has made it clear, this is still dead on arrival in the House. What the options are going forward is an open question. It's worth noting that if they put this very bill on the House floor it would easily pass.

HARLOW: Errol Louis with us at the table. Michelle Price, Leah Wright Rigueur.

We'll get to New York in just a moment, but, Michelle, let's just talk about what just happened in the Senate and what that's going to mean in the House given what Speaker Johnson has at the top of his Twitter feed, a statement that includes, "instead the Senate's foreign aid bill is silent on the most pressing issues facing our country. That does not bode well for it."

MICHELLE PRICE, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "THE ASSOCIATED PRESS": Yes, Speaker Johnson is saying that it needs to have border security measures in it. We were just there last week.

MATTINGLY: Yes, somebody should have proposed that.

PRICE: Yes. So, I mean -

HARLOW: Or negotiated for four months about it.

PRICE: Bipartisan - bipartisan deal that they didn't take up. So, I - clearly this is not - it does not look like the chances bode very well in the House. The other thing to remember here is that Donald Trump, over the weekend, made it very clear he opposes this aid, this foreign aid.

This is something that we know Speaker Johnson and the Republicans in the House are paying very close attention to what Donald Trump says. And the foreign wars, the foreign conflicts, the things that feel de- stabilizing in the world, are something that Donald Trump feels is helpful to him as he's making his presidential campaign, that he lays this at Joe Biden's feet saying, look at what he's done to the world. It's - it's destabilizing. There's these conflicts. This didn't happen when I was there. This is helpful to him to keep these things going and to not have - and he does also oppose foreign aid. He's made very clear. But there are political motivations here as well.

MATTINGLY: To - you know, Errol, to that point, let's drop into the New York Three, the special election, because while I joke about every single commercial is related to that race right now on my television screen, it's true. It's like the entire commercial break is back-to- back-to-back and a ton of them are on immigration. If you want to know why Donald Trump has some political incentive to try and kill any bipartisan immigration deal, watch the elections from congressional leaders or watch the ads from the Congressional Leadership Fund or supportive Republican groups about how potent they think that is as an issue. What does that mean for this race today?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, what it means, among other things, is that we'll have what is really a very expensive rental. You know, New York is going through a redistricting. So, this seat, though the contours of this district may vanish. But if there is an ability to keep it in Republican hands, this was a district that went eight points for Joe Biden. President Biden was in town. Tom Suozzi, the Democrats, said literally and publicly, Mr. President, don't come out here. So, some of these issues are taking hold.

This could be an exception or this could be a bellwether. It is certainly something that they're going to try and sort of make of national importance.

[06:45:02]

Although I'm not so sure that that's necessarily going to be what it is. Again, the districts going to kind of go away. It is a swing district. It went for Joe Biden. It seems to be swinging in a different direction now.

The real issue for the Democrats is, if they let immigration become the biggest issue, they're going to have a much harder time than if they swing back to things like the economy, a women's right to choose, some of the other basic issues that have worked for them really well. You know, debt forgiveness, lowering medical expenses, the bread-and- butter issues, they've kind of let that get away from them. And, you know, having a bunch of D.C. operatives by a bunch of advertising here on the Democratic side will, I think, be seen ultimately as a mistake, win or lose. That -- those are not the issues that move Democratic voters. And they seem to be, you know, sort of losing their footing by trying to play on the other party's turf by talking about immigration all the time.

HARLOW: In other news, Monday nights just got a little more spicy. Jon Stewart is back.

Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Kansas City Chiefs are world champions, which means the decades long plot in which Travis and Taylor brainwashing America into getting - into getting routine vaccine is complete.

But now that it's over, nine months till the election, people. Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! And the exciting part is, we already know our candidates. It's, drumroll please, these (EXPLETIVE DELETED) guys.

You didn't mess up. You didn't - no, no, no, don't stop. Wait. Hold on. Hold on, sir. Don't - no, you killed this. Take the W. What are you doing?

Allow me to present to you a one man show about what Joe Biden's advisers were doing when he turned around and went back to the podium. The show is called, no!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Leah, this election has nothing to do with why Jon Stewart is back on television. Actually, it has everything to do with why Jon Stweart is back.

