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CNN This Morning
Pence, Christie To Announce Candidacies This Week; GOP Hopefuls Converge On Iowa For "Roast And Ride" Event; Official: Derailment Caused By "Change In Electronic Interlocking"; Five Officers Charged In Beating Death Of Tyre Nichols In Court Tomorrow; Prince Harry To Testify In U.K. Phone Hacking Trial; Ukraine Moves Into Russian Territory Gain Momentum; YouTube To Allow 2020 Election Denialism Content. YouTube to Allow 2020 Election Denial Content; Interview with Northeastern University Associate Professor and Graduate Programs Director and Northeastern University School of Journalism and Media Innovation, John Wihbey; Canada Requiring Health Warnings Directly Printed on Individual Cigarettes; Weight-Loss Meds Could Help Curb Addictive Behaviors; Former Vietnam POWs Mark 50 Years Since Release; Arizona Announces Limits on Construction in Phoenix. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired June 04, 2023 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:00:56]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It is Sunday morning and I'm glad to be spending it with you. Good morning. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It's June 4th. I'm Victor Blackwell.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rahel Solomon in for Amara Walker today. Thank you for spending part of your morning with us. Very happy to be here, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Good to have you for the weekend.
SOLOMON: Nice to round out the weekend. And here is what we are watching this morning. Republican presidential hopefuls flocked to Iowa this weekend to try to pitch themselves to voters how they are hoping to stand out in a field that's grown increasingly crowded and is still dominated by former President Trump.
BLACKWELL: Officials say they now know what caused a train crash in India that killed nearly 300 people. A team is live at the scene with more on the recovery efforts and what we're learning about what led to that accident.
SOLOMON: YouTube now says that it will no longer remove content featuring false claims about the 2020 election. Why the company says it's rolling back the policy now, even as we're approaching another election?
BLACKWELL: Arizona is pausing some new construction permits in the Phoenix area because of water supply concerns. The 100-year plan builders must have before they'll be allowed to start new projects. All right, two more names will soon be joining the growing list of Republicans running for president. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who ran in 2016, is expected to announce his candidacy on Tuesday. And former Vice President Mike Pence says he will formally enter the race on Wednesday.
SOLOMON: Yesterday, Pence and other GOP hopefuls gathered in Iowa for the annual Roast and Ride gathering hosted by Senator Joni Ernst. Other major contenders were present, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Former President Trump, meantime, was notably absent from the event last week. He held rallies in Iowa and also participated in a Fox town hall, but he has also largely avoided events where he would share the stage with other 2024 contenders.
Senator Ernst told CNN that Republican voters are looking to the future, not the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JONI ERNST (R), IOWA: President Trump has a great base here. It is strong, but at the same time, people don't want to hear about what has happened in the past because we've had two years of a Biden administration that is just destroying our nation. And so they want to know what are the future decisions that will turn our country around and who is going to lead us forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Governor DeSantis continued his criticism of former President Trump. He argued the party needs to dispense with the culture of losing. He also doubled down on his feud with Disney and defending, putting the culture wars front and center during his campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As president, I recognize that the woke-mind virus represents a war on the truth, so we will wage a war on the woke. We will fight the woken education. We will fight the woke in the corporations. We will fight the woke in the halls of Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right, joining me now, Alice Stewart, a CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist, and CNN Political Commentator Scott Jennings. Welcome to you both. Happy Sunday.
All right, let's start with some of the new names coming on the list, Scott. And we'll start with former Vice President Pence. He announced that he's going to announce. So he says, I don't have anything to say today, but Wednesday I'm going to tell you, I'm running for president. All right, so great. We've discussed that he's a little -- he's far too Trumpy for the Never Trumpers, and he's not Trumpy enough for MAGA, so he is got a narrow lane, if any. Will he be able to raise the money? Will he make the thresholds to get onto the stage at least do you think?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's going to be tough for Mike Pence. And look I've been a fan of Mike Pence. I think he did his duty on January the 6th. He's a moral person. He stands for traditional Republican, Reagan Republican values. If anybody's earned a right to run, it's Mike Pence.
