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President Trump Announces Possibility of Tariff on Canadian Dairy Products; House Speaker Mike Johnson Announces Continuing Resolution Funding Federal Government through September; Weather Scientist Terminated from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Discusses Possible Negative Effects of Government Workforce Cuts; Investigators Say Gene Hackman's Wife Betsy Arakawa Died of Hantavirus Days before Hackman Died of Heart Disease; Vatican Saying Pope Francis's Health Improving; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Issues Health Advisory for Expanding Measles Outbreak in Parts of U.S.; Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Touts Raw Milk Despite Food Experts' Warnings against Drinking Non-Pasteurized Milk; The Early Development of Social Media Platform Twitter Examined. Aired 2-3a ET.

Aired March 08, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:04]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, more whiplash from the White House as President Trump threatens a new set of tariffs on Canada. Late last night, the president said Canada was cheating U.S. dairy farmers. Hours earlier, he vowed to impose a 250 percent tariff on Canadian dairy just days after delaying tariffs on Mexico and Canada for the second time since taking office.

The White House is seeing a flurry of activity on several fronts following that contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy last week. Top U.S. officials are now preparing to meet with Ukrainians next week in Saudi Arabia.

There's also a new report on growing divisions within the White House. "The New York Times" recounts an explosive argument between Elon Musk and two cabinet members, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. President Trump denies there was a clash.

CNN's Betsy Klein is in West Palm Beach, Florida, near the president's Mar-a-Lago home. Let's begin with this new tariff threat. What more is the White House saying?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Yes, Fred, it's been a week of tariff unpredictability and whiplash at the White House. And President Trump really views tariffs and particularly the threat of tariffs as a key negotiating tool. So in this case, he wants to pressure America's neighbors, Mexico and Canada, to crack down on fentanyl. On Tuesday, we saw him impose a 25 percent tariff on Mexico and Canada. And just hours after that, as markets were roiling, he said in an address to a joint session of Congress, that there could be a little disturbance and urged farmers to bear with him.

Then the next day, Wednesday, after hearing a direct appeal from American auto manufacturers, the president decided that he would be pausing tariffs on autos for one month. And a massive reversal on Thursday as the president delayed most tariffs on Mexico and Canada again for one month.

But then on Friday, the president issuing a new threat, announcing that he would issue 250 percent tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber products in the coming days. The president says this is about fairness. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs, for lumber and for dairy products. A 250 percent, nobody ever talks about that, 250 percent tariff, which is taking advantage of our farmers. So that's not going to happen anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Taken together, major uncertainty in the markets and for American businesses and consumers, and also setting up a key test for Canadian and Mexican leadership whose businesses and economies depend so much on the U.S. market.

WHITFIELD: And Betsy, as for "The New York Times" report about the clash between Trumps cabinet and Elon Musk, is the president saying anything more on that?

KLEIN: Yes, Fredricka, "The New York Times" reported on this really explosive meeting between the president, his cabinet, and Elon Musk, who has sought to slash federal spending in a particularly challenging moment between Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who "The Times" described as incensed, as well as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy when Musk pressed both of them on why they were not making more significant cuts. But asked about "The Times" reporting, President Trump said there was, quote, "no clash", really dismissing and downplaying any tensions there. He said that Rubio and Musk, quote, get along great.

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, thank you so much.

All right, House Speaker Mike Johnson has just unveiled a bill aimed at funding the government through September. The new stopgap funding bill is intended to avoid a potential government shutdown that is set to go into effect this Friday if lawmakers cannot agree on new legislation.

[14:05:04]

For the very latest, let's bring in CNN's Julia Benbrook. Julia, what more are you learning about this new push to avoid a government shutdown?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, House Speaker Mike Johnson is outlining his plans for a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution, that would keep the government funded until September 30th. That buys time for President Donald Trump and GOP leaders to steer some of his priorities through Congress.

Now, as you mentioned, this is happening with a fast-approaching deadline. They are looking to avoid a government shutdown on March 14th. And this measure that Johnson revealed today does have the support of Trump. In fact, he posted on Truth Social, saying, quote, "The House and Senate have put together under the circumstance a very good funding bill. All Republicans should vote," in parentheses, "please, yes, next week."

