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Kushner Advising Trump Officials Ahead of Mideast Trip; Man Killed in 2021 Speaks to His Killer in Court Via AI; Answering Viewer Questions About Lead Exposure Risks. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired May 09, 2025 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: As President Trump prepares to head to the Middle East next week, we have learned that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has begun informally advising administration officials about negotiating with Arab leaders. This is according to multiple administration officials and people close to Kushner, who served as a chief Middle East negotiator during Trump's first term.
CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House for us. Alayna, what are you hearing about this?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Yes, so this is really fascinating, Brianna, because first of all, of course, Jared Kushner was a big player in the president's first term, particularly when it came to dealing with leaders in the Middle East.
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And this time around, both he and his wife, Ivanka Trump, of course, also the president's daughter, have really tried to distance themselves from this White House, at least publicly.
And so it was interesting to learn that the behind-the-scenes, Kushner is still actually playing a very big role in how this administration is looking at the Middle East and how they're going to be approaching some of the talks next week when the president travels to the region to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Now, what we've been learning as well is that one of the public goals that the president wants to return home with is to procure economic agreements with each of those countries in the region. But behind closed doors and the more, you know, quiet plotting that has been going on is this idea of trying to expand on the Abraham Accords.
Now, the Abraham Accords were hammered out during the president's first term. It's often referred to still by people close to Trump and his top advisers as being a key defining legacy part of his first administration. Kushner was the architect of that.
And so his goal is to really see how he can expand that, particularly when it comes to Saudi Arabia. They do believe that these face-to-face meetings with Saudi leaders next week is a good opportunity to try and make progress on that front. I would note, of course, this is something we saw the Biden
administration try to do. They wanted to normalize diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. But the Saudis have a hard line on wanting to make sure there is a clear pathway to Palestinian statehood, an end to the war, a permanent end to the war, I should say.
But, you know, when I talked to people who were close to Kushner, they said he actually think there's a way to get the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to move him away from that and take steps toward normalization.
So we'll see. I mean, they're under no illusion that they're actually going to be able to sign a Riyadh to the Abraham Accords next week. But again, they do believe that this is really something they can make headway on.
KEILAR: All right. Alayna Treene, live for us at the White House. Thank you.
And still to come, the moment that a murdered man speaks to his convicted killer in court using artificial intelligence.
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CHRIS PELKEY, AI CREATED VIDEO: This here is a true representation of who I was. You know, not how the courtroom portrayed me. So I would like to make my own impact statement.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: This is a fascinating story. We're seeing artificial intelligence used in the courtroom in an unprecedented way. For the first time, AI gave voice to a man killed in a road rage incident back in 2021.
Chris Pelkey's family created that AI video of a 37-year-old veteran as part of their victim impact statement. It was shown earlier this month that the sentencing of the man convicted of killing him.
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CHRIS PELKEY, AI CREATED VIDEO: This here is a true representation of who I was, you know, not how the courtroom portrayed me. So, I would like to make my own impact statement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The judge ultimately gave the attacker 10 and a half years for manslaughter, more time than prosecutors had asked for. Let's turn now to CNN's Clare Duffy. So, Clare, what did the Pelkey family say about how and why they went about this?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN WRITER: Yes, Boris, I talked with Christopher Pelkey's sister, Stacey Wales, and she said that she spent two years writing what she thought she would say in her victim impact statement. But she said she really wanted to humanize Christopher. She said that during that trial, they saw his autopsy photos, they saw video of him being shot in the street.
And she really wanted to bring Christopher back to life for the judge and for the man who killed him. So, she and her husband, they both work in tech. They decided to create this AI video replica of Christopher.
They used a number of different software programs to do it. And I want to play a video that will show the AI version of Christopher versus the real version of Christopher before he died.
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CHRIS PELKEY, AI VIDEO: It's a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances. In another life, we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and in God who forgives.
I always have. And I still do.
CHRIS PELKEY: Hi, I'm Chris Pelkey. I served with the United States Army in the infantry. I'm from upstate New York. Everything we go through, we got to do it with Jesus at our side. Everything else I've tried has failed.
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DUFFY: So, you can see there that -- I mean, the AI video is obviously AI, but it's a pretty fair representation of the real Christopher. Stacey also told me that she wanted the AI version of him to say what she thought Chris would have said to the killer if he were still alive, which is to forgive him. It's something she said she was not ready to do.
Here's Stacey talking to our "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" colleagues this morning about that decision.
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STACY WALES, USED AI TO MAKE SLAIN BROTHER'S VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT: The imprint that he left was one of thanks giving, thankfulness, forgiveness. And so I just wanted to think, well, what would he say in this moment? And there's no way that I could echo that because it's not how I felt.
And then I thought to myself, well, why can't I just write my opinion piece on what he would say? And I thought it would be more impactful if we brought to life via AI.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUFFY: Now, this is the first time that we've seen AI used in this way as a victim impact statement.
[14:45:00] But as I've talked to experts about this, they say that judges are increasingly going to have to consider whether and how to allow AI victim impact statements, AI evidence, and really weigh the power and the emotional impact of that AI-generated content against the possibility that it could give an unfair advantage to one side or the other -- Boris.
SANCHEZ: It'll be fascinating to see how it might be employed in the future. Clare Duffy, thank you so much -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour.
The Supreme Court mourning the death of former Justice David Souter, who retired in 2009 after 19 years of service. Known as the stealth nominee, President George H.W. Bush nominated Souter, believing he would move the court to the right. But Souter wound up siding with the court's liberal wing on numerous issues, including a landmark case upholding Roe v. Wade and the Bush v. Gore decision in 2000.
Chief Justice John Roberts writing today that Souter, quote, brought uncommon wisdom and kindness to a lifetime of public service. Justice David Souter was 85.
And just in, the attorney for Eric and Lyle Menendez withdrew a motion today seeking a new prosecutor in the resentencing case. The brothers are serving life sentences for killing their parents in 1989. Their attorneys filed a motion last month accusing the L.A. District Attorney of being biased against them. The Menendez brothers' attorney said today that he pulled the motion for strategic legal reasons. The judge also set up more hearings on resentencing next week.
And finally, this hour, a Wisconsin father of a school shooter is expected to be in court on charges that he allegedly let his child access the weapon that was used in the December rampage. His 15-year- old daughter, who died by suicide, gunned down a teacher and a student at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison.
Jeffrey Rupnow is facing multiple felonies. A court filing says Rupnow and his wife's divorce -- sorry, during the divorce, he tried to bond with his daughter through guns, even as she planned the attack.
Still to come, lead exposure now a serious issue for the city of Milwaukee and its public schools. It's prompting Dr. Sanjay Gupta to take a closer look at this threat to public health. Next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, he answers your questions, including one about lead in chocolate. We'll have that coming up.
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KEILAR: All this week, our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has been investigating how city officials in Milwaukee are scrambling to fix a crisis inside their aging public school buildings. Dangerous lead paint has been found in a number of campus buildings, prompting the city to open special health clinics where students can be screened for exposure. We asked our viewers what questions you have for Dr. Gupta on the subject. And here's a sampling of them.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We are on the ground here in Milwaukee, getting a lot of questions about lead. Something I want to clarify right off the top, because a lot of questions came in about this. There is no safe amount of lead.
That is something that you hear all the time. It's important to know. But at the same time, when they test for lead, the sensitivity of the equipment is to really around 3.5 micrograms. That's a number that you often hear as an acceptable limit. But that really has to do more with the testing than the actual limit of the lead in the body.
Let's try and get to as many of these questions as we can.
Karen from California asks, does lead ever leave your body? Really important question. The short answer is yes. Lead does leave the body. But important things to keep in mind. First of all, it can continue to accumulate at the same time that it's leaving your body.
So it can be going sort of back and forth. It is stored in the blood. It is stored in soft tissues. It is stored in your organs. But in adults, about 95 percent of the lead is actually stored in your bones and your teeth. And it can mobilize throughout your life, which is why lead can also be considered sort of a long-term toxin.
That is part of the problem. So it can cause problems throughout your life. But the half-life is around a month. And it does sort of leave your body as long as you don't continue to accumulate it.
Let's get to this question from John in Roebuck, South Carolina. What kind of issues might be such an exposure cause for seniors?
You know, we do talk a lot about kids. And part of the reason we talk a lot about kids is because kids are smaller. So when they get lead exposure, it can have more of an impact on their bodies. Also, kids are closer to the ground. That's often where the lead dust is. Kids like to eat paint chips because paint chips are often sweet.
So for all those reasons, lead exposure can have a bigger impact on kids than adults. But it can be a problem in adults as well. It does tend to leave your body, as we just answered in the previous question.
But in adults, it can cause problems if you get significant lead toxicity, including problems with your cardiovascular system and your cognitive system as well, your central nervous system.
Let's get to one final question. We got this one from Barbara Hill in Vermont, who wants to know how much of an issue lead is in some of our favorite foods, specifically in chocolate. How can I continue to enjoy it occasionally while reducing my exposure?
All right, a lot of comments about lead in chocolate. Some heavy metals do end up in chocolate, lead, cadmium, even small amounts of arsenic. It has to do with the fact that these foods are often grown in soil that might be contaminated with lead. So if you go and you look at chocolate, for example, arsenic is not as big a problem. But if you look at lead, for example, in chocolate, if you look at the most strict standards, California standards, you'll find that about 43 percent of the chocolates out there do have levels of lead that would exceed those standards, so 43 percent.
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Now, that does sound concerning, but you got to keep in mind, again, there are a lot of heavy metals in all sorts of different foods. What they sort of concluded was that if you're eating only about an ounce per day, shouldn't be eating more than an ounce per day, then you should not be getting enough lead to really be of concern.
So the answer, Barbara, lead is present in chocolate. It is of concerning levels in about 43 percent of chocolate. But if you're eating less than an ounce per day or about an ounce per day, it should not be a problem for you.
Again, guys, lots of questions on the topic. Tried to get to as many of them as we could. Hope that helps.
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KEILAR: All right, Sanjay, thank you so much for that.
Still to come, traffic in America's ports is slowing down. How soon could that be reflected at local stores?
We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
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