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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Race to Track Hantavirus Outbreak; U.S. Military Responding to Unprovoked Iranian Attacks; Trump's New Counterterrorism Strategy. Lawmakers Push FDA To Expedite Review On Psychedelic Therapies; How Ted Turner Reshaped Sports As An Owner And Businessman. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 07, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

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[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, multiple states are now monitoring Americans who may have been exposed to the Hantavirus. Health officials in Georgia, Arizona, California, Virginia, and Texas all confirming they're in contact with passengers who previously got off that cruise ship. None, thankfully, are currently exhibiting any symptoms. What we're learning about those contact tracing efforts tonight, and the latest fight over what the rest of the passengers currently stuck at sea will do next.

Plus, the U.S. military confirming moments ago it responded to, quote, unprovoked Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. What does this mean for the ceasefire? What does it mean for negotiations to end the war? Does President Trump still want to make a deal? One of the best sourced Trump reporters that exists, The New York Times' Maggie Haberman, will be here to share what she's hearing behind the scenes.

Also, the White House is rolling out its new counterterrorism strategy with this message from President Trump, quote, If you hurt Americans or are planning to hurt Americans, we will find you, and we will kill you. What does that look like in practice, and what new plans are there to keep Americans safe?

The Lead tonight, health officials across the globe are working to contain the deadly Hantavirus after an outbreak of the rare disease killed three passengers aboard a cruise ship last month. The World Health Organization is reporting five confirmed infections among individuals connected to that ship. Some passengers remain on board, while others had already disembarked prior to the outbreak.

We're told that, currently, there are 17 Americans among the 140-plus passengers still stuck on that ship. Here in the U.S., state health officials are monitoring passengers who had returned home. Two are in Georgia, where health officials say in a statement to CNN they are, quote, currently in good health and show no signs of infection. They're following current recommendations from the CDC.

A passenger also disembarked the ship and returned to Virginia, another to Arizona. Health officials in those states confirmed to CNN that those individuals are being monitored and remain asymptomatic. Reports say other American passengers returned to California and Texas. They're being monitored as well.

With the public still reeling in so many ways from the COVID pandemic, the Hantavirus is now gaining international attention at a rate more rapid than it appears to be spreading.

CNN's Melissa Bell is tracking all the latest developments.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After three days docked off the coast of Cape Verde, the M.V. Hodges is on its way to the Canary Islands, with the World Health Organization saying that it does not expect a widespread outbreak.

DR. MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, DIRECTOR, EPIDEMIC AND PANDEMIC THREAT MANAGEMENT, WHO: This is not SARS-CoV-2. This is not the start of a COVID pandemic. This is an outbreak that we see on a ship.

BELL: The first passenger died some ten days after the ship left Argentina, the captain's announcement filmed by one of the passengers on April 12th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, everybody. Yes, this is my sad duty to inform you that one of our passengers sadly passed away last night.

BELL: Only later would the virus be identified, according to Oceanwide Expeditions, which operates the ship. At the time of the announcement, there was no evidence of a virus or contagion present on the vessel. The case was believed to be isolated following medical review. The operator adding that as of Wednesday, the man was not confirmed to have been infected with Hantavirus.

The wife of the man who died was one of at least 30 passengers to disembark at Saint Helena, traveling on to South Africa, where she collapsed and later died after she was taken to hospital.

Several more passengers were evacuated from the ship whilst it was docked off of Cape Verde. Two are now being treated in the Netherlands, and a third in Germany after a convoy accompanied them to hospital.

The ship is now on its way to Tenerife, where it is expected to arrive on Sunday and where dock workers have threatened to strike.

JOANA BATISTA, TENERIFE PORT WORKERS UNION REPRESENTATIVE: Right now, the workers are really worried because they basically haven't been given any information at all. They haven't been told anything about what safety measures are going to be put in place.

BELL: But for those on board of what became the cruise from hell, the end may finally be in sight.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BELL (on camera): There has been this wrangling between authorities in Tenerife and the Spanish government about the safety precautions that would be taken as these people disembark. We expect now, Jake, Sunday at about midday local time.

[18:05:00]

And that speaks to the fear worldwide, really, that there has been around this virus and this outbreak on this ship.