But realistically, I think his path for this nomination is very narrow because if you look at the polling right now and you just look at the metrics of the race, it's really a two-man race between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis and everybody else is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
So I wish Mike Pence well. I think his message is great. I think his path to the nomination is fairly narrow.
[07:05:06]
BLACKWELL: And Alice, if there is this narrow path, there is this place for the Republican orthodoxy, Christian conservative in this race. How much does Tim Scott's entrance into the race impact the former vice president's ability to gain some steam here?
ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It does impact along with others that are in the race as well. Nikki Haley is really seeking that evangelical vote across Iowa. Former Vice President Pence will do as well. DeSantis is doing that. And I'm speaking with the evangelical leaders in Iowa and they say their eyes are wide open. They're still shopping and they're looking.
Most of the solid evangelicals in Iowa are ready to turn the page on Donald Trump. They appreciated the policies and what he accomplished as president, but they're tired of the rhetoric. They're tired of the victimhood, they're tired of litigating past grievances and they want someone that will get in there, be the nominee that will fight for the policies and principles that are important to them, but can also win a general election.
That's why DeSantis message of getting away from the culture of losing, which is what we had under former President Trump and into the culture of winning, that's appealing to many Republican voters especially in Iowa. Not just someone that can win the nomination, but the general.
I also think the entry of former New Jersey governor Chris Christie will be interesting. A lot of people look at him as the dark horse. He will also prove to be a bull in the China shop. He's going to get in there, he's going to attack Donald Trump relentlessly. And with that being his main goal, he could do some damage and put Donald Trump on his heels, an off message, which will give a lane for other candidates to make some headway. BLACKWELL: Yes. Let's turn to that, Scott. The attack of Trump being the Christie main goal is he's expected to enter the race this weekend. I want to start with two polls. First, control room, let's put up the candidates that people would most likely support in 2024, Republicans here. This is May 25th.
You see here, Governor Christie at 2 percent there with Tim Scott below Pence, Haley, DeSantis, and Trump. Now, let's flip to the other poll. When they were asked, which candidate would you not support in 2024 under any circumstances, at the top of the list, 60 percent, Chris Christie. They have obviously seen these numbers before the decision to get into this race.
So is that his main goal -- not to really win the nomination, but to just hammer Trump so that he too cannot get to to the general? Is -- do you think that is Christie's goal?
JENNINGS: Well, I think anybody who files for president somewhere in the back of their mind thinks they alone have the ability to catch lightning in a bottle and make history. But the reality for Chris Christie is, is that that's very unlikely to happen. However -- sorry about that -- however, he is going to be the most pugilistic person in the race. He is the most brawling debater in the race.
We all remember what he did to Marco Rubio back in 2016 at that fateful New Hampshire debate. And that's one of the reasons his presence in the race, I think, is one of the reasons why. I wonder if Donald Trump will even want to go to a debate stage. If Christie were to qualify for the debates, would Donald Trump would be up there with him? I wonder about that because he's one of the most skillful debaters we have in the party today.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Alice, I think I am correct in saying that both of you think it's time for the party to move on from Donald Trump in 2024. So when you look at the growing field here and you hear that the governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum may also be getting into this race soon -- I see you shaking your head, Scott, so I'm going to come to you next.
But Alice, you first. If you want someone other than Trump, what do you think about the North Dakota governor getting in? Not when he gets out, but just even joining the race.
STEWART: Look, I think a robust primary is good. I think it's important for voters to see and hear from anyone who has the wherewithal and the energy and the money to get into the race. But reality is, the more candidates we have in this race, the greater chance it is for Donald Trump to get more votes than the rest and keep his base on board and become the nominee. And I don't think that is the right nominee we need heading into the general election.
So I would like to see candidates get in and when the caucuses and the primaries start taking shape, those that realize they just don't have the threshold to make a difference, to rally their supporters behind the candidate who could take on Donald Trump.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
STEWART: And what we're going to see in these debates is a good opportunity. The RNC has put out the criteria for debates. You have to have a certain threshold in polling, but also 40,000 unique donors.
