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Republicans Revolt Over Trump's $1.8 Billion "Anti- Weaponization" Fund; Stephen Colberts Bids Farewell In "The Late Show" Finale; Soon: WHO To Give Update On Ebola Outbreak In Central Africa. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 22, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Joining me right now is Jackie Kucinich, the Washington bureau chief for The Boston Globe, and Daniella Diaz, a congressional reporter for NOTUS. Great to see both of you, ladies.

Jackie, to you first. I mean, this $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund -- I mean, that was the tipping point? Why did this put Republicans over the top of intolerance?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE (via Webex by Cisco): I don't think you can take this alone. It did absolutely land with a thud on the Hill. You had the acting attorney general come in and try to sell it to Republicans and reportedly behind closed doors -- and reportedly is something like 25, which is not normal -- Senate Republicans stood up behind these closed doors to ask questions about it, and it got very heated.

But you have to take this in the whole landscape. You also had President Trump endorsing Ken Paxton over John Cornyn, someone who is a very beloved figure in the Senate. You had Bill Cassidy losing his primary, finishing third after the -- after President Trump endorsed his opponent.

All of these things -- I think the Senate Republicans have finally -- oh, and I'm sorry, the ballroom funding.

WHITFIELD: Um.

KUCINICH: This while they're facing a tougher and tougher election cycle as every day passes.

WHITFIELD: And Daniella, I mean, this acting attorney general Todd Blanche -- I mean, he was on CNN. He tried to answer some questions and refrained from answering questions about this anti-weaponization fund. And he also had to be on Capitol Hill, and he was in a fiery -- reportedly a very fiery Q&A with members of Congress and senators for two hours.

I mean, what does this mean for this process? I mean, he says it does not need congressional approval. He, you know, signed off on it. And what does it mean for him potentially to be confirmed? DANIELLA DIAZ, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, NOTUS: Fred, I've covered Capitol Hill for many years, and I can tell you that when the acting attorney general has to come to Capitol Hill and talk to Senate Republicans about why the Department of Justice is doing something that's a bad sign. This is not something that Republicans are getting behind, which we have seen time and time again when it comes to President Donald Trump's agenda.

I was on Capitol Hill staking out these hearings -- this meeting -- this closed-door meeting where there were dozens of reporters waiting. Senate Republicans were exiting this meeting in terrible moods. This is just a very bad era I would say of what is happening right now between Senate Republicans and the Trump administration.

And look, if Todd Blanche wants this job -- he's currently the acting attorney general not formally nominated to be the attorney general, to be clear -- this is something -- he's making a performance. He's kind of being tested by Senate Republicans right now to prove that he deserves the job. And as of what I saw with interviewing Republicans yesterday, what I saw when I asked them about their conversations with Todd Blanche, they're not happy with the answers he provided behind closed doors.

He could be acting attorney general for a certain amount of days but right now if he wants the job, it does seem that he's going to have a lot of pushback from the Senate Republicans he needs to be able to confirm him, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Jackie, it's not just the anti-weaponization fund. House Republicans abruptly canceled a vote on a resolution directing the president to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran, you know, or get approval from Congress. So sort of an ultimatum being presented. The White House is -- you know, it wants to continue to remain in charge. I mean, the president doesn't usually or hasn't been asking permission. He just kind of does what he wants to do.

So, you know, the scene has been set for what, in your view?

KUCINICH: I think the more -- the more primaries that pass the less endangered Republicans are going to feel by this president because he gets closer to being a lame duck and he can't threaten their standing because he's not going to go and endorse a Democrat.

So truly, I think we're just at the beginning of this and you're going to see more pushback as Republicans feel more free to act, you know, how they normally would act if -- with some of these more outlandish requests coming down the pike.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there.

Jackie Kucinich, Daniella Diaz, great to see you both. Thank you -- Danny.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Stephen Colbert took his final bow on "THE LATE SHOW" sending off for the final time last night. And in his final monologue, Colbert harkened back to his Comedy Central show "THE COLBERT REPORT" and how he introduced himself to the audience way back in 2005. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": On night one of "THE COLBERT REPORT" back in the day I said anyone can read the news to you. I promise to feel the news at you. And I realized pretty soon in this job that our job over here was different. We were here to feel the news with you. And I don't know about you, but I sure have felt it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Joining me now is someone who appeared on "THE COLBERT REPORT," comedian Jordan Carlos. On the show he played Colbert's Black friend, Alan. Again, that is -- that was the name of the character at the time, to be clear.

