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CNN This Morning
U.S. And Iran Officials Eye Possible Pakistan Talks Amid Mixed Signals And Regional Tensions; Massive Tornado Hits Oklahoma, Destroys Homes, Buildings, Civilians In Panic; Russia Launches Massive Missile, Drone Attack On Ukraine; U.S. Soldier Charged After Winning $400,000 Betting On Removal Of Maduro. Soldier Facing Insider Trading Charges for Betting on Maduro's Ouster will Make an Appearance in New York Federal Court on Tuesday; Winds, Drought Intensify Wildfires in Southeast Georgia in the U.S.; U.S. FDA Fast-Tracks Psychedelic Drug Research for Mental Illnesses. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired April 25, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:00:30]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN This Morning. Glad to have you along. Happening today, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son in law Jared Kushner, they'll head to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President is, as I've said many, many times to all of you, always willing to give diplomacy a chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: But there are questions about whether both sides will meet for direct negotiations. We'll get into that.
Also breaking news, Russia launched more than 600 drones and missiles and Ukraine overnight. At least four people are dead. Rescue and recovery operations are happening right now.
Severe storms are in the forecast again today. We've already seen severe storm watches and warnings this morning. Derek Van Dam is here with a look at the areas we're watching.
And the FDA is fast tracking a review of psychedelic drugs to treat depression. A psychologist and psychedelics expert is here to explain what that means and how the drugs could be used.
It's Saturday, April 25th. I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for joining me. In a matter of hours, special envoy Steve Witkoff and president's son in law Jared Kushner are expected to head to Pakistan for talks with Iran.
There's a debate though if those talks will actually happen. Here's what we know though. President Trump told Reuters over the phone that Iran is making some sort of offer to the U.S., Tehran is denying that there are any plans for direct negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Pakistani officials this morning and the semi-official state media says that they're to quote, discuss Iran's considerations about ending the war with the Pakistani side.
Now this uncertainty is not unusual. The same thing happened earlier this month during the first round of talks and they ended without an agreement as you remember.
We have team coverage now. CNN Steve Cantorno is in West Palm Beach. Leila Gharagozlou is in Abu Dhabi. Let's start with Steve. The Trump administration says they're willing to talk with Iran to end this war. What do we know?
STEVE CANTORNO, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, Victor, the President is here at Mar-a-Lago this weekend and he will be monitoring the developments with his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff from afar.
And what I think is most interesting in this moment is how President Trump is responding publicly in his reactions because we know at times the president has been one of the challenges to getting an agreement. His attempts to negotiate a deal through the media, his posting on social media have at times created roadblocks to progress. That's some reporting we had earlier this week.
There's also been some considerable disconnect at times between what the president has said about who is headed to the Middle east for negotiations and what actually transpires. So that is something that we're going to be monitoring closely.
Notably in the last 12 hours, the President has been quiet about this issue on social media. His Truth Social posts have been mostly discussing developments with the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. So that is perhaps a sign that his team has convinced him to not torpedo these talks with any comments in advance of them.
There is still some confusion, though, as you said, about whether these talks will actually take place. Here is what White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had to say about that yesterday.
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LEAVITT: We've certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days. Again, the president has made the decision to send Steven Jared to hear the Iranians out. The Iranians want to talk. They want to talk in person. And so the president is, as I've said many, many times to all of you, always willing to give diplomacy a chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANTORNO: Now, Vice President JD Vance is on standby to head to the Middle East if these talks continue to progress. He was obviously a key player in the first round of negotiations. Trump himself, though, is at Mar-a-Lago. He will attend a crypto event down here and then he will head up north for the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Victor?
[06:05:00]
BLACKWELL: All right, Steve Cartorno there in West Palm Beach near Mar-a-Lago. Thanks so much.
Mixed messaging is coming from Iran, as we've heard, but the U.S. is sending, as we heard the delegation, just in case talks happen. CNN's Leila Gharagozlou is with us now with what we can expect later.
The White House says Iran wants to talk, as you heard from Karoline Leavitt. What are they hearing from the Iranians? Do we know?
LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Yes. So the Iranians have said that they want to talk, but in indirect negotiations they've been very clear about wanting to go through the Pakistanis and not meet face to face with the Americans.