[07:10:06]
The candidates that don't make the debates, they're going to have a really difficult time making headway. So I think the debate process itself will help to narrow the field.
BLACKWELL: Scott, quickly on Burgum, then I want to get to Nikki Haley.
JENNINGS: Yes, look, I think some people file for president. Maybe they think they could get there, but most likely they're just looking for a few cable hits and a book deal. And so, I wish the governor of North Dakota well, but, you know, I couldn't pick this guy out of a lineup and, you know, I followed this stuff more closely than the average voter.
BLACKWELL: Yes. But the same could have been said in 2019 for Pete Buttigieg, and look where he ended up in the 2020 primary and in the administration.
JENNINGS: Yes, in the President's Cabinet, which is where the rest of these people are going to wind up.
BLACKWELL: OK. Touche.
Let's talk about Nikki Haley. What does she have to do tonight at CNN's Town Hall? Start with you, Alice.
STEWART: She has to go out there and do what she's been doing on the ground. When they've been out there in Iowa testing their message and what resonates with people, to get out there and talk about it, it is time for an optimistic candidate. It's time for someone that can bring about a generational change. And what she has been doing is really going after Ron DeSantis.
She is making the case that Ron DeSantis is virtually a shadow of Donald Trump. And why would voters want more of Donald Trump, which that's a very difficult message to make because a lot of people like the policies of Trump, but want something a little bit different. So it's kind of a mixed bag whether or not that messaging will help, but she is certainly one that is going to be more optimistic than what we've seen in Donald Trump.
And, again, having the benefit of testing what works on the ground in Iowa, she'll be able to do that in this town hall tonight. I'm anxious to see her be able to take questions from the audience as well as Jake Tapper and have a more national outlet for people to get to see her more.
The more people see and hear and interact with these candidates, the better it is for the candidates themselves and also viewers and the voters.
BLACKWELL: Scott, same question. What does she need to do?
JENNINGS: I mean, a lot of prayer and hoping. I just -- I've never seen it for Nikki Haley, and, you know, she's been a great republican for a lot of years, but she worked for Trump. Then she said she would never run against Trump, and now she's attacking DeSantis for being too much like Trump.
I mean, her message is, the reality is, it's Trump and then it's DeSantis, and then it's really everybody else. So the, everybody else has to get rid of DeSantis. I do expect her to spend a lot of time on him, because he's the major roadblock. You can't go on to beat the final boss if you can't beat the early levels.
So, for the rest of these folks, Haley and others, it's really get rid of DeSantis first and see what happens later.
BLACKWELL: All right. This seems to be a primary within the primary.
Alice Stewart, Scott Jennings, thank you so much.
All right, live look here at the site of the CNN Town Hall tonight in Des Moines, Iowa. Not much happening now, but in 13 short hours, there will be people in that room. Jake Tapper will be one of them moderating the CNN Republican Presidential Town Hall with former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley kicks off tonight at 8:00 right here on CNN.
SOLOMON: Let's head overseas now. More now on that deadly trained crash in India that killed at least 275 people on Friday. Officials now say that the derailment was caused by a change in the railways electronic signaling system, and that the speed and that the impact of the collision may have caused the high number of casualties.
CNN's Ivan Watson, there for us in Balasore, India this morning. So Ivan, witnesses have described just a horrifying scene there. Where do things stand now?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now there -- the rescue effort is basically over. And right now you see armies of workers out here hard at work at trying to reopen this stretch of railroad after one of the most deadly trained disasters in modern Indian history. The surrounding countryside is littered with these gigantic train wagons, passenger wagons that were derailed in Friday night's accident.
And amidst that, you have construction workers and construction vehicles trying to lay down fresh rails and start things working again. As for the cause of the accident, it appears to, according to officials, be some kind of signaling malfunction. But what basically happened is there was a parked cargo freight train here full of iron ore, and a passenger train slammed into it after sunset on Friday, moving at nearly 80 miles per hour.