But Johnson is leading with a very slim majority, and he can only afford to lose one Republican vote and still get this across the finish line. Here's what he said about its chances while speaking with reporters last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R-LA) HOUSE SPEAKER: I believe we'll pass it along party lines, but I think every Democrat should vote for this CR. It is a fundamental responsibility we have to fund the government, and a clean CR with a few minor anomalies is not something that they should vote against. So we'll see what they do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies has said that he opposes this stopgap measure, instead advocating for a long term negotiated bill. Now, of course, if this passes through the House, it would need to pass through the Senate, where Republicans hold a slim majority as well. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook, thanks so much.

All right, the Trump administration's mass layoffs at NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, started kicking in at the end of February. And now scientists and politicians alike are voicing concerns about potential interruptions to our nation's weather forecasts. CNN's M.J. Lee met with one terminated weather scientist who worries about his own future and the future of his field.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW HAZELTON, TERMINATED NOAA HURRICANE SCIENTIST: Right now, the wind is 13 miles an hour.

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Andrew Hazelton is a hurricane hunter.

And you are saying there's like a version of this on the plain?

HAZELTON: Oh, yes, a much more sophisticated version of it. You know, there's anemometers and all sorts of instruments, radar and things like that.

LEE: As a physical scientist working at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, he has flown into the eye of the storm countless times, including catastrophic hurricanes Helene, Dorian, and Ian.

HAZELTON: You basically fly through the storm three or four times, and then the forecasters are getting that data in real time, and they're using that for their advisories to tell people, hey, this is where the storm is. This is how strong it is.

LEE: But as of last week, Andy is out of a job.

And your last day was Thursday?

HAZELTON: Last Thursday. Yes, ma'am.

LEE: He was one of the hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, whose roles were abruptly terminated as part of the Trump administration's sweeping efforts to drastically slim down the federal government.

And it's not just hurricane forecasting. Most divisions of NOAA, which researches everything from the weather to oceans to biodiversity, were affected by the cuts, raising alarm bells across the scientific community about the potential impacts on public safety and the economy.

HAZELTON: This is Biscayne Bay, where out of the Black Point Marina, right there at that point there is right where hurricane Andrew, the center of it, made landfall back in 1992.

LEE: Andrew was the strongest hurricane to hit south Florida in 1992. Only the fourth category five hurricane that century to make landfall in the U.S., leaving in its path catastrophic destruction.

HAZELTON: This is the track forecast error.

LEE: In the 30 plus years since hurricane Andrew, Andy and scientists like him have helped make huge improvements to hurricane modeling and forecasts.

HAZELTON: Your five-day here is only 100 miles off.

LEE: When he wasn't out on storm flight missions, Andy built codes and graphics that helped predict the path and strength of future hurricanes.

HAZELTON: A five-day forecast now is as accurate as a one day forecast in hurricane Andrew. So think about that. You know, you have five days to prepare versus one. You can convince people to evacuate. You can do a lot more things to prepare your home.

LEE: So we've really come a long way.

HAZELTON: We have. LEE: Right up until he was fired, Andy says he and his colleagues had

been busy preparing for the upcoming hurricane season just a few months away. Now, he is entirely unsure what the mass firings at NOAA will mean for the unfinished work.

Do you worry that we are about to go backwards when it comes to the science?

HAZELTON: I do. I mean, I hope -- I know that the colleagues that I still have, they're going to work hard and do their best. But, you know, when you have few people in places that are already understaffed, it just gets harder and harder.

LEE: And as he wonders about his own future, Andy, like so many Floridians, is also wondering about the next hurricane.

What does it mean for you that you can't do the work that you want to be doing?

[14:10:00]

HAZELTON: I worry for the safety of the people here and my friends, my neighbors, our family, and across the board. I mean, here in south Florida, like I said, we've been pretty lucky since Andrew. But if we look historically, that luck won't last forever.

LEE: And in talking to some of these recently fired federal workers, whether its at NOAA or USAID, many of them do very specialized work, and they're quite passionate about the work that they do. And as for Andy's case, he is young. He's 34. He is from Florida, basically grew up experiencing some of these major hurricanes going through his home state of Florida. And he's known for a very long time since he was a kid that meteorology and hurricanes were things that he was interested in. So we are talking about an entire generation of scientists who are currently a little uncertain about their future and what is to come. As for Andy, he would love to continue growing his career at NOAA, he tells me.

M.J. Lee, CNN, in Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, so hopefully he will still be able to do that.

