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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Olympian Charged With Felony In Reflecting Pool Vandalism Case; AAA: 61.4 Million Plan To Drive, Despite High Gas Prices; Man Pulled From Rubble 8 Days After Venezuela Earthquakes; How Veterans With PTSD Can Benefit From Psychedelic Therapy. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 02, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Thanks to my panel. "The Lead" anchored by Pamela Brown starts right now.

[17:00:44]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: The reflectible vandalism case just reached a whole new level. The Lead starts right now.

An Olympic canoeist indicted by a grand jury now facing a felony charge of destruction construction of property, weeks after pushing back on his initial misdemeanor citation. Here are the case laid out by U.S. attorney -- U.S. attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro. And (inaudible) electricity as temperatures soar into the triple digits, the punishing effect of this heat dome blanketing much of the East Coast. Plus, is a Taylor Swift Travis Kelce wedding going down at Madison Square Garden or is all the commotion just a big decoy? What close sources tell CNN coming up.

And welcome to The Lead. I'm Pamela Brown in for Jake Tapper. We start with the breaking news in our Law and Justice Lead. A former Olympic canoeist has been indicted by a grand jury here in Washington, D.C. accused of damaging the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. David Hearn now faces a festive felony charge, one count of destruction of property, and it carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro today said Hearn reached into the reflecting pool and ripped part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Our evidence further shows that the national park observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands. According to witnesses, Hearn damaged approximately two square feet of sealant from the bottom of the pool.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: So Hearn's attorney, Norm Eisen, blasted this indictment saying, quote, "David Hearn is innocent. These charges are outrageous and should be alarming to every American."

Hearn previously told CNN that police arrested him after he touched a flap of blue material that was detached from the pool, which reopened last month after President Donald Trump's multimillion dollar renovation.

So let's bring in CNN's Kaitlyn Polantz and Sunlen Serfaty plus CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig.

Katelyn, let's just kick this off with how Pirro responded when she was asked about this felony charge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Citation that Mr. Hearn received suggested that he would be charged with misdemeanors. But the president obviously called for this to be a felony charge here. Did you ultimately decide to charge this so harshly at the president's direction?

PIRRO: I didn't charge anything harshly. I charge according to the evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right. So Katelyn, based on what we know about this case, what kind of evidence does the Justice Department have to support this charge?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pirro said she wasn't going to get into too much evidence, but she did say that they have evidence to support a charge in the D.C. local court, the superior court, for malicious destruction, a felony charge, and that a grand jury proved it. So they would have had to show at least the baseline to the grand jury. Here's the evidence we have. It's enough to bring a charge. And the grand jury would have said yes to that today.

They don't have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. But there's a bigger question right now, Pam, of should they have charged this? Hearn's attorneys have already been out there saying is -- this is not how the resources of the federal prosecutor's office in Washington, D.C. should be used. That is a decision that Pirro gets to make. It's one that also will very likely lead Hearn's attorneys to challenge what the charge is saying.

He may be -- we've seen in other cases where he could say he's been selectively prosecuted, that he's been unlawfully targeted, that the evidence isn't there. But just for some context, what the charge says is that he has to have -- they will -- they'll have to prove that he destroyed up to or more than $1,000 worth of property. That was a multi-million dollar renovation that was done on the reflecting pool. Previously we had seen even before Hearn got there, of it peeling up. There was a long slice in it.

[17:05:06]

And for the context of the size here, the reflecting pool, it's the length of 12 Olympic swimming pools. I did the math on this just a couple minutes ago.

BROWN: Wow.

POLANTZ: And the amount that Hearn is said to have damaged is two square feet, which is, like, yay wide. That's it.

BROWN: That's it. Journalist and mathematician, apparently, Katelyn Polantz, for this.

POLANTZ: Try hard.