And then another passing passenger train also clipped some of the derailed train cars. The result was absolute mayhem. I spoke with a resident here of the nearby village. This is a very rural area.
There was no light here. There were hundreds, thousands of people screaming. Many dead, at least 275 people killed and locals rescued people by the light of their cell phones because there are no street lamps around here. Just to give you an indicator.
[07:15:09]
As for some of the survivors, let's take a listen to one woman who suffered the loss of her daughter in this terrible disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): As we kept rolling, my daughter got stuck there and my daughter got buried under bulky iron right in front of my eyes. I managed to stand in the corner, but I was hit in the head by some iron rod or something.
I thought about how to get my daughter out from underneath the iron, but didn't know how to move such heavy iron. My daughter kept crying and died right in front of my eyes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: So in the end, the railroad system in India is so vital. More than 13 million people move around on trains in this country every day. But there is a tragic history of deadly accidents, and this is, is raising public awareness about the need to improve infrastructure and safety procedures so that something as awful as this doesn't happen again.
SOLOMON: Yes, Ivan. One thing that we see a lot is people taking in India the train to more industrial areas to work, and so, just really devastating scene out there for us.
Ivan Watson, thank you.
To Ukraine now where Ukraine says it is inflicting significant losses on Russia just ahead of its long awaited, perhaps counteroffensive. Coming up, we will take you to the front lines of the intensifying battle in Belgorod.
BLACKWELL: YouTube will no longer remove content featuring false claims about the 2020 election. Why the company says it's comfortable phasing out that policy even as we're headed toward the next election?
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[07:20:52]
SOLOMON: Welcome back, 20 minutes past the hour, and here are five things to watch this week. The five former Memphis police officers charged in the beating death of Tyre Nichols will be back in court tomorrow. The appearance is expected to mostly address general business concerning the case. A trial date for the five men has not been set. Prince Harry, meantime, expected to testify this week in his case against the publisher of a British tabloid. The publication is accused of using unlawful methods to gather information about his private life. Harry just one of dozens of public figures suing the tabloid group. The publisher has apologized.
The trial for Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny on charges of extremism is set to begin Tuesday. The spokesperson for Navalny says that he could face up to 30 years if convicted. He's currently serving a nine-year jail term after being convicted of large scale fraud by a Russian court last year.
Former Vice President Mike Pence expected to officially enter the 2024 race for the White House on Wednesday. Sources tell CNN he will make the announcement in a video and speech in Iowa.
And CNN's Dana Bash will moderate a CNN Town Hall with Pence after the announcement that begins at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday right here on CNN.
And the Belmont Stakes. The final leg of the Triple Crown will kick off Saturday. The race coming amid renewed scrutiny. A horse recently died after suffering an injury at Belmont Park. Twelve horses have also died at Churchill Downs in the past month. Victor?
BLACKWELL: Ukraine's impending fight to go to -- take it to Russia appears to be gaining momentum. A Russian officials report casualties in at least four locations in the Belgorod region. A pro-Ukraine units began their cross-border incursions into Russian territory almost two weeks ago.
CNN's International Correspondent Sam Kiley reports on the battle for Belgorod.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Ukrainian strike in Russian occupied Berdyansk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Oh cool. How cool is that?
KILEY (voice-over): It's heating up across several fronts in Russia. The governor of Belgorod province struggles to reassure a rattled population.
VYACHESLAV GLADKOV, BELGOROD GOVERNOR (through translator): I heard that the armed forces of Ukraine continue to shell our territory. More than 2,500 people are staying in temporary accommodation facilities in Belgorod. There are many questions that residents of Shebekino and border villages are asking, starting with who will pay my utilities? What about our property? Who is watching over it?
KILEY (voice-over): Ukrainian-backed Russian dissident soldiers claim to have raided Russia a second time. In a stunt that could have been filmed anywhere, one fighter displayed a fridge magnet from Belgorod on social media. Soon you two will be able to walk in free Belgorod, and then across all Russia, he said. Vladimir Putin has stepped in to steady the national nerves.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): Today, we will also address these issues in relation to ensuring Russia's security. In this case, domestic political security. Considering the efforts our foes are still taking and stepping up in order to destabilize the situation inside Russia, we must do everything we can to prevent this from happening at any cost.