All right, coming up, officials say actor Gene Hackman had Alzheimer's and died of heart disease a week after his wife's passing. And Hackman may have been completely unaware of his wife's demise leading up to his death. We have details on the investigation.

Also, we'll look at the spread of measles in the U.S., nearly 230 outbreaks in west Texas and New Mexico, and now a second U.S. death.

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[14:16:05] WHITFIELD: All right, new details in the investigation into the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa. New Mexico investigators say she likely died days before Hackman from hantavirus, a rare infectious disease. Officials say following her death, Hackman was probably alive for several days in their secluded home. And then he likely died of complications from heart disease.

CNN's Marybel Gonzalez is in Los Angeles for us. Maribel, good to see you again. So the details surrounding the final hours of the couple are just so tragic. What are you learning?

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So tragic, Fredricka. And first of all, I have to point out that the chief medical examiner in New Mexico said making public comments about a death investigation is simply unprecedented for them. But given the public interest in this case, she found it necessary, which is why we're learning so many of these details today.

Now, we know from those closest to the Hackmans that they had a lot of love for one another. Their story spanning three decades. And while its unclear Betsy Arakawa was Gene Hackman's sole caretaker, we're told she went to great lengths to care for her ailing husband, motivating him to work out and eat healthy, which just adds to the tragedy of what happened inside their New Mexico home.

Now, an autopsy revealed Arakawa died of hantavirus. It's a rare infection we can get from the feces, saliva, and urine of rodents. Experts say this virus causes flu like symptoms up to several weeks post exposure, and in some cases, severely -- it can severely affect the lungs, which is what investigators say happened to Arakawa. And Gene Hackman also dying from natural causes, specifically of heart disease with Alzheimer's as a factor.

Based on data from his pacemaker, investigators say it's likely Hackman died on February 18th, about a week after his wife did. And given the advanced state of his Alzheimer's, officials say its possible he was not aware she had died. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAN MENDOZA, (D) SANTA FE COUNTY, NEW MEXICO, SHERIFF: Its hard to get into the frame of mind of what was happening at the time, and I don't know if we'll ever have the answer to that question whether he was going to go for help or he wasn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALEZ: We're also waiting to hear what happened to one of their dogs, who was found dead inside a crate. That examination is still pending, but investigators say starvation could have been to blame.

WHITFIELD: Terrible. All right, Marybel Gonzalez, thank you so much.

For more perspective now, joining me right now is Dr. Carlos del Rio, executive associate Dean of Emory University school of medicine at Grady Health System. Dr. Del Rio, great to see you. DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL

OF MEDICINE AT GRADY HEALTH SYSTEM: Great to be with you.

WHITFIELD: So this is so tragic. I mean, tragedy upon tragedy. But as we zero in on this hantavirus, a lot of us had never heard about this virus before, learning of the Hackmans' death here, Hackman's wife's death here. It became an urgently searched item for a lot of folks. So we've since learned that its rare, except in four states -- New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Arizona might be more familiar with that virus than most. So why is it more common there? And what's the derivative of this hantavirus?

DEL RIO: Well, as you say, this is not a very common disease. In the U.S. we have about 1,000 cases a year, most commonly in the states, the four corner states, as you mentioned. Back in 1993, there was a big outbreak, about 25 cases. But it's a very unusual situation. It occurs, its related to a virus that is called the Sin Nombre virus. It's a family of viruses that that live with no name, that live in typically infect mice. And it's actually the deer mice that has this virus. And then the deer mice is present in the desert and is present in those areas that you talked about.

And the virus is transmitted from mice to humans by primarily exposure to urine or exposure to a feces or saliva of those animals. Typically, it's the urine.

[14:20:00]

And the animals, little mice or rats will urinate in a home, like in a cabin. And then you will go there and either get exposed to the urine or even --

WHITFIELD: Like exposed to the fumes of it?.

DEL RIO: The aerosolization of the of the of the fumes, right.

So, now, there's no human-to-human transmission. And when you get infected, Navajo populations have a lot of this because of where they live, right. But when you get infected, your symptoms initially are very much like the flu. They could look like COVID. You feel body aches, you feel fatigue. You feel feverish.

WHITFIELD: So you might not go to a doctor.

DEL RIO: Correct. That's exactly what probably happened to Betsy Arakawa. You know, she initially must have thought I have the flu, and then stayed home. And then you start having gastrointestinal symptoms, you get abdominal pain, you get nausea, you get vomiting, you get diarrhea. And then in hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, then you start getting fluid starts accumulating in your lungs.