What we're hearing from Madrid tonight is that all precautions will be taken, the boat will stay away from the shore in Tenerife, people will be disembarked and then taken on to their homes. There are 23 nationalities after all amongst the 146 people still on board, and we understand that every precaution will be made that there is no possible contact, say Spanish authorities, with anyone in Tenerife, but still logistically a very difficult operation ahead. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Melissa Bell, thanks so much.

Let's bring in Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo. She's the CEO of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Marrazzo it's good to have you.

It's believed that this strain of Hantavirus on this cruise ship is called the Andes strain, which is the only form of Hantavirus that can be passed human-to-human, though it's still rare. What do you think so far about the way the outbreak is being handled and contained?

DR. JEANNE MARRAZZO, CEO, INFECTIUS DISEASE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: I think we've been getting fantastic information from WHO, and I think it's especially notable given that, as was just reported, the cases are really potentially going to be found perhaps all over the world if we do see transmission that is related both to the cruise ship and to the subsequent airplane travel.

I would like to see more frequent updates from the U.S. government. CDC has been quite silent, as I think you know, and they've traditionally been a very prominent voice in these types of outbreaks. But, in general, the inter-country cooperation, particularly with the South Africans sequencing the virus and all of the other folks who are really working hard to take care of the disembarked passengers, has been a pretty model response.

TAPPER: There were American passengers on that ship who have disembarked and are currently being monitored for symptoms in states across the country. They remain asymptomatic at this time, we're told. Why do you think Americans have only heard from state level health officials and not the HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., or anyone from the CDC about this yet? Is that appropriate for this stage?

MARRAZZO: Yes. I would be speculating if I knew why we haven't heard from CDC or its parent agency, HHS. We do know that those agencies have been decimated by both the funding cuts and the staffing cuts in the last year, including the section at CDC that's responsible for cruise ship screening, hygiene, and care of patients who might have contracted an infection on those vessels.

So, I don't think it's surprising, sadly, that we haven't heard. Again, state and local health authorities have also been affected by some of these cuts. So, I really hope that everybody can continue to step into the breach. There is a big information gap from the federal government, and we need to really pay attention.

The follow-up of the patients, I will just mention, excuse me, the passengers who are at the states, a little bit complicated, because one of the things we've been hearing and talking about is that the incubation period of this virus, remember, that's the time from when you get infected to the time that you show symptoms, can be as long as seven weeks.

In the outbreak involving the Andes virus in Argentina, it didn't really seem to be that long. That was 2018 to 2019, around a week or two. So, even though we're technically concerned for a long period where people might show symptoms, hopefully, if people do get sick, and I fervently hope they don't because this is not a good disease, they will evidence those symptoms within the first couple of weeks.

TAPPER: So, there are people making comparisons between this situation and the early spread of COVID. I am not making those comparisons, but we see a lot out there. Some even experts are saying things like this. Anxieties are building in response. The public is concerned. What is your message to members of the public who might be feeling nervous about this becoming what we all went through with COVID?

MARRAZZO: Yes. I mean, one can't help but have deja vu, and it's not a pleasant deja vu, as you well recall. I would say that every new outbreak starts with the detection of cases that are unexpected, right? Think back to COVID, the early days, not just in China, but in Seattle, where we saw the first cases in the United States. Those were treated as outbreak investigations.

It became very clear very fast that just tracing the chain of contacts, which is what you do in an epidemic investigation, was yielding many more cases, and then it went out of control, and it became clear it was turning into a pandemic, right? The chains of transmission just blossomed like crazy across the population. It became a pandemic, and now it's endemic as a respiratory virus.

With this infection, if there is good news, and hopefully there will continue to be, the chains of transmission should be pretty limited. We are tracing specific contacts who were in contact with potentially infected people, hopefully for pretty brief periods of time, and, ultimately, that chain is very likely to end.

[18:10:08]

So, we're not going to see, hopefully, this sustained carryover infection through generations of exposed passengers, and this will eventually die out. Hopefully that will happen before we see any more deaths and before we have to get into the quarantining or isolation of more people. TAPPER: All right. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

How will President Trump respond as the U.S. military reports unprovoked Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz? Does the president still want to make a deal? Maggie Haberman joins us live to share her latest reporting.

