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Iran Closes Strait Of Hormuz Again; Trump On Iran: "They Can't Blackmail Us"; Iranian Negotiator: "Far From A Final Agreement" With U.S.; IDF: Two Israeli Soldiers Killed In Southern Lebanon In Two Days; Displaced Residents Return To Southern Lebanon During Ceasefire; Israel, Lebanon Under 10-Day Ceasefire; Six Dead After Mass Shooting And Hostage Attack In Kyiv; Pope Leo Addresses Spat With Trump; Skydiver Rescued After Getting Stuck On Virginia Tech Scoreboard; Virginia Votes On Redistricting Tuesday; Hormuz Traffic Halts As Iran Closes Waterway Again; Ninety-Eight Percent Of The Southeast Under Drought Conditions. Singer D4vd Arrested On Suspicion Of Murder; Expected In Court Tomorrow; Recent Attack Exposes Dark Side Of Anti-AI Movement; "Michael" Hits The Big Screen After $15M Reshoot Setback; Weed 8: Women & Weed Tonight At 8P ET/PT On CNN. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired April 19, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:38]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. Here's what we're watching today. We're near the end of this fragile ceasefire in this war with Iran. The Strait of Hormuz still closed. An Iranian leaders say there's a long way to go before reaching an agreement with the U.S., despite what President Trump says.

Pope Leo continues his tour of Africa this morning, and for the first time, he is directly addressing President Trump's attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELORES MCQUINN, (D) VIRGINIA DELEGATE: We didn't start this fight, but I'm saying to Virginia, we need to finish it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And the latest fight in the redistricting battle will be settled Tuesday in Virginia. We'll tell you what's at stake in this very closely watched contest.

Plus, the Los Angeles district attorney will lay out the case against singer D4vd tomorrow. He's been arrested in connection with the murder of a 14-year-old girl. Could one of his songs play a key role in this case?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not a look how wonderful everything was, no blemishes, no problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Michael Jackson biopic hits theaters on Friday. The moment you will and will not see of his life, coming up.

All right. It's Sunday, April 19th. Welcome to a brand new week. I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for being with me.

This morning in the war with Iran, the Strait of Hormuz is closed again just before peace talks in Pakistan are supposed to happen this weekend or this week rather. Two vessels came under attack as Iran reasserted its control over the strategic shipping lane.

Iranian gunboats fired on a tanker yesterday. Another vessel was hit by another unknown projectile, that's according to the U.K. Maritime Traffic Organization. This is despite the U.S. naval blockade of the Iranian ports. And President Trump commented on the power struggle over the strait.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They got a little cute, as they have been doing for 47 years. They wanted to close up the strait again, you know, as they've been doing for years, and they can't blackmail us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Says that negotiations are going very well. Iran's lead negotiator said the two countries are still far from a final deal. CNN's Leila Gharagozlou is with me now. Leila, what do you know?

LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: So, yes, the Iranians have said that they are still far from a final agreement. That was from Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is the secretary -- the lead negotiator and the speaker of parliament in Iran. You know, he struck a much more cautious tone. We've also heard from other Iranian lawmakers and politicians also being very cautious about any sort of negotiations or talks.

Now, the Iranians have said and have told CNN that they expect these talks to be on Monday. The Americans have not confirmed it. Now, obviously, as you said, the strait has been closed once again. The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports is the reason for that. The IRGC said that there has been a breach of commitment and a breach of trust from the American side. So, they've closed the port again -- the strait again.

And, you know, it's really putting these negotiations and possible agreement up in the air. We don't know which way things are going to go. This has been a sticking point for the Iranians. So, you know, it's just going to be a matter of time to see whether there's going to be an escalation or if we're going to have an agreement.

Now, President Trump has also said that he's not keen to extend the ceasefire if there isn't an agreement soon. So, we're going to have to wait and see what happens if these talks in Islamabad even happen and what the Iranians are going to do if they're willing to move on their red line.

BLACKWELL: Leila Gharagozlou, in London for us, thank you so much. Also in the Middle East, the IDF reports that two Israeli soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon. There have been at least 15 deaths of Israeli troops since the conflict between Israel and Lebanon based Hezbollah started. This was in early March. The group struck Israel in solidarity with Iran.

