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300,000 Have Evacuated Rafah To "Humanitarian Areas"; Russia Claims It Captured Five Villages In Kharkiv Region; Trump Rallies In New Jersey Amid Criminal Trial; Prince Harry And Meghan To Wrap Up Nigeria Tour In Lagos; Campus Protests Impact Graduation Ceremonies; Survey: 1 In 8 U.S. Adults Have Taken Weight Loss Drugs. Aired 5-6 a ET

Aired May 12, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:41]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have to evacuate. We have no choice. If I stay, I will die. Either death or displacement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Rafah as Israel's military continues to strike parts of Gaza. We'll have a live report on the pushback Israel's receiving for their evacuation orders.

Plus, the former president goes from the courtroom to the campaign trail. We'll look at why Donald Trump was rallying in a non- battleground state.

And a possible soggy Mother's Day for millions across the U.S. today. Forecast ahead from the CNN Weather Center.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Palestinians in Gaza say they have no safe place to go as Israel conducts strikes from the north to the south. The Israeli military says about 300,000 Palestinians have evacuated Rafah to what Israel calls expanded humanitarian areas.

The president of the European Council calls those areas unsafe zones and unacceptable. So here's a look at them on a map. The original humanitarian area is Al Mawasi, marked in white, an area largely composed of sand dunes. The expanded area is around Khan Younis, marked in yellow.

Now this was the scene in Rafah. You can see smoke rising into the air. Hospital officials there say 15 Palestinians were killed in strikes on Saturday, with more wounded.

The group Medecins Sans Frontieres says it's transferring the remaining patients from its hospital in Rafah, saying it can no longer guarantee their safety.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Saturday that there would be a ceasefire tomorrow if Hamas would release the hostages it's holding. Journalist Elliott Gotkine joins us now live with more on the situation.

So, Elliott, more evacuations, more people who say they have nowhere safe to go.

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ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: That's right, Kim. We understand that Israel has issued evacuation orders to more than a dozen neighborhoods in central and eastern Rafah, telling people living there or staying there, many of whom have been displaced from other parts of the Gaza Strip, to go to those humanitarian areas.

Now, you mentioned Al Mawasi, which is due west of Khan Younis on the beach. It's a barren stretch of beach, lacking all basic infrastructure. We also understand that despite those drawbacks, it's filling up, we understand. So at the same time, we've got people moving to Khan Younis, to the north of Rafah, and other places.

And what you're also finding is that people in those neighborhoods where Israel says Hamas activities have been taking place, which is why it's advising them to evacuate via flyers and also online posts and text messages and the like, so a lot of people who are in those areas are evacuating if they can.

But you're also getting people in other parts of Rafah, which haven't been told to evacuate, also taking the decision to do so if they can, because they take the view that, look, if at some point we are going to be told to evacuate, better to do it sooner than later so that they can find a safer place to go to now, rather than find the places that are relatively safer are actually full already.

And of course, amid all of that, we've also got the situation in terms of getting humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip becoming even more problematic, not least because not a single truck, according to the authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, not a single truck over the past six days has gone in from the Egyptian side of the border into Rafah because Egyptian officials tell us they cannot guarantee the safety of humanitarian aid trucks while Israeli forces are on the ground there because Hamas and other militant groups might take aim at them.

And that's not an unreasonable concern given what we saw from Hamas firing rockets towards the Kerem Shalom crossing to the south between Israel and the Gaza Strip about a week ago, something that killed some four Israeli soldiers. That was temporarily closed. Israel says that that has since reopened and about 200,000 liters of fuel and flour have gotten through. But this is still nowhere near enough, Kim. BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that's right. And then, Elliott, as I mentioned earlier, President Biden said there would be a ceasefire tomorrow in Gaza if Hamas would release his hostages. So where do the talks actually stand right now?

[05:05:05]

GOTKINE: They stand where they have stood for the past few months, Kim, namely at an impasse. Now, there was some hope, given that Israel and Hamas had delegations in Cairo for those talks that were being mediated by the Egyptians and the Qataris. But those talks haven't gone anywhere.