KILEY (voice-over): The U.S. setting out some grim truths for Moscow.
ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: When you look at President Putin's long-term strategic aim and objectives, there is no question. Russia is significantly worse off today than it was before its full scale invasion of Ukraine, militarily, economically, geopolitically.
KILEY (voice-over): That's certainly the message that Ukraine's trying to deliver to Russia and now by force.
Sam Kiley, CNN in Kharkiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Still ahead, YouTube says it will no longer remove content featuring false claims about the 2020 election that it was stolen. We'll discuss next.
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[07:28:48]
BLACKWELL: This is a major policy reversal. YouTube says it will no longer remove content from its platform that includes false claims about the 2020 presidential election.
SOLOMON: Right. Under the previous policy, tens of thousands of videos claiming that the election was stolen have been removed. CNN's Clare Duffy explain.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: That's right. YouTube says it's rolling back this policy that it put in place in December 2020 amid widespread false claims of election fraud during the U.S. presidential election. Now, YouTube says it no longer plans to remove content with claims, false claims of election fraud, or errors in the 2020 election or previous elections.
YouTube said it had removed tens of thousands of videos under this policy, but that it no longer believes removing such content really reduces the risk of real-world harm or violence. Now this comes as many tech platforms are trying to weigh how to protect users' free speech while trying to mitigate some of the risks of misinformation in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election.
YouTube says that other elements of its election misinformation policies still remain in place, including prohibitions on content that could mislead users about how and when to vote. The company also says it plans to release additional information about its plans ahead of the 2024 presidential election in the coming months. [07:30:00]
Clare Duffy, CNN, New York.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And our next guest is John Wihbey, the graduate programs director for the College of Arts, Media and Design at Northeastern University. John, good morning. Thanks for being with us.
So, what is your biggest concern with this policy change?
JOHN WIHBEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, GRADUATE PROGRAMS DIRECTOR, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY AND SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MEDIA INNOVATION, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Well, I think it's a defensible policy change. I think it was becoming very difficult to enforce. At the same time, I think that making claims about the past is going to be very much bound up with claims about the future.
And so, while YouTube has said that they're comfortable, you know, now allowing fraudulent claims and election denialism for 2020, they've also said that they intend to prevent materially sort of speech that would materially discourage voting in 2024. So, I think it's going to be very difficult to enforce as the rhetoric about the past is sort of bound up with rhetoric about the future.
SOLOMON: Right. So, for YouTube users what will this change look like? Will we see a noticeable change in content? Because if the previous policy resulted in tens of thousands of videos that claimed the election was falsely stolen have been removed, what does this change now look like for people who use YouTube?
WIHBEY: Well, I think they will see a lot more content, whether it's sort of individual videos or channels that make a lot of hay over what happened in 2020 will probably make various kinds of statements about what the implications are for 2024, at which point the consent moderation team is going to, I think, really tie itself in knots in terms of trying to figure out exactly where the line is between the past and the present and the future.
I do think we'll see a lot more, you know, sort of voter fraud claims that will just sort of be constantly kind of flowing through that platform. And so, I have serious concerns about whether it may actually discourage political participation in the future.
SOLOMON: And in terms of the content moderation team and drawing that line, I mean, what would enforcement even look like?
WIHBEY: I mean, it could be that the content gets labeled with a warning label. It could be a fact-check is applied. YouTube and other platforms have used a variety of different kinds of tools and techniques. It could be, too, that they could use some of their algorithmic tools to down rank certain kinds of content, that's another tool that was quite controversial but is used by all the major platforms. So, I do think there could be forms of counter speech that are visible, you know, somewhere in and around the actual video. It could be that it's just seen by fewer people or it could be outright removed if it goes over the line.