Now, in the meantime, displaced residents, they've been returning to southern Lebanon as this 10-day ceasefire is in effect. The Lebanese health ministry says more than 2,000 people have been killed from the fighting during the past six weeks.

[06:05:05]

Let's go now to CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief Oren Liebermann with more. Oren, good morning to you.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Victor. The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has certainly been tested. But at least as we sit here a few days into the ceasefire, it looks like it's holding. The problem is there's only a few days left of this 10-day ceasefire as the U.S. and President Donald Trump try to get to the point of direct negotiations for a ceasefire and larger peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

But what happens along that border very much affects what happens between the U.S. and Iran and vice versa. And that's why it's so critical here for the bigger picture, as we wait to see what happens with those negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.

As you pointed out, the Israeli military says two soldiers have been killed, one on Friday, one on Saturday. That's after the ceasefire. It is possible it was a result of IEDs, improvised explosive devices, that were planted by Hezbollah before the ceasefire itself went into effect. That's something we're waiting to learn more about.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military says they have carried out strikes, including artillery, since the ceasefire, because of what they said were violations as what they described as militants approached southern Lebanon, which the Israeli military has said remains a no go zone. That being said, we are seeing Lebanese civilians try to return to their homes.

The territory that Israel occupies in southern Lebanon includes, according to the Israeli military, some 55 Lebanese villages and there are more than 1 million people displaced across the country. So in this ceasefire, short though it may be, if it's not extended, they are trying to return to their home as we see a period of relative quiet along that border. We'll see where this goes.

Trump is trying to get a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun. It's unclear if that will happen. Aoun had declined a call with Netanyahu. So, there is a long way to go on any sort of diplomatic process to try to make that ceasefire more than a temporary 10-day ceasefire, especially as the U.S. remains more focused on what's happening with Iran.

BLACKWELL: Oren Liebermann, reporting from Jerusalem this morning, thanks so much. In the morning headlines, officials in Ukraine are investigating a mass shooting as a terrorist attack. Six people were killed. Officials say the shooter started firing there on a street Saturday. Four people killed. Another later died at the hospital, and then ran into the supermarket, where he killed another person and took hostages.

Police eventually killed the attacker and rescued those hostages. Officials say the shooter was born in Moscow. It's unclear whether he was a Ukrainian or Russian citizen, though. Mass shootings in Ukraine are rare. There has been no such attack since the war with Russia started in 2022.

This morning, Pope Leo is continuing his tour in Africa. He led a prayer in Kilamba earlier this morning. Speaking to reporters yesterday, the Pope said his visit is about peace, not about politics. He also addressed what appeared to be a disagreement with President Trump last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER: Just one little example, the talk that I gave at the prayer meeting for peace a couple of days ago was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting. And yet, as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate again the president, which is not my interest at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And the Pope stressed his message was written before any criticism, was not aimed at the White House. He says his focus during this trip is on dialog and understanding Catholics in Africa.

All right. Turn to the screen, look at this. A skydiver is recovering after high winds pushed him off course, slammed him into a scoreboard at the Virginia Tech spring football game before kickoff. He was left dangling there for a while. Eventually, first responders, you see, climbed up, got him down, lowered him to safety. Officials say he is in stable condition.

Voters in Virginia are going to head to the polls this week. On the ballot will be a redistricting referendum. Now, how this could tip the balance of power in the House in the midterms. We'll get into that.

Plus, singer D4vd is facing serious accusations in connection with the death of a teenage girl. We'll break down what we know about the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:14:18]

BLACKWELL: Coming up on Tuesday, voters will head to the polls in Virginia. There's no candidates on the ballot. They're actually going to vote on a referendum about whether to redraw the state House map, which would favor the Democratic Party. If it passes, Democrats would have an even stronger chance of winning back the House in the midterm elections in November. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more for us from Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Republicans are imploring Virginians to vote no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you going to vote? No.

ZELENY (voice-over): Democrats are urging them to say yes.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Are you ready to stop the MAGA power grab?

ZELENY (voice-over): Virginia is the latest front in an unprecedented redistricting arms race. In a special election that ends Tuesday, voters are considering a Democratic plan to redraw district lines to help deliver the party four new seats in Congress, supercharging the delegation's power balance of six Democrats and five Republicans into a 10 to one advantage.

[06:15:12]

It's one of the most aggressive responses yet in a year-long tit-for- tat that President Trump and Republicans began last year in Texas.

