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Berlin Pride Attack Suspect Dead After Encounter With Police; Massive Wildfires Scorch Parts Of France, Spain; Sources Vance, Caine Raised Concerns About Escalating War; Report: Growing Police Misuse Of Flock's License-Plate Reader Cameras; Graham Behind The Scenes: Trump "Lives Blowing Stuff Up"; Families And Survivors Confront Apalachee High School Shooter; FDA Narrowly Votes To Loosen Peptide Restrictions. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired July 26, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:32]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this breaking news.

The manhunt for a deadly terror attack suspect in Germany comes to a dramatic end. Live to Berlin, next.

Plus, new CNN reporting on a White House meeting where Vice President J.D. Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, raised serious concerns about the escalation of the war in Iran.

And growing pushback over the thousands of automated license plate readers set up around the nation to capture license plate numbers and data. CNN investigates the widening misuse of flock cameras.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with this breaking news.

The manhunt for the suspect in a deadly attack at a German Pride event is over. Police in Berlin confirming the suspect is dead following an encounter with authorities.

Police say the suspect had driven a van into a crowd in Berlin before attacking people with a knife, killing at least one and injuring dozens more.

Witnesses describe hearing a dull bang as chaos erupted during the event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): At first, we couldn't make out what the screams were because of the party, the music and the atmosphere. And we only realized later exactly what was going on when the police cleared the park with machine guns and asked us to go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen joins us now from Berlin. Fred, tell us about the manhunt and how it came to this dramatic end.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka.

Well, the Berlin police is saying that around 6:00 p.m. local time that they did police action in the west of Berlin, in a suburb called Spandau. And there in a garden shed, they say that they found the suspect in this ramming attack, that they say that the suspect apparently then approached the police officers carrying a knife.

There were shots that were fired, and they say in the end, the suspect was killed by those police officers after those shots were fired.

Now obviously, the investigation here is still very much going on. Where I am right now is only about a hundred yards away from where this ramming attack took place.

This is right in the middle of a very central park in the center of Berlin, the Tiergarten. And that's right at the edge of the route of that -- of that procession that took place, of that Pride Parade that took place on the -- on the sidelines of which that attack took place.

Now, the police here and the German authorities are saying now that 29 people in total were injured in that ramming attack. One person was, of course, killed, was confirmed dead.

They also say that the suspect fled the scene after crashing into the tree and apparently injured several people using a machete or a knife.

As you can imagine, this manhunt was going on throughout the better part of the day. And here in Berlin, we heard helicopters overhead in many places for an extended period of time.

We ourselves also saw buildings that were put on lockdown, police officers outside those buildings searching some of those premises. They also went into the -- into the subway here in Berlin, looking for the suspect.

Now, they say that in a garden shed in the west of Berlin, in that area of Spandau, is where they found Abdul B., who had been named as a suspect, and he was being looked for with a photo.

And then in the end, after that police action took place, he was then killed on the scene. They said they tried to revive him, that there were medics on hand, but that every help came too late for the suspect in all of this.

Obviously, as you can imagine, there is still going to be a big investigation going on. I can tell you from the days leading up to this parade, that there were a lot of barriers that were being put up. There was a big security concept for this parade.

And so the authorities here are saying that they are obviously going to have an after-action report to find out exactly how a major vehicle managed to get into this park. And again, wound several people, in the end, leaving one dead as well, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much for that update.

All right. And this breaking news. We continue to follow the monster wildfires, scorching parts of France and Spain, prompting more than 300,000 people to evacuate.

[14:04:50]

WHITFIELD: In southwest France. Ashes and rubble are what's left after more than 200 homes were consumed by the flames in several towns west of Bordeaux, officials say.

Interior minister, Laurent Nunez, describes the wildfires fires as "extremely virulent and unpredictable".

And then one man says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Evacuating 200,000 people, it's never been seen in France. Never. Not since the war have we seen anything like this. Even the worst disasters that have happened, this has never occurred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Incredible.