Hamas, of course, we noted last week, had said that it had reach -- that it had agreed to a ceasefire deal that would see a number of Israeli hostages, 33 hostages, released. But it seems that Hamas agreed to a deal that Israel had not signed up to. And we have a situation now where those talks have, I suppose the best way of describing them, have taken a breather. The delegations are no longer there in Cairo.

There is still hope that at some point a deal can be done, that perhaps some verbal gymnastics would allow a deal to be done that would allow Hamas to say that Israel has agreed to end the war completely and Israel to say that it hasn't. But we're not there yet, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much for that update. Elliott Gotkine in London. Appreciate that.

Ukrainian drones went after the largest refinery in southern Russia, causing a brief fire this morning. That's from the governor of the Volgograd region, who says the attack was repelled, but at least one drone crashed and caused an explosion. He says there were no casualties.

Meanwhile, Russia is claiming progress in its new offensive in northern Ukraine. Moscow says it has captured five villages in the Kharkiv region, but Ukraine says they are still contested.

Local officials say at least three people were killed in Russian strikes on the region overnight. President Zelenskyy says Ukraine is now rushing in reinforcements and strengthening its positions there. More than 1,700 people have been evacuated from the region since Russia launched the incursion on Friday.

In our last hour, I spoke with Oleksandr Merezhko, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Ukraine's parliament, and I asked him if the Russian offensive is only a probing attack or part of a larger operation. Here he is.

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OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Russia doesn't have enough manpower and capabilities to do that. Russia claims that it wants to establish so-called buffer zone to protect Russian city, Volgograd city. And also Russia is trying to advance further near to Kharkiv to bring close artillery and to be able to shell civilian residential areas in Kharkiv.

BRUNHUBER: So you say that they have made some advances there. Friday, the U.S. National Security Spokesperson predicted Russia would make further advances in the coming weeks. Do you think that's accurate?

MEREZHKO: I don't think that there will be major advancement. You see, Putin is trying to put under control to occupy the whole territory of Donbas, two regions which were later previously included in the Russian constitution. And he tried to do it twice, but so far he failed to do that. So his major goal is to occupy at least two regions of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, but he failed to do so.

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. has given Ukraine billions in aid recently, Friday, 400 million more. How quickly can this be deployed, do you think, in the Northeast?

MEREZHKO: Well, it's crucial to be capable to defend ourselves successfully, effectively. We need major military aid, especially artillery shells, attacks and all kinds of long-range missiles. This aid is getting to our troops at the front line.

And luckily, Americans have rearranged and started to deliver artillery shells as soon as possible. But at the same time, we haven't received everything what we need right now. We expect more military aid within the next days or weeks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Some 50,000 protesters marched through the streets of Georgia's capital Saturday. It's another mass demonstration against so-called foreign agents bill that some believe will squash Georgia's chance of joining the European Union. The Kremlin style measure would force organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as foreign agents. Parliament is set to begin committee hearings on the bill's third and final reading on Monday.

Former President Donald Trump was back on the campaign trail Saturday after an explosive week of testimony in his hush money trial in New York. He held a beachfront rally in New Jersey, a state he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020 by about 16 points.

CNN's Alayna Treene was there.

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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Former President Donald Trump traded the courtroom for the Jersey Shore this weekend where he held a massive rally in Wildwood.

Now, New Jersey isn't exactly a battleground state. No hate on New Jersey. It is my home state, but it's typically been very blue. Trump lost the state to Joe Biden in 2020. However, Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that he thinks he could be

competitive in New Jersey. Come November, he claimed that he thinks he is going to win, and that comes despite my conversations with many Trump advisers who acknowledge that they don't think Trump could likely win here in November, even though they think he's performing better than he may have in the past.

And look, I also think that part of the reason we saw such big crowds in Wildwood is because Wildwood is part of Cape May County. It is a very red district within New Jersey. More broadly, a lot of people from Pennsylvania as well traveled to the state for the rally on Saturday.