MCQUINN: We didn't start this fight, but I'm saying to Virginians, we need to finish it.

ZELENY: What do you say to people who may say 10-1 may be sort of unfair? Virginia is a pretty split commonwealth, pretty split state.

MCQUINN: Not as unfair as a -- occupant of the White House who said, I need to find five more positions. I need to find five more members for Congress. So, that's the unfair.

ZELENY (voice-over): Delores McQuinn said she will never forget Trump's words that sparked a gerrymandering war.

TRUMP (on the phone): I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know. And we are entitled to five more seats.

ZELENY (voice-over): After Texas acted, Democrats in California followed suit, passing a referendum aimed at flipping five Republican- held seats. A redistricting battle has since played out in states across the country, with Florida still weighing whether to boost its Republican majority.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER We have one of the smallest margins in U.S. history.

ZELENY (voice-over): And that small margin is what makes House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries so invested in the outcome here in Virginia.

JEFFRIES: We're making clear, we're not here to step back. We're here to fight back.

ZELENY (voice-over): Virginians have been bombarded with a massive advertising blitz.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Virginia, we are counting on you. Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years.

ZELENY (voice-over): With former President Barack Obama and other Democrats once opposed to gerrymandering now saying it's the only way to keep pace with Republicans.

TARA BOWMAN, VIRGINIA VOTER: I think the new map is absolutely horrible.

ZELENY (voice-over): Tara Bowman is among the furious Republicans who would lose their current congressman if her rural Virginia home was suddenly in the same district as the Washington D.C. suburbs.

BOWMAN: We have lots of farming, small business, small farming, and I do not want my congressman to be from Fairfax. I mean, no, no, no, no.

ZELENY (voice-over): Another proposed congressional seat has been branded as the lobster claw for how it curves around a neighboring district dominated by college towns and stretches all the way to the Potomac River in Northern Virginia.

JASON MIYARES, FORMER VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: If you have to use animals to describe what a district looks like, maybe you've gerrymandered.

ZELENY (voice-over): The gerrymander is clear, but Democrats say it's justified score settling for what Trump started.

PHILIPPA CLARKE, VIRGINIA VOTER: I look at it as, is it fair in Texas what they're doing? If we as Democrats could even the playing field in, you know, in another area, then I think it's -- it's OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much. We're staying on top of the peace talks to end the war with Iran. Officials in Iran say negotiations have a long way to go. We'll look ahead to the talks expected to begin this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:28]

BLACKWELL: More on our top story this hour. Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz appears to be nearly at a stop because Iran says it once again closed the critical waterway. Unless the U.S. lifts its blockade, it's going to stay that way, according to the IRGC. Tehran is blaming the U.S. for breaches of trust, as they call them, during the ongoing ceasefire. It's scheduled to expire on Tuesday, and President Trump hinted at frustration with Iran, saying that they got a little cute. But he says negotiations are still progressing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We'll be talking about Iran later. We have very good conversations going on. It's a -- it's working out very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Iran's parliament speaker says Washington and Tehran are far from a final agreement, and the closure may threaten momentum toward a peace deal.

With me now, Kimberly Dozier, CNN global affairs analyst. Kimberly, good to see you this morning. Let me read from this statement from the IRGC released on Saturday.

In violation of the ceasefire agreement, the American enemy did not lift the naval blockade on Iranian vessels and ports. Therefore, starting this evening, the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until this blockade is lifted.

The president says that the blockade is going to remain in place until it's U.S. -- the U.S. transactions with Iran are 100 percent complete. Is this war now less about military targets and just economic endurance? Who can hold out the longest on either the blockade of these Iranian ports and vessels and the strait?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Absolutely. And the Iranians have calculated that they can hold out a lot longer than President Trump can. The impatience that he has expressed, both in his Truth Social posts, but also it's been reported by various news outlets that's gotten to Iranian officials. They know that the rising oil prices were driving him crazy and that he's got midterms coming up this fall, and elections matter to him in terms of the last two years of his presidency.

So, they have found a lever to say no to him without opening fire on U.S. forces. And that's by doing a couple of very small, relatively mild harassing attacks against a couple of Indian vessels yesterday. They didn't kill anybody. They didn't apparently cause major damage. But it's enough for the owners of those ships thinking about the millions of dollars of cargo that they're carrying, either in container ships or oil, to turn around and go back.