And then in Spain, authorities confirmed wildfires there have now killed at least one person. Hundreds of firefighters are working to contain two major blazes raging near Madrid. The prime minister warned of difficult hours ahead.

One woman described the moment that she realized it was time to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODIKA, EVACUEE (through translator): I saw clouds of smoke rising into the sky. That's when I realized something was happening. I think we all panicked.

Then we received the message telling us to get ready, take whatever valuables we could. Whatever was most important. I took my cat and we left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Melissa Bell is in Bordeaux, France. Melissa, I mean, this is horrible. I mean, so many homes simply wiped off the map there. And people now, you know, left trying to figure out how are they going to start over? What are French authorities telling you?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're just beginning to count the human cost of this Fredricka.

But we got to spend a lot of the day with some of the firefighters here in southwestern France that are still hour after hour, day and night, and have been for four days trying to take on this fire and contain it. That has not yet happened.

And we had a chance to see why it is so difficult, even in those parts of the area that have been burned. The 42,000 hectares that have now gone up in smoke, where this fire started four days ago, you can see that the ground still smolders.

It is the nature of the vegetation in this particular part of the world. Pine forests and very, very dry ferns that sort of act as kindling. Even once the fire has moved on to other parts, flames pop up all the time.

So what you see are civilians who have been brought in. Anyone who had a tractor or a truck, and they've got hoses and jerry cans, and they're trying to catch these little flames as they pick up in those parts that the firefighters have moved on from, because the rest of the fire is blazing so uncontrollably. And the area that it is blazing in, Fredricka, is so vast.

Now, we've been hearing, as you say, from the interior minister and also from the local head of this region, speaking to the particular virulence in nature of this fire. It is one that has been pushed by winds over the last few days, sometimes eastward, sometimes westward.

It's behaved very erratically. It's been very ferocious.

You've had these internal wind systems and sort of tornadoes of fire that have added to the complication for firefighters of bringing it under control.

Essentially, what we've seen over the last 24 hours is this fire pushed by a westerly wind head southeast, meaning more evacuations overnight Saturday into Sunday, more people trying to find shelter, and more uncertainty about when this is going to end.

It's now cut a major highway, the one that leads from here in southwestern France all the way to Spain. It's interrupted train services. And for now, day and night, firefighters and civilians are still trying to bring it under control for the time being, with very little success, Fredricka.

This is a really monstrous fire. Nothing on the scale of what we saw about four years ago in this particular part of France.

WHITFIELD: Wow. That's incredible and so sad.

All right, Melissa Bell, we'll check back with you. Thank you so much there in Bordeaux. All right. Let's go to Spain now, Madrid. Our Pau Mosquera is on the

phone with us. So Pau, what are the conditions like there? What's happening?

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the situation here remains dramatic because we know that the fires are still burning on the western mountains of the community of Madrid.

I can tell you that right now we are at Navas del Rey, which is a town located around 60 kilometers west from the city of Madrid. And we cannot get any closer to the wildfires because the authorities are here blocking any access and any further access to the areas where the fires are right now.

But what we can see on the horizon are thick columns of fire -- of smoke that are marking the presence of the fire. And I can tell you from the town we are in that here, Fredricka, everything looks deserted.

This is a small town of around 3,400 residents, but all of them were evacuated on Thursday, the very first day that this fire was ignited. As the flames were getting closer and closer.

[14:09:51]

MOSQUERA: Over the afternoon, I've been speaking to some of the neighbors that have been trying to access to their homes, and they told me that they are somehow desperate because they want to know how much damage has this wildfire already caused on their properties. But it is still unclear when they will be allowed to get inside to get to their homes.

So right now, the hundreds of emergency workers that are deployed all over the most affected areas are trying to contain the fire. But this is no easy task because the wind keeps blowing and blowing. And right now the wind is blowing south and we can see how the thick columns of smoke are moving that direction.