SOLOMON: John, I want to read for you very quickly a comment from Media Matters, that's a media watch. Well, of course, as you know, about this change and control room. If we can pull it up, please. YouTube was one the last major social media platforms to keep in place a policy attempting to curb 2020 election misinformation. Now, it's decided it take the easy way out by giving people, like Donald Trump and his enablers, free rein to continue to lie without consequence about the 2020 elections. Now, to you, John, is that a fair assessment?
WIHBEY: I think there's a lot of truth in that statement. I do think there's probably a use within a democratic system for kind of ventilating some amount of sort of ill will and rhetoric. I think some people will blow off steam. That could actually have a useful, you know, function in our democracy. The problem is, is when it starts to feed and fuel extremism.
And so, you know, I agree with the statement in principle, but I do think there are some uses to allowing the free speech to flow about this. It's just a matter of how heated it gets and how good their enforcement can be when it does cross the line.
SOLOMON: Yes. Watch enforcement for sure. John Wihbey, great to have you this morning. Thank you.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: Anecdotally, some users say that certain weight-loss medications are helping them curb some addictive behaviors. So, why aren't drugmakers running some trials to prove this, to figure it out? We'll take a look.
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[07:35:00]
SOLOMON: Welcome back. Canada has now become the first country in the world to require health warnings be printed directly on individual cigarettes. CNN Health Reporter Jacqueline Howard has more now.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Rahel and Victor, cigarettes in Canada soon may look very different. The government has new regulations for warning labels to be printed directly on the tipping paper of individual cigarettes themselves.
So, what it looks like, it appears that while someone is actively smoking, the warning label is right there staring them in the face. Now, this is part of Canada's effort to reduce tobacco use in the country. The labels will be in English and French and they will be phased in starting next year, rolled out on products in the next couple of years.
And tobacco use continues to be a public health concern. It's estimated that tobacco kills about 48,000 Canadians each year. And here in the United States, cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year, including those from secondhand smoke. And around the world, tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year.
Now, according to Canadian health authorities, smoking is also linked to 40 diseases and conditions, including cancer and heart disease, but many of those health risks can be reversed or reduced after the person quits smoking. Rahel and Victor.
[07:40:00]
BLACKWELL: All right. Jacqueline, thank you very much.
Medications like Ozempic are helping people to lose more than weight. Some people who use the drug they say it also helps them curb addictive behaviors like drinking, smoking, even nail-biting. CNN's Meg Tirrell has details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): These days Cheri Ferguson has swapped her vape pen for an Ozempic pen.
CHERI FERGUSON, OZEMPIC PATIENT: I thought I'm not enjoying vaping so I may as well just put this into the battery bin at work and I'll see how long I can go without it. And that was 54 days ago.
TIRRELL (voiceover): Ferguson started using Ozempic 11 weeks ago to combat weight gained during the pandemic that she says was increasing her risk for diabetes. A smoker for much of her life, Ferguson switched to vaping last July. But after starting Ozempic, she says something change.
FERGUSON: It's like someone's just come along and switched a light on and you can see the room for what it is, and all of these vapes and cigarettes that you've had over the years they just -- they don't look attractive anymore. It's very, very strange. Very strange.
TIRRELL (voiceover): Ferguson is one of many patients taking drugs like Ozempic for weight loss who say they've lost interest in some addictive behaviors. Doctors told CNN that patients most commonly report an effect on alcohol use. It may be because these drugs in a class known as GLP-1s have an affect not just in the gut, but also in the brain. It's something being studies at the National Institutes of Health, where researchers just published a paper showing Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, reduced what they called binge-like alcohol drinking in rodents.
DR. LORENZO LEGGIO, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH RESEARCHER: We believe that at least one of the mechanisms how these drugs reduce alcohol drinking is by reducing the rewarding effects of alcohol such as those related to a neurotransmitter in our brain, which is dopamine. So, these medications are likely to make alcohol less rewarding.
TIRRELL (voiceover): And it's not just alcohol and nicotine, patients have even told "The Atlantic" it had effects on behaviors like nail- biting and online shopping.