BROWN: All right, Elie, so with all of that in mind, that context, talk to us about the discretion used here. The discretion that prosecutors have in cases like this, where you have a felony charge that carries up to 10 years in prison.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, prosecutors have very broad discretion in all cases. And in this one, and you're right, the dividing line between a misdemeanor and a felony is that $1,000 damage amount, which is pretty darn low. Now, prosecutors, as Kaitlin said, are going to have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, and you do have to make that decision as a prosecutor. Is this worth bringing?

I actually respectfully disagree with Katelyn Polantz. I think if they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this person caused over $1,000 worth of damage to national federal property, it's a perfectly appropriate charge if they can prove it. What if this person had caused over $1,000 of damage to the Vietnam War Memorial or to the Martin Luther King Memorial or to the Smithsonian? Should that person be charged? Absolutely.

Now, Jeanine Pirro was asked about the January 6 cases, you cannot reconcile any of these charges with the pardon to the January 6 defendants. But it also does not follow from that that nobody should ever be charged with destruction of federal property before.

BROWN: All right.

HONIG: So if prosecutors can prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, it'll be up to a jury. But I think it's a valid charge if they can prove it.

BROWN: I actually want to play that exchange that you just brought up there on January 6. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you square charging this alleged pool handle when this is the same Justice Department that -- PIRRO: Already this is a problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, over a thousand January 6 rioters who caused millions of dollars of damage --

PIRRO: Are you really talking about January 6?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

PIRRO: I'm not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, there's thousands --

PIRRO: OK, who's next?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- damage.

PIRRO: Not you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: OK, so, Elie, you brought up. Look, this could be fair if they can prove this without a reasonable doubt that he did this. And, you know, if someone did this on another national monument, they would probably be charged. So what do you make of that comparison brought up? Do you think it's fair?

HONIG: Perfectly valid comparison. And there is no excusing the pardons of the January 6 defendants, and there is no reconciling any charge like this with charges ultimately being pardoned against January 6. That said, what's the rule from now on supposed to be? Well, the January 6 rioters are pardoned, hence nobody shall ever be pardoned with destruction of federal property again. So it's, it's unfair.

This person clearly did less than the January 6 rioters. But I don't think it logically follows from that this is therefore unjust and no one should be charged with this ever again.

BROWN: But what do you make of he said he was just looking at it. He pulled some of it up. And she has a very different account of what actually happened, saying that witnesses talked about what he did and talked about his behavior as well, sort of adding to this picture. How do you square those two things, particularly we don't know if there's video evidence or not, but she certainly didn't talk about that today.

HONIG: This is what trials are for, and this is what juries are for. We'll see if they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Jeanine Pirro did say there are multiple, she used the plural several times, National Park Service employees who witnessed him ripping it up. If the jury finds that that's enough beyond a reasonable doubt, they'll convict him. And if they don't find it, then they'll acquit him.

So this is why we have jury trials. And he'll get his day in court, and we'll see where the jury comes out. BROWN: All right, so I want to bring in Sunlen, because you've been doing so much reporting on this reflecting pool. Let's just talk about where the renovations stand right now amid all of this.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. After the July 4th holiday, the pool will actually be drained completely. And that's when the restoration and the repairs from what allegedly took place, the reflecting pool and all the problems we've seen happen since. And the Department of Interior has not laid out a specific timeline for how long this next round of repairs are going to take place. A reminder that a lot of the choreography and a lot of the scrutiny over the timeline was because President Trump was driving towards this July 4th deadline to get the reflecting pool finished and sparkling American flag blue for the big 250th celebration.

So it'll be interesting to see as they go back, as they fix the sealant, the paint, all the liners, all the things that happen and also, of course, attend to the algae problem, what kind of timeline that project is if they give themselves more time. But the work will begin after the holiday.

BROWN: All right. The saga continues. Thank you all so much.

Let's Go now to CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House.

Kristen, the Trump administration seems to be keeping up its aggressive approach towards all of this.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, Pamela, if you talk to anyone at the White House, anyone in the Trump administration who understands the dynamics will tell you the same thing, which is this administration, more so than any other, is a top down organization, meaning there is really one person at the top who is dictating what the messaging, the tone, the narrative is. And we've already heard what that is from President Trump. He is all in on this reflecting pool. It is something that he took on of his own initiative.

[17:10:11]

He has been fixated on it. And now the next step is this idea that it was destroyed and the reason it hasn't been going as planned by these vandals. And of course, Jeanine Pirro had to prove this to at least get the indictment for a grand jury. It's a different -- it's going to be a different case when the trial comes. But this idea that should she have charged it, when it comes to the Trump administration and the narrative and falling in line, I'm not really sure there is any kind of choice there because they all work for President Trump who put these in their positions.

That's what they believe. That's what President Trump believes. And one of the things to keep in mind here, President Trump is so focused on this reflecting pool just for the last several months since he took this project on, we've gone into the Oval Office on roughly a dozen occasions, signing executive orders, talking about things he's doing. He is almost always veered off topic to talk about the reflecting pool. That is how focused on this he is.

BROWN: I think that is a really important point here as we have this conversation. Kristen Holmes, thank you.

And another big story right now, the sweltering heat. Right now New York is reporting tens of thousands without power. And no power means no AC of course, the ripple effect of all of this heat emergency ahead. And then later, travel on this long holiday weekend. So how do you score a deal in a time like this?

We're calling in the team at The Points Guy to help answer that very question. And we'll be right back.

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[17:15:34]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

BROWN: And we are back with that breaking news in our national lead, the dangerous record breaking heat wave that settled in over the East Coast and the Midwest, and the timing really couldn't be any worse. For some, this all means no AC. The state of New York is reporting tens of thousands without power. It comes as Americans are getting ready to celebrate July 4th outdoors, the biggest nationwide celebration in 250 years.

Heat is the deadliest weather threat in the United States. And right now more than 160 million people are under a level three of four major or level four of four extreme heat risk through the end of the week. We're talking triple digit actual temperatures in multiple cities with heat indexes off the charts. And that includes the nation's capital where many of the biggest festivities will take place. Temperatures will reach around 103 degrees today and tomorrow with July 4th forecast to be the hottest on record at 102 degrees.

CNN has live team coverage. Brian Todd is on D.C.'s National Mall. Danny Freeman is in Philadelphia and Leigh Waldman is aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Tall Ship Eagle.

Brian, let's start with you. America's 250th in D.C. It's slated to be huge. The Great American State Fair is happening now. Of course, the president is expected to speak on the fourth ahead of the fireworks. Is this heat wave putting a damper on things?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could very well put a damper on it, Pamela, and that's what officials here are really worried about. It is oppressive, punishing heat here today. And we are in the midst of a three-day sequence where it could get even worse. Forecasters are saying that in these three days, this three day sequence that we're in right now, it could be the hottest three day sequence that Washington, D.C. has had in almost 100 years, since 1930.

I'm at a hydration station right here. They've had a steady stream of people. They've said thousands of people have come through here. Today, they're putting just single packets of -- large packets of water in over on the right hand side on the ice. Then they're taking it out, shifting it over and getting people to take it where the -- where it's coolest.

They just had a big ice delivery here. Check out these pallets. They've already had four pallets delivered to them. Four full pallets delivered to them today according to these guys, this is the fifth one and sixth one. Each pallet, by my count has about 3,000 bottles of water in it.

That's just the demand here today on Thursday. You can imagine what it's going to be like on Saturday when there could be hundreds of thousands of people here on the mall. Another issue that's come up here, you see this is the Great American State Fair over here. Some of these booths, several of these booths actually lost their air conditioning yesterday. So that's going to be an issue.

People are going to -- the officials are going to try to maintain this and make sure that does not happen again. One of the things that they're really concerned about here is in the mall. This is a very open area, not a lot of shade in the middle, and that's where a lot of people are going to be. You see the trees over here? Lots of shade under the trees, but those are going to be prime spots.

And if hundreds of thousands of people are down here on Saturday, those spots are pretty much going to run out of space. So you could have just a lot, a lot of people out here in the open heat all day long. Here, they're setting up these types of hydration stations. They're setting up cooling tents, even cooling buses with air conditioning. But it's still going to be a pretty dicey and dangerous situation.

The D.C. government has set up six cooling centers around the city. Those are recreation, community centers. They've also got spray parks, pools, libraries that are going to be open, anything to beat the heat. They are encouraging people to actually limit your time outside. All of that factoring in to, you know, what has been growing angst at the White house.

According to CNN's reporting this week, White House officials with growing sense of worries about whether there's going to be a turnout here like they really want it to, especially because of the heat, because some of the scheduling for events has shifted around. So that's going to be a consideration. But right now, heat is the main danger here, the main worry for officials here in Washington, Pam.

BROWN: All right. Brian, I got to say, black long sleeve shirt there. You may want to go change in that heat. My goodness, I'm worried about you.

TODD: I will.

BROWN: All right, let's head on over to Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed. How is Philly preparing for these July 4th celebrations amid crippling heat, Danny?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Pamela, it's tough. Of course, it's the birthplace of the country here in Philadelphia. There are so many different events that are happening over the course of this entire week leading up to Saturday. But the heat has been playing a massive role in this festivities. And we actually just got news within the past few moments, Pamela, that due to extreme heat, tonight's concert that was going to feature the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers Chorus, it was just canceled because of extreme heat.

[17:20:18]

It was going to feature Queen Latifah at this stage right here behind me. We saw Queen Latifah. She was playing on the drums. She was warming up. But because of this oppressive heat, that event was canceled.

The city of Philadelphia has been under a heat health emergency and it has also altered a bunch of other events. There's going to be a ceremony tomorrow honoring the Pope right behind my photographer here that was moved indoors. There's going to be a huge parade right here tomorrow. That route had to be shortened again because of that extreme heat. The city and other health officials here really urging caution.

All that being said, Pamela, there were still plenty of events that did happen today. A ceremony with congressional members behind me at Independence hall that went on as planned to commemorate July 2, when the vote was taken by the Continental Congress to declare independence from Great Britain. And of course, the big Fourth of July concert still on as of now. But again, we'll wait to see. Hot weather out here.

Pam.

BROWN: It sure does look like it.

All right, Leigh, over to you. Your nearly century old ship has been sailing toward New York harbor alongside other tall ships from around the world for this event that's called Sail250. Tell us more about that ship and what has made this journey so special.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, it's so good to be with you. This is America's Tall Ship, the only active tall ship in the federal government's service right now. We've got cadets polishing the brass on board right now, getting ready to welcome visitors who want to stop by. And we are surrounded by tall ships from other countries.

We have Italy, that's considered the most beautiful ship in the world. We've got Spain, Poland and Argentina off in the distance. But you can see we are flying the red, white and blue at the fantail of this ship very proudly. The cadets and crew on board have been working hard as they traveled up the eastern seaboard. The cadets, they're learning about what life at sea, actually --

BROWN: Oh, we just lost Leigh's signal. But thank you all so much for bringing us the very latest.

They are -- up next, we are headed to New York's Madison Square Garden. Is a wedding happening there tomorrow or did Taylor Swift pull off one of the biggest distractions ever? What CNN sources are saying just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:26:54]

BROWN: And our Pop Lead. Are you ready for it? We are just under an hour from what sources say is a wedding rehearsal event for superstar Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Crews have been hard at work at Madison Square Garden this week, transforming the arena into the wedding venue of their wildest dreams. CNN's Brynn Gingras is right outside MSG.

So, Brynn, what more do we know about what the musical mastermind has in store this weekend?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know what, Pam? We're already starting to see how this is taking shape from a outside perspective because certainly we don't have any cameras inside and they want to keep it that way. Right now we are seeing cars really being diverted into one direction, streets shut down. And very soon we're actually going to see more barricades being put up and traffic being put to a halt as these festivities continue on. That's sort of what we've been seeing increasingly grow throughout the day.

As far as what's happening inside Madison Square Garden, what we have sources and we do know that in just 30 minutes, we expect the rehearsal dinner to begin in the theater section of Madison Square Garden. And what we're told is about a hundred people will be in attendance for that. We've already heard that Mama Kelce was brought in not too long ago, seen at a New York airport. So we do know guests have arrived into New York City, into the Big Apple for these two days of big events for Travis and Taylor.

As far as tomorrow goes, well, that is going to be the big event. That is what we are learning is that the festivity -- festivities begin about 4:30 with cocktails and then there's a wedding and then also dancing and dinner and all the fun stuff that you expect at a wedding going into the morning hours of July 4th inside the major arena of Madison Square Garden.

I can tell you that even though we can't see much and tents are up and there's a lot of privacy, Swifties don't care. I've met a couple of them, a bunch of them who are just so excited about the enchantment of all of this. I want you to hear from one of them, Pam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMITTY KOVACH, NEW YORK SWIFTIE: I mean this is like an all timer wedding. I mean this is like the American royal wedding. We've all seen her love stories over the years and really rooted for some over others. And we're really happy that she found her forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Those loyal fans. So Brynn, what else do we know about the security plans with this being such a high profile event? GINGRAS: Yes, of course. You know, security, as always with Taylor Swift, is top notch. No different around Madison Square Garden. I can tell you, Pam, that we're starting to see actually NYPD community affairs officers going toward 31st street where we're expecting guests to enter. We've seen canine units on this street as well. As I mentioned, they're going to start shutting down streets around the perimeter of Madison Square Garden.

We're talking about streets and avenues in the middle of New York City. And of course we know that part of the reason they chose Madison Square Garden is because of the security. Guests are able to get in through garages, go undetected. As I mentioned, there's a tent about a half a block away from here that's going to make sure no one gets snapped by the paparazzi.

[17:30:00]

So lots of security and we're just starting it to see it ramp up right now as the festivities for the next two days begins.

BROWN: All right, Brynn Gingras right outside a very busy Madison Square Garden. Thank you so much.

And up next, we'll speak with the team from The Points Guy. They're going to be here with travel deals just in time for this long holiday weekend.

And later, I'll speak with an American involved in the miraculous rescue of a man buried under the rubble of earthquakes in Venezuela for eight straight days.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:34:56]

BROWN: Turning now to our Money Lead. More than 72 million Americans are expecting to travel at least 50 miles from home over this July 4th holiday season. That is a new record just above last year's 71 million. And 85 percent of those travelers are driving even though gas prices have been at four-year highs due to the Iran War. Today's national average is $3.84 per gallon. Much better than a month ago, but it's still higher than before the war.

Joining us now is Clint Henderson, Managing Editor at The Point Sky, a travel and personal finance site. Nice to see you Clint. So we're always looking for advice. You had Memorial Day, now Independence Day with these higher gas prices. It doesn't seem to be stopping people from hitting the road though. What are some ways travelers can save money on their road trips?

CLINT HENDERSON, MANAGING EDITOR, THE POINTS GUY: OK, a couple little hacks for you right off the bat. This weekend only, if you're an Amazon Prime member, you can save up to 50 cents per gallon on your gas by enrolling on the website. So there's details on that at thepointsguy.com. But don't forget about stacking rewards when it comes to gas prices. You can join fuel rewards programs, shop at big discount stores like Costco, Walmart even has discounted gas.

So there's all kinds of ways to save on gasoline when you go for that big road trip. Interesting, we found in a survey with YouGov that American families are traveling this summer. They don't seem to be minding these higher prices for both gas and for tickets. So really interesting that the travel demand has remained really strong despite much higher prices this summer.

BROWN: That is interesting that it's not just with driving, but also flying because the average round trip domestic ticket is running around $830, which surprised me. I mean, that's up 5 percent from last year, even it's though it's probably too late to get a ticket for this July 4th weekend, right? Or maybe it's not, but you know, it would be more expensive. What about travel later this summer? What tips do you have for those who want to fly?

HENDERSON: So I have great news for consumers who haven't booked yet. August is actually trending down for pricing. We saw airfare anywhere from 20 to 30 percent higher this spring because of the crisis in the Middle East, but prices are starting to moderate. So August is actually a great time to travel if you haven't booked yet. Also the school year is moving earlier. So June and July are now busier than August.

So if you can wait to go to August, you can find deals. In fact, we're seeing mileage deals offered by airlines like United and Delta that we almost never see to places that are really popular like Europe or Asia using miles. So there is some discounts to be had out there. My favorite hack though is Google Flights Explorer. Put in your home airport. It opens up a map of the world. You can see all the cheapest places you can go within the next two weeks or the next six months. It's a great tool.

BROWN: I love that tip for sure. So given the high number of airline travelers and the crazy heat for this holiday weekend, are you expecting delays and cancellations? And what should travelers do if they do find themselves in that situation?

HENDERSON: You know, the map is looking really good right now, aside from Seattle. Seattle's had some storms that have really messed things up. But you know, what you got to worry about in these temperatures is these afternoon thunderstorms. So that's what you're watching carefully. So far so good this week. But remember, this is going to be one of the busiest days of the year, and it's going to be busy throughout the Fourth, this long weekend.

So get to the airport a little bit earlier. If you're traveling to Europe, be aware there's new rules when you cross the border in Europe, and there's long, long lines right now. So give yourself extra time if you're going to Europe. But, you know, get clear, get TSA pre- checked, get one of those expedited airport security. It'll save you a lot of time.

BROWN: All right, Clint Henderson, as always, thank you so much, and I hope you have a great holiday.

HENDERSON: You too, Happy Fourth.

[17:38:51]

BROWN: And in Venezuela today, truly remarkable moment. A man pulled alive from the rubble of a nine-story building that had collapsed eight days ago after last week's earthquakes. A member of a U.S. team involved in that very rescue will be here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In our World Lead, a remarkable rescue in Venezuela today. Emergency crews pulled a man from the rubble of a nine-story building that had collapsed eight days after devastating earthquakes hit the country. Video shows the moment rescuers spotted Hernan Gil alive. His fingers waving through concrete and debris. Look at this.

Crews called the 70-hour rescue highly complex with the building still unstable. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon is at the scene. So Stefano, how did they do it?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Pam, this is just the most extraordinary search and rescue story I've ever been able to cover. Hernan Gil, 45-year-old parking lot security guard in La Guaira, was taken out after more than seven days, trapped underground since that devastating double earthquake that really put this country on its knee. It took several countries and dozens of rescue workers working in team. I can see gentlemen from the United States.

These people are from South Florida, but also Chileans, Costa Ricans, Portuguese. It was the Portuguese that were leading the operation and allowing everyone to work safely. But also hundreds of Venezuelans, of course. It's really a moment when the world came together by the power of this story. And we have said this week that a tragedy makes the world smaller. The tragedy brings people together. Well, a positive story, of course, did just that.

[17:45:14]

It's one of the stories that fill your heart with hope and with optimism. And let me tell you that this country, Pam, needs all the hope it can get. For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, La Guaira.

BROWN: All right. Thanks, Stefano, for bringing us that on the ground.

And now we want to talk to Trey Espy. He was part of a California- based search team that led this rescue operation. Trey, wow. As you just heard Stefano say, this is one of the most incredible rescues he's ever covered. It took 70 hours to free Gil after he was discovered. Walk us through just how complex this rescue was.

ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF TRAVON ESPY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: The rescue was very complex, one of the most complex that our team has faced in a very long time, if ever. The way that the gentleman was trapped, he had quite a bit of the loose debris that was over his head and surrounding him. And the good thing is that he wasn't injured by any of the rubble or the debris that had fallen due to the earthquake, but he was in tune.

And so as we tunneled our way into him, we noticed that there was a lot of things that put us all in danger. If we moved one wrong piece of debris, potentially unleashed the rest of the debris to fall down on top of the victim, as well as injure some of our rescue workers. So we had to really take our time and be careful as we affected this rescue.

BROWN: Were you actually in there? Were you one of the rescuers that went in to do this?

ESPY: Yes, I was on scene with the rescuers. I'm one of the managers, so we were working in conjunction with Chile. We worked in teams with Florida and quite a few USAR teams. When we all worked together, we came up with a plan and we would run shifts. It was so long and such a big operation that we ran multiple operational periods to get the rescue affected.

BROWN: How do you coordinate? I mean, you have dozens of international rescue teams that are helping with all of this. Bring us into that process on something so complex.

ESPY: I must say that actually prior to us even coming into these disaster areas, a lot of our rescue teams, we trained together all over the world. Our team is USA2 and we are international classified team. And so we've trained with Chile. So we actually have counterparts who we know very well. So when we see them at disasters, it's very easy for us to collaborate and come up with plans and get things done because we've done it in training.

BROWN: You have all this training, you've done this before, but I mean, it must feel so emotional once you make a rescue like this. What was that like?

ESPY: Absolutely. It's absolutely emotional. You know, training and the reality is very different. When someone's life is actually at stake and you don't want to make any wrong moves to further injure or even possibly kill a victim in our rescuers, they work tirelessly. They are exhausted. They work around the clock.

We run 24 hour shifts and we try to get them as much rest as possible. But there was so much devastation here in the country, Venezuela, that our rescuers were getting little to, you know, they were getting enough sleep, but, you know, a little sleep as compared to what we normally get, moving throughout the state and trying to affect these rescues. But it's very emotional for all of us.

There's a lot of unfortunate death that we see. There's a lot of joy in some of the rescues that we make. So it's kind of an up and down emotional process, but we have some of our peer support members along with our teams. So we check on each other to make sure that we're good throughout this deployment.

BROWN: Well, you all are true heroes, risking your own lives to make rescues like this. Trey Espy, thank you so much.

ESPY: Thank you for having me.

BROWN: And we're following breaking news. Right now in Ukraine, the death toll from a massive Russian attack on Kyiv now stands at 27. Dozens more are injured. An overnight barrage of drones and missiles rained down on the Ukrainian capital for 11 hours, toppling residential buildings. More than 50,000 people took shelter in subway stations. Rescue crews are still making their way through that rubble, with more people feared to be trapped. Top Russian officials say the strikes were retaliation against Ukraine's blitz on Russia's oil sector.

[17:49:46]

And as the nation counts down to July 4th, Democrats are accusing President Trump of hijacking the holiday and making it all about himself. They even released a report spelling out their claims. We'll be running through it ahead.

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BROWN: In our Health Lead, a mission to prevent suffering and suicide among veterans through psychedelic-assisted therapy. Jake Tapper spoke with two veterans about the promising, innovative treatment aimed at helping those with military trauma.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Here to discuss Marine Corps veteran Juliana Mercer. She's the executive director of Healing Breakthrough. It's a program transforming veteran PTSD treatment with psychedelic-assisted therapy. Also with us, veteran Army Sergeant Noah Galloway. You might recognize him. He was a finalist on Dancing with the Stars in 2015. Dances better with one leg than most of us do with two. He's now an advocate for psychedelic-assisted therapy.

[17:55:02]

Thanks so much to both of you for being here. Juliana, how transformative is this? And for people just catching up with this story that we've covered for a while, how does it work?

JULIANA MERCER, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, HEALING BREAKTHROUGH: It's incredibly transformative. I could share dozens, if not hundreds of stories of not just veterans, but folks that have been experiencing PTSD. That's treatment-resistant, but also chronic and complex that haven't been able to find a solution. That in one or two or three treatments over four months, experience life-changing, life-saving results where they're free of these symptoms.