[06:25:05]

That puts the pressure on Donald Trump.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And the investment of resources into the leverage that each party has here. The U.S. has a lot in maintaining the blockade on the Iranian ports. A statement and a couple of gunboats shut down the strait from the Iranian side yesterday. Let me ask you about the characterization from either side. We hear from the top negotiator for Iran that there's a long way to go toward a final agreement. The president spent the end of the week saying that there were very, very close. What do your sources tell you about some of those sticky issues, the top issues of the uranium, of the program, of handing over the elements?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, you know, President Trump said last week in a few posts that the Iranians had agreed to stop enriching. They'd agreed to give up that nuclear dust, as he called it, and turn it over, apparently to the U.S. And the Iranians are saying, well, actually, no.

But they're not getting upset about it or being dramatic in public. They're just saying, no, we're not going to do those things. And yet Trump hasn't so far indicated that he's pulling out of the negotiations. So the Iranians are sticking to the issues that they consider existential, the same issues that they stuck to their guns on before this war broke out.

And I think what you're going to see is, you know, they are masters at drawing out talks. And they've got Trump essentially right where they want him. Trump doesn't seem to want to go back to open warfare. So I think what you're going to see is an extension of the ceasefire, because Trump is going to find some way to say talks are working. He needs it because the markets need it.

BLACKWELL: Yes. So the U.K., Germany, France, and Italy, they announced an agreement in principle to send resources, naval forces to the Persian Gulf to protect merchant shipping. The AP is reporting that Europe has six weeks left of jet fuel. That's according to the International Energy Agency.

What's the significance of this agreement? Again, it's an agreement in principle. So, they've not even reached the phase of execution. But what's the value here?

DOZIER: Well, that would go into effect after the shooting has stopped. The Europeans are not going to send their vessels in right now when they could get blown out of the water in some sort of getting caught between Iranian and U.S. forces. So, it will be helpful to keep the strait open. Once it's open -- but it's not going to go into effect now.

But these kind of agreements are you have to sort out a lot in terms of who's going to take command, at which point, how are you going to on pass from the French ship to the British ship, who's going to be on what sort of rotation, depending on your staffing, how many ships you have, et cetera. All these kind of details that we worked out as a coalition when the Houthis were firing on shipping off the coast of Yemen. It's the same sort of thing that the Europeans are doing right now and putting into effect once this war stops. It hasn't stopped yet.

BLACKWELL: Kim Dozier, always good to have you. Thank you so much. Parts of the southeast saw some much needed rain overnight, but not enough to put a dent into extreme drought conditions. Ninety-eight percent of the region is now under drought conditions.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here with a look at how bad it is and whether relief could be coming. I almost daily now get an alert of high fire risk because it's been so dry here in Georgia.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and not just Georgia. There are burn bans in several nearby states too, just because they're saying, hey, look, it's so dry, we cannot take the chance that a gust of wind could take your little small fire in your backyard and spread it elsewhere.

Yet to that point, Atlanta has only had one day now. Today will likely change that because we've gotten some rain. But outside of today, we've had one day of measurable rain since March 16th. You're talking over a month. Charlotte, North Carolina, has only had two.

So you have a lot of these areas. That spring is normally a very wet time. You also get severe storms, but its normally very wet. We have just simply not had that so far this spring.

Here is a look. And today is going to change that for a lot of these places. Because you do have what's left of this cold front that is sliding across a lot of the southeastern states. The unfortunate problem is the air is so dry that it's kind of sucking up most of the moisture here. So, not a lot of it is actually reaching the surface. Most of these areas are getting sprinkles, maybe a light rain shower.

At absolute best, the heavier rain is going to be closer down to the actual Gulf Coast. And yes, when you notice here, look at the southeast region as a whole. You have a lot of these areas that are at that red color or even the dark red color. You're talking extreme drought.

[06:30:01]

So not even just a little bit of drought, you're talking those higher up levels because they just simply need that rain. Now, when you look forward into the forecast after today, look at this, again, you see that giant hole here that includes Atlanta, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, even around Charlotte. No other rain is in the forecast after today, all the way through Friday of the upcoming week. Now, hopefully next weekend we'll get a little bit more, maybe, but we just it's a little bit too far out to tell.