WHITFIELD: So it's hard to breathe.

DEL RIO: And then you develop respiratory failure. And once you develop respiratory failure, the mortality rate is about 85 percent. It's really high. WHITFIELD: So if you don't -- well, we know what happens, then, if

you don't get yourself to a doctor. But say you do get yourself to a hospital, what would the treatments be?

DEL RIO: Well, there's no specific antiviral therapy. We don't have any treatments. But at the hospital you can get intubated, you can go to the ICU. You can even be put in something called ECMO, extracorporeal membrane oxygenator. So the idea is to support you until your body, your immune system gets over the infection. So you need a lot of very, very intensive care support during those -- during that phase. So the important thing is early diagnosis and getting people to the hospital soon so they don't develop the severe disease.

WHITFIELD: So you just mentioned these four corner states, but say you're traveling. You do go to this area. You have been exposed. You go back to an area that's not accustomed to the hantavirus from deer mice, et cetera. What do people need to look out for if they do have some sort of flulike symptoms? I mean, it may not be as easily diagnosed if they go to the hospital in their area.

DEL RIO: Well, I think there are two things. Number one is if you have flulike symptoms, you certainly should go to the doctor and be evaluated. But I think a travel history is very important, right? I mean, talking about, hey, I just went camping. I just was in the camping or hiking in New Mexico. That may be an important piece of history you give to your doctor. So talking, we in infectious disease always ask about travel history. It's part of what we do because it really matters in deciding what kind of diseases somebody may have.

WHITFIELD: It's fascinating. And it's also very sad. Dr. del Rio, thank you. I'm going to have you back because we're going to talk about the spread of measles in the U.S., that, too, very alarming and concerning.

All right, coming up, Pope Francis marks his third week of hospitalization. And now today, a, quote, slight improvement. That's good news. The latest from Rome next.

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[14:27:08]

WHITFIELD: Police in Canada are searching for three male suspects following a shooting outside a pub in Toronto. A suspected shooter was last seen fleeing in a silver car. Officials say at least 12 people were injured, including six who suffered gunshot wounds. Four others have non-life-threatening injuries. The extent of the injuries of the remaining victims is unknown. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said, quote, all available resources are being deployed to locate and arrest those responsible.

Ukrainian officials say Russia launched another wave of deadly strikes across Ukraine, killing at least 23 people. The latest attack follows a deadly aerial assault on Friday and comes as President Donald Trump sends conflicting signals on the war in Ukraine, warning of possible sanctions against Russia, while also suggesting Vladimir Putin's actions are justified.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you, Mr. President, think that Vladimir Putin is taking advantage of the U.S. pause right now on intelligence and military aid to Ukraine?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: I actually think he's doing what anybody else would do. I think he's -- I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and I think he's hitting them harder than he's been hitting them. And I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning to head to Saudi Arabia ahead of talks next week aimed at ending the war.

And this just into CNN. The Vatican says Pope Francis is showing a slight improvement in his condition as he remains in a Rome hospital. But they add the prognosis remains reserved for the 88-year-old pontiff.

CNN's Christopher Lamb is in Rome. What other details are we learning about the Pope's condition?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, an encouraging update from the Vatican on the Pope's condition, because for the first time since his hospitalization on the 14th of February, the Vatican medical bulletin says he's showing a good response to therapy. Now, the Pope has been in hospital now for over three weeks. He's battling pneumonia in both of his lungs. The Vatican saying that he is in a stable condition, and he has been for several days.

Again, another encouraging sign. They're saying that the positive response the Pope is showing concerns the oxygenation of the blood and the functions of the lungs. Of course, the Pope is still on a high level of oxygen therapy. He is on high flow oxygen during the day, and he is also receiving oxygen through a machine ventilation, through a mask, at night.

[14:30:00]

So a cautious and positive -- cautiously positive update from the Vatican. Of course, the prognosis remains reserved. That means it's too soon to tell. And there is still obviously a lot of concern for the Pope because he is not out of danger despite this relatively encouraging update. People in the Vatican are operating in a high level of anxiety. There's nervousness. People gathering each night to pray behind me in St. Peter's Square for the Pope's health. But this is something that is having to be followed day-by-day by people in the Vatican. There have been good days. There have been bad days. Today has been a good day for the Pope, but it's a long haul, and he is battling a very serious respiratory infection. We are expecting further updates from the Vatican tomorrow on Sunday. Fredricka? WHITFIELD: All right, keep us posted on that. Christopher Lamb in

Rome, thank you.