So right now, all the neighbors are just hoping that things can get back better over the next hours, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: I mean, it's incredible. These pictures are absolutely stunning. I mean, just really underscoring the ferocity of these fires in both Spain now and France.

All right. Pau Mosquera, thank you so much. We'll check back with you as well.

All right. Still ahead, Iran operations on hold? Did behind-the-scenes pushback from Vice President J.D. Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, contribute to that pause? We've got new reporting.

Plus invasion of privacy. Law enforcement officers caught using A.I.- powered cameras to stalk exes, partners and private citizens. Shocking details on the growing abuse of power. And from banned to boosted -- the FDA relaxing rules on controversial and highly-popular peptides. Are they injury miracle cures or massive risks? Dr. Sanjay Gupta will break it all down for us.

[14:11:40]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Now, to new CNN reporting about a key White House meeting President Trump held on Friday focused on the U.S. war with Iran.

A U.S. official and a source familiar with the matter tell CNN that Vice President J.D. Vance and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine warned the president about potential consequences of escalating the war.

The sources say Caine gave Trump his military options, but he also expressed concerns about further depletion of the U.S. munitions stockpile and other possible negative consequences.

A U.S. Defense Department source says military operations are currently on hold, but it's unclear if that Friday White House meeting prompted the U.S. to pause what had been nearly two weeks of strikes on Iran.

CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us right now. Betsy, what more can you tell us about this meeting and the president's plans for the war going forward?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Fredricka, President Trump spending part of his Friday with top advisers and cabinet officials discussing the possibility of escalating this war with Iran.

But now we are seeing an apparent pause in that fighting after 13 consecutive nights of strikes. One U.S. official saying that military operations are on hold as we are seeing these diplomatic discussions pick back up after that ceasefire fell apart just a few weeks ago.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, addressing that pause earlier today. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: I've spoken with Secretary Hegseth. What the president is doing right now, as we've seen all along, is giving some talks some space.

Talks are ongoing. They're happening at every level from the more technical aspect of it, all the way to the highest levels, of course, within both the Iranian government and the U.S. government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, in that Friday White House meeting, we are learning, according to our sources, that Vice President J.D. Vance, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, both raised concerns about escalating this conflict.

The president in the past has threatened massive attacks that could include critical infrastructure -- things like roads, bridges, Kharg Island, which is a key oil hub along with Pickaxe Mountain, which is believed to be a nuclear site. Now that could constitute war crimes, potentially.

And Caine in that meeting specifically raised concerns about U.S. munitions stockpiles. We've heard now from Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. He says in a statement, quote, "We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests."

Now, sources say that other major concerns were raised to the president in that meeting. That includes the possibility of massive civilian casualties in Iran, as well as a potential refugee crisis. As well as this idea that this could spill into a broader regional conflict.

But there are few people within President Trump's inner circle that believe that these options for escalation are going to yield the results that President Trump is hoping for, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Betsy Klein, keep us posted there from the White House. Thank you.

All right. Meantime, Iran says it held talks with Oman in Tehran about the Strait of Hormuz over the past two days.

[14:19:49]

WHITFIELD: The U.S. military has continued its naval blockade of Iranian ports. U.S. Central Command posted on social media yesterday that it boarded a tanker in the Arabian Sea that violated the blockade.

At the same time, a new front in the war is opening in the Red Sea, where Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have exchanged attacks with Saudi Arabia. That conflict threatening another critical oil corridor.

CNN's Nic Robertson joins us right now. Nic, we've got this apparent U.S. Pause on strikes in Iran. How might that impact peace talks overall?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It gives them an opportunity. We heard from the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman today saying that there was progress, that the talks were constructive, that they'd continue at a political and technical level.

But it's key to understanding the details, and we just don't have them. The talks were all about the Strait of Hormuz, of course, and the key point here is do the Iranians finally agree that they give up control of the Strait of Hormuz and allow traffic to pass through marine traffic and not try to get any tolls and not tell them which passages and pathways to go down through the Strait of Hormuz. And there's no indication that's about to happen.