On the flip side, you go to the Midwest where they've had too much rain. This is video from earlier in the week from Green Bay, Wisconsin. You can see all of these dots here. The dark green ones indicate the wettest April on record, and there's a lot of them. Keep in mind, we still have at least a week to go for the rest of the month of April, so any other rain that we get is just going to take that up even higher.

Take a look at Milwaukee, for example. They've had their wettest nine inches so far. That's roughly half a foot more than they would normally see for this type -- for this month. That is 11 straight days of rain and counting. Today is likely going to be the first dry day where they have not had at least a trace of rain since the start of the month.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. All right, Allison, thank you.

AI is reshaping the economy. We know that. We also know there's frustration, that frustration is turning into anger, and we'll talk about tech executives who are now facing growing threats of violence tied to job fears.

And remember, as you head out today, you can stream our show from anywhere in the U.S., right from the CNN app. Also, check out CNN.com/Watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:36:19]

BLACKWELL: Prosecutors are now deciding whether to file criminal charges against singer David Burke. He's 21 years old, arrested Thursday on suspicion of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. And the LAPD says that they will meet to present evidence to the prosecution tomorrow.

Authorities say Rivas and Burke were seen publicly together. Her family reported her missing in April 2024. As we go through this story, pay attention to the dates because they matter. Her body was found cut into pieces and put into body bags last year inside the singer's Tesla. This was after it was towed from the Hollywood Hills.

Here with me now is trial attorney Madeleine Simmons. Good to have you back.

MADELEINE SIMMONS, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Thank you for having me, Victor.

BLACKWELL: OK. So she was found eight months ago, September 2025. He was just arrested in the last few days. Why did it take so long considering all the information they had in September?

SIMMONS: So in September, they find her body in this car and they have decided that the car was abandoned at some point, then taken to this tow yard. We don't know how long that time period really was and then it sits in the tow yard for a good amount of time before an employee smells something and alerts the authorities.

So, I'm thinking that it took them some time to investigate to be able to say just because the car was registered to him, it then would tie him to potentially being the suspect.

The grand jury started in February 2026 and obviously they had enough evidence. When you go before grand jury, it's just the prosecution presenting evidence to say that they needed to bring him in as a possible suspect as -- as her murderer.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And so he's being held on suspicion of murder, right? So not charged with anything yet. Explain that distinction and why not if they have enough to bring him in, he's not charged yet. SIMMONS: Yes, it's interesting. We're going to hear tomorrow, like you said, from the prosecutor as to any charges they might be bringing. But the fact that he's being held with no bail indicates to me that they have some pretty strong evidence to charge him.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And so as you look at this case, I mean, the disparity in age, first of all, is I think what gets a lot of people's attention after they hear the headline. He's 21 years old, 14 here people -- she was 14. Ask about how this relationship happened. What do you see in this case?

SIMMONS: So what we have learned is that going back to all the way to 2023 when she would have been 12, they started having some kind of relationship. She's in pictures at concerts. She's in videos. Investigators found pictures on his digital camera. Her family was reporting her missing throughout that time period. This was the third time she'd been reported missing, and we even have evidence of an email from a family friend to him saying, please bring her home. And she did come home a couple days after that, but then was reported missing again.

So, you're right. The age disparity is very disturbing, but it sounds like they had some kind of relationship going for a couple years before she ultimately was killed.

BLACKWELL: And of course, we're waiting to hear what prosecutors will say tomorrow. His attorneys have said that he is not responsible for her death, and they will explain that as well. They've released a statement explaining that.

Let us be clear. The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez, and he was not the cause of her death. There has been no indictment now returned by any grand jury in this case, and no criminal complaint filed. David has only been detained under suspicion. We will vigorously defend David's innocence.

[06:40:14]

I want to talk a little bit more about the grand jury because as you said, they were they convened and paneled in February of this year, but it's not clear what came out of that. You say enough to hold them without bail, but is it typical that we'd get to April and we'd not know what the decision was from the grand jury?

SIMMONS: So it's -- it's interesting because when you go before a grand jury, they only hear the prosecution side of the case, right? So, they're not hearing what the defense might be. And to his lawyers perspective, he was out of the country when the body was found. Maybe did not know that his car was involved if he was actually innocent.

But what's interesting to me is we don't have any evidence that he ever reported his car stolen. So if you come home from a world tour and your car is not there, why aren't you reporting it stolen?