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TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you in our World Lead. Just moments ago, the United States confirmed that the U.S. military has targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for launching what the U.S. calls unprovoked attacks against U.S. warships crossing through the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM says no U.S. assets were struck. This as Iran is accusing the U.S. of striking port cities and oil tankers. Meanwhile, still no word on whether Iran will accept or reject the proposal from the U.S. to end the war.

[18:15:00]

Let's bring in CNN Political Analyst and New York Times White House Correspondent Maggie Haberman. Maggie, always great to see you.

What is your sense of where President Trump's head is at when it comes to the war with Iran?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's the same, Jake, as it's been. He would like for this to be over. It is not sustainable, frankly, for either side the way it was going, which is part of why you are hearing him say and U.S. military officials say this is not -- you know, the ceasefire still holds. I think they're going to say that as long as they can. But how much longer this can go on this way is an open question.

And as to where this proposal stands, there're still wide gaps between where the U.S. is in terms of what it wants Iran to do with the remainder of its nuclear-enriched material and what Iran is willing to do. And so until that gets resolved, this is just going to bump along for some time.

We're still not quite sure what happened with these recent back and forth in the last couple of hours.

TAPPER: Yes. And as you know, President Trump hates to appear weak. It does look like he is more eager to end the war than the Iranians are. He obviously is also in an actual democracy with midterm elections coming up, and the Iranians not so much with the actual democracy part. Project Freedom, which is what they're calling this U.S. Navy guiding ships through the Strait of Hormuz, that appears at least as of this moment to have failed. Trump announced it on Sunday, went into effect Monday. Early Tuesday, Hegseth praised it. Rubio said this is what the U.S. is focused on. Hours later, Trump paused it, supposedly because the Pakistanis wanted him to do it (ph) for peace.

Okay. You know, how do you see this playing out here? HABERMAN: I see it as very confusing. And I think the amount of, you know, complicated, contradictory things the president has said himself that he has said versus what intermediaries have said, what the Iranians have been saying, either publicly or privately, it's a huge gulf, and it is very hard to know what is actually happening, frankly, from either government.

In terms of the Iranians, I will say, look, they are facing economic difficulties. There's no question about that. But gauging exactly what that means is quite hard. And as you say, the economic issues that are being created by the energy crisis from this war are pretty measurable in terms of the cost of gas at the pump.

And so we'll see if President Trump gets more engaged in the midterms and feels as if there's some personal interest in it for him. He has not been there for the most part, according to almost everybody I talk to. Maybe he will decide he wants to travel. But as long as gas prices remain where they are, it's not a great climate for his party.

TAPPER: You and Jonathan Swan, who are working on this or have worked on this book I can't wait to read, Regime Change, about the first year of the second term, you guys had this great reporting about when Netanyahu came and basically convinced President Trump, who, in fairness, has been talking for decades about- attacking Iran, but how Netanyahu talked -- tried to talk him into it. A lot of skeptical voices at the table in the Trump administration saying the Israelis always downplay how serious this is going to be, et cetera.

Is there any part of Trump that is looking at what's going on and all these complicated issues that have arisen since the strikes? And, again, it's great that there isn't a nuclear weapon in the hands of the Iranians, of course, but you know, the Strait of Hormuz, that wasn't even something President Trump was talking about before. Now it's like the number one problem in the world, the fact that that's closed. Is there any part of him that thinks, oh, so this is why previous presidents didn't strike Iran, because it's not A or B, it's C, D, E, F?

HABERMAN: Right. Look, I mean, you know, Jake, as well as I do that thinking about the second and third order of consequences is not always something that he goes to. This was a decision that was made, as Jonathan and I reported very quickly, and that he made very quickly and the U.S. government made very quickly, but it went relatively quickly. But as you also note, it's not a binary of Prime Minister Netanyahu just leading Trump into this. You know, the Israelis continue to insist that, you know, they were just presenting options. The U.S. officials, I think, will look at it a little differently.