Now, I also just want to bring your attention to what Donald Trump said about the current war in the Middle East. He made one of his most explicit comments yet showing his support for Israel and specifically Israel's military presence in Gaza. Take a listen to how he put it.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I support Israel's right to win its war on terror. I don't know if that's good or bad politically. I don't care.

TREENE: Now, the former President also spoke more generally about his trial and at one point did bring up his hush money case in New York. However, he spoke about it in more general terms and did not do anything that could be seen as violating the gag order. And he'll return to court on Monday where his former fixer, Michael Cohen, is expected to begin his testimony.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Wildwood, New Jersey.

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BRUNHUBER: And Joe Biden was on the road Saturday as well, and he made some very critical remarks about Trump and how he handled his 2020 loss. Talking to supporters at a private fundraiser in Seattle, Washington, Biden said, quote, "It's clear that when he lost in 2020, something snapped in him. He's not only obsessed with losing in 2020, he's clearly unhinged. Just listen to what he's telling people."

All right, still ahead, a massive solar storm we've been watching is expected to ramp up today, creating more spectacular views of the northern and southern lights.

And Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are wrapping up their tour of Nigeria. After the break, we'll go live to Lagos and catch up with the popular royals. That's coming up. Stay with us.

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[05:16:18]

BRUNHUBER: Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are wrapping up their three-day tour of Nigeria in Lagos, the country's economic capital, where they're set to attend a Giants of Africa exhibition basketball game. The Sussexes have been incredibly popular and well- received on each stop of their tour so far, and today shouldn't be any different.

I'm joined now by CNN's Stephanie Busari, who is there in Lagos, Nigeria. So, Stephanie, take us through what Harry and Meghan will be doing there and how they're being received.

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN DIGITAL SUPERVISING EDITOR, AFRICA: Yes. So, in the last few minutes, Harry and Meghan just arrived at this grammar school, this government grammar school in Lagos. And they were greeted with absolutely rapturous applause and a display of acrobatic dancing. And if you can hear just a little bit behind me, I don't know if you can hear the music. That's the welcome reception going on right now.

And this is a special place. This site, the basketball court, is one of 10 that's been built by Giants of Africa, Masai Ujiri, who joined us earlier. And his organization is staging this match here today for the -- for Prince Harry and Meghan to just showcase the work that they're doing with sports and young people. And some of them are disabled, some of them in wheelchairs, giving them a new lease of life to play sports, to play basketball.

So it's really on brand for the Sussexes that they've been focused on charities -- sports charities, and mental health and women's empowerment in this trip, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. And Stephanie, it was interesting to hear Meghan during this trip talking about her Nigerian heritage. I guess that's something that would have gone over well with the locals there.

BUSARI: Absolutely, absolutely. We heard from the Nigerian defense authorities before Harry and Meghan arrived that one of the reasons that they accepted to come was for Meghan to discover this part of her heritage. She previously revealed that she discovered she was 43% Nigerian.

And yesterday evening at a reception for women leaders, Meghan said that she was feeling absolutely welcomed and she called Nigeria her country. And that, again, just gained such a huge response, huge positive response. And many in the audience wanted to give her a Nigerian name from their tribe.

And, you know, she was just really very relaxed and very open to finding out that this part of her heritage, she said. And she did reveal that the first person she called when found out about this ancestry was her mother to ask her questions about what she may have known about their Nigerian past.

But, yeah, you know, this trip has just been a very, very warm and engaging welcome for the Sussexes, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. All right. Great to have you there. Stephanie Busari in Lagos. Thanks so much.

A severe solar storm is hitting the Earth, giving many around the world another shot at seeing auroras light up the sky tonight. The Space Weather Prediction Center says we could see a spectacle similar to Friday's show in the U.S. The northern lights could show up as far south as Alabama. The storm peaked on Friday night at level five out of five, something that hasn't happened in more than 20 years.

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CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam explains what's behind these dazzling displays.

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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The historic geomagnetic storm continues. We're just getting word from NOAA's Space Prediction Center that the geomagnetic storm watch continues right through the day on Sunday as we continue to get these highly charged particles hurtled towards Earth from what is known as a sunspot cluster that is 17 times the size of the entire planet.

In fact, you can see it with the naked eye as long as you pull up your old eclipse glasses from last April and you can actually see a black spot that is visible in the bottom corner of the sun. So have a look for that because that is the reason we are experiencing this beautiful display of northern lights. We are getting these coronal mass ejection, a solar flare that travels that 93 million miles to reach us here on Earth. It interacts with our magnetic poles and it creates that beautiful display that we are all seeing.

This is so rare, I like to coin the term a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because, well, let's think about the pictures that we have seen with this. Palm trees in Key Largo, Florida with a northern lights display behind it. I mean, that is just flabbergasting.

And for me to witness something like that here in my own backyard in Atlanta, Georgia, this far south is really saying something. And we've got more opportunities for northern lights, aurora borealis. So be on the lookout for that as the sun set. It is going to be quite the spectacle.

CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam, Atlanta, Georgia.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, today is Mother's Day here in the U.S. and depending on where you are, you may want to rethink any outdoor plans for mom. Our meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the latest forecast.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is unfortunately going to be quite a soggy Mother's Day for some across the U.S. today, namely places like New York, Philadelphia, and even Pittsburgh, looking at some pretty rainy conditions throughout the day today.

When you shift towards the central U.S., a lot of places, not just dealing with rain, but also some thunderstorms as well. Kansas City, Oklahoma City, down through Dallas, Houston, and even a little bit farther back into Denver, also looking at some showers and thunderstorms into the forecast. But well out to the west, very nice conditions here. Las Vegas, Phoenix, and even Los Angeles, getting some sunshine in the forecast there.

In terms of the strongest storms and the heaviest rainfall, that's once again going to be focused across much of the central U.S. You can see as we go into Sunday afternoon, that system begins to spread eastward. Now you're starting to see some of that heavier rainfall push in from Dallas down through Houston, even Shreveport, Louisiana.

Then once we spread into Monday, you'll notice that moisture continuing along the Gulf Coast. So now going into places like Mobile, Alabama, New Orleans, even spreading into areas of Little Rock. And then also portions a little bit farther to the north and to say like areas of Missouri, also into Illinois before the system spreads eastward.

So looking at Sunday, there is the potential for some excessive rainfall. You'll notice the highest point is really from Dallas, stretching down through Houston. The unfortunate part is that does mean that we are likely going to see some flooding in very close places to where we saw the flooding just a week ago, north and eastward of the Houston suburbs there, but also spreading into Louisiana.

Then by Monday, as the system spreads eastward, so does the greatest potential for that flooding. You can see it's really heavily focused right here along the Gulf Coast, but one to three inches is possible for a lot of these areas. You can see right down there. But some of those areas seeing that orange color indicates four or even five inches is not out of the question, even though that won't necessarily be the widespread amounts that we end up seeing.

Another concern Monday, too, is actually going to be the return of some strong to severe thunderstorms. Same thing, we're looking at Houston, up through Dallas, over to Shreveport, down into New Orleans. The main threats here are going to be damaging winds, the potential for some large hail, and yes, even having some possible tornadoes as well.

BRUNHUBER: Wildfire evacuation orders and alerts are in effect in two Canadian provinces. More than 3,000 people in northern British Columbia have been ordered to leave their homes, as nearby flames covered nearly 1,700 hectares. Some people are refusing to go. The government warns that residents are likely to be impacted by wildfire smoke for the rest of the weekend.

Meanwhile, there's an evacuation alert for Fort McMurray in neighboring Alberta. Officials say the out-of-control wildfire there is nearly 2,000 hectares in size and extremely dangerous, but there's no immediate risk to the communities.

Now, all of this after authorities say last year's wildfire season was the worst in Canada's history, so bad thick smoke spread across the U.S. More than 300 people are dead after heavy flooding ravaged northern

Afghanistan. That's according to the World Food Program. A U.N. agency says the heavy flooding damaged nearly 2,000 homes, with thousands stranded without access to services. The International Rescue Committee is calling the disaster a major humanitarian emergency.