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: Everything. Everything. And you know one thing that I -- first of all, let's hear it for Jon Stewart being back. I know everyone missed him. Sure, he had his Apple TV show moment for a second, but it is really good to just have him back, even if it's just one day a week for the election season.

But the other thing is, who better, I think, to take it to the kind of -- just the absolute insanity of what it looks like we're heading into, right? Who better to take on the fact that we have a 77-year-old and an 81-year-old that most likely are going to be the contenders for the next presidential race and that we are right back where we were in 2020.

So, I think this is an opportunity. This is, you know, we should all be tuning in on Monday nights. That's not an advertisement, but, sure, take it as you well, because we're -- the circus is just getting started.

MATTINGLY: Opportunity.

Leah, Michelle, Errol, thanks, guys, we appreciate it.

One insurance exchange (ph) is removing a popular asthma medication in the U.S. and now some families are scrambling to find an alternative for their kids. What parents need to know. We'll tell you, next.

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[06:52:28]

HARLOW: Welcome back.

This morning, some families and doctors are scrambling now that the popular asthma medication is off the shelves. Flovent was one of the most commonly prescribed asthma meds for children. It was taken off the market at the start of this year, replaced with an identical generic version.

MATTINGLY: Now, that may seem straightforward, but the swap has doctors struggling to find their patients the right medication due to insurance issues. Now, asthma is one of the most chronic health conditions in the United States. Nearly 25 million Americans suffer from asthma.

Joining us now to discuss, Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez, assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

When you first see this, you say, swapping with the generic, that happens all the time. Maybe that actually is a better alternative. But it's not here. Why?

DR. EDITH BRACHO-SANCHEZ, ASSISTANT PEDIATRICS PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER: The details around this will make your head spin, but let's just walk through them very quickly.

GSK is the company that makes Flovent. Earlier last year they announced they were taking it off the shelves, replacing it with a generic.

Now, experts who follow this have told us that the switch was made right as the company was going to incur penalties from Medicaid for having gone up on the price of Flovent over a number of years.

Now, the company has not addressed this directly, but, downstream, the effects are the same, right? So, what we're talking about is insurance companies have not added the generic that they introduced to their formulary list, which is a list of preferred medications. When the medication, that generic medication, is not on the preferred list, we, as physicians, cannot prescribe it without getting a special approval. And patients cannot get it. So, here we are scrambling to get this medication.

HARLOW: I think we've all had those experiences where you go to the counter at the pharmacy to pay and you're expecting it to be like $5 or $15 with insurance and its $500 because of that reason.

BRACHO-SANCHEZ: Right. HARLOW: So that's the reality that some of these folks are facing. I don't know the price of this generic, but - right? I mean that's what they're up against until this changes.

BRACHO-SANCHEZ: Thats exactly right. And we don't know if it's going to change. So, the company, GSK, has said the price of the generic is potentially lower, but the net price, the actually negotiated price on the ground, is actually higher for some payers. And because of this, it is not on the preferred medication lists.

A number of issues with this when it comes to children. And I really encourage people to read the piece that we're publishing on cnn.com because the details are fascinating. But a number of issues. The alternatives that they're listing are not always appropriate for small children. And even when you can get something prescribed and approved that is appropriate for a small child, the co-pay in many cases is much higher, just like you're saying, Poppy.

MATTINGLY: So, read the piece for sure. But in a shorthand right now, for families that might be dealing with this or are recognizing now they're about to confront this, what advice do you have for them?

[06:55:07]

BRACHO-SANCHEZ: Work with your pediatrician. We, as pediatricians, nurses, pharmacists are getting very savvy. It is not how we want to be spending our time. We want to be delivering better care. And right now the reality is that we are working harder to provide less than better care for our patients. But work with us. We're getting really savvy at working with different insurance companies to try to get something that is appropriate for your child's age, and that can actually control their asthma, right, because we're talking about life-saving, necessary medications.

HARLOW: Thank you, Doctor. Appreciate it.

BRACHO-SANCHEZ: Thank you.

HARLOW: A lot of flight cancellations this morning as the northeast prepares for its biggest snowstorm in more than two years. We're live here in New York with what's ahead, next.

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