But President Trump, frankly, has always been the most hawkish voice, except for when John Bolton was with him, right, and maybe a couple of other officials. Except for Pete Hegseth in this current administration, there is no one who has been as much of an Iran hawk as President Trump, and it is a country that he does view somewhat differently or has in terms of how much he cares about what it's up to for a variety of reasons, as you say, going back decades.

But he didn't appear to factor in they are different than a lot of other countries he has dealt with.

[18:20:01]

Everything is not a transaction. They are a theocracy of 93 million people, and what worked elsewhere was not going to work here.

So, does he have some regret? I think he has impatience. I don't know that it would go toward regret yet.

TAPPER: Yes. And a country that is willing to slaughter thousands of its own people for demonstrating for democracy might not really care if the economy crashes.

Maggie Haberman, thank you so much. I appreciate it. President Trump just released his new counterterrorism strategy. We're going to break down what he says are the biggest threats this nation faces. That's next.

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TAPPER: In our National Lead, President Trump just released his counterterrorism strategy. His top targets, narco-terrorists, Islamist terrorists, left-wing extremists, and what he calls extremist transgender ideology. Here is how his senior director of counterterrorism put it, quote, we see a threat, we will respond to it, and we will crush it, whether it is the cartels, the jihadists, or violent left-wing extremists, like Antifa, and like the transgender killers, the non-binary, the left-wing radicals, unquote. That is Dr. Sebastian Gorka.

Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, was quick to note the absence of right-wing extremism in that list, quote, despite years of data proving that it has presented the most persistent and deadly threat to Americans for decades, unquote.

Colin Clarke is the executive director of The Soufan Center, where he researches domestic terrorism and international security. So, Colin, what is your take on this study and the groups the Trump administration deems the most threatening?

COLIN P. CLARKE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE SOUFAN CENTER: Yes. Thanks for having me, Jake. Well, I wouldn't call it a study and I also wouldn't call it a strategy. I think this is a worldview essentially that's a highly partisan one. Even though throughout the document the author or authors claim that, you know, we're putting partisan politics aside, it's an exercise in gaslighting. It mentions President Biden's name far more times than it mentions Lebanese Hezbollah.

So, it's hard to take it seriously. The problem is terrorism is a very serious issue. It's a deadly serious issue. And this is really unsafe for the United States and its citizens.

TAPPER: Were you surprised that right-wing terrorism, which obviously exists and is a threat, was not mentioned the way that the others were? CLARKE: I wasn't surprised at all. I mean, we can go back and dig up some of my old tweets from the past year where I basically predicted this. I said it's going to be a highly partisan document driven by politics and not by intelligence and is likely going to exclude -- I didn't think it would entirely exclude far-right extremism and domestic terrorism but it has.

I don't want to be completely unfair. It does get a couple of things right. Jihadism is still very much a threat. Terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction is a threat, and it does focus on hostages and unlawfully detained persons. But, by and large, this document is a mess.

TAPPER: It's a sharp departure from the Biden administration. In 2023, Biden called white supremacy the most dangerous terrorist threat to the nation. Is that true? Do you agree with that?

CLARKE: I think it's one of several, you know, really pertinent threats. But, you know, when you look at data, which is what, you know, the document says that it's going to be reality-based, my question is, one, whose reality? It should be data-driven and based on empirical evidence.

Now, the threat with terrorism can ebb and flow year over year. If you look at it in aggregate, far-right extremism very much remains at the top of the list, if not number one in the top three certainly of threats that we face.

Look, I'm come speaking to you today from Pittsburgh, where the Tree of Life shooting happened. We could talk about El Paso. We could talk about Buffalo. We could talk about a number of highly lethal far-right threats. You know, the document wants to focus on the far left and Antifa. That's politically driven. It wants to focus on cartels, which are criminal groups. They're not terrorist groups, no matter what we call them.

So, I think, you know, the United States deserves better than this, and it's not a partisan thing. It's not that the Biden administration did counterterrorism better. Every administration going back, Democratic or Republican, previous to this administration took this issue more seriously and gave it, you know, the level of, you know, scrutiny that terrorism deserves, frankly.

TAPPER: The Trump team is also now looking at how domestic online activities could incite violence given that there have been multiple assassination attempts on President Trump. Has this administration fallen behind on that front?