All right, coming up, the number of measles cases in west Texas and New Mexico is growing. We'll have the latest details on the spread of the disease and news of another, a second U.S. death.

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[14:35:48]

WHITFIELD: All right, the CDC is issuing a health advisory for the expanding measles outbreak in parts of the U.S. ahead of the busy spring and summer travel seasons. Officials at the agency stressing vaccination is still the most important tool for preventing the highly contagious disease. And 198 cases have been reported in the ongoing west Texas outbreak as of Friday, according to the state's health department. That's 39 more than just three days prior. Thirty cases have also been confirmed in nearby New Mexico.

Dr. Carlos del Rio is the executive associate Dean of Emory University School of Medicine at Grady Health System. He's back with us now. Great to see you again. All right, so now a second measles death in the United States. Nearly 230 reported cases in west Texas and in New Mexico. So this helps underscore really how fast measles spreads, doesn't it?

DEL RIO: Fredricka, measles is one of the most infectious agents there is. What we call we in infectious disease talk about something called the r-naught, which is how good a virus is infecting. When we think about covid, for example, the r-naught is about three to five. That means one person infects three to five other people. Measles the r-naught is 17, means one person infected will infect 17 other individuals. So the transmissibility of measles is very, very high.

If you have measles, you're in a room. You are breathing, then you leave. Measles stays in the air for about two hours, so somebody else comes into the room who hasn't been vaccinated, they'll get exposed to the air. They'll be infected.

WHITFIELD: Two hours. So someone is coughing, sneezing, that type of thing, just simply breathing?

DEL RIO: Correct. Correct.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. All of that.

DEL RIO: So it's very transmissible. And that's why if you are unvaccinated, chances are if you get exposed to measles, you will get measles. And that's why we really need to get vaccination rates up. If you are unvaccinated, your risk of getting measles is exceedingly high.

WHITFIELD: Incredible. So the first exposure to the MMR vaccine, the measles vaccine, usually when you're a child, age one, something like that. DEL RIO: The recommendations of the of the advisory committee on

immunization practices is to get your MMR vaccine. Kids should get it between 12 to 15 months of age and then get a second dose between the age of four to six years of age. So about a year of age. And then right before you start school.

WHITFIELD: And if you don't, if you haven't gotten the vaccination when you were between 12 months and 18 months, you're a 15 year old or you're a 30 year old and now you're suddenly concerned or worried and you want to. Are you eligible?

DEL RIO: You can still -- yes, you can still get the vaccine at any time. Again, if you have not had measles, if you don't have a history of measles, and if you have not, don't have a history of having been vaccinated, get the vaccine. Again, it's a highly transmissible disease.

And measles in older individuals. I remember many years ago, and there was a big outbreak of measles in 1989, 1990, and we saw many cases of measles in adults and young adults. And some of them were very sick. I remember some of them in the ICU, very critically ill. I don't recall any deaths back then that I took care of, but, boy, I took care of some really sick people that were in the ICU for many, many days.

WHITFIELD: Incredible. So what does this tell you that there are two now reported U.S. deaths related to measles in a very short amount of time?

DEL RIO: Well, the first thing it tells me, it makes me very sad, because these are otherwise healthy kids who died of a disease, that you shouldn't have any deaths of measles today in the United States. We have highly effective vaccine. In 2000, we eliminated measles in the vaccine in the U.S. because our rates of vaccination were high. But as the rates of vaccination have come down and cases are getting poured into our country, then transmission again occurs. So having a death of measles today is really a tragedy. It's really a failure of public health.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder now, I mean, as we think about this and have to react to what's happening now, I know you are not an employee of the CDC, but here in Atlanta, you're part of that whole medical community. And that involves the CDC and employees. With so many layoffs or threatened, more layoffs to come, how concerned are you about the U.S. preparedness, whether it be measles or anything, any other kind of transmissible disease or virus, the overall health of this nation given all of these layoffs?

[14:40:10]

DEL RIO: Well, first of all, let me say that I've never worked for the CDC, as you say, but I have a lot of respect for CDC. And as an infectious disease physician, I really have also a lot of admiration. The people that work at CDC are some of the best scientists in the world. CDC is known and recognized not only nationally, but internationally. We have a European CDC and China CDC and African CDC. CDC is like, that name, CDC, is like a brand name, right? It really means something. It means Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And CDC has done an incredible job in dealing with many, many diseases, a lot of very, very, very talented people.