BLACKWELL: Yes. Let me ask you about the music and this video, whether it will be admissible. And here in Georgia, we know about a few years ago, the YSL RICO case here in Georgia, in which 17 lyrics of young thug prosecutors said that they were evidence of overt criminal acts and they were allowed in.

David has a song. It's his biggest hit. It's called Romantic Homicide. I'm going to play a clip of the video, a warning, though, that especially for this hour, this is a bit disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And so you couldn't hear the lyrics, so we cut it too soon, which is that I killed you and I didn't even regret it. A woman bloodied there on the bed, bloodied knife. You expect that will be central to this case as well?

SIMMONS: I certainly think that the prosecution will be arguing to get that in. There's also a song named Celeste, which is the name of the girl that he wrote in 2023 talking about her. So, I think that there is enough between those two songs that a judge very well may let that into evidence.

BLACKWELL: All right. Madeleine Simmons, always good to have you help us understand it. Thank you.

SIMMONS: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. A recent attack at an OpenAI CEO's Sam Altman's home, exposing a dark side of the anti-AI movement. There are growing fears that AI could take jobs from people, many people and harm the economy and have some supporting violence against these tech executives.

Here's CNN's tech reporter Clare Duffy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: I spent some time looking into the suspect in the attack on Sam Altman's home, Daniel Moreno-Gama, and the online reaction to this incident. And what I found is that there are corners of the Internet where people were cheering this attack, calling Moreno-Gama a hero, saying that it was justified because of the risk that AI poses.

And this appears to be representative of a radical flank of the anti- AI or AI safety movements that increasingly may be moving from anonymous online comments to dangerous in-person violence. Just three days before the attack on Sam Altman's home, an Indianapolis council member had shots fired into his home after a data center was approved in his district.

Moreno-Gama also spent time in online spaces discussing AI safety risks prior to this attack. He at one point suggested Luigi'ing tech CEOs, an apparent reference to the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He also posted in forums dedicated to PauseAI and StopAI. Those are more mainstream organizations that have disavowed this attack.

And I spoke with PauseAI CEO Maxime Fournes. He told me our response to this is going to be to double down on what we've always done, peaceful, lawful advocacy. He said, I think it's very important that movements like ours, which are entirely peaceful, stay on top of what's happening because there could be much darker movements that start rising.

So obviously a very troubling trend here. And I think it's going to be interesting to watch how the AI companies respond, whether they decide to start engaging even more with these more moderate, peaceful groups in an effort to address what are real concerns around this technology, including how it could impact the economy, our jobs, the environment. So it's going to be interesting to watch the response from the AI companies here, but obviously a very troubling trend, the suggestion of violence against the people who work in this space.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Clare, thank you so much.

Coming up this week, the new Michael Jackson biopic will hit theaters. It's expected to be a massive hit. Multimillion dollar reshoot, though, nearly derailed this film altogether.

We'll explain, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:49:26]

BLACKWELL: That new Michael Jackson movie hits theaters this week. A multi-million dollar reshoot though nearly derailed the film. It was tied to how child molestation accusations against Michael were shown in the film.

CNN's Stephanie Elam explains more on how this legal surprise surfaced.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAAFAR JACKSON, ACTOR: I'm just getting started.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Michael hits the big screen, the king of pop will moonwalk, thrill, and don that iconic love.

But don't expect this.

MICHAEL JACKSON, SINGER: I ask all of you to wait and hear the truth.

ELAM (voice-over): Anything related to the child molestation accusations that followed Jackson for decades.

[06:50:04]

BRENT LANG, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, VARIETY: Initially, the film was supposed to actually start in 1993 as police cars were showing up to Neverland Ranch and Michael Jackson's house was going to be searched for evidence.

ELAM (voice-over): Variety reports the filmmakers were stunned when Jackson's estate found a clause in the 1994 settlement with accuser Jordan Chandler that derailed the nearly finished film.

LANG: And there was a clause in that agreement that prevented anybody from making a film that involved Chandler as a character or that depicted a Chandler-like character in that film. Our sources are saying that the reshoots cost at least $10 to $15 million.

DAVID DANIEL, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Last things that we see are the bad tour.

ELAM (voice-over): CNN producer David Daniels saw the final version.

DANIEL: It is not a look how wonderful everything was, no blemishes, no problems. It is legendary that Joe Jackson ran the family with an iron hand. There is a very famous incident that injured Michael while he was filming a soda pop commercial.