CLARKE: Look, political violence is a real serious issue as well across the ideological spectrum, online radicalization, homegrown violent extremism. We should be driven by the data and the empirical evidence and not politics. We should let -- look, this document you know, impugns the intelligence community and takes shots at the intelligence community.

So, you know, again, it was kind of what I was expecting. But, you know, nevertheless, it still makes me sad as a citizen, and it makes me highly concerned as a counterterrorism analyst.

TAPPER: All right. Colin Clarke, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Coming up next, something we don't see enough of in Washington, Republicans and Democrats working together in a common goal. This time it's about urging the Food and Drug Administration to expedite its review of psychedelic therapies.

Stick with us.

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[18:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All those in favor of House Bill 7003 as amended, vote aye when the bell rings. Those opposed, vote no.

Having received a constitutional majority, I hereby declare it passed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, chaos and protests erupting, including chants, yelling, air horns inside the Tennessee General Assembly today after Tennessee Republicans approved a brand-new gerrymandered map that carves up a majority Black district in Memphis in an effort to eliminate the state's only Democratic-held seat and give Republicans one more House seat from Tennessee.

Republican Governor Bill Lee quickly signed the new map into law. It's an effort backed by President Trump in hopes of staving off what happens in most midterms, the other party does better and maybe even wins back the House.

As you can see in this image one Republican lawmaker draped a Trump flag on his way to vote, there it is, that's a lawmaker on his way to vote. That's not a January 6th image. That's a lawmaker.

Also in our Politics Lead, one of the Senate's most fiercely contested midterm race is in full swing as both candidates launch dueling ads today. Here are some of the ad from presumptive Democratic nominee Graham Platner. He's a political newcomer who's looking to unseat Maine's incumbent Republican senator, Susan Collins. Here's Platner.

[18:35:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't care that you are concerned while we go broke, as you sell us out to the president and to the Epstein class, who are engineering the greatest redistribution of wealth from the working class to the ruling class in this nation's history. Symbolic opposition doesn't reopen hospitals. Weak condemnations don't bring back Roe v. Wade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining us now is the panel. First to CNN's Arlette Saenz. So, Platner's ad comes a week after the governor, Janet Mills, who was running against him in the Senate primary, dropped out because she couldn't raise any money. And like we covered it at the time, but it's still a stunning turn of events. This guy, a year ago, was harvesting oysters, and if that's the right word for what you do with oysters, and he's chasing out the incumbent two-term governor. What do you make of his strategy?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that this is very reflective of the strategy that he had when he was running against Mills as well. He has presented himself as this outsider, anti- establishment candidate, and that's something that can play in both a Dem primary and in a general election.

So, you see this very fiery ad from Platner where he is calling out what he sees as Susan Collins' shortcomings. The question is you kind of have to balance this with going on the attack while also presenting a vision of what you want to do while you're in office, and that's a needle that he's going to have to thread in the coming months.

TAPPER: So, I'm going to run now a little bit of Susan Collins' ad, the incumbent Republican. It probably could not be more different. Here's some of her ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Collins helped lead the delegation in making sure that we got the federal funding that would be needed. The new breakwater wasn't simply replaced, it was upgraded, and it continues to be a central focal point of what makes Eastport great.

The breakwater has long been a part of Eastport's past, and with the help of Susan Collins, it'll always be a part of our future as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, you barely see her in this one-minute-long ad, and you don't even hear her until the very end when she says, I'm Susan Collins, and I approve this message.

RACHAEL BADE, CO-HOST, THE HUDDLE: Yes. I feel like both of these ads very much boil down the essence of what voters are going to have to choose in Maine. You have the Republican, who sort of prides herself on being a workhorse. She works sort of behind the scenes. She gets things done for her constituents. She's been there for six terms. And she just wants you to think of her as a person you call when you're in trouble. Forget the national environment.

And then Platner comes in, and he knows that's effective, right? That is effective. It has been effective for Susan Collins. So he has to out-yell that, right? He's got to find a way to sort of overcome it, and the way he's doing it is very much going for the national environment, pulling at Trump, pulling at sort of the energy of the base. And we'll just have to see, like, does Maine choose the person, the local congressman that they've known for so long, local senator, or do they go for the big change-up candidate, right?

