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American Passengers To Head To Nebraska For Evaluation; U.S. Waits Another Day Of Iran's Response On Peace Proposal; Students Locked Out Of Classwork In Critical Finals Week; Moscow Holds Scaled- Down WWII Victory Day Parade; Virginia Supreme Court Rejects Voter- Approved Congressional Map; Tennessee Republicans Enact Map Carving Up Majority-Black United States House District; NFL Players' Union Offers Suicide Prevention Training. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 09, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:36]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

And tonight, the cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak is nearing Spain. That ship is set to anchor at a distance from Canary Islands' dock within hours. We know 87 passengers and some crew members will begin disembarking then.

Staffers from the CDC are set to meet the 17 American passengers there as well. After their risk assessment tests are conducted, the Americans will board a charter flight to Nebraska, where they will be briefly evaluated at a quarantine unit before being sent home to be monitored over the next 42 days.

The NIH director and acting CDC director had a message for the American people this morning. Here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY BHATTACHARYA, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: We're going to have them isolate for, you know, for about 42 days. That's what the literature says.

We've handled outbreaks like this before. I think in 2018, there's an outbreak in the United States so the -- you know, my message to the American people is please don't worry. Don't -- this is not one of those things like COVID where, you know, there's 15 different alarm bells.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Health officials across several countries are racing to contain the outbreak after six confirmed cases and two probable cases of the strain that can transfer from person to person.

So far, three people have died. Others have been evacuated from that ship for medical treatment.

We bring in CNN's Rafael Romo, who is joining us from outside the CDC headquarters there in Atlanta.

Rafael, I think people still have a lot of questions about what this could potentially mean. What are you learning?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, let me begin with what's happening on the other side of the world, Jessica, because the cruise ship is expected to dock at the port of Granadilla. That's in the Canary Islands Sunday morning local time, which is really in just a matter of hours, Jessica, given the time difference between Eastern time here in the United States and the Spanish archipelago.

The MV Hondius is carrying 147 people altogether, including 87 passengers and 60 crew members. That number includes 17 Americans.

A spokesperson confirmed, the U.S. State Department is arranging the repatriation flight in coordination with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the government of Spain.

According to sources familiar with the plan to bring those Americans back home, the first step involves CDC staffers meeting the cruise ship when it arrives in the Canary Islands, and then escorting the American passengers back to the United States aboard a charter flight.

A separate team will meet the passengers in Nebraska, the CDC says there, passengers are expected to be evaluated at the National Quarantine Unit to ensure the virus doesn't spread.

Former CDC director, Dr. Tom Frieden, told CNN that people should not draw the wrong conclusions about the disease or be overly concerned about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: Really, the risk to anyone who doesn't have direct contact with the ship or someone who's sick who's been on the ship is zero. This is not like an infection spreading, and we don't know where it is.

This is a -- what we call a point source cluster. So it's a cluster that's on the ship and people associated with the ship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Jessica back in Spain on Friday, port workers in Tenerife held protests voicing their concerns about a lack of communication about the potential risks.

Earlier today, Spanish health minister Monica Garcia said that neither the luggage nor the body of one of the passengers who died on the ship will disembark in the Canary Islands, but will remain on board along with part of the crew as the vessel travels to the Netherlands, where it will go through a thorough disinfection process, Jessica. DEAN: All right. Rafael Romo there in Atlanta, thank you so much for

that.

In D.C., the White House still waiting on a response from Iran on whether its leadership will accept the one-page framework to end the war -- that war that has now stretched on for 70 days.

[17:04:46]

DEAN: CNN has learned more about who is making the decisions for Iran. Sources saying that U.S. Intelligence assesses Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei is playing a critical role in shaping war strategy, even as he's yet to make a public appearance while nursing wounds from the attack that killed his father and many others.

Yet Iranian analysts are noting that the rising influence of a small set of hardliners they call super revolutionaries as well. They're considered so radical, many of them see the mere act of negotiating with the U.S. as capitulation.

President Trump says the fragile ceasefire between the nations is still on, despite exchanges of fire around the Strait of Hormuz that included the U.S. strikes -- the U.S. striking rather two Iranian flagged tankers, Central Command says were violating the U.S. block on Iranian imports.

Were joined now by retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark. General Clark, good to see you. Thanks for being here.