ELAM (voice-over): But that may not be enough for some critics, especially since a 2019 documentary renewed attention to child sex abuse allegations against Jackson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told me if they ever found out what we were doing, he and I would go to jail.

ELAM (voice-over): The Jackson family denied abuse allegations made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck in the documentary. Their attorney did not respond to CNN's questions about the upcoming film.

Jackson was acquitted in an unrelated child molestation trial in 2005.

L. LONDELL MCMILLAN, FMR JACKSON ATTORNEY: I am hoping that this film will showcase the beautiful, brilliant life and love of Michael.

ELAM (voice-over): L. Londell McMillan is a former Jackson advisor and reps the Prince estate. He says an estate's first priority is to protect its own legacy.

MCMILLAN: While it may make some people scream and yell, you'll see millions of others on the other spectrum stating, why would you let that in if the facts have not been proven?

ELAM (voice-over): Michael is already tracking to be a box office smash, as was the recent Broadway play MJ the Musical made by a different team.

ROBERT FINK, MUSIC PROFESSOR, UCLA HERB ALPERT SCHOOL OF MUSIC: They still think of him as this incredibly talented child.

ELAM (voice-over): Some music experts say Jackson's link to generations of childhood memories allows many fans to separate the flawed man from the artistic icon.

FINK: He gets bracketed with some of the things I think you really love, like Disney movies and other kind of childhood Peter Pan as kind of that halo of childhood. And everybody was a kid once.

ELAM: And it should be noted the Jackson estate initially approved the inclusion of these darker allegations. After admitting its oversight, Variety reports the estate paid for the reshoots, not the studio.

Meantime, the two accusers in that dock by HBO, which is a sister company to CNN, have sued companies tied to Jackson, arguing they didn't do enough to protect the plaintiffs. Those companies deny the claim. That case is expected to go to trial next year.

Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has been reporting on cannabis for more than a decade.

His latest documentary looks at how medical cannabis, the use is on the rise with women. He travels the country and visits somewhere you might not expect to learn about all the reasons that women, young and old, are turning to cannabis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Women of all ages, mothers and grandmothers growing, selling, using cannabis, women searching for a better, healthier, happier life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a soccer mom. Trust me, if we had all had an edible before those games, we would have been great.

GUPTA (voice-over): From menstrual cramps to morning sickness to menopause, women in Oklahoma and all over the United States are turning to cannabis for relief, now more than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women are largely underserved and underrepresented in medicine, and for lack of any other option, are more than willing to try cannabis and cannabinoid-based therapies.

GUPTA (voice-over): In fact, for the first time ever, women are outpacing men in the use of cannabis. These women say they are changing their lives and their health for the better, but in some cases, also potentially putting themselves in harm's way.

The scientists searching for answers are all research pioneers, and perhaps no surprise, many happen to be women as well.

GUPTA: Victor, I got to tell you, this was such a fascinating documentary to work on over the past year. We spent a lot of time in Oklahoma, which I think surprised a lot of people, but Oklahoma, traditional heartland state, was one of the last states to legalize medicinal marijuana.

And when that happened, it changed a lot of things in the state very, very quickly. There was sort of this green rush where all these dispensaries and grows and all this started happening.

[06:55:10]

But also, at some points, 10 percent of the adult population in Oklahoma had medical marijuana cards for medicinal marijuana. And a lot of those folks who were getting this were women. In fact, as you heard, women outpaced men for the use of cannabis, which was kind of a striking thing. That hasn't happened before.

But also, to put a punctuation mark on it, if you were to really dig into this, Victor, you'd find that women between the ages of 45 and 60 were driving a lot of that growth. So just think about that. Women using it more for medicinal purposes. Women of that age, perimenopause, menopause, haven't had a lot of options traditionally. No surprise, perhaps, Victor, that they've turned to alternative means.

So, we really get into this in the documentary. Why did it happen? How is it working? What does it mean for the future?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Fascinating. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much.

And you can watch "DR. SANJAY GUPTA REPORTS WEED 8: WOMEN & WEED," tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN, and tomorrow on the CNN app.

There is much more ahead on the next hour of "CNN This Morning Weekend." A growing number of migrants are fighting to stay in the country from behind bars.

CNN's looked into a dramatic shift in federal immigration enforcement.

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