So it will be the output of that meeting, what the Omanis pass on to the U.S. diplomats. What the White House gets back from those talks is going to determine the next moves.

Clearly, the implication we've heard from Ambassador Waltz, from the Pentagon, from the indications from the White House, is this is a sort of unannounced, temporary ceasefire type deal to make the space for diplomacy.

But it's not clear just because you're talking that there's actually going to be an outcome that's good enough for the White House.

I think on the Houthi front in the Red Sea and the trying to stop the Saudi oil getting out to world markets, it's having a chilling effect. But as far as we know today, the Houthis haven't fired any additional missiles at Saudi infrastructure.

So perhaps, you know, they're aligned with Iran. So perhaps they're taking a beat on all of this at the moment as well.

And then, of course, tomorrow, Prime Minister Netanyahu will leave Israel. He'll head to the United States for the funeral of Lindsey Graham. But it also is meeting at the White House with President Trump on Tuesday.

We can expect the Israeli prime minister to thank the president for announcing that Saudi Arabia has to normalize with Israel before it can have this civilian nuclear deal.

But also the key thing there will be what intelligence does Prime Minister Netanyahu share with President Trump about Iranian nuclear assets. Where are they?

Of course, it was the Israelis that had a lot of information about leading towards the Pickaxe Mountain as being a storage facility for some of the highly-enriched uranium and other nuclear storage sites that the Iranians have.

So what else is Prime Minister Netanyahu going to put on President Trump's desk that then may influence where this war goes next?

WHITFIELD: All right. Very complex.

Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

All right. Let's continue this conversation. With us now is Alireza Nader. He is the president of the Nader Research Group.

There's a pause in fighting right now. And Iran is talking with Oman about the Strait of Hormuz. But I wonder, in your view, what kind of diplomacy talks continue and with whom?

I mean, we heard Mr. Waltz say that even the U.S. at the highest levels is still continuing to be part of the diplomacy talks. But I wonder with this hold on U.S. military operations, what kind of impact these talks might have.

ALIREZA NADER, PRESIDENT, NADER RESEARCH GROUP: Thanks for having me. I think both sides really want this conflict to end. The Trump administration realizes that it is stuck in a quagmire, and the economy in Iran is suffering greatly.

The regime is under huge pressure, and it wants to get the most out of its discussions with Washington, D.C.

So I think the last few days of military action we've seen from the United States and from Iran is really meant to increase each side's leverage so they can get a better deal out of these upcoming negotiations.

Oman has been a mediator between the two sides. It has very good relations with Iran, and it will continue to play a big role, I think, in future negotiations.

W1; And then you have stated that, you know, U.S. attacks on civilian infrastructure inside Iran is actually strengthening the regime. Why do you believe that is the case? How do you know that is the case?

[14:24:44]

NADER: Look, before this war started in January, there were huge, peaceful protests against the regime. Really a revolutionary movement in Iran that was disrupted by this war.

Right now, the U.S. is conducting lots of attacks against military facilities in Iran, but civilians are getting hit very hard as well.

I'm very concerned about the U.S. strategy of destroying Iran's critical water and energy infrastructure because Iran is on the brink of economic and environmental collapse.

And the U.S. destroying these facilities is not going to hurt the regime, it's going to hurt ordinary people.

Most of the regime's military assets and its senior leadership, and Iran's political leadership is underground. They're pretty safe from these bombs.

But the people above ground are getting hurt and killed.

WHITFIELD: How do you think, specifically, civilians in Iran are being impacted? Because obviously, you know, pictures are not coming out. Nor is the sentiment of a lot of Iranian civilians.

So, you know, can you paint a picture for us, you know, of how life in general is being impacted there in Tehran and in the outskirts as well?