Where do you see this going? And do you think -- what do you think Iran's going to say back to the U.S.?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK, ARMY (RET), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: I don't think the U.S. has as much leverage in this as it needs. And the blockade is fine but there are also at least six roads coming in from Pakistan that are, according to my information, packed with cargo trucks coming in, providing critical supplies and maybe weapons and other munitions.

So the blockade isn't total. And so the leverage that the United States has is less than what we might think we have.

Now I hear rumors that maybe there will be another big U.S. airstrike. But really, Jessica, if you look at the situation, the critical decision point is the Strait of Hormuz, as long as the Strait of Hormuz is blocked, the clock is ticking against the United States. As the Iranians have said, and as many have observed, this is like Iran holding a nuclear weapon and keeping us hostage because of it.

And so I think the Project Freedom that the president started earlier in the week was the right way to go. I know it stopped. I can't see the information -- I mean, we sometimes you hear rumors it's going to start up again, but there's no reporting that it has started up again.

And yet this is the critical path to move forward. Got to take away the leverage that Iran has for holding the strait. When you put that holding of the strait in jeopardy, then the clock starts to work against Iran.

DEAN: And so how would you recommend doing that if that's not what's being done right now?

CLARK: The three destroyers that came in, they drew fire from the Iranian side. The drones, missiles, fast boats -- those launch points were targeted. The boats were destroyed. The missiles were shot down. That's step one.

It's got to be repeated many times. It's got to be covered with strategic reconnaissance, and eventually, we've got to peel back all those defenses that are in the Strait of Hormuz.

Can you do it without any losses? Maybe. But it may take two weeks, four weeks, whatever. But it's a step-by-step process. And what's really important is that Iran see that it's losing its ability to hold the strait. And that will put pressure on Iran to come to the diplomatic talks and make an agreement.

Otherwise, they can play rope-a-dope for a long time. And they think, and maybe they're right, that the clock is working against the president and the United States. So we want to change that perception.

DEAN: Yes. I also want to ask you about some reporting we're just getting in from Axios. And that is that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff met today with the Qatari prime minister and efforts toward a deal to end the war. How important is this for the relationship there -- and our relationship for our military in the Middle East and the role that the Qataris are playing in all of this?

CLARK: I think it is important. And I think -- I hope Secretary Rubio will meet with all the leaders in all the Gulf States.

I hear that some of the rulers are pretty upset with the United States because in the last week or so, they've been struck by Iranian missiles and the United States is sort of acting as though that didn't happen.

And they signed up for our protection. We need them on our side. Now, the negotiations and mediation, that's fine. But remember that every effort we make, it signifies to the Iranians, hey, we want a deal, we want a deal, we want a deal. And that, of course, confirms in them their stubbornness and their belief that, let's hold out for a little bit longer. We'll get a better deal from the Americans.

So I think it's good that the Secretary of State is over there. I'm glad he's talking to people, and I hope he'll talk to all the leadership and all those states.

DEAN: And as you talk about the Iranians hoping that they can, you know, continue to have leverage over the Americans and the U.S. government here.

[17:09:49] DEAN: We've got this reporting from CNN about these hardliners within the Iranian government that see even talking to the U.S. and trying to make a deal as capitulation.

How does the U.S. factor that in when they're thinking about what comes next?

CLARK: Well, I think we have to understand that there are factions in the Iranian government. The hardliners are there. And as long as they see success with blocking the Strait of Hormuz and we haven't been able to take out the 27 missile cities (ph) the -- our intelligence shows they've got about 70 percent of their missile force left and about at least half of their drones left. And so they've got substantial capability.

But the critical area is the Strait of Hormuz. So that's where we have to apply the pressure. Another large airstrike campaign, 24 hours shows the United States is upset, angry, probably take out some infrastructure, probably cause some difficulties for the people of Iran, but probably not going to affect the IRGC hardliners.

That's, as long as they feel like they've got a means to resist, and the pressure on the United States by keeping the strait closed, I think they're going to play real hardball against us.

DEAN: All right. General Wesley Clark, good to have you here. Thank you.

CLARK: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead, a cyberattack disrupts thousands of schools nationwide during finals week. What we're learning about this group behind the hack and what you can do to keep your information safe.