[05:25:03]

The ruling Taliban says it has asked its government and local officials to use all available resources to rescue those stranded.

Heavy rains and floods continue to ravage southern Brazil. At least 136 people are dead and more than 100 people are missing in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, according to the local civil defense agency.

The storms have affected nearly 2 million people in Brazil, displacing hundreds of thousands, and the chaos and destruction are far from over.

Meteorologists warn intense rain is expected to continue in parts of southern Brazil until Sunday, with some areas expected to receive six inches of rain, according to Brazilian forecasters.

Now, CNN has gathered a list of vetted organizations that are on the ground responding to the humanitarian crisis in Brazil, and you can find details on how you can help in a special section of our website at CNN.com/impact.

The cult filmmaker Roger Corman has died. Some modern-day moviegoers may not know the name or his low-budget cult classics with memorable titles like, "A Bucket of Blood" and "Death Race 2000," but they would recognize the impact he had on the film industry. He gave future stars like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Ron Howard their early breaks in the business.

Known as the king of the B Movies, Corman produced and directed hundreds of films, most of them made on a shoestring, and it should be posted on X, Ron Howard called Corman a mentor who launched many careers and gave me my first shot at directing. Corman was 98 years old.

All right, I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our viewers here in North America, we'll have more CNN Newsroom in a moment. For our international viewers, African Voices Changemakers is next.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States and Canada. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

I want to get to one of our top stories we're following this morning, the Israeli military says about 300,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah to what Israel calls expanded humanitarian areas. The European Union calls them unsafe and unlivable. Whilst Israel now conducting air strikes and artillery strikes in northern, central, and southern Gaza, and that's leaving few places where Palestinians feel safe.

And a new State Department report investigating whether Israel violated international humanitarian law threatens to widen the rift between the leaders of the U.S. and Israel.

Now that report says it's, quote, "reasonable to assess that Israeli forces have used U.S. weapons in Gaza in ways inconsistent with international humanitarian law." But the report stops short of concluding that Israel committed violations. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more.

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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tensions remain high between the United States and Israel with a report released by the State Department on Friday, a high stakes report that marked yet another stark moment between U.S. and Israel.

In the report that was put together by the Biden administration, they found that, quote, "It's reasonable to assess that U.S. weapons have been used by Israeli forces in Gaza" in, quote, "a ways that are inconsistent with international humanitarian law." But it stops short of saying that Israel violated the law.

Of course, this stemming from a February national security memorandum that required the determination on this matter and also whether Israel withheld humanitarian aid into Gaza in violation of U.S. law. Of course, all of this serving as another data point that the Biden administration is using in their ongoing discussions with Israel.

But it also comes against the backdrop of the interview that President Biden had with CNN, where he said for the first time that he is willing to withhold weapons from Israel if they launch that major ground operation in Rafah, an area with more than a million displaced Palestinians.

Now, those conversations are ongoing, and the President said that he would continue defensive weapons, but there could be a change on offensive weapons. But all of this together still making quite clear that there continue to be underlying tensions between the U.S. and Israel as it wages its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Seattle, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Pro-Palestinian protests continue across some college campuses in the U.S. At Virginia Commonwealth University, at least a dozen students walked out during the commencement ceremony Saturday. The situation was similar at the University of California at Berkeley, where the graduation ceremony was interrupted several times by demonstrators. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL CHRIST, UC BERKELEY CHANCELLOR: I ask that you allow the program to continue. OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: As CNN's Camila Bernal reports, it's not just these two universities. In fact, many graduating ceremonies have been different this semester due to the protests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOGAN BARTH, GRADUATE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: There are so many students that are frustrated right now, no matter what side of the conflict you are on.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a celebration, but it wasn't a traditional commencement.

BARTH: It's a joke that's going around our class. It's kind of funny, but it's kind of sad. Our last normal graduation was 8th Grade.

BERNAL: Much of the class of 2024 impacted by the pandemic in high school.

BARTH: I barely had a graduation. It was, you know, six feet apart mass, couldn't have guests beyond your immediate family. So it was not normal.

BERNAL: And now college graduation, also not normal for Logan Barth and many others graduating this year. A number of colleges and universities around the country changing, adjusting, or even canceling commencement ceremonies, citing safety concerns after campus protests.

At Columbia University, the school says they decided to make class days and school level ceremonies the centerpiece of commencement. And a similar focus across the country at USC. The university said the intensity of feelings fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East created substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement.

[05:35:06]

ANNA KRYLOV, ASSOCIATE CHAIR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: They handled it correctly by closing the campus and by calling police to clean the encampment and arresting some people.

BERNAL: And they were trying to avoid this. At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted the university's commencement ceremony.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I was less concerned with the protests and the encampment impacting graduation. I was more disappointed in the university's response to everything and how they handled things.

BERNAL: At USC, graduation events went on without any apparent disruption. But it still wasn't what many hoped for or expected.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It definitely would have been nice to have a traditional commencement ceremony, especially for a class who was already impacted four years ago.

BERNAL: Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, coming up, drugs like Ozempic were created to help patients manage heart disease or diabetes. But now for many Americans, their primary use is for weight loss, and that's making them fly off the shelves for better and for worse. We'll have more on that coming up. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: A new health survey finds that one in eight American adults have taken prescription weight loss drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy. As those medicines become more popular, they become harder to find and that can be especially difficult for people who rely on them to treat chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease. CNN's Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that these medications have been incredibly popular and widely used and this poll suggests really just how much. It finds that one in eight adults, or about 12% in the U.S., say they have ever taken one of these medications. They're in a class known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. That includes Ozempic and Mounjaro, which are approved for type 2 diabetes, and Wegovy and Zepbound, which are approved for chronic weight management.

[05:40:11]

Now, 6% of the people in this poll, which was done by a company called KFF, say that they are currently taking one of these medications. That's about 15 million people. And the manufacturers of these drugs, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have actually been struggling to keep up with demand.

So presumably, even more people would be on these medications if the companies could make more, and they are desperately trying to ramp up the manufacturing.

Now, among the people who report ever taking one of these medications, folks with diabetes were most likely to have said they've taken one, more than 40%. Among people with heart disease, 26% said they'd taken one of these drugs. And among people whose doctors said they had obesity or were overweight, 22% said they had ever taken one.

Now, affordability of these medications is a huge problem in the United States. They cost more than $1,000 out of pocket each month without insurance, and insurance coverage can be really difficult. In this poll, more than half say that these medicines have been difficult to afford, even with insurance, and 22% say they've been very difficult. One group that's had special trouble with this has been people over the age of 65, who may be covered by Medicare, because Medicare can't cover drugs that are approved just for weight loss.

But a lot of people in this poll say that that should change. More than 60% say that Medicare should cover these medications for weight loss purposes, for people who are overweight, even when told that this could raise premiums across the board for everybody. So these are very widely used medications expected to only become more so, and will continue to follow these trends.

BRUNHUBER: And joining me now is Dr. Fatima Cody-Stanford. She's the Obesity Medicine Physician Scientist and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and is the Equity Director at Massachusetts General Hospitals, Endocrine Division.

So thank you so much for joining me here. So what do you make of the fact that one in eight Americans have taken the drug? And we can expect that number, I guess, to grow, right?

DR. FATIMA CODY STANFORD, OBESITY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN-SCIENTIST, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: Absolutely. Well, we do know that obesity is the largest and most predominant chronic disease in human history, right? This is affecting over 1 billion people worldwide, and over 140 million people here in the United States of America.

So when we look at the fact that this is the most predominant chronic disease in human history, it does make sense that these medications would be taken for this purpose with that large number base. And particularly when we look at the fact that these medications have been shown to reduce many chronic diseases and illnesses. For example, we know that this has been shown to reduce all-cause mortality.

We've shown to reduce the rates of stroke and heart attack, admissions for heart failure, and improve kidney composite outcomes. And so when we look at these numbers and the efficacy of these drugs, it's no, you know, surprise to me that we've seen these numbers in terms of just the use of these medications.

BRUNHUBER: You mentioned obesity. We saw in that report, we'll bring up the numbers here, 65% of Americans use it for weight loss or because of diabetes. And of that number, obviously many struggle with obesity, as you point out, you know, some 150 million people living with the disease. But I mean, this drug isn't a holy grail, right?

STANFORD: Absolutely. So we have to recognize that with this chronic disease that not everyone is going to be a responder to these medications. When we're looking at this, we're seeing about 15 to 20% of individuals that do take these medications are not going to be responders to these medications.

Now, I said 15 to 20% will not be responders, but then that still leaves a large percentage of individuals that would be responders to these medications. And in the beginning of this segment, we talked about the numbers of individuals that can't get these medications. That's still a large number of individuals that could respond to these medications with those really important outcomes of reducing the likelihood of individuals that have issues like heart failure and individuals that are going to see improvements in major adverse coronary events or things like obstructive sleep apnea when treated with these medications.

BRUNHUBER: So we're talking about the high demand there. We also saw from that KFF poll that 76% found it either difficult or very difficult to afford, which is presumably why we're seeing such a rise in cases of fake Ozempic, for instance. What are you seeing out there?

STANFORD: You know, I'm seeing very similar issues. And even forgetting these for my patients, you know, I'm seeing patients are really scrounging for unfortunately things that are not scientifically proven. These medications are exorbitant in cost, and that's really unfortunate. And a lot of this has to do with the fact that, you know, it was a lot of that went into research and development of these medications.

[05:45:10]

And so when we're looking at the studies, looking at those big articles that came out in the New England Journal, the Wilding Study for the semaglutide, semaglutide is that drug we see in Ozempic and Wegovy, and Tirzepatide, which is that dual agonist that you talked about, the Manjaros and the Zepbounds of the world.

A lot of research and development went into that. But despite all of that, we can't get access to these drugs because of the sheer volume of money that went into producing these medications.

What really just affects is on the ground, getting access. And, you know, you talked about my role in equity, and I want to make sure that everyone that needs these medications is able to get access, particularly individuals that come from backgrounds like myself, those that are underrepresented in this country, those that are racial ethnic minorities that are disproportionately suffering from conditions like diabetes and obesity, those that are descendants have been enslaved in this country.

I want to make sure that those persons get access. But right now, the reality is those are not the individuals that are getting access to these medications that really need them.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, and that's why so many are turning to, you know, cheaper fake products that they can get online. I want to ask you, before we go, about something that we have reported on, phenomenon, so-called Ozempic babies. I mean, there have been reports that this drug could lead to more pregnancies. Why is that?

STANFORD: So what we've seen with these medications is that they really do seem to improve fertility. And there's a lot of questions as to why this is, but what we do know is that this really seems to reduce inflammation within the body. And we are seeing on the ground, and I can tell you amongst my patient population, individuals that have really had a hard time conceiving are seeing reductions of inflammation and improved ability to conceive.

We're seeing this with our reproductive endocrinologists, individuals that have had really significant challenges for quite some time, seeing improved milieu within the reproductive process. And even individuals that are going into perimenopause and thinking they're in menopause conceiving after quite some difficulties moving into that process. So this is a real phenomenon.

But a really important thing I need to state really from a safety and efficacy process is we do ask people stop these medications two months prior to conception. So if you're really in this process of thinking that you really can't conceive, we do ask that you stop these medications, the GLP-1 receptor agonists, two months prior to conceiving. That's what the safety data shows. So I really just want to give that safety announcement right now here on CNN International as we're going into that. So just want to make that clear.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, important reminder for folks out there. Listen, we really appreciate your expertise on this. Dr. Stanford, thank you so much.

STANFORD: Thanks so much for having me.

BRUNHUBER: All right. And we'll be right back.

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[05:51:52]

BRUNHUBER: In sports, the Celtics, two superstars stepped up and they're now back in control of their playoff series against the Cavs with a big win on the road in Cleveland. CNN Sports' Coy Wire joins me now.

So, Coy, Boston admitted they needed a jolt to refocus here, right?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Yeah, and they got some from one of their stars. Kim, listen to this. After getting blown out by 24 points at home in game two, Jaylen Brown, said he spent the entire pregame shootaround going up to his teammates saying, we don't come to Cleveland for the weather. Let's go. And boy, did they go in game three Saturday night.

Already up nine at halftime, and Boston start in the third quarter on a 14-nothing run. And Brown not just talking the talk, he was walking, finishing with 28 points in this one.

Jayson Tatum, meanwhile, he had a game-high 33 along with 13 rebounds, six assists, showing off that slick spin move and a baseline slam, then sealing with this Fadeaway Jay. Celtics reassert their dominance, taking the 2-1 series lead.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks, showing they're not just a one-man band or even dynamic duo. They have a full ensemble. For the second straight game, P.J. Washington leading Dallas, hitting five three-pointers, scoring 27 points. And how about the high-flying Dereck Lively, soaring and scoring. He had 12 points off the bench.

This game was intense, Kim. Dallas up three with a minute 30 to go. Huge collision. Luka Doncic already with a bad knee, sore ankle. Now, a stiff back after falling hard to the floor after hitting Lou Dort, going for that loose ball. Luka finished with 22.

Kyrie Irving also with 22 in this one. In the final minute, he put the game away, skating around the defender, hitting that floater.

Mavs gut out a 105-101 win, go up two games to one over the top-seeded OKC.

On the ice, the Hurricanes down but not out in their series against the Rangers, facing the 0-3 deficit, then blowing a 3-1 lead in game four. But Brady Skjei making like Tom Brady.

Coming up clutch, ripping a one-timer, eventual game winner from the blue line with just over three minutes to go. Carolina keeping the series alive with a 4-3 win.

Atlanta Braves fans waking up this morning probably thinking, why? Max Fried on the mound for Atlanta facing the Mets and Braves faithful were thinking, he's about to do something we haven't seen in 30 years in Atlanta, pitch a no-hitter.

Michael Harris with an awesome catch in the bottom of the seventh, keeping Fried's no-no alive. But then Atlanta took Freed out of the game. Seven innings, 109 pitches, five strikeouts, no hits, but watching the bottom of the ninth.

Raisel Iglesias on the bump now for Atlanta. Two outs, just need one more to party, but the no-hitter is gone after J. D. Martinez hits a home run. Atlanta gets the win, but they're still with the fourth longest drought with a no-hitter. Their last one was in 1994.

All right, finally, as any parent knows, it's all about safety first. And now Novak Djokovic knows that too. After his match Friday at the Italian Open, Joker took a water bottle to the head. Fortunately, it ended up being just a bump.

Thankfully, also, it was a complete accident. The tournament organizers releasing this video showing that it slipped out of a fan's backpack. Well, yesterday, Joker came prepared. The world number one, showing up wearing a bike helmet. He posted on social saying, today I came prepared.

[05:55:13]

Kim, that's good stuff.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, I guess he has a sense of humor about it. Coy Wire, thanks so much.

WIRE: You got it.

BRUNHUBER: Appreciate it. BRUNHUBER: All right, I want to share this with you. Before we go, have a look at this.

(OFF MIC)

BRUNHUBER: Well, it was a chaotic and controversial Eurovision Song Contest. But as you can see there, this year's winner is pure joy there. Swiss singer and rapper Nemo won the affection of the audience and judges with their song, The Code, a celebration of the artist accepting their non-binary identity.

(MUSIC)

BRUNHUBER: This is the first Eurovision win ever for a non-binary person. And Switzerland's first win since 1988.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEMO, EUROVISION SONG CONTEST WINNER: I hope this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person in this world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The musical extravaganza took place while protests against the war in Gaza raged outside. Some people inside the arena booed and left the arena as Israeli singer Eden Golan gave her performance.

All right, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in North America, CNN This Morning is next. For the rest of the world, it's Marketplace Asia.

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