In a lot of ways, we are back where we were prior to this war, where we're seeing Abbas Araghchi indirectly meeting with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. On top of that, nothing has fundamentally changed about Iran's red lines and the US's red lines.
So what could come out of these talks is still very up in the air, given that neither side is really willing to move in on any of their red lines. For the Iranians, that's obviously their nuclear program, the missile program and the Strait of Hormuz.
For the Americans, it largely has to do with Iran's nuclear program, missile program, and their enrichment capabilities.
Now, given that they're not meeting indirectly and JD Vance isn't at these talks and neither is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Parliament and the lead negotiator, it's very unlikely that we see anything substantial come out of these talks.
On top of that, we don't have really any technical experts there. So coming to create a framework for an actual nuclear deal is also very unlikely. We do need to see what happens over the course of today. We whether these talks remain indirect, but as of now, I'm very, very reticent to say that we're going to see anything come out of this over the next couple of days. Victor.
BLACKWELL: Leila Gharagozlou reporting for us. Thank you so much. Next hour, we're going to take you to Islamabad where those talks, if they happen, will happen. Our Nic Robertson is there live.
This morning. Video out of Oklahoma shows how destructive tornadoes have been. A tornado swept through Kiowa yesterday, scattering debris across the area. Officials say some roofs were damaged. Good news is no injuries reported.
A tornado ripped through Enid Thursday, flattening homes and left behind major damage. The National Weather Service says It was an EF4 with winds up to 175 miles per hour. Take a look at the aftermath.
The tornado stayed on the ground for more than 30 minutes. It triggered a rare tornado emergency. The National Weather Service's most urgent warning. More severe weather is on the way. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here tracking what's next. In the same area?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you're right. What a monster that tornado was. And yesterday the wind damage into Oklahoma. Now we've got southeastern parts of that state under the gun once again for severe weather.
We are really concerned about this area because the storm prediction center has just increased the threat level across that area. So Interstate 40 South Oklahoma City, you're included in that. Here's the setup. We get the collision of air masses, right?
So push and pull between the winter and spring season. So we've got cold air meeting with warm humid air. So that's going to fuel off our thunderstorms. But this area you see here, shaded in red and inclusive of the orange and yellow locations.
But that level four or five, that is a moderate risk of very large hail, damaging winds and even some strong tornadoes. In fact, this is the area here where you see that hatching. That's where the Storm Prediction center believes that they could have EF3 or greater tornadoes. Once again, not good, especially considering this track of severe weather we've had lately.
Now here's a look at severe storms that are ongoing this morning. No watches at the moment but there were some tornado warned storms across southeastern Louisiana. This system will move offshore. It's really what's going to form later this afternoon after we get that kind of destabilization from the sun, the humidity starts to pick up and it's again southeastern Oklahoma where we're most concerned.
This is all part of our multi day severe weather setup that continues today. And then tomorrow we've got it across the Central Plains. Then I want to point your attention to Monday. If you're located across the Midwest and into the central Mississippi Valley, this area inclusive of Chicago, we could have some pretty strong severe weather that we are concerned about.
Monday will be an extremely active day. So this just continues keeping us.
BLACKWELL: I know Derek, you were on these fires and the fire threat throughout the week.
VAN DAM: I was. BLACKWELL: So let's. I'm going to take people to South Georgia and I want to come back and have a deeper conversation with you about a little later in the show. The two massive wildfires, the Highway 82 fire, the Pineland Road fire, they burned through thousands of acres and destroyed more than 120 homes. There are about 4,000 homes still in the evacuation area.
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Governor Brian Kemp calls them the most destructive wildfires in Georgia history. He warned fire activity could stay high through the weekend. Now, the Highway 82 fires already burned more than 7,000 acres, 15 percent contained. The Pineland Road fire has burned more than 31,000 acres, 10 percent contained. Officials say record setting spring drought and that's what Derek was covering all week.
The conditions are making this even worse. Listen to what it felt like as the fire moved in.
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DRAKE SMITH, FIRE EVACUEE: It wasn't panic until we seen. Well, until we seen the fire over the tree line. I mean, it changed in a matter of 20 minutes. And I mean the temperature went from, you know, being cool and all right, to just being hot automatically. It went up probably 10, 15 degrees just in a matter of 15, 20 minutes.
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BLACKWELL: All right. Still ahead, an American soldier is accused of betting on a secret military raid and cashing in big how this arrest is raising some alarms about high stakes prediction markets. Plus, a deputy in Florida came face to face with an armed suspect. And the body cam he was wearing likely saved his life.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you see clearly is the defendant come out, point his arm and fire that first shot. That disables the camera so the first shot hits the deputy in the chest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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BLACKWELL: This morning, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner. They are expected to leave for Pakistan to participate in peace talks with Iran, but it's not clear if they will meet any Iranian officials directly. With me now to talk about that and more is congressional reporter for Bloomberg, Erik Wasson. Erik, welcome back to the show.
So we've talked a lot about these maybe talks in the context of what the White House is watching, but members of Congress are watching this, too. Gas prices up again this morning. Fertilizer because it can't get through the strait, the increase in cost for so many farmers. How closely are members of Congress watching what happens in Islamabad?
ERIK WASSON, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, BLOOMBERG: You know, Republicans are getting very nervous about the midterms and Trump's declining poll ratings. He's in the low 30s, especially on the economy.
And the big issue right now is they're trying to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shuttered for 69 days or so. And there's a Senate bill to do that, but it just narrowly funds immigration raids.
And it's going over to the House and the House is saying, wait, this might be our last chance. This budget bill might be our last chance to really pass some things that could help with affordability. So there's going to be kind of a crisis in the House in the coming week when that bill comes over. There might be a rebellion by the Freedom Caucus.
But the things that they're talking about, what they define affordability is cutting government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, things that aren't necessarily popular with the moderate wing of the party. One thing we're hearing about a break on capital gains taxes, which would really benefit the wealthy more than anyone else.
So there's a real turmoil there, but a real nervousness among Republicans that, hey, we have a last chance here to do something about affordability. Because closer to the election when leaders are saying they'll do another bill, it's just not likely to happen.
BLACKWELL: And I know this has been what you focused your reporting on this week. Has the president weighed in yet on which chamber he's backing in this immigration investment or the big affordability push?
WASSON: He is saying go with it with a small one. Now you've got to get Homeland Security reopened. This bill would have $70 billion to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three and a half years, essentially taking away leverage the Democrats have been trying to use to get reforms to ICE tactics like warrants and stopping the mask. So he's backed that with a truth social post.
But we've seen before him issue social media posts like that, only to reverse course in the face of tough opposition. So, I think one of the things we may see is that the Speaker Johnson will really firm up a timeline on this later reconciliation bill that could move if we find out the Iran war costs.
We've asked the administration and members of Congress have as well. How much is this Iran war costing? We're hearing $100 billion far. If that amount comes up to Congress, that could spur an attempt to do a second bill, maybe in July. And then they could add some of these other things like cutting what they call fraud in Medicare.
But I talked to people like Lisa Murkowski, a moderate in the Senate, and she says cutting health care to pay for an unpopular war is political suicide. This is going to be a very difficult, you know, almost hellish. Some people are describing summer for Republicans in the House and Senate.
BLACKWELL: And the Republicans in Congress certainly need a lifeline of some sort. We saw that Gallup poll released this week, late this week on the approval rating of Congress Republicans in control of both chambers, 10 percent. It is the lowest approval rating on record for Congress, 86 percent disapproval. And they know going into the spring and summer or continuing the spring and summer and the middle terms, they've got to do something.
WASSON: That's right. The only thing that may save them is the also persistent unpopularity of Democrats. You know, your correspondent Manu Raju's child asked Hakeem Jeffries at Espresso, why are Democrats so unpopular?
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He didn't have a really straight answer for that, you know, other than to say government in general is unpopular. So Democrats can't just rest on their laurels and assume they're going to win the midterms. They've got to come forward with a positive message and also try to reverse the general impression that under Biden, inflation was even higher and the economy was also trending for.
BLACKWELL: All right, Erik Watson with Bloomberg. Thanks so much. Next, precious memories go up in flames in South Georgia. The wildfires, as we've discussed, to burn thousands of acres, are pushing firefighters to brink of exhaustion.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scary. When you see a wall of flames coming at you, it puts -- puts life in perspective 100 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And breaking news in Russia's war on Ukraine. Russia launched one of its largest attacks in Ukraine in recent months. We've got an update on the number of people killed. That's next.
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[06:25:14]
BLACKWELL: Potential talks between the U.S. and Iran still not confirmed this morning. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is already in Islamabad and met with leaders there. Special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner are leaving today for Pakistan, but Iran's semi-official media says that there are no plans for direct talks.
We're also following the breaking news out of Ukraine. Russia launched more than 600 drones and missiles at the country, mainly targeting the city of Dnipro, according to Ukraine's Air force. And so far, four people have been killed. Rescuers are still looking through debris for survivors who may be trapped. And we're tracking the threat for more severe weather today. After
several days of severe storms that have spawned tornadoes, there's damage across the central U.S. and we've got a look at the areas where we're focused on today. That's coming up at the top of the hour.
And we're learning more about the charges against the Special Forces soldier accused of cashing in on the betting market after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Master Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke faces five criminal charges for stealing and misusing confidential government information, along with theft and fraud.
The indictment against Van Dyke says he wagered more than $30,000 on Polymarket in late December. Prosecutors say he then profited more than $400,000 after the raid. They say he tried to hide the money using a foreign cryptocurrency vault. Here's CNN's Kara Scannell with more on these bets.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A major arrest tied to a suspicious $32,000 bet that paid out in January by a trader who used the name Burdensome Mix. The bet was a long shot that longtime Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would be out by the end of January.
Shortly after it was placed, a covert U.S. military operation ensued extracting Maduro.
BLACKWELL: President Trump says the U.S. carried out large scale strikes on Venezuela overnight.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arriving in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is unprecedented. This is history in the making for Venezuela.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Law enforcement now alleging that the traitor who made over $400,000 is U.S. Special Forces soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke and that he was involved in the planning and execution of the Maduro raid.
Van Dyke is alleged to have misused classified government information for personal gain. And tonight, more bets and trades timed suspiciously around major news developments are in question.
Fifteen minutes before President Donald Trump posted on Tuesday that he would extend a ceasefire with Iran, traders placed a whopping $430 million bet that oil prices would drop.
The trade is one of four massive bets that preceded major announcements in the U.S.-Iran conflict since late March, according to Reuters, raising concerns about potential insider trading.
Last Friday, investors bet $760 million that oil prices would drop. Twenty minutes later, Iran's foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz moves would reopen. After the post, oil futures fell 11 percent. And earlier this month, less than three hours before President Trump announced on Truth Social, a U.S. ceasefire with Iran, traders had bet $950 million that oil prices would fall. That bet paid off as well. Oil futures fell 15 percent after the post.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): This is corruption. This is just astounding corruption.
SCANNELL (voice-over): These are not isolated incidents. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy called out a $580 million bet placed 15 minutes before Trump posted on Truth Social he would delay striking Iran's energy infrastructure. It was another winner. Oil futures plummeted 15 percent.
MURPHY: That kind of scale never happens on a Monday morning at 6:50. But it was happening for a reason, because people that were making those bets knew that a few minutes later, Donald Trump was about to post something on social media.
SCANNELL (voice-over): There are no obvious ties between the trades and White House officials. And a White House spokesman told CNN any implication that administration officials are violating the law is, quote, baseless and irresponsible.
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: The key phrase that makes something insider trading under the law is if somebody is trading based on material non-public information. The question is essentially, is this information that was known to the general public outside the halls of Congress, outside of the White House, outside of government itself?
SCANNELL (voice-over): Last month, the White House sent a memo to staff reminding them that, quote, the misuse of non-public information by government employees for financial benefit is a very serious offense and will not be tolerated.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reminding them that quote, "the misuse of non-public information by government employees for financial benefit is a very serious offence and will not be tolerated."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCANNELL: The soldier facing insider trading charges for betting on Maduro's ouster will make an appearance in New York federal court on Tuesday, where he will be arraigned on those five federal counts. Victor, this is the first criminal case brought involving bets on prediction markets, and it's one people are watching very closely.
BLACKWELL: Kara Scannell reporting for us, thanks so much. So, this morning, fires in southeast Georgia have destroyed more than 120 homes. Thousands are under threat as the region fights a drought fueled by dry conditions. This fire burned really quickly, one person there told CNN, in just 30 minutes, she lost everything.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My house is gone.
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BLACKWELL: Firefighters are trying to protect the remaining houses, clearing away dry brush, and they're using hoses and sprinklers to try to keep the yards wet. Heavy smoke from the fires drifted more than 400 miles as far north as Atlanta, and prompted air quality warnings across several towns.
Officials think that one of the fires was started by a children's party balloon, touching power lines. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is back with us now. You were down in south -- southern Georgia.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes --
BLACKWELL: What did you see?
VAN DAM: Incredibly challenging conditions on the ground. Firefighters have an uphill battle with this wildfire. We were at the highway 82 fire in Brantley County, so southeast Georgia. But it is being fueled by the drought.
But the wind, we would watch this fire just erupt as the winds picked up through the course of the day. Remember, this is southeast Georgia, so, it's close to the coast.
BLACKWELL: Yes --
VAN DAM: We get the sea breeze, and any time that wind starts to pick up through the afternoon, then goes the fire. I mean, it erupted right in front of us. We started to watch, you know, these large air tankers, Chinook helicopters coming with their buckets of water to try and douse the frontlines.
But undoubtedly, the most challenging thing that we witnessed on the ground was the heartbreak of people coming to see their homes and their properties that were completely destroyed for the first time. We saw --
BLACKWELL: Yes --
VAN DAM: Unfortunately, family pets that had perished in the -- in the fire. We witnessed the first encounters with people coming back to witness that. So, it was really hard. It was emotional. And I believe that they have just a really challenging next couple of days because we don't see any appreciable rain in this forecast.
BLACKWELL: Yes --
VAN DAM: You talk about the smoke and the pollution from that has really just drifted in and out of the area. We inhaled it. It -- there's a lot of burning plastic. We smelled chemicals and we often had to put a mask on just to protect ourselves as much as possible.
BLACKWELL: You know, and we've covered obviously fires for years. Most people just remember what happened in Los Angeles, how quickly the direction can change, the --
VAN DAM: Yes --
BLACKWELL: Intensity can change --
VAN DAM: Yes --
BLACKWELL: Where one can think that their neighborhood is safe --
VAN DAM: Right --
BLACKWELL: And in a matter of moments, they're not.
VAN DAM: Well, that's the thing. So, these wildfires are so hot that they actually can create their own weather patterns. They'll shift the winds from the surface to the upper levels of the atmosphere, making it very difficult for firefighters to identify the forward flank of the fire.
It also sucks the moisture out of the air. So, it is extremely dry in and around the leading edge of the fire. So, that allows for the fire to spread even quicker.
BLACKWELL: Yes, and it's been so dry here in Georgia, in the Atlanta area, we haven't --
VAN DAM: Yes --
BLACKWELL: Had significant rain in many weeks. And you say they're not going to get any anytime soon --
VAN DAM: Yes --
BLACKWELL: Inside Georgia --
VAN DAM: That's the problem here. So, they're in exceptional drought. This is the highest level of drought category. I want to show you this map here. This is really important. You see that shading of red, Brantley County is right here.
Just last week, they were in level three of four, OK, so extreme drought, now they're an exceptional drought. So, what changed is just this percentage of the southeastern Georgia that turned into this exceptional drought, this largest drought category. You can have the most severe.
And that is what's helping fuel these conditions on the ground. I mean, we were touching the surface of the soil and it was dry, even six inches down. When in a normal day, we would have, you know -- you'd be able to touch the inside of the dirt and feel the dampness to the dirt, but that's just non-existent. I mean, it would almost be like stomping on dust, and it would just
kind of scatter around because it was so dry. I mean, you look at this, this is a percent of normal of precipitation. This is really important because we're standing at about 2 percent to 5 percent of average rainfall across southeast Georgia.
BLACKWELL: Yes --
VAN DAM: And that is not great, obviously --
BLACKWELL: Yes --
VAN DAM: And when we look for the weather forecast to change, we need appreciable rain to make a dent in that drought.
[06:35:00]
And we don't see anything significant, although we do have light showers in this forecast coming up through the next seven days, maybe giving us up to an inch of rain, but not a drought buster by any means. People are desperate for rain. They are praying for rain and they have a very difficult next couple of days ahead of them.
BLACKWELL: All right, Derek, thanks for explaining it and for the reporting --
VAN DAM: Yes --
BLACKWELL: Throughout the week.
VAN DAM: You got it --
BLACKWELL: All right, from encouraging the prosecution of his political opponents to launching a war unilaterally, President Trump has pushed the boundaries of presidential authority, but he's hardly the first President to do so.
In his latest documentary special, Fareed Zakaria examines how presidents on both sides of the aisle laid the groundwork for today's modern imperial presidency.
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FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN (on camera): Not so long ago, it was the Republican Party that was rising up in protest over a president they said was acting like a king.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN: The imperial president, the autocratic leader --
JOHN KING, CNN: Some Republicans call him the imperial president, that he's using executive powers to go beyond his true authority.
ZAKARIA (voice-over): The imperial president they were talking about, Barack Obama. And in a way, the Republicans had a point.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can't wait for an increasingly dysfunctional Congress to do its job; where they won't act, I will. Here we go.
ZAKARIA: President Obama was transforming the country often with the stroke of a pen and without Congress.
OBAMA: Thank you.
ZAKARIA: It was a shocking turnaround for the former constitutional law professor, who, on the campaign trail had blasted George W. Bush's aggressive use of executive power.
OBAMA: We've paid a heavy price for having a president whose priority is expanding his own power. The constitution is treated like a nuisance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: "THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY" of Fareed Zakaria special premieres tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN, and then the next day on the CNN app. The FDA is fast-tracking psychedelic drugs for depression and PTSD, and veterans could be among the first to benefit.
Next, what experts say about the promises and the risks. And remember, if you're heading out, you can always stream our show from anywhere in the U.S. right from the CNN app. You can also go to cnn.com/watch.
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[06:40:00]
BLACKWELL: The FDA is fast tracking their review of a new class of mental health treatments focused on psychedelic drugs. After an executive order by President Trump, the FDA is issuing national priority vouchers to three companies studying these medicines.
Psilocybin; the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms for treatment resistant depression and major depressive disorder. Methylone; a drug similar to MDMA for PTSD. These vouchers are meant to speed up FDA reviews, potentially getting treatments to patients faster.
So, what does this actually mean? What comes next? What should you know? Well, here with me now is Dr. George Grant of Emory; Founder and Director of the Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality. Dr. Grant, good to have you on the show.
And I think to have this conversation, you know, there still is a stigma around psychedelics. I think people hear the word and they think, you know, people getting high and being on a trip. So, first, what's the reality around psychedelics?
GEORGE GRANT, FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR PSYCHEDELICS & SPIRITUALITY, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Yes, the stigma associated with it comes from a period of time in the '60s, when there was, you know, social revolution going on in this country. And young people mainly were turning to forms of escape and
distraction. And it was seen to be a massive kind of addiction problem. You know, in the '70s, there was a -- what began a war on drugs and it shut down any kind of possibility that these kinds of compounds could be utilized to address mental health issues.
BLACKWELL: Yes --
GRANT: And has been in the past two decades that psychedelic medicine has become mainstream again in funded research, clinical trials in institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, NYU Langone, UCSF, Stanford, and for the past six years here at Emory University.
BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about these drugs specifically. And Psilocybin, and let's start there. What do you know about this and how does it treat depression? Because I watched the news conference in the Oval Office last week, and those men said when nothing else worked, these drugs, many of them of this class changed their lives.
GRANT: Yes, well, the treatment associated with clinical trials in the U.S. and other parts of the world consist of psychotherapy process.
[06:45:00]
So that you have preparatory sessions, then you have a medicine session, in the case of Psilocybin. This session would last 6 to 8 hours. And beyond that, there would be integration sessions with psychotherapists.
And in this process, there is a kind of resetting, biological resetting, and also, confluent with that is an experience, a subjective experience whereby the person may feel different connections with his or her of their own history or story.
And in some cases, have spiritual experience as a part of the medicine session. And in that, often times, it can almost seem miraculous the very next day. A person does not feel as debilitated or burdened by the treatment resistant depression or PTSD or other issues associated with chronic disease.
BLACKWELL: And so, would this be a single treatment? Would they be sporadic treatment or would this be something like on a regular schedule if the FDA moves forward with approval for this class of drugs?
GRANT: Well, you know, often times, it may just be a single medicine dosing that's effective. And you know, the -- what we don't know as of yet is the long-term sustaining quality of that. And so, it's -- it has been important to actually have more funding so that we can study with more patience and study for longer periods of time.
But right now, it holds a lot of promise. And you know, persons as you are, of course, aware, and we're all susceptible to trauma, you know, in terms of natural disaster, war, violence, and some of these problems are -- BLACKWELL: Yes --
GRANT: Intractable problems. And we need to usher in new treatments.
BLACKWELL: We will certainly be following this, as the FDA now has this fast-track to be studying these drugs.
GRANT: Yes --
BLACKWELL: Dr. Grant, I appreciate you helping us understand this, this class of drugs as we learn more. Thanks for coming on.
GRANT: Yes, good morning to you.
BLACKWELL: Next, a high stakes rescue, 75 feet in the air, a tree trimmer suffers a medical emergency. How first responders were able to get him down.
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[06:50:00]
BLACKWELL: Tonight, for the first time as President, President Trump will attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner. It's usually a celebration of journalism, the First Amendment. But the President regularly attacks both of those things.
And a lot of attendees who are wondering what he'll say and how the room will react. Find out, coverage of the annual White House Correspondents Dinner begins tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. You can also watch it on the CNN app.
New video captured a stunning rescue. I want you to watch this one. A Cal Fire helicopter crew managed to rescue a tree trimmer who was working in a palm tree about 75 feet in the air when he had some medical emergency.
He was stranded in the tree for more than an hour before help arrived. Just limp there. Eventually, they managed to lower him to the helicopter, swing through the air to reach the tree, and safely bring the worker to paramedics on the ground.
A police officer's life saved by a body camera, but not because of anything it recorded, deputy Jose Rivera was investigating an assault when the suspect started shooting. Investigators say the video captures a suspect firing directly at the deputy's chest before the camera went dark, and they believe the bullet hit the camera and likely prevented a more serious or fatal injury.
Rivera was also hit in the arm and thighs, now recovering at home. The long-awaited Michael Jackson movie is finally in theaters this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL JACKSON, LATE POP SINGER: I believe music could change the world.
(MICHAEL JACKSON SINGING BILLIE JEAN)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And Michael depicts the king of pop from his early years in Gary, Indiana, all the way to his rise to stardom in the late '80s. Early reviews are mixed. Fans are loving the cast and of course, the music. But critics point out that some key parts of Jackson's life and the story are missing, including the sexual abuse allegations MJ faced.
I wanted to hear from someone who actually knew Michael Jackson, the man, and saw the movie. So, I spoke with choreographer and producer Travis Payne, who was also a friend and collaborator of Jackson. Payne told me that the movie captures the magic around who Michael was and left, and the impact that he left on fans and the industry.
[06:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRAVIS PAYNE, AMERICAN CHOREOGRAPHER & DIRECTOR: I thought that it's going to be a great vehicle for his fans to, you know, really reconnect with him in his music and for the new generation to really sort of understand, you know, the origins of his story. So, for all of those purposes, I think it's a really solid piece.
BLACKWELL: Do you think the movie gets Michael right?
PAYNE: That, I think is a very subjective question that each viewer is going to have to answer for themselves. But from me, I know that there is so much the story is so layered. You know, Michael was such a multi-faceted individual, a human being.
The telling of his story in a film capacity is going to be so subjective. I mean, I'm sure that there were so many things to cut out. I'm sure that there were so many, you know, options and so many avenues that could be taken.
But the filmmakers decided to assemble the picture they did. So, for that, I think that everybody is going to get what they want out of it.
BLACKWELL: Are there criticisms that after watching the movie that you say, man, that just didn't hit?
PAYNE: I missed some of the characters that we all know were in the story. You know -- you know, namely, Janet, I miss her presence in the film because I know how close they were, and I know how much their art inspired each other's art. And I would have loved to see that depicted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And Travis actually got his start dancing for Janet Jackson on the Rhythm Nation Tour, and that's how he connected with Michael and eventually started working with him. You'll hear more from Travis Payne and the critics, that's ahead on "FIRST OF ALL", we'll get into the debate over the movie that's dividing the internet.
That's at 8:00 a.m. right after CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND. Ahead of the next hour, the FBI is investigating a chilling national security mystery. Ten people connected to U.S. nuclear and aerospace research, either dead or missing. What we know is next.
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