And they're not there for the money. They're there for because they believe in public health. They believe in improving the health of Americans. So to me, we should we should not only treasure the CDC, but we should support the CDC, because the reality is that is the core of the public health of our nation.

WHITFIELD: Are you concerned that the readiness of this nation is impaired by the laying off of people at the CDC?

DEL RIO: You always worry because public health is always undervalued and under-resourced. So, yes, a little bit of damage, a little bit of cuts in budget, a little bit of drop in personnel could put a significant strain, especially when you have an epidemic, when you have an outbreak. Public health at its best, you don't see it, right. It's like having the fire department. We don't see any fires. But let's suppose you close the fire departments in our city, and all of a sudden you have a fire. You better wish you had the fire department. So CDC is like the fire department. It's there to respond when there's an outbreak. And we need to be ready. And readiness at its core is having a very strong CDC.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Carlos del Rio, always great to see you. Thank you so much.

DEL RIO: Happy to be with you.

WHITFIELD: All right, the nation's new health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is leading the effort to make raw milk more accessible. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones looks at a small but growing number of Americans ignoring the warnings of drinking unpasteurized milk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK MCAFEE, CEO, RAW FARM: Oh yeah. She has got milk.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No pasteurization, no processing, just milk straight from the cow. Despite safety concerns, raw milk is having a moment. Mark McAfee is at the forefront of a movement to elevate it from the cultural fringes to the national mainstream.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At Raw Farm dairy -

JONES (voice-over): Raw milk has spiked in popularity in recent years and spilled into culture wars and even into politics.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: I only drink raw milk.

JONES (voice-over): Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., turning it into a policy flash point.

KENNEDY JR.: The FDA is the enemy of raw milk. JONES (on camera): So, you buy into the whole movement of making America healthy again?

MCAFEE: So, to make America healthy, to make the world healthy, we have to address the fact that food is medicine.

JONES (voice-over): McAfee's Raw Farm takes a grass-to-glass approach.

MCAFEE: Are you ready? Just a sip.

JONES (on camera): Oh, gosh.

JONES (voice-over): He says his product is not only safe to drink, but also offers a wide-ranging list of health benefits.

MCAFEE: These are anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti- hypertensive, re-mineralization, good for the immune system, mass cell stabilization, all these kinds of things that are destroyed in pasteurization.

JONES (voice-over): But, all of that disputed by food scientists.

JONES (on camera): So, I'll read you a claim, and you tell me if that's true or false. Raw milk has additional bacteria that is beneficial for the gut.

JOHN LUCEY, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DAIRY RESEARCH: False.

JONES (on camera): Raw milk helps build the immune system.

LUCEY: False.

JONES (on camera): Raw milk can help cure allergies and asthma.

LUCEY: False.

The idea that pasteurization is reducing the nutrient profile or making this milk somehow inferior is just nonsense.

JONES (voice-over): Fewer than one percent of Americans say they regularly drink raw milk, and the FDA has issued numerous warnings about the risks.

Raw Farm has faced multiple lawsuits and recalls after E. coli, bird flu, and salmonella outbreaks, the latter the largest connected to unpasteurized milk in decades.

California is one of 15 states where you can find raw milk at a grocery store. In some parts of the country, you can only buy it directly from farmers. Sixteen states prohibit sales for human consumption. Nationwide, the FDA strongly encourages pasteurization for all milk and prohibits sales of raw milk across state lines.

But change maybe on the horizon. McAfee says he was invited to apply for an advisory role in RFK Jr.'s FDA, and has already drafted a proposal for an ordinance that would establish an office, with budget from Congress, create raw milk standards for farmers, and remove current regulations.

MCAFEE: If you expect people to have access to super high quality raw milk, you're going to have to change a bunch of rules.

JONES (on camera): The HHS has not responded to CNN's request for comment, but McAfee said that Kennedy, who he says is a customer of his as well, has already reached out to his company, telling them to plan on having raw milk meetings as soon as his new FDA Chief is confirmed.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:45:02]

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, 18 years ago, one of the most well- known social media platforms of all time took off known as Twitter. We'll preview a new CNN original series that takes a look back at that moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, a new CNN original series follows the creation of one of the most well-known social media platforms of all time, Twitter.