DR. LEGGIO: There is a lot of overlap on the neurobiological mechanism that regulate addictive behaviors in general. So, it's possible that medications like Semaglutide, by acting on this specific mechanism in the brain, they may help people with a variety of addictive behaviors.
TIRRELL (voiceover): Clinical trials in humans are needed to prove that. One said is underway at the University of North Carolina, looking at Semaglutide's effect on alcohol and tobacco use. Cheri Ferguson says Ozempic has helped her lose 38 pounds. Even better, she says, is how it's made her feel.
FERGUSON: The weight that it takes off your mind is far greater than any pounds that can come off of your body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TIRRELL (on camera): We reached out to the maker of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, as well as Eli Lilly, which makes a similar medicine, both companies said, right now, they are not running trials of their drugs for addiction. This traditionally hasn't been a market that's been appealing to pharmaceutical companies because drugs really haven't been successful in selling well, although doctors emphasize there is a huge unmet medical need here.
Alcohol use disorder effects almost 30 million Americans and only 5 percent currently receive treatment. So, researchers are hoping that perhaps these promising early results will draw more interest into the field.
SOLOMON: Meg Tirrell, thank you.
Well, still ahead for us, they spent months as prisoners during the Vietnam War. And now, these veterans are reuniting for the first time in decades. We'll have their story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:45:00]
TIRRELL (voiceover): Former veterans and prisoners of war held captive in North Vietnam are sharing their memories at a special reunion. 50 years ago, they were the guests of President Nixon at the White House.
SOLOMON: And last month, that 1973 dinner was recreated at the Nixon Presidential Library in California to honor these POWs. CNN's Nick Watt has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Major Mark Smith and Sergeant Ken Wallingford, then and now.
SERGEANT KEN WALLINGFORD, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: I haven't seen this guy outside of one funeral we went to of one of our buddies in 50 years.
WATT (voiceover): That's how long it's been since they were released from a jungle prison camp. Now, back together to celebrate that half century.
WATT (on camera): Listen, I don't want to keep you from your dinner.
MAJOR MARK SMITH, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: It's a good thing because I'm hungry.
WALLINGFORD: And then, he really gets bad.
WATT (voiceover): 1973, they and hundreds of other free POWs dined with the president at the White House.
RICHARD NIXON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Never has the White House been more proud than it is tonight because of the guests we have tonight.
WATT (voiceover): Exactly 50 years later to the day, here at the Richard Nixon Library, the same food, Neptune salad, beef, strawberry shortcake, there just aren't as many men left alive to enjoy it.
WALLINGFORD: We considered Richard Nixon, a guy really responsible for getting us home, and to this day, we love the man.
WATT (voiceover): Every man at this table was held at the same POW camp. There's Smith and Wallingford. In 1972, both were badly injured and captured after the brutal battle of Loc Ninh.
WALLINGFORD: The explosion went off. I felt like half of my head have been blown away. I was an agnostic before I went to Vietnam. Ever heard (ph) of conversion? You're looking at one.
[07:50:00]
SMITH: I'm the guy who knew I'd never get captured, because that only happened to losers. AK round (ph) hit me in the shin, knocked me down out of the way of an RPG that was aimed at my chest and went off behind me and knocked me out.
WATT (voiceover): They were held in bamboo tiger cages.
WATT (on camera): Explain to me what a tiger cage is?
WALLINGFORD: If you've ever been to the zoo, seen animals in cages, they just put these logs, five by six, five by five --
SMITH: Into a cage.
WALLINGFORD: -- into a cage with a little door. You had to, you know, bend down to get in.
WATT (voiceover): Held into those cages because they would not do as they were told.
SMITH: We made no statements. We wrote no letters. We made no profit broadcast. Not one.
WATT (voiceover): 50 years on, these men are grateful --
WALLINGFORD: Every day's a great day. I don't care what the weather is like outside.
WATT (voiceover): -- and no regrets.
SMITH: Major Retired Mark Zipple (ph) Smith, the war, that's what I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: That's what he does. All right.
SOLOMON: You know, I love the comment, it doesn't matter what the weather is outside, every day is a great day.
BLACKWELL: Indeed, indeed.
SOLOMON: Every day that you wake up.
BLACKWELL: Our thanks to Nick Watt for that story and our thanks to those men for their service.
Up next, we'll head to Arizona where the ground is so dry in the Phoenix area, new building permits are now on hold. That's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[07:55:00]
SOLOMON: Welcome back. Arizona is pausing new construction in the Phoenix area because of severe water shortages.
BLACKWELL: Officials say climate change-driven drought and water overuse is causing the region's available ground water to dry up. So, the state will not issue any new building permits, at least for now. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The State of Arizona is no longer granting permits for new developments in the Phoenix area, pointing to ground water supplies. They're saying, as of right now, 4 percent of current ground water demand will not be able to be reached in 100 years. So, because of that, they're putting this pause on the developments. They're pointing to fact that the ground water usage has been overused and on top of it, we've got this human induced climate change that is changing the weather in the southwest.
Now, to this point, we heard from the governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs, on this issue. Take a listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. KATIE HOBBS (D-AZ): That's why as required by law, we will pause approvals of new assured water supply determinations that rely on pumping ground water, ensuring that we don't add to any future deficit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: Now, officials did say that this does not impact housing developments that have already been greenlit. This is about new developments coming up. They're saying any construction company that wants to come along and build something else, they're going to have to make sure that they are assured that they have a water supply that does not rely on local ground water, and that will be there for the next 100 years.
And this is obviously not good news for Phoenix, which has been leading the nation in population growth and has been seeing some increasing developments here. But this is not a problem that's relegated only to Phoenix. The southwest has been dealing with these droughts. And I know we had a really wet winter out here, but what we have learned from scientists is that the periods between these really wet years is becoming longer as we're seeing these more extended periods of drought, and that is why many of these municipalities and these states are looking for ways to make sure that they have water, especially since many of these states rely on the Colorado River Basin for their water, and they are now agreeing to use less of that water, seeing as the drought has been impacting that water supply there. Back to you.
BLACKWELL: All right. Stephanie Elam for us, thanks so much.
Parts of the U.S. could see, speaking of water, significant flooding today.
SOLOMON: Right. Those areas at risk include portions of Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Let's go now to CNN meteorologist, Allison Chinchar, with more details. Allison, good morning.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. Yes. We've got quite a lot of areas dealing with the potential for flooding today, starting in Florida. We've still got some remnant showers and thunderstorms there.
But certainly, the more widespread threat is going to be across the central and western portions of the country. The best potential for flooding actually exists here from Texas up to Montana, with that focus point really being across the panhandle of Texas and Oklahoma. And part of the problem there isn't necessarily the new rain we're expect to get today and tomorrow, but how much rain they've had the last few days.
Take a look at this. This target point right here, we've had four to six inches of rain just in the last 48 hours. Now, if you start to add more rain on top of that it becomes more of the compounding effect. And we are. We anticipate many rounds of showers and thunderstorms across both of those states today and even a few more. Places like Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, also looking at some showers and thunderstorms.
There's also the potential for some severe storms to mix in. We're talking damaging winds, the potential for some hail. The main focus there is going to be across South Texas. But also, this area here, across portions of the southeast, this includes Nashville, Birmingham, and even Chattanooga, Tennessee, also looking for some of those stronger thunderstorms.
Yesterday was an incredibly hot day. Take a look at all of these areas across the Midwest that ended up breaking records, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, even portions of Pennsylvania. Now, yesterday was really the last big day of the record heat. We're going to finally start to see a lot of those temperatures begin to retreat away from the Midwest as more colder air begins to push in, not only across the northeast, but pushing in towards the Great Lakes and especially in towards the Mid-Atlantic regions. So, you're going to start to notice those temperatures.
While we got at least a little bit of a glimpse of summer the last few days, that's going to go away here. It will remain across the high plains and into portions of the northwestern U.S. Back to you.
[08:00:00]