[07:35:00]

JORDAN CARLOS, COMEDIAN AND WRITER: Watch it, man.

FREEMAN: Right. No -- I'm following the prompters.

CARLOS: The streets are watching.

(Laughing)

FREEMAN: Jordan, thanks so much for being here.

CARLOS: Thank you.

FREEMAN: Let's start here. You watched the show last night.

CARLOS: Um-hum.

FREEMAN: What's going on through your head? What are you feeling now that the show is done?

CARLOS: I mean, I'm still processing it, you know. There's definitely like now this huge blank space and a void in the discourse. And, I mean, turning off the lights at Ed Sullivan Theater -- that's very official. It's real -- wow. I need a blanket, honestly.

FREEMAN: Yeah, he and Paul McCartney literally turned the lights off --

CARLOS: Turned the lights off.

FREEMAN: -- together.

CARLOS: Yeah.

FREEMAN: I was wondering -- you know, "THE COLBERT REPORT" finale and ending --

CARLOS: Um-hum. FREEMAN: -- it felt very joyful and forward looking.

CARLOS: Yeah.

FREEMAN: Last night seemed sad though. It really felt like the end of something here.

CARLOS: Obviously, it's a very sad moment in America. I feel as though, like, comedians -- late-night comedians especially -- are kind of like the canaries in the coal mine for democracy. So as long as you can make jokes at the expense of whoever is in charge, you know we're in a good space. And as long as the powers that be can, like, laugh at themselves then that's wonderful. It's wonderful for comedians, you know. This is how we make our livelihoods.

And a lot of people are affected by this show. Friends of mine. Things like that. And it's like what are they going to do after this, you know?

FREEMAN: Yeah.

CARLOS: That's what's it -- yeah.

FREEMAN: Well, let's talk about what you just said though. Because CBS, of course, said the show was canceled for financial reasons though many people believe that there was a lot of political reasoning here.

CARLOS: You believe that? You believe that?

FREEMAN: But I guess my question to you, to your point --

CARLOS: Yeah, uh-huh.

FREEMAN: -- is do you think that this will embolden other comedians late-night or otherwise to take on the administration harder or do you think -- or do you worry that people will start to second guess their jokes?

CARLOS: Absolutely. I mean, I think both can be true, right? So there is definitely a chilling affect there. The FCC is doing things that I never thought imaginable. Now I know the head of the FCC's name. You know what I'm saying? Brendan Carr -- is that it?

FREEMAN: That's right. That's right, yeah.

CARLOS: I nailed it.

FREEMAN: That's someone you wouldn't normally know necessarily.

CARLOS: Yeah. I haven't had my coffee. I haven't had my coffee. You've got a late-night guy up early.

All right. So the thing is, at the same time, I do see a lot of hope in late-night because late-night has shifted. I mean, it's gone like online with people like Z-Wave or SubwayTakes. You still have the same discourse but in different places. So you can't -- I mean, I think you can try to quash I think, like, boomers. I'm sorry, would try to cool -- try to quash, you know, comedy in ways that they know how. But there are other -- there are other outlets, yeah.

FREEMAN: Jordan, I'm curious.

CARLOS: Um-hum.

FREEMAN: You, again, go back to "THE COLBERT REPORT" from a while ago.

CARLOS: Yes.

FREEMAN: What was it like working with -- I know -- and I'm not saying this because -- Stephen Colbert is not dead, right? He has not passed.

CARLOS: What is the -- have you got the scoop? What is going on?

FREEMAN: But I'm saying what was it like working with him --

CARLOS: Yeah.

FREEMAN: -- and what did he mean to you --

CARLOS: Yeah.

FREEMAN: -- at that moment in your career?

CARLOS: I mean, first of all, I got the job because, like, my friend -- I was a Black friend to a writer on the show who called me up and he was like can you get down here? And I was like I'm not doing anything. So yes, that, like, gave me my career.

What it was like to work with him was this. He was always in character. What we've seen is a progression of Stephen Colbert being in character from his, like, Second City days to "THE DAILY SHOW" to "THE COLBERT REPORT" and then to "THE LATE SHOW."

So, like, when I worked with him, he was just in character and I never actually met the man until he gave me, like, a second gig.

FREEMAN: Oh, wow.

CARLOS: So that was -- that was crazy, you know.

FREEMAN: Like taking the mask off literally there.