TAPPER: And today, Collins acknowledged a medical condition she's had for decades telling News Center Maine, quote -- she has a kind of like a wobbly voice. She says, what I have is an extremely common condition that is called a benign essential tremor. I've had it for the entire time that I've served in the United States Senate. It has absolutely no impact on my ability to do my job or on how I feel each day. It is true that, I mean, she's had this for a while. What were you going to say?

BADE: She had. I was going to say it's more than a wobbly voice. You can see it when you look at her. And the thing is I've covered her for a long time. She's had it for a long time. This is not like a Thad Cochran or Dianne Feinstein situation where she's not all there. She's sharp as a tack on Capitol Hill. But like after what happened with Joe Biden and people's concerns about age, this, even Republicans will tell you, is going to be a bigger factor. She's 73 years old. Voters are concerned about politicians who are getting older, and that is why she came out and is like talking about this at a time when she just never has done this on Capitol Hill, talk about her condition.

TAPPER: I guess, clearly, Platner, if you're looking for a fighter, Platner is in that lane. If you're looking for safe pick, you know, Collins is in that lane. I guess one of the questions I have about the race that Platner runs is he's running as a populist, and she's running, you know, as kind of, you know, Maine royalty, as it were. I mean, she's this very established respected character. What kind of populism appeals to voters in Maine? Because you have Maine 1, which is like Portland, a lot of Democrats, and then you have Maine 2, which is kind of wild.

SAENZ: Yes. I mean, it's much more a rural type of area, and that is something that Platner is going to have to navigate. But what he's really trying to do is tap into this angst that people have about the economy, about the way that they feel others are getting ahead of the middle class. And so he does have to be very careful in the types of voters that he's appealing to.

Maine is also an older state. So, is this going to sit well with some older voters perhaps as they are heading into this general election? But it's certainly going to be one of the most exciting races to watch probably as we keep an eye on this race.

[18:40:02]

TAPPER: Absolutely. And let's talk about another non-traditional politician, Democratic Senator John Fetterman of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. There's this all this speculation that Republicans are trying to get him to change his party and become a Republican, even though he votes with the Democrats 93 percent of the time. He's still very willing to criticize his own party and very willing to praise President Trump.

In an op-ed in The Washington Post today, Fetterman writes, quote, being an independent voice that works with the other side to deliver for Pennsylvanians might put me at odds with the party that I have stayed committed to and have no plans to leave, but I will continue to put the commonwealth and the country first. Plus, I'd be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats. Do you think that puts the speculation to rest or, I mean, he says, I have no plans to leave, that's kind of wiggle room in there.

BADE: Jake, everybody loves a palace intrigue story, but there is one reason he will not do this, and that is the moment he does it, he becomes a RINO, right? I mean, he would be the most moderate centrist Republican at a time when like the base is like the Donald Trump wing of the party is ascendant. Like he is beloved by Republicans because he's a Democrat and he speaks out in his own party. The minute he changes, like all that goes away.

TAPPER: He's going to potentially face a primary challenge, maybe even from Conor Lamb, the former congressman, Democratic congressman, who lost to Fetterman because Conor Lamb was perceived as the more conservative of the two, and now Fetterman has very low approval ratings among Democrats in Pennsylvania.

SAENZ: Yes, and Conor Lamb has been very vocal in his criticism about Fetterman in recent years. But a big question for Fetterman will be, is he going to run in 2028? It would be a very difficult primary when you think about people like Conor Lamb, maybe a Brendan Boyle considering runs. But, certainly, this whole dynamic also, I think we'll have to watch what happens if Democrats are able to pick up the majority in November. Will that weigh on Fetterman's decision to stay a Democrat, potentially become an independent?

TAPPER: Fascinating characters. Thanks so much for being here.

Ted Turner, of course, was more than just a media mogul. He also revolutionized sports broadcasting, and we're going to talk about that with the legendary Bob Costas.

Stick with us.

