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CNN This Morning

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 07:30-8p ET

Aired June 04, 2023 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: 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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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