CARLOS: Yeah, taking the mask off. But just like having somebody be in character at the same time all the time, I was just like -- yeah, I was like, OK, so what you see is what you get. But I'm saying he had total commitment.

FREEMAN: Yeah.

CARLOS: And I see at the -- at this end I just see him having like a comfort with himself and just a full expression of -- a full comedic expression. FREEMAN: Yeah. Over the course of this decade-plus on the show you really got to see that he learned I think more about who he was as a comedian --

CARLOS: Yes.

FREEMAN: -- outside of persona from "THE COLBERT REPORT."

CARLOS: Absolutely.

FREEMAN: I'm curious. You were talking about the writers and the staff who now --

CARLOS: Um-hum.

FREEMAN: -- will not have jobs. Your friends of yours -- they're impacted. It was interesting watching this final week of shows. He really cares quite a lot --

CARLOS: Yes, yes.

FREEMAN: -- about his whole team and staff.

What can you share about what friends of yours have experienced in that regard?

CARLOS: Of course. I mean, well, they don't know what to do next, you know. Like, there's some really great people on that staff -- Liz Hines, Jake Plunkett, just to name a few who I worked with before on, like, "THE NIGHTLY SHOW."

So what it is right now between the strikes and the kind of like shrinking of the industry is that these jobs become that more -- that much more precious. And Stephen also depends on all the writers every night. You've got people making just like tons of jokes for him that he processes through and then the -- and then the best of the best make it onto the show. So like there's an army of people at work trying to make a show happen, you know.

FREEMAN: Yeah.

CARLOS: Like -- and he appreciates every single one of them.

FREEMAN: Yeah. That really came across --

CARLOS: Yeah.

FREEMAN: -- this particular week -- yeah, as we watched the end of this show occur.

CARLOS: Yeah.

FREEMAN: Jordan Carlos, thank you so much --

CARLOS: Thank you.

[07:40:00]

FREEMAN: -- for joining us and for sharing your experience with the man and also your perspective on this whole comedy legacy.

CARLOS: Yeah.

FREEMAN: I have a feeling it's not going to be the last we hear from Stephen Colbert.

CARLOS: No, not at all. Not at all. Encore.

FREEMAN: We appreciate it, Jordan.

CARLOS: Thank you.

FREEMAN: Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. You might need to prepare for a swampy Memorial Day weekend. Heavy rain and storms expected across the East as we head into this holiday.

CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking who needs to watch out for potential flooding -- Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Fred.

Yes, we've got a lot of shower activity going on right now across much of the southeast stretching into the mid-Atlantic and even into the Central U.S. The interesting thing is the map is going to look very similar to this over the next several days.

Now some of these spots, because they've been getting rain day after day, you're also getting that ponding affect. So the water is starting to rise and stay there because the ground is so saturated. So you have several of these areas that are dealing with flash flood warnings. Two right now across portions of Oklahoma. We could be looking at even more of those as we go throughout the rest of the day not just in Oklahoma but in many areas across the southeast.

Again, you can see a lot of these storms firing up across Atlanta, Charlotte, Huntsville as we go through the afternoon and the evening hours. Then as we transition into Saturday you really start to get some more widespread rainfall across the northeast and the mid- Atlantic specifically. But you do still have more storms across the southeast.

So a lot of these same areas are just going to continue to see more and more rain. Yes, unfortunately for the holiday weekend. This means widespread totals of one to three inches but it's not out of the question, especially in some of those heavier thunderstorms -- some spots could pick up four, five, or even six inches of rain. Keeping in mind that this could be one day's worth of rain, then the next day they get more rain, and the next day they get more rain because it's going to be a multiday thing.

So here's a look at Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday. The list keeps going Monday and Tuesday. But notice that a lot of those states were in that green color every single one of those days, and that's why we have the flooding concern. It's not necessarily that just any one given day is going to have a tremendous amount of rain, it's the cumulative effect that a lot of these areas are going to go through.

Another thing to note, too. Because of the extra -- a lot of the storms that are going to be there, there is the potential for a few severe thunderstorms. For today the main concern is really going to be here across areas of Oklahoma and Texas. That includes Amarillo and Lubbock. Damaging winds, some large hail, and even some isolated tornadoes.

Because you're going to have all of these showers, because you're going to have all this extra cloud cover, a lot of areas are actually going to see temperatures well below normal. Take, for example, Washington, D.C. The average high this time of year, 78 degrees. We will be 10 to 20 degrees below that for the next several days. New York, Boston also going to be much cooler than normal.