NADER: I think life in Iran is hell unless you're connected to the regime. Life is hell because the people in Iran, and we hear this a lot from the reporting we're getting from within Iran, a lot of people expected that the Trump administration would come to their help after thousands of Iranians were massacred by the regime. That help really never came.

The regime is still in power. It is executing innocent people left and right. And this war has demonstrated, I think, the weakness of U.S. military power. And I hope really, for once and all, American policymakers and the public realize that you can't overthrow the regime in Iran through war, through bombs, from the air.

The people of Iran have to create that change for themselves, and they can't do that while they're being bombed.

WHITFIELD: All very powerful information there. Alireza Nader, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

NADER: Thank you very much for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, rare access, newly-released video of the late Senator Lindsey Graham from a filmmaker who spent hundreds of hours with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Hey, Bibi. Lindsey.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Hey, Lindsey. How are you?

GRAHAM: I couldn't -- I'm just so impressed. Glad to be your friend

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:27:34]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:50]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

This might creep you out. Thousands of automated license plate readers are set up around the nation to capture license plate numbers and data. According to a nonprofit public interest law firm, police misuse of these readers is growing. Multiple law enforcement officers are being accused of using them to run unauthorized personal searches.

With us now, CNN's Rafael Romo.

This could be pretty unsettling to a lot of people. That's right.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, you know, the question at first was, is this random people that they're watching or is it people they know? And the answer seems to be its romantic interest. People they know. Not that that's going to make you feel any better, right?

But there has been a series of cases nationwide involving the alleged misuse by law enforcement officers of automated license plate readers, also known as ALPR, that were originally designed to locate vehicles and drivers potentially involved in a crime. Here in Georgia, Fred, employees of multiple law enforcement agencies have been accused of misusing Flock safety and other ALPR systems.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed a police dispatcher, supervisor in Conyers was arrested Wednesday after it says a GBI investigation revealed she had access to the system more than listened to this 30 times between April and July for non-law enforcement purposes. Earlier this month, the GBI also said it arrested five former Albany Police Department officers as part of another investigation into the misuse of their access to the Flock safety system. Officials say the Albany Police Department requested the GBI to investigate the officers following an internal audit of the flock license plate reader camera system. Earlier this month, a former Milwaukee police officer was sentenced to 12 months of probation and a $500 fine after pleading guilty to attempted misconduct in public office as part of a deal.

Detectives investigating officer Josue Ayala found he secretly used Flock to learn the location of his romantic partner, 124 times, and that partner's ex 55 times, according to a February criminal complaint.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW TORBENSON, DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, MILWAUKEE COUNTY: With that position of trust, Mr. Ayala was given tools to investigate crime, and one of those tools Mr. Ayala used for his own personal reasons.

MICHAEL STEINLE, AYALA'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Every time there's a misuse of Flock by a police officer, Mr. Ayala's picture is on the news as a result of this.

JOSUE AYALA, DEFENDANT: As you heard, I dedicated 11 years of my life to law enforcement targeting violent offenders, making a difference in the community. And I don't offer that as an excuse, but I just wanted to don't want that incident to reflect the person who I truly am and have been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The institute for justice says its ongoing review of media reports and public records, quote, "has identified at least 28 cases nationwide of officers allegedly abusing ALPR data to stock romantic interests, with the bulk of those incidents happening since 2024. Nearly all of these officers were criminally charged and lost their jobs, either by resigning or getting fired.

[14:35:01]

Most of these systems are made by Flock Safety, the largest ALPR company based here in Atlanta, which says its network includes more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states. Flock CEO and co-founder Garrett Langley told CNN in an interview, the company last month launched an audit assistance tool that alerts an auditor to abnormal uses of its system. The idea here is making it easier for supervisors to learn if somebody is misusing the system, but again, so many cases here. WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, so many. And that's -- that's really

embarrassing for all involved.

ROMO: Right.