The way that these therapies work, to, you know, put it in what the Marines call Barney style, so kind of ABC, is that when you undergo the treatment in conjunction with therapy, the medication helps you to confront the things that you've had a hard time confronting in regular therapy. The reason that you're able to do that is because the chemicals that these different psychedelics open up in your brain, and all of them do a little bit different things, but this is kind of a general overview. They allow you to confront those things without your fight or fight or freeze.

You know, your normal trauma response, when you are dealing with those things, it makes those kind of fall to the wayside so that you're able to do the hard work of getting to the root cause of your problems.

TAPPER: And Noah, you went on your own healing journey with this. Tell us what it's like, and how have you seen it change the lives of other veterans?

NOAH GALLOWAY, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, I mean, me, you know, I lost my arm and leg in combat, and that's a visible injury. And that was one thing to overcome, but the hardest to overcome is that invisible wound, that internal trauma. And I had tried other treatment, other therapies, and I just still felt like I was carrying something I couldn't put down.

And it was psychedelic assisted therapy that, like Juliana just said, it opens you up, and you end up facing your trauma. And that's what it takes. It takes going into that darkness to reach the light.

TAPPER: Is it scary?

GALLOWAY: I mean, look, everybody has different experiences, but it's all about just, I mean, just going to a therapist and going and talking about your trauma is scary.

TAPPER: Sure.

GALLOWAY: So there's all these different ways, but coming out on the other side is what is so life-changing. I love to tell people that for 40 years, I viewed the world through dirty lenses, and psychedelics cleaned that, and I see a different world. Now, they can still get dirty, but because of the experiences I had and now the tools I have at hand, I'm able to keep this in a better light.

TAPPER: Tell us about the documentary on veterans and psychedelics.

GALLOWAY: Yes, I'm part of a documentary right now that is following the journey of not just educating people on psychedelics, but making sure that, look, we have a lot of, you know, politicians that on both sides of the aisle that agree on it. And we're like, yes, that's great. We want you to agree on it, but let's get something going.

Let's make sure we're changing the wording in the FDA. Let's prepare the V.A. You know, we got to up the funding, because it's not you just go do psychedelics and you're done. There is sessions before and critical sessions after psychedelics that make it work.

TAPPER: And Julian, I've been -- you've been doing this for years. I've been covering it for years, and it's amazing to see that now the V.A. is actually involved. Tell us more about that and what more they need to do.

MERCER: Yes, the V.A. has been studying two different psychedelics, MDMA and psilocybin, since 2021.

TAPPER: It's basically ecstasy and mushrooms.

MERCER: Correct.

TAPPER: Shorthand. OK.

MERCER: Yes. And they -- so they saw that there was great promise, which is why they're doing research. There's also the FDA research. So that's separate from the V.A. research. The FDA research is, you know, those two compounds are in their final phase three. We're awaiting FDA approval. It could come as soon as the end of this year, maybe Q1 of next year. What the V.A. is doing is seeing, you know, different ways that they can implement this therapy, whether it's, you know, including couples therapy or group therapy. They're also looking at their newest, their newest one is looking at alcohol use disorder and PTSD, which alcohol use disorder is a comorbidity that many veterans suffer from because they self-medicate.

TAPPER: Sure.

MERCER: So that's -- it's really encouraging to me that the V.A. is looking at all the different ways. What needs to happen though, is preparation for implementation. So we know that we're going to have FDA approval of one or two of these drugs very, very soon. A lot needs to happen to outfit the largest health care system in the nation to be able to treat patients as soon as FDA approval happens.

That's training of clinicians, you know, even changing the appointment system because it's an eight-hour session with when you take the drug, you're under the care of mental health care provider for eight hours. That's not something that's in their appointment system.

[18:00:06]

TAPPER: Right.

MERCER: All the things that you --

TAPPER: Not a lot of eight-hour appointments in the V.A.

MERCER: Exactly.

TAPPER: Juliana Mercer and Noah Galloway, thank you both. It's really amazing to have you here. It's so nice to report on a good news story. And as always, thank you for your service.

MERCER: Thank you so much, Jake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)