Now places like Minneapolis and St. Louis, it's still going to be cool today, but we do start to rebound as we head into the weekend. New York -- look at this. Unfortunately for the holiday weekend temperatures are going to be below normal. They get much nicer as we head into the return of the workweek next week.

WHITFIELD: Oh, it's all bringing it back to those memories of childhood. Memorial Day weekend always ends up being cold or weird.

All right, Allison Chinchar. I thank you so much -- Danny.

FREEMAN: All right, switching gears now. This morning we're standing by for new information on the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa. World Health Organization officials are expected to speak in the next hour. And it all comes as the U.S. is restricting entry for foreign nationals who have been impacted in the region.

For more on this we have the wonderful CNN Meg Tirrell here to track all of this for us. It feels scary but what can you tell us about what is happening on the ground right now?

MEG TIRRELL CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, it is scary, particularly for that region.

So we just got updated numbers from the World Health Organization's director general. So now they're up to about 750 suspected cases.

FREEMAN: Wow.

TIRRELL: So this has grown just incredibly fast. One hundred seventy- seven deaths thought to be linked to this outbreak. But they don't have a handle yet on how big it actually is, and we know that it was spreading for some period of time, perhaps two months, before it came to world's attention.

So we know that it's centered here in the Ituri province in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Right now we know there have been two cases that have traveled to Uganda from DRC. One person there died.

We also have an American patient -- a doctor, of course -- who was treating patients in the region and now he's been taken to Germany for treatment. We are told by his aid organization that he's critically ill but not deteriorating. The hospital saying that some of his labs appear to be getting a little bit better. He -- we know that he received two IV treatments for Ebola.

And he also has six high-risk contacts, including his family members who also --

FREEMAN: Oh, gosh.

TIRRELL: -- have been moved to Germany. They're asymptomatic.

There's another physician who is in the Czech Republic who is also asymptomatic right now.

Now the U.S. has been implementing entry measures. They have banned travel into the country from non-U.S. citizens who have been in those countries in the previous 21 days. Also, passengers who are U.S. citizens, but who were in that region have to travel back into the U.S. through Dulles in the Washington, D.C. area --

FREEMAN: Oh, wow.

TIRRELL: -- in order to have the entry screening. And we know that the CDC is ramping up its efforts to help with that there. So trying to contain the spread.

[07:45:00]

However, this has really been criticized by -- for not being based on science. The differentiation between what your passport says -- and also the fact that it is not based on WHO guidelines.

FREEMAN: Got it. So there's still some questions on this front.

But I was wondering if you could explain or just remind our viewers what we really know about Ebola and how it can --

TIRRELL: Yeah.

FREEMAN: -- actually spread because, I mean, some of this stuff can be nerve-racking if you don't know that.

TIRRELL: No, absolutely.

So this does not spread like COVID. It is not thought to be airborne. What we know is that it spreads by direct contact with blood or bodily fluids from an infected person. It can also happen from touching contaminated objects. Often the way it spills over from animals is from eating or handling infected animals. Again, not airborne.

One of the issues though is that the early symptoms can kind of mimic other diseases that are circulating in the area, like malaria. So often when people initially get sick it's typically two to 21 days after you've been exposed -- that's the incubation period -- you might start to show symptoms. Eight to 10 days later is the typical period.

The initial period is fever, fatigue, muscle aches, headache. That can resemble a lot of different things. The later stage of the disease is what they call the sort of wet symptoms -- vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain. This is also known as the hemorrhagic fever. So people are familiar with the idea that there could be bleeding associated with it, rash, confusion, and seizures.

Of course, the fatality rate is quite high, about 50 percent. We don't have an approved vaccine for this strain of the virus.

So in terms of containment it's all about isolating cases, tracing their contacts, isolating those folks. And in terms of the care, obviously full PPE. Safe burials are a huge deal. This is often a way that this spreads and is thought to have contributed to the initial spread here because often the practices involved -- touching the body and --

FREEMAN: Sure.

TIRRELL: -- that can spread the disease as well.

So all a big concern right now.

FREEMAN: Wow.

Well, Meg, thank you so much for breaking all that down, and we'll be looking to the WHO in the next hour.

TIRRELL: Yes.

FREEMAN: Appreciate it. All right, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. This morning it's not yet clear if SpaceX will go through with another launch attempt today. The company scrubbed a planned launch yesterday of its Starship megarocket after a series of stops and starts. Elon Musk revealed on X that the final issue came down to a hydraulic pin that did not retract. The earliest SpaceX will be able to attempt a launch -- the earliest would be tonight at 6:15 Eastern time. The company is hoping to deploy simulator satellites during the flight among several milestones.

All right. Still ahead, some influencers and even the Trump administration now trying to rebrand nicotine as healthy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Nicotine itself does not cause cancer. There's no evidence that it's carcinogenic. It may have some health benefits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And a new way to score concert tickets. How Spotify is trying to help the biggest fans.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:52:15]

FREEMAN: Here are a couple of headlines we are following.

Toxic chemicals spewing into the sky forced people from their homes in Garden Grove, California. A 34,000-gallon tank at an aerospace facility overheated and started venting a highly-flammable chemical used to make acrylic plastics. Now, crews worked quickly to cool the chemical inside. People were allowed to return home last night and thankfully no one was hurt. The cause though still under investigation.

And take a look at this. A piece of Paris just sold for a pretty penny. A spiral segment of the Eiffel Tower's original staircase sold for more than 450,000 euros. That's about $522,000. Now the 14-step section dates back to 1889 when the tower first opened. It stands nine feet tall and weighs nearly 1 1/2 tons. The stairs were originally removed in the 1980s when elevators were installed to take visitors right up to the top.

And there's a new milestone for one of the most famous churches in the world. Pope Leo is set to inaugurate and bless the Tower of Jesus Christ at Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. It's the tallest of the basilica's 18 towers measuring 172.5 meters or 566 feet. That makes it the tallest church in the world. Now, mass will be on June 10, marking 100 years since the death of the basilica's architect Antoni Gaudi.

Construction of the Sagrada Familia began in 1882 and there's still work to be done, including completion of the main facade. That won't be completed for several more years.

And to this now. Spotify wants to help music fans actually get tickets to see their favorite artists. Starting this summer, the streaming service will set aside tickets for listeners it identifies as the artists' biggest fans. So I guess Bruno Mars for me. It will be based on how much they stream and share an artist's music. And it's all part of a new multiyear deal with Live Nation and will be available for Spotify premium subscribers only. Spotify officials say this is to help frustrated fans.

All right. And finally, in Arkansas, in North Little Rock firefighters rescued a trash panda -- there he is right there -- who literally got stuck in trash. The raccoon got his head stuck after squeezing into a small hole at the bottom of a dumpster. You can see him right there -- a cute guy. Firefighters got animal services to sedate their new furry friend --

WHITFIELD: Wow.

FREEMAN: -- who they nicknamed "Rocket." Once it was sedated firefighters were able to cut and expand the metal opening just enough to free Rocket without getting him hurt. All right -- good for Rocket.

WHITFIELD: OK.

FREEMAN: Fred, back to you now.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, OK. I'm glad to hear sedated because I was wondering how did they do that without --

FREEMAN: No, no. I don't want to challenge it -- not sedated, yeah.

WHITFIELD: Raccoons, they can be mean. All right. Thanks, Danny.

All right. A growing number of influencers with tens of thousands of followers are pushing the so-called health benefits of nicotine, the highly-additive chemical found in tobacco plants.

[07:55:05]

This as health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. faces pushback from some lawmakers over easing flavored vape regulations. But does nicotine actually have proven health benefits?

More now from CNN's Meena Duerson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH MARCELONA, INFLUENCER: This is nicotine and you've been lied to about it your whole life.

MEENA DUERSON, CNN REPORTER (voiceover): In the land of the influencer, nicotine is having a moment.

TUCKER CARLSON, COMMENTATOR AND PODCAST HOST: Nicotine, which I would highly recommend to every person in this room as a life-enhancing documented chemical. That's just my view.

JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: Nicotine is a -- is a cognitive enhancer.

DUERSON (voiceover): Long thought of as dangerous, nicotine is now being discussed by some biohackers, lifestyle creators, and podcasters for its potential health benefits. It's even getting kind of a rebrand from this administration.

KENNEDY: Nicotine itself does not cause cancer. There is no evidence that it's carcinogenic. It may, in fact, have some health benefits.

DUERSON (voiceover): Nicotine is a chemical found in the tobacco plant, which triggers dopamine release in the brain, temporarily making you feel good. But the effects on the body vary depending on how it's consumed from cigarettes to oral pouches to topical nicotine patches.

The American Lung Association calls nicotine highly addictive and slammed influencers for promoting it, saying they "often fail to account for the danger and long-term harm of using it, even in small doses." And that nicotine rapidly affects the entire body and causes "blood vessels to narrow, restricts oxygen flow, and alters brain chemistry." But some big voices in or adjacent to the Make America Healthy Again movement are embracing a new curiosity about nicotine in conversations on their public platforms.