WHITFIELD: Okay. Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

All right. Still ahead, the Georgia teen who pleaded guilty to a horrific high school mass shooting is back in court tomorrow. What to expect as a judge decides his ultimate fate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:31]

WHITFIELD: All right. Today, we're getting new insight into President Trump's views on the war in Iran. Never before seen documentary footage chronicles the late Senator Lindsey Graham's relationship with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The South Carolina Republican, one of the president's most trusted counselors before his death earlier this month, reveals Trump's happiness about the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I mean, like, how long have we been pushing this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, you've been pushing this for years. Right?

GRAHAM: Right.

It's here. I thought that Trump was bored (ph). He's jacked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GRAHAM: It's the best thing I've ever done.

He loves -- he loves blowing stuff up. He has done nothing -- he hasn't tweeted much at all. No drama. He's been a great wartime president. I said last night that Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill. I mean, they're the right two guys to confront this evil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And this week, services spanning two days will be held to honor Graham's military and political career. On Tuesday, a special ceremony will be held under the U.S. Capitol Rotunda before a service at the national cathedral. And following that, Graham's remains will be flown to his home state of South Carolina for a funeral on Wednesday. And CNN will bring you those moments as they happen.

Senator Lindsey Graham was 71.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:46:49]

WHITFIELD: Tomorrow, a judge in Georgia will decide whether a teenager gets a life sentence with or without parole for the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School back in 2024. Emotions were running high on Friday when survivors and relatives of those killed confronted 16- year-old Colt Gray. Their statements came after gray pleaded guilty to all the charges against him, including four counts of murder.

Here's what the mother of one of the four victims had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BREANNA SCHERMERHORN, MASON SCHERMERHORN'S MOTHER: Every morning I wake up to the reality that my son is gone. Every night I go to bed knowing that there is nothing I can do to change it. I have lived 688 days so far of a sentence with no parole and that is what he should receive as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Here with me now to discuss his former U.S. attorney, Michael Moore.

Michael, always great to see you. I mean, you heard Mason's mother there say she has to live a life sentence without parole. How much weight does an impact statement like that have on a judge?

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Yeah. Well, I'm glad to be with you. And I'm sorry that we're talking about this tragedy. You know so if you think about this, when somebody enters a plea of guilty, the judge basically really becomes a neutral, and why they should be neutral throughout the trial. They really do now have to consider as part of the sentencing. Both the circumstances of the defendant and the state and also the victims.

And so, you know, the judge is balancing these various interests and sort of the emotions that come from both sides. There's no question were going to hear, in this hearing at some point, witnesses on behalf of the defendant here, there will be emotional too. But the court is going to be mindful that there is nothing that you can say to take away from the grief of these people who lost, who lost loved ones, because really, of senseless gun violence.

So, this -- this is a heavy job for the judge, but he'll -- he'll have to weigh out sort of the, the various aspects for both parties in the case.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. And then, of course, we also heard in the courtroom, heard Colt Gray's police interview shortly after the shooting. I do want to play a portion for you right now and get your thoughts on the other side. Let's listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

COLT GRAY, APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTER: This is (EXPLETIVE DELETED). This is (EXPLETIVE DELETED) stupid. I've affected -- probably affected thousands of people, dude. This is (EXPLETIVE DELETED) horrible.

POLICE: Is that something that you've been thinking about doing for a while?

GRAY: Yes, it's been years.

POLICE: You've been thinking about it for years.

GRAY: It's only gotten worse. And I finally just now got to the point where I wanted to reach out and get help. And we were so close. (CRYING) Oh my God!

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I mean, that -- that too is just a lot to hear. I mean, he says, you know what he's done. He admits what he's what he's done is horrible. And saying, we were so close. Meaning to getting help. I mean, will that resonate in a different way also?

[14:50:01]

MOORE: Yeah, it will. The, the basically, if you think about it, every institution has failed this kid. His family institution fell apart. He had a mother that went to jail. He's left with his father, the social services in the state didn't help him.