Plus back-to-back setbacks for Democrats in the redistricting war, what that could mean for the midterm elections.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:11:33]

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DEAN: Now to the cyberattack disrupting thousands of schools across America as millions of students begin their final exams, hackers shutting down Canvas earlier this week. That's an online class management software that's used in classrooms for assignments, homework, grades, exams.

Users got a ransom message demanding the Canvas company pay them, or hackers would leak data from the 275 million users. Hackers said -- say Canvas has not even, in their words, "bothered speaking to us".

Here's one Texas student making their own plea to the hackers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ASHA KELLY, PLEADS With CANVAS HACKERS: And to the people that hacked Canvas, if y'all could hack it for like five minutes, two at best. Two minutes is all I need. I just need to go in there and take a picture of my final review questions that are going to be for my final that I take in four days to be exact.

So I just need two, you know, just give me one minute. Just give me 30 seconds at best to just go in there, take a picture, and then I'll get out of your hair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So here's some good news. Canvas says it's now fully back online.

Joining us now is Andrew Boyd, the former director of the CIA's Center for Cyber Intelligence. He's now the CEO of Red Lattice, a cyber defense company.

Andrew, thanks so much for being here with us. Why target Canvas?

ANDREW BOYD, CEO, RED LATTICE: Thanks for having me.

Well, they went through a free-for-teacher application which didn't have great security features. So it was really the ease of attack. I would say that the ShinyHunters is the group that did this.

I would not say it was a sophisticated ransomware attack. It was just sophisticated in the sense that it was such large scale. As you said, 275 million users, 8,800 different institutions, public schools, high schools and universities. It's really the scale of attack than the technical sophistication.

DEAN: Do we know who was behind this?

BOYD: It's a loose -- loosely-affiliated group that does frequently these extortion data dump attacks that, again, more sophisticated ransomware actors tend to encrypt data and then demand a certain sum, usually in cryptocurrencies. But they tend to actually unlock -- decrypt the data once the ransom is paid.

This group is known for not actually doing what it -- what it says it's going to do and actually releases data.

What I would recommend in this situation that the institutions, the universities, the public schools change all their passwords, credentials.

And for parents, again, the biggest group of folks that are probably concerned about this, have your students -- have your children changed the passwords to their accounts.

And these institutions need to, frankly, send out messages, warning of phishing attacks. That's when you get an email that looks like it's from a legitimate person, you know, but it is not and it may have additional malware -- malware embedded in an attachment. And parents need to warn their children or just monitor their email

for such suspicious emails.

This group is also very known -- well known for doing vishing attacks, which is voice attacks where they pretend to be someone else, an IT administrator and ask for your password. So people have to be aware of that threat.

Because if the group does hold to its 12th May deadline, it may release all this data and it will contain at least names and emails of a number of those, 275 million users.

DEAN: So Canvas now says its fully back online. You talk about this May 12th deadline. How did it get back online? What does that mean? Are they going -- are students going to get kicked off again?

[17:19:48]

BOYD: Well, the student that you had on earlier, I'm sure she'll be able to get access to her academic work and be prepared for exams. I think Canvas is a large company. They had data backups, but it's really the 275 million users who have to be prepared for additional phishing attacks or other cyberattacks, and be prepared for that.

And I would also recommend these institutions or the municipal and state governments that run these public schools to have anti ransomware software that detects these sort of data anomalies going forward.

But I think the users of Canvas, I believe, are going to be ok.

DEAN: Yes. And so it sounds like what your advice is, is that really just good online hygiene, which is make sure you're changing your password after something like this. Be aware that there are these phishing emails, but also it sounds like phone calls that can come in. Don't be giving any of this information out.

BOYD: And prepare, you know, children who just aren't used to this sort of thing. Make sure that they understand in a way that is translatable to whatever age group they're from. And frankly, as a society, we need to be prepared for more of these happening on a routine, routine basis, because non-sophisticated not particularly technically oriented ransomware attackers have A.I. tools that heretofore, several years ago were not available to criminal groups like this that make it a lot easier for them to do their malicious activity.

DEAN: Yes, it's a good reminder. All right. Andrew Boyd, thank you so much. Nice to have you.

BOYD: Thank you. Jessica.

DEAN: Yes.

As a three-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine begins, Russia holds a parade unlike any other in nearly two decades. We'll explain. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:21:29]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: A scaled-down version of Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow today, the event marking the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

But this year, instead of a heavy display of military hardware, there was heavy security across the city following recent Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia.