JILLIAN MICHAELS, PODCASTER AND FITNESS TRAINER: The whole MAHA group of people live by it.

DAVE ASPREY, BIOHACKER; There is good evidence, unless you have cancer, that you should use a small amount of nicotine if you want your brain to work better.

ANDREW HUBERMAN, NEUROSCIENTIST AND PODCASTER: Nicotine is neuroprotective. Nicotine is great for us, not that everyone should take it.

DUERSON (voiceover): Nicotine enthusiasts say it's gotten a bad rap because of its association with smoking and that it's the tobacco in cigarettes that causes most of the health risks.

ERIN OPREA, FITNESS TRAINER: Remember, weights or not weights.

DUERSON (voiceover): Fitness influence Erin Oprea has been using nicotine as a health supplement for years.

OPREA: I started researching about, like, the perimenopause, the brain fog. I'm like there has to be something to this.

DUERSON (voiceover): She started wearing a nicotine patch regularly.

DUERSON: Do you remember the first time you used it?

OPREA: Absolutely.

DUERSON: Tell me about it.

OPREA: Energy was through the roof.

DUERSON: Was part of the appeal that it's maybe something that's like a little controversial sounding?

OPREA: Yes. That's when I'm, like, this sounds a little weird but that's when things get really exciting.

The stories I get are unbelievable.

DUERSON (voiceover): Oprea does not have a medical background but regularly shares her experience with her hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers.

DUERSON: You get DMs about nicotine every day?

OPREA: Every day. Not a single day that goes by that I don't.

"It has changed my 86-year-old mother-in-law's life. Within a couple of days of wearing the patch she improved dramatically."

DUERSON: So what's qualifying you, if you're not a doctor, to give medical recommendations?

OPREA: Oh, I don't give medical recommendations. I share information and then I say hey, go study on your own and find out if it's best for you.

DUERSON (voiceover): Like a lot of nicotine fans, Oprea's entry point came via podcaster Dr. Bryn Ardis.

DR. BRYAN ARDIS, RETIRED CHIROPRACTOR, HOST, "THE BRYAN ARDIS SHOW": Nicotine alone is known to improve, reverse or can cure Parkinson's diseases, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, all arthritises (sic).

DUERSON (voiceover): A retired chiropractor who promotes COVID conspiracy theories and cites study after study to tout nicotine as a cure-all.

ARDIS: I wear a seven milligram nicotine patch every single day. I will for the rest of my life. And I invite all of you at home to come to my wake one day and I want you to pull up my shirt when you come by the casket. I will have a nicotine patch on my body before I'm buried. That's how committed I am.

DUERSON: Have you talked to any of these researchers behind these studies?

ARDIS: No. I haven't talked to those research study authors. Oh, no. You can read their findings, and any human being on earth can read it. So the qualifications are can you read English? Do you understand medical terminology?

DUERSON: So you feel confident in your understanding of these studies and what you're delivering to your audience?

ARDIS: Absolutely.

DUERSON (voiceover): But Dr. Paul Newhouse, a leading figure in nicotine research, says Ardis is mischaracterizing the data.

DR. PAUL NEWHOUSE, DIRECTOR, VANDERBILT CENTER FOR COGNITIVE MEDICINE: If these benefits were as widespread as he -- as he's suggesting, I think we'd know it a lot more clearly than we do.

DUERSON (voiceover): Newhouse has been running studies on nicotine for decades.

NEWHOUSE: We think that nicotinic stimulation may have cognitive benefits for some people under some conditions but not a general benefit for everyone.

DUERSON: How risk is this?

NEWHOUSE: Well, I think the short-term risks are not large. Many people will get side effects from using nicotine and they will find it unpleasant and they will stop. But certain people may find it habit- forming. I just think we should be a little cautious about just taking anything because some influencer said it. I just think that's a risky way to run your life.

DUERSON (voiceover): Oprea has now been wearing 3 1/2 milligrams of nicotine almost every day for around two years.

DUERSON: How would you characterize your relationship with nicotine?

OPREA: It's a good friend of mine. Me and nicotine are pals.

DUERSON: When I was telling people that we were coming to do this story a lot of people thought I was kidding. They were like nicotine? That's disgusting.

OPREA: We're so brainwashed. Yeah, we're all told it's been bad.