[14:50:02]

In 2006, a group of tech visionaries came together to create this social media app, and in just a few short years, it transformed the way people all over the globe communicated with each other. And 18 years over Twitter took off at the South by Southwest Festival.

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ARIEL WALDMAN, BLOGGER AND WRITER: The South by Southwest was honestly the start of my social life as I know it. My closest friends are in tech, and it really started at South by Southwest. Twitter felt like this massive, huge group text where just everyone was letting everyone know about everything that was cool, that was happening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In this session today we're going to be talking about --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the back of one of the theaters, and someone was giving a talk. And when I looked out, I saw all the laptops had Twitter.com up. It was just a sea of everyone using Twitter.com. And I was like, whoa, this is weird. I got like kind of tingly.

WALDMAN: We would be glued to our phones, like walking down the sidewalk in Austin looking at like, oh, wait, oh, there's a cool party happening here. And there's a bunch of people over here. It just became this instant way of meeting up with people.

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WHITFIELD: A true social connector. Joining us right now, more of the lady we just saw, filmmaker and Antarctic explorer Ariel Waldman. Ariel, great to see you. So from that clip, we understood that it really took off during the South by Southwest almost 18 years ago. You were describing just people telling each other about parties and gatherings via Twitter. So how did that change everything as you knew it to be?

ARIEL WALDMAN, FILMMAKER AND ANTARCTIC EXPLORER: I mean, it was incredibly exhilarating because I was living in Kansas City at the time and just reading about all of these blogs and websites and cool people doing cool stuff. And so getting to go to South by Southwest and actually meet all of the people behind those blogs and websites and getting to see what they were up to through Twitter was a big game changer, because then I could instantly see, you know, what cool parties were happening, what good food people were eating. It was a way to sort of have ambient awareness both about my own friends and people that I wanted to get to know at South by Southwest.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Why do you think that South by Southwest was really such a pivotal moment, I guess testing ground for it? And why is it so many people trusted it, trusted Twitter all at once to be on it?

WALDMAN: I think it was something where South by Southwest was really a mecca, especially in 2007, for a lot of geeks and nerds who were online. And the blogging blogosphere, as it was called, was taking off at that point and had been taking off for several years. But we didn't really have a way to effectively connect with one another. And so it was really Twitter that came in and gave us the ability to have this awareness of other people, see what was going on, and doing it in real time, which was really the game changer. There were location apps and the like at that point where you could see where your friends were, but there wasn't really a way to see into other people's lives. And at that point it just really took off because everyone is at South by Southwest. So it was a little microcosm of being able to test this in the real world of how it can have a huge effect.

WHITFIELD: So its one thing that everybody was, you know, in the same city, in the same state and communicating, and suddenly they all felt like they were in the same room. And it's another that Twitter also, I guess, became a conduit of bringing the entire globe together. You know, suddenly you're talking, you're conversing with people who are miles and miles away, but they feel like they're right there?

WALDMAN: Absolutely. I think, you know, as Twitter grew up from that South by --

WHITFIELD: Oh, darn. Sorry, our connection there has been disrupted. Oh, wait. No, I think she's back. Ariel, there you are. OK, continue your thought.

(LAUGHTER) WALDMAN: Yes. No, it just really, it's all about the fact that being able to connect with other people. And for me, that was connecting with other researchers and interesting people in a way where you could get to know people that you otherwise wouldn't be able to know, and you could follow events happening around the world that you wouldn't be able to follow, not in real time. And so in that way it really did add to both news and a way of connecting with other people in your community and beyond.

And I think prior to that, really all we had were blog posts and being able to read people's accounts, but not in a real time way, and also not in sort of a more boring way. It was actually Twitter that was made fun of for so many years as being just a platform where you could see what someone was having for lunch. And on one hand, that sounds really boring. On the other hand, it's having that ambient awareness of other people that I think actually tapped into something that's really useful.

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WHITFIELD: Ariel Waldman, thank you so much. Those are all the upsides. There are some downsides, too. And for that, folks can tune in to the new CNN original series, "Twitter, Breaking the Bird," that premieres tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. eastern and pacific right here on CNN.

All right, new today, a group of labor unions suing to stop Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing millions of peoples Social Security data. As officials warn, upcoming cuts to the Social Security Administration could cause it to collapse.

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