This despite Ukraine and Russia agreeing to a three-day ceasefire announced by President Trump on Friday.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, some of the things were the same as in other years. You did see those big columns of soldiers marching across Red Square. Also, Vladimir Putin overseeing the parade. Some VIPs, including cabinet members as well as veterans of the Second World War, and also of what Russia still calls its special military operation.

But some of the things notably missing from this year's parade was heavy armor, tanks, armored vehicles all the way to intercontinental ballistic missiles that you would normally see paraded across Red Square.

Instead, this year, the Russians produced some high-end videos showing their military capabilities that included drones, anti-aircraft systems, radars all the way to more strategic assets like long range aviation and their naval forces, as well as submarines.

Now, of course, May 9th commemorates the sacrifices of Soviet soldiers during World War II in the defeat of Nazi Germany. And Vladimir Putin, in his speech, made a connection between World War II and what Russia calls its special military operation.

The great feat of the victorious generation inspires the soldiers carrying out the tasks of the special military operation today, Putin says. They are standing up to an aggressive force, armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc and yet our heroes march forward.

However, the Russians were extremely concerned that the parade could be disrupted by Ukrainian aerial attacks.

At the same time, Russia's special military operation continues, the Russians say there's progress, but progress also is pretty difficult to come by these days.

And for many Russians, it's simply unclear when the fighting with Ukraine is going to end.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right. Fred, thank you so much for that.

Also new tonight, Hungary's new prime minister is officially on the job. Peter Magyar was sworn in earlier today in Budapest, kicking off a new political era.

He soundly defeated Viktor Orban last month after 16 years of Orban's autocratic rule.

Magyar telling the crowd, quote, "Today, every freedom-loving person in the world would like to be Hungarian a little."

In Indonesia, rescuers recovered the body of one hiker. That person among three killed in a volcanic eruption on Friday. 20 hikers set out on the popular trails. despite the volcano being one of the most active in the country.

Rescuers found the body near the rim of the main crater, and the search now continues for the other two victims.

17 climbers were safely evacuated hours after that eruption.

Big blow to Democrats as the redistricting wars continue. Still ahead, how both parties are scrambling to redraw maps before the midterms.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:29:10]

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[17:33:53]

DEAN: Tonight, Democrats are trying to bounce back from another major setback in their midterm redistricting battle with Republicans.

On Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a democratic-back congressional map narrowly approved by Virginia voters last month. Democrats had hoped that, that plan could help them pick up as many as four House seats in November.

CNN's Arlette Saenz picks it up from there.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The Virginia Supreme Court delivered a major setback to Democrats as they waged this redistricting battle that was started by President Donald Trump, heading into the Midterm Elections.

The state Supreme Court ruled that they would block the Democratic- drawn maps, which Virginia voters had approved in late April, that could have netted the party an additional four U.S. House seats from Virginia.

The state Supreme Court ruled that the creation of the referendum on these maps violated the state's constitution. That is because the law requires that the General Assembly in Virginia vote two times on any proposed constitutional amendment that they are sending to voters in a referendum with an intervening general election in between.

[17:35:01]

Republicans had argued that the very first vote that the General Assembly took on this referendum in mid-October of last year took place while a general election was already underway, including in the race for governor in the state. The state Supreme Court agreed with that matter.

Now, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said that they will try to pursue every avenue possible to try to overturn this ruling from the state Supreme Court, but it's unclear what those legal avenues might be for Democrats moving forward.

But big picture here, this is a major blow for Democrats as they have been engaged in this back-and-forth redistricting war with Republicans that span the -- across the country.

DEAN: All right. Arlette Saenz, with that reporting for us. Thank you so much.

Tennessee, also another state at the center of this redistricting fight after GOP lawmakers there approved new maps, following the Supreme Court's landmark decision to gut sections of the Federal Voting Rights Act.

Democrats have protested the new map, splits up Memphis into three pieces, effectively erasing the state's only democratic and majority black district.

The NAACP now filing an emergency petition to block that plan. And joining us now, the democratic representative from that very district, Congressman Steve Cohen.

Congressman, thank you for being here with us. We do appreciate it. I first just want to get your thoughts on how significant of a setback this is for Democrats, obviously, for yourself as well.

REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN): Well, it's a serious setback for both Democrats and the people of Memphis and myself. The people of Memphis have had a congressman for dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds of years, and the city is a -- is a compact district, the Ninth District compact with people who have similar goals and similar issues.

And a mayor, who has a congressman he can call on and a D.A., et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, the public officials. This is wiped out. This harms Memphis as a community as much as anything since we were de-hub as an airline -- a hub. And it's a very -- we lost a lot of jobs. We are going to lose community projects. We are going to lose opportunity to have constituent services from our congressional districts, because there probably will not be an office in Memphis for right now there is, and we do constituent services, and there probably will be a difficulty of a congressperson working with the mayor on economic development.

So, Memphis needs to have a congressman, is always had a congressman, and to wipe out the Voting Rights Act, which is what this did, and to claw away the work of John Lewis and Martin Luther King and some of the greatest civil rights heroes in our country's history, and something the African American populations fought for, for being excluded from votes, and discriminated against during Jim Crow and excluded from during the days of slavery.

When given an opportunity to get a voice to choose their representative, which doesn't have to be a person of color. It's been me for 20 years in Memphis, and that's something this city, this country, and the -- and the Republicans, the legislature should see, is a wonderful thing about race relations. Instead, they destroyed it. They destroyed one of the finest things we have shown about race relations, where black people do not judge a person based on their color, but based on his production and his delivering for the district.

DEAN: We mentioned the NAACP is filing a suit to try to stop this. What would you give the chances of that succeeding?

COHEN: You know, I think, we have got a pretty good chance. We've -- I filed a suit, along with other candidates and citizens through a law firm in the federal court system. We asked for a TRO which they haven't issued yet. Hopefully, they will look at it and do it. But there are other ACLU is going to file a lawsuit.

I think this should be because this is too late in the process to get elections set up. They waived giving residents notices in the state law that their constitutional offices, congressional offices have been changed. People will go in the ballot box, will be confused. They think that the election is between me and three other guys on the Democratic side, and they won't have that. That won't be the case, and most of the precincts.

And that's just not fair. I think, we have already hit a case in 2022 where it was held unconstitutional by our state Supreme Court. Hopefully, the state Supreme Court was probably get this on the state actions, or the federal courts will understand that, that there is just not enough time in the Purcell policies, a lot that was negotiated in federal law that you can't change election laws and election districts real close to an election, you just can't do that. And this is one where we have tried to do it in Tennessee.

DEAN: What I thought was interesting from our cnn.com story about this is that the reporting pointed out that as a first step to adopting these new districts, that Tennessee lawmakers, the local lawmakers there, had to give final approval to legislation that repealed an existing Tennessee State law prohibiting mid-decade redistricting, which is obviously it's 2026. That's what this is.

And then, they had to pass a bill that would reopen candidate qualifying until May 15th to allow time for new people to enter the primaries and for people to switch around districts.

[17:40:01]

COHEN: Yes, the law that they repealed was on the books since 1971. It was good policy, it was good law, no redistricting within a decade. Donald Trump got that stopped when he went to Texas and called Governor Abbott and said, get me five new districts. I deserve them. Well, that's force manure, but he did it, and Abbott guiding the seats.

Every Republican redistricting has been through legislative action. Democratic redistricting has been through referenda, a referenda in California and in Virginia and years past and New York state as well. But --

(CROSSTALK)

DEAN: You are talking about going to the voters when you say referendum, just sort of bringing this.

COHEN: Right, right.

DEAN: Yes.

COHEN: Where the voters make the decision, and that. So, this has changed in so many ways. And to take away the crowning jewel of the civil rights movement to success of the Voting Rights Act, which John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr. and others fought for, and many people died. Schwerner, Cheney, and Goodman going to register people to vote in Freedom Summer in Mississippi.

Medgar Evers, the leader of the NAACP in Mississippi, was assassinated. Viola Liuzzo was down in Selma, wanted to participate in that march that John Lewis was leading, and she was shot and killed. As for other people, to take the work of those people and the deaths of those people, the blood, and the work, and just cast it aside is a sacrilege, and the court should have known that.

But Alito and Roberts have been after this for years, and Clarence Thomas, to boot. They don't care about voting rights and African Americans having the right to choose their own candidate.

You know, just like me being a Caucasian elected by African Americans for 20 years in a majority, minority district. Clarence Thomas does not replace a black who was on the Supreme Court before him. It's ridiculous.

DEAN: And Congressman, what have you heard, if anything from Democratic leadership, House leadership, on both your specific situation there in Tennessee, but also more broadly, I know we were noting, as Arlette said, that Hakeem Jeffries has vowed to fight back against this, but it's unclear exactly what that might look like. Have you gotten any direction from them as to specifics?

COHEN: Not specifics. I mean, they let me know they support me a hundred percent, whatever they can do to help me, they will. We have got Eric Holder lawyers involved, as well as the state Democratic Party's got some really fine lawyers from the Barrett Johnston firm in Nashville, and some good legal talents on board.

Hakeem is going to lead us in the right direction and try to fight these different cases in different states and different manners. It's kind of difficult, because the Supreme Court laid this down, but some of their what they have done violates the whole idea of good government and good redistricting.

Having commonality purpose compact districts. They took a compact district and they drew it from Memphis to Nashville in two different directions, and one up, 540, a hundred and seventy miles from here. Memphis will never -- Memphis will not see their congressman, hardly at all, because they don't live in the city or live in the district or live anywhere near here. I imagine that's going to be the case of what happens in these districts are upheld.

And after 2028, they may be upheld. This really does gut African Americans in particular. But also, Memphis, white Memphians who want to vote and have their vote make a difference will be eliminated from having that opportunity, because the power is going to be the head of the comet. These are like comets, and they are up in East and middle and West Tennessee, where rural and suburban areas now (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

DEAN: We are talking about to how the districts are now redrawn.

COHEN: Yes, to beat the prospective districts are redrawn to put the power else other places.

(CROSSTALK)

DEAN: Yes.

COHEN: In Memphis, we'll not get anything, because we are just an after. We are in essence in the back of the political -- of the political bus.

DEAN: All right. Congressman Steve Cohen, thank you. We appreciate your time.

COHEN: You are welcome and nice to have me on.

DEAN: Thank you.

From encouraging the prosecution of his political opponents to launching a war unilaterally, President Trump has pushed the boundaries of presidential authority. But he is hardly the first president to do so. In his latest documentary special, Fareed Zakaria examines how presidents throughout the years have laid the groundwork for today's modern imperial presidency, and here is a preview of that. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: Not so long ago, it was the Republican Party that was rising up in protest over a president they said was acting like a king.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The Imperial president, the autocratic leader.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some Republicans call him the imperial president, that he is using executive powers to go beyond his true authority.

ZAKARIA (voice over): The imperial president, they were talking about, Barack Obama, and in a way, the Republicans had a point.

BARACK OBAMA, 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can't wait for an increasingly dysfunctional Congress to do its job. Where they won't act, I will.

There we go.

ZAKARIA (voice over): President Obama was transforming the country, often with the stroke of a pen and without Congress.

[17:45:00]

OBAMA: Thank you.

ZAKARIA (voice over): It was a shocking turnaround for the former constitutional law professor, who on the campaign trail --

AMERICAN CROWD: Obama!

ZAKARIA: Had blasted George W. Bush's aggressive use of executive power.

OBAMA: We have paid a heavy price for having a president whose priority is expanding his own power.

The constitution is treated like a nuisance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: "THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY: A FAREED ZAKARIA SPECIAL" airs tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern on CNN and Monday on our CNN streaming app.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and when we come back, we are going to speak to NFL star Solomon Thomas, who's become an advocate after tragedy struck his own family. You will hear from him here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:25]

DEAN: May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the National Football League Players union is offering suicide prevention training through the QPR Institute that stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer. Three steps to help people recognize possible warning signs.

One NFL player is sharing his story to help other families. That's Solomon Thomas, a nine-year veteran defensive lineman, about to play his first season with the Tennessee Titans. And these are photos that you see here of him and his younger sister, Ella, who died by suicide in January of 2018 at the age of 24. And Solomon joins us now.

We are so glad to have you here to talk about something that's so important, Solomon. This is clearly a cause that is deeply personal to you. What -- how are you hoping this program can help?

SOLOMON THOMAS, DEFENSIVE LINEMAN, TENNESSEE TITANS: You know, I'm just hoping it just really reaches a lot of NFL players out there, a lot of people out there, just to understand the importance of mental health. You know, we're in a mental health epidemic right now.

We are losing so many young people suicide, so many men in suicide, so many women are suicide. And it's just so important that people understand that the help is available, that people want us here to understand the seriousness and science of mental health, and that it's not just something you can get over. It's a disease, just like anything else, where you are not getting the right chemical balance to your brain, whether you are not blocking enough cortisol or getting enough serotonin.

So, really, just education awareness and making sure people understand that this is something that we have to talk about. We have to have the conversation, and we have to make sure people know that, hey, that we want you to stay with, you need to stay, that there is ways to stay here.

DEAN: And you have been vulnerable and being open about your family's experience with this and sharing it, hoping to, I'm sure, connect with other people and get this conversation going. What have you learned from your experience with all of this?

THOMAS: I've learned so much from my mental health journey. You know, just going through my own journey, after losing my sister's suicide, feeling alone from that, and just getting in the world of mental health, you know, going to therapy, understanding that, hey, it's OK not to be OK.

You know, it's OK to be anxious, it's OK to be depressed, it's OK to feel weird or awkward. You know, these are all emotions of the human experience, and it's so important to feel them and to honor them and to acknowledge that, hey, I'm feeling this way, but it's not -- I'm not my feelings, and I'm not going to feel this forever.

But also, like the most important thing that I feel like I learned is that, you know, the biggest sign of strength you can do is to ask for help. That there is people out here, there is professionals and people out there who are taught and go to school to help us in these moments, to help us to learn about our emotions, our feelings, how to cope, how to go through -- go through grief and feel grief, and I think that's so important.

And you know, so just learned a lot and learned a lot of misconceptions about mental health. And, you know, that we need to get out of this archaic mindset of mental health where we are just saying, oh, be a man. Be tough, tough through it. No, it's really important to feel those feelings and to be vulnerable, because that is a true strength, is vulnerability, and that's when we have lifesaving connections, because everyone is going through a battle that you don't know about, and when you talk about it, be transparent.

You understand that, hey, I'm not alone in this fight, and someone else is struggling. I think that's really important.

DEAN: Yes, I do think that, that is such an important takeaway, which is so many people out there are struggling in their own way, whether it's exactly like you, you know, the greater you or someone else are in a different way, and that it's important to talk about it out loud.

You have also started this nonprofit called The Defensive Line. Tell us about that.

THOMAS: Yes. So, in honor of my sister, Ella, we started The Defensive Line in 2021, where our mission is to end the epidemic of youth suicide, especially from people of color, by transforming the way we connect and communicate over mental health.

And after we lost Ella, you know, we noticed how big a problem this is in our world. We have so many people reach out to us, connecting with so many people who have lost loved ones. And it's like -- it's kind of like, you know, until you are affected by mental health, you don't realize how big of a problem it is.

And then, there is like, not a conversation that can't be brought up in, you know, as we are living it. So, we are like, we have to do something. And it's always from Ella wants to do anyways. And so, we are like, you know, we want to really help youth. We want to help, you know, where people are being affected the most, and I was in the minority communities, but we are also for all people. We want to help everyone, and help everyone stay here, but we have run suicide prevention programs in schools, businesses, Fortune 500 companies, whether you are a CEO, principal, an executive, a coach, as if you oversee any kind of group of youth.

You know, we want to teach a teacher of how to identify the warning signs, how to have the language of mental health, how to conduct a classroom, meeting room, a business locker room, in a way where everyone can feel like they can be vulnerable, they can be themselves, or they can feel comfortable going through their superior and being like, hey, I'm struggling. I need help. I don't know where to go.

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And I think, one of the coolest things that we do is we make every mentor of youth write a crisis action plan so no situation seems too big or too awkward or too far away for them -- for them to intervene and to help you know their employees, student, athletes, or students. But also, we are just trying to save one person at -- one person at a time.

We are trying to keep making sure no family fear -- feels a pain that my family feels from losing Ella, and no, no person feels a pain Ella felt from dying by suicide. So, our goal is to end the family use suicide, you know, for all people, because, you know, it's, it's the most preventable death. We just have to start talking about it and be real about it.

DEAN: It's a beautiful goal and such a beautiful way to honor your sister's legacy. Solomon, thank you for being with us. We really appreciate it.

THOMAS: Thank you so much for having me.

DEAN: And if you are having suicidal thoughts or you know someone who might need help, you can always reach out to the suicide and crisis lifeline. You just text or call 988, and someone will be there for you.

We will be right back.

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