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[18:46:07]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our health lead, Congress's push for psychedelics. A bipartisan group of 32 lawmakers is now urging the FDA to expedite its review of psychedelic therapies.

The move by the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies Caucus, or PATH or PATH, follows President Trump's executive order directing federal agencies to fast-track psychedelic treatments for those with serious mental illnesses that are not being helped by existing treatments.

Joining us to discuss are the co-chairs of the PATH Caucus, Republican congressman Jack Bergman of Michigan, Democratic Congressman Lou Correa of California.

So, you're both working to fill a gap where existing treatments for mental illness fall short, especially for veterans living with post- traumatic stress and depression.

And, Congressman Bergman, you served in the Marine Corps for 40 years. You retired as a lieutenant general.

REP. JACK BERGMAN (R-MI): Yeah.

TAPPER: You're the highest-ranking combat veteran ever elected to the House. Explain why psychedelic assisted therapy matters.

BERGMAN: Well, number one, Jake, I am a Vietnam combat veteran. I've seen so many of my brothers and sisters who came back from Vietnam who never assimilated back into society, a lot of times due to post- traumatic stress.

So, the point is, we've been doing the same way -- thinks the same way forever in mental health and expecting different results. The time is right because of breakthrough therapies that have occurred in the last few years that now it's -- the right thing for Congress to do to get the money direct the research, whether it's the V.A. or anybody else to do the research and get these therapies on the ground and working for the veterans and others as well.

TAPPER: Congressman Correa, a psychedelic therapy, not a new topic on this show. Last year, we spoke with a retired Navy SEAL who said it helped him overcome wartime trauma. He did a Netflix series on that. We also interviewed former Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who said she used them to reverse brain aging. She has since become a -- not only an advocate, but a lobbyist for the research and legalization of psychedelic therapies.

Why do you think this therapy is gaining traction now

REP. LOU CORREA (D-CA): Because it works, 20 to 40 veteran suicides a day. You have people in my community that have actually been alcoholics, have been cured, drug addicts that have been cured, people with mental illnesses that are cured. This promises to be that magic pill, that magic cure that we've been waiting for. That's why.

TAPPER: Congressman Bergman, what do you say to those who say they have concerns? Because psychedelic assisted therapy might not be more effective than traditional medicine, or it has risks. What do you -- what do you say?

BERGMAN: Well, I say to those there are people concerned that planes wouldn't fly either. But we've proved that wrong. The point is, we have we as members of Congress, have to be very cautiously moving forward to get the research done and done right.

So those concerns are allayed, if you will, and we move forward with the actual not only the compounds, but with the therapies that are going to be needed to work those veterans and anybody else through the process here. So, we not only need the medicine, we need the therapists trained and ready to go.

So, we have to move forward and we will do it diligently and minimize, if not eliminate, the risk to anybody going through the therapy. TAPPER: Congressman Correa, how does it work?

CORREA: Well, you know, you got a lot of veterans that are going to Tijuana, Mexico, right now to get their therapy two or three days in a ibogaine treatment center where they go through a high -- where they, you know, essentially confront their fears that have led them to suicidal thoughts.

[18:50:00]

They come out on the other side essentially cured.

This is not just hypothetical. These are truths evidenced by Navy veterans and other individuals that have essentially kicked the habit of doing drugs or alcohol. It does work.

And like General Jack Bergman says, we need more research to figure this out. But I will tell you right now, people in our districts in this country are doing psychedelics.

So, Congress needs to catch up, needs to the research there. We need to put those guardrails there to make sure people don't get hurt. But people are desperate for a solution. And this one promises to be the solution.

TAPPER: Congressman Lou Correa of California, Congressman Jack Bergman of Michigan, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

We here at CNN are well aware that our founder, Ted Turner, changed the news media forever. He also revolutionized how America watches sports.

And coming up next, we're going to talk about that with Bob Costas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:55:06]

TAPPER: In our sports lead, anyone in the United States who tuned into Ted Turner's TBS superstation in the '70s, '80s, '90s might remember this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

TAPPER: Can you believe it? I know who that was.

Turner, who passed away yesterday, bought the Atlanta Braves in 1976 and aired their games on TBS the very first time a pro sports teams entire season was ever aired nationally.

Here to discuss Ted Turner's sports legacy, legendary sports broadcaster Bob Costas. Bob, because of TBS, the braves became known to some folks, maybe not people in Philadelphia, but others as America's team.

BOB COSTAS, SPORTS BROADCASTER: Yeah. TAPPER: Former Braves player Dale Murphy recently said, quote, "There's a lot of baseball fans around the country in the world because of what Ted did through TBS. Ted should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame," unquote.

Do you agree?

COSTAS: Well, you could make a case for that candidacy. They do have an executive category for the Hall of Fame. You certainly had an impact. TBS came first. Not long after that, WGN became a superstation.

So, the country was filled outside Atlanta in the South, outside Chicago, and that part of the Midwest filled with Cub and Braves fans, because if you weren't watching your local team, you could always watch that. And if the Cubs were playing in the afternoon, kids came home from school, you know, whatever, and the game is on. And that made a generation of Cub fans part of the country.

And certainly, the Braves have been and remain the team of the South. But they were also, to your point and to Ted's ambition, they were a national team because of TBS. I'm not sure how much of a baseball man he was, at least initially. He just saw the Braves as great programing for TBSs, and he was so ahead of the curve on that.

TAPPER: Yeah, and the braves won a world series under his ownership in 1995. Former players have told tales of Turner hanging out in the clubhouse. Turner famously put himself in uniform for one game as the Braves manager, which that led to a rule banning that from ever happening again.

But he had a charisma that was infectious to players and fans alike. How rare is that?

COSTAS: He was like a swashbuckling character, and in fact, his real athletic achievement was that he was the skipper of the yacht Courageous. I think it was 1977 when they defeated Australia for the America's Cup.

He had a presence about him, no question. He could have played himself in a movie about him because he looked the part and he was kind of zany. He had a locker of his own mingled with the Braves players.

And as you mentioned, in the midst of a 16-game losing streak -- the Braves were woeful in the '70s, 1977, they lost 16 straight games, and he made himself the manager. He looked good in uniform. He had to have the coaches surrounding him because he didn't know the signs.

They lost the game 2-1 to the Pirates. That made it 17 straight games. Then the commissioner said, no, no, you can't do this anymore. So he was back upstairs after that. On the next day, they snapped the 17- game losing streak.

TAPPER: Turner also created some of the first sports documentaries. He owned the Atlanta Hawks. He owned the Atlanta Thrashers. He owned World Championship Wrestling. He founded the Goodwill Games. In '77, as you note, he won the America's Cup.

How do you think Ted Turner will be remembered in the world of sports.

COSTAS: As a visionary, as an unusual character, a colorful character, some controversy inevitably follows people of -- with those attributes. But as a visionary and someone who was made a real impact in the game and the braves, as you mentioned, won the '95 World Series. Then he sold the team in '96.

But the brain trust that was in place, John Schuerholz as the general manager, Bobby Cox as the manager, went to the World Series five times in the '90s and won 14 straight division titles, and it was under Ted Turner's ownership that that brain trust upstairs and in the dugout was put in place.

If you have time for one more quick story --

TAPPER: Yeah.

COSTAS: -- to show you how zany he was, Tug McGraw, who was a bit of a screwball, and he threw a screwball, so that was appropriate. Tug McGraw, dad of the country music superstar Tim McGraw, was challenged to a weird contest by Ted Turner.

They would start -- one started at third base, one started at first base, and they had to push a baseball with their nose to see who would get to home plate first. Who does this? I don't know. What owner does this?

Tug McGraw might have done it because he was the guy who gave guys hot foots in the dugout and all kinds of crazy stuff. Turner actually got there first and won the contest, but emerged with a bloody nose

TAPPER: Tug McGraw, of course, the final pitch of the Philadelphia Phillies winning 1980 World Series victory.

COSTAS: Correct.

TAPPER: Thanks for letting me. Thanks for letting me --

COSTAS: You would know that -- you would know that, Jake.

TAPPER: Thanks for letting me end this segment by mentioning the Phillies winning a World Series.

Bob Costas, always great to have you on.

You can follow me on Twitter or every social media that exists.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.