The school fell apart when the law enforcement came out to interview him. They didn't ask to see the gun, even though they were told there was a gun in the house. I mean, every institution failed him. I don't think that's enough to give him an excuse, but it's certainly going to be a reason for the judge to think about whether or not he is, at least under our law. So irretrievably broken and irreparably damaged. Is he corrupt to the point or incorrigible to the point where he has no redeemable value? And those are the things the courts going to have to consider as it weighs whether or not to give, you know, life in prison or life without parole.

The truth is, the judge has a middle ground, and that is to really give consecutive life sentences, which because you have four murders, the judge could give life with parole. But he basically would stack them on top of each other so that this defendant would serve 30 years and then he would be eligible for parole on that sentence. He then start his next 30 years and he'd start his next 30 years.

So, just from simple math, you can see that at 120 years, he's not going to get out of jail. And that's a way for the judge to recognize the inherent difficulties of sentencing a minor, somebody who was 14 at the time, to life without parole and declaring them, you know, irretrievably and irreparably damaged. And at the same time, then also giving some comfort to the victim's family that that is, you know, he's never going to see a time outside of jail.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. This is going to be another tough week.

All right. Michael Moore, thank you so much. Yes. All right. Coming up, all new in the next hour dropped and devastated

more than 500 incoming freshmen at Howard University in Washington, D.C., suddenly unenrolled just weeks before classes are to start. I'll speak live to one impacted student about what happened and how the university is responding.

Plus, running dry. Two crucial U.S. water reservoirs are hitting dangerously low levels, threatening water and power for millions of people. How close are we to a major crisis?

And Shark Week, it's back? We're going face to face with the worlds most feared predators.

Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:56:59]

WHITFIELD: An FDA advisory panel narrowly voted Friday to loosen restrictions on the use of peptides. Youve likely seen ads for peptides all over your social media, with promises to improve health and wellness.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta gives us this closer look at what peptides really are, and the debate surrounding them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY: I'm a big fan of peptides. I've used them myself.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump's health secretary, is embracing peptides. And he isn't alone. The global market is projected to more than double by 2034.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peptides. You want to know more about peptides? Look at my stash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you're curious about peptides but have no idea where to start, then this one is for you.

GUPTA (voice-over): Let's start with the basics. Our bodies have 20 fundamental amino acids. When they combine in short chains, they form peptides. For instance, this one is KPV.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's talk about KPV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: KPV, the queen of anti-inflammation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: KPV, day three.

GUPTA (voice-over): Peptides help regulate different functions in the body, and synthetic versions are promising everything from building muscle to more youthful skin. In the United States, some peptides are approved by the Food and Drug

Administration, like insulin and semaglutide. That's the peptide in Ozempic.

But many more are not FDA approved, and they have not been proven safe or effective, including this list of 17 peptides. Until recently, people could still get these through compounding pharmacies, which made them from raw ingredients. But three years ago, the FDA banned them, citing significant safety concerns, including the risk of life- threatening allergic reactions.

But that hardly made a dent in the demand. Peptides that were banned by the FDA were still widely bought and used, mostly through unregulated markets. They skirted the rules by labeling the peptides for research use only.

And now, Secretary Kennedy wants to lift that ban.

KENNEDY: The compounding pharmacies are getting those peptides from FDA-inspected facilities, and some of them in India and China, but they were the same one that the pharmaceutical industries are buying them, and we inspect those. You know you're getting a good product. You know you're getting what you bought, what you -- what was advertised. With the gray market, you have no idea.

GUPTA (voice-over): This week, an FDA advisory panel is discussing reversing the ban on seven peptides. That's even after an agency review already said the evidence does not justify letting pharmacies make any of them.

Kennedy argues the focus should be in safety.

KENNEDY: Look for a safety signal, and if there is one, then you move it. But if there's not one, then you don't.

GUPTA (voice-over): Critics warn that would essentially reverse decades of how we approve drugs in the United States.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

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WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday.