U.S. Iran Work to Resolve Disputes on Nuclear Issues & Sanctions

24:43The high cost of diesel is clawing at the affordability of a summer seafood favorite. Randy Kay explains why the price of lobsters is red hot. Okay, one more bite. Are you willing to shell out big bucks for a lobster roll? No, not today. I'm not. So I got a$7 clam chowder instead. Lobster rolls are usually a popular summer item on the menu. But here in New England, some customers can't believe how expensive they are now. The great thing was that it was given to me. If you had to pay for it, upwards of$40 a lobster roll, is it worth it? Is it that? Is it that? I don't even know. Wow. Maine's lobster supply has been dwindling for years.

25:24And last year, according to Maine's Department of Marine Resources, they saw the lowest supply of lobster since 2008. All of that drives prices up. I remember when Lobster World was$16,$17.99. At some places in the city, we're at$50. It just blows my mind. Restaurant owners here say they are dealing with soaring wholesale prices and rising labor costs. And the price of catching a lobster has also put a squeeze on supply. In Maine, where about 80 percent of the country's lobster comes from, diesel fuel prices are up 52 percent over this time last year, according to AAA. So for lobster fishermen, they have a decision to make.

26:01Do they really want to go that far offshore and burn that much expensive fuel in search of a lobster? Oh, my goodness. I have never seen a lobster roll like this. It's fantastic. And you can see, this is big chunks of lobster. This is the lobster tuition. The lobster tuition. Exactly. How much lobster is in the lobster-tution would you say? Almost a pound and a half of lobster right there. Oh my gosh. Fuel costs are so high, bait is so high, labor is so high, maintenance of their traps is so high. So by the time they get out, they're already in the red. Live lobsters are up around$2 a pound compared to last year, which translates to the higher meat prices.

26:42Which translates to more expensive lobster rolls. More expensive lobster rolls. It definitely impacted us this winter, and it just drove the cost through the roof. At Row 34 in the Boston Seaport, Chef Jeremy Sewell says they serve about 200 lobster rolls a day in the summer months. This is our warm butter lobster roll, which is by far our most popular lobster roll. So it's just warmed up in whole butter and stuffed into a toasted bun. Oh my gosh. What do these go for? Well, currently they're on the menu for$48. Does a higher cost change your mind about ordering a lobster roll? Not in this case because it's a special treat, so I'm okay with it.

27:20I have to pay for gas, but I also would love to eat a lobster roll. It's a tough choice. It is. In an economy like this, people may be choosing between a delicious lobster roll and filling their tank. Yeah, and I would say go half a tank and come have a lobster roll. Randy Kay, CNN, Boston. And our thanks to Randy for that report. and that really made me want a lobster roll. I don't know about you guys. All right, let's turn to what's happening in Texas. Voters head to the polls there tomorrow after an expensive and ugly primary runoff between two Republicans. So who will secure the nomination?

27:54We are live on the campaign trail up next.

28:03And our politics lead Texas Republicans head to the polls tomorrow to weigh in on the high-stakes showdown between incumbent four-term Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Yesterday, President Trump promoted his recent endorsement in the race, posting, quote, Texas, remember, Ken Paxton was a great attorney general, probably the best in the country. He was also very loyal to your favorite president, me. Ken's opponent was very disloyal to me as president. Vote for Ken Paxton on Tuesday. He will never let you down. CNN's Arlette Sines is live in McKinney, Texas, just outside of Dallas.

28:40Arlette, you've been talking with a lot of Texas Republicans. How is Trump's endorsement impacting undecided voters there? Well, Pamela, Republican voters here in Texas are set to deliver their final verdict in this showdown between Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cornyn is fighting for his political survival, trying to hold on to the seat that he's held since 2002. too, but President Donald Trump's endorsement of Ken Paxton just last week is weighing heavily on a lot of voters' minds here in Texas. Now, Cornyn has argued that he believes Texas Republican voters are independent thinkers, that they will be able to make up their own mind.

29:19But there are some who have said that they would be swayed by what the president has had to say, while others have told us that they're sticking with John Cornyn. But there is here, take a listen to one undecided voter that we spoke with a bit earlier today who is still making up her mind one day before the runoff. There's some things on Cornyn that I really like, but then there's some things on Paxton that I like, and then I'm trying to discern between the lies that are being told on both sides and the truths that are being told on both sides. I was a little shocked, to be honest with you, because I felt like Cornyn was a little bit more reserved than Paxton might have been.

30:02I'm trying really hard not to let the personal side of things filter what I'm going to do or filter my decision. So that's kind of the issue that I'm having right now. Now, this is a race that has roiled the Republican Party, not just in Texas, but also on the national level. There have been many GOP senators who have expressed frustration with the president's decision to endorse Paxton over Cornyn. Cornyn has argued that Paxton has a lot of personal and political baggage that could drag down not just him, but the ticket here in Texas in November. But Paxton has survived a lot of those personal and political scandals here.

30:49So the question is whether Republican primary voters will side with him as they decide who dissent to face off against James Tallarico, the Democratic nominee in November. All right, our let signs in Texas for us. Thanks so much. So let's discuss with us in the studio. Here is Megan Hayes and Rosemary Bacci. Thank you, ladies, for coming on. Rosemary, I want to start with you on just what our let laid out there. So far, we have seen Republican primary voters have shown that you don't want to be on the wrong side of Trump's endorsements, which, as we've seen, unseated Senator Bill Cassidy and Congressman Thomas Massey.

31:23Listen to what Senator Cornyn said about Trump's endorsement of his opponent in Texas. Well, my situation is different. President Trump has called me a friend and a good man. Well, I don't know how much more with him I could be than 99.3 % of the time. I can't interpret what's in the president's mind, but I have been supportive of him because I want him to be successful. So what do you think? Is the situation in Texas different than what we saw with Cassidy and Massey? I don't know at the end of the day that this is actually going to be different, right? As we go into the primary election, typically the voters that turn out in a primary are your very committed voters, right?

32:10And they're typically the ones that show up for four out of four elections or three out of four elections. And so the president's endorsement is probably going to matter quite a bit in this race. And so I don't know that it is different. Right. I think that you are likely going to see the same result because the voters are really going to look to President Trump as they go out and vote tomorrow. We've seen it historically. We'll see if it happens in Texas. Here's Senator Cornyn's pitch to Texas Republicans last night on Fox. Ken Paxton, as you know, is a flawed candidate. He's got scandal that follows him everywhere.

32:51And I think Paxton could not only, might not only lose the Senate seat, but be the reason why we lose congressional seats. So this really isn't just about me. This is about the Republican Party. What do you say to that argument, Megan, that if Paxton wins, it could create a bigger opening for Democrats? Yeah, he is absolutely not wrong. The Republican Party in Texas is melting down. They can't raise money. They know Paxton's not going to be able to raise money. You have Greg Abbott out there soliciting underage photos of Gina Hinojosa, who's his opponent, running for governor in her swimsuit. I mean, it's just like completely melting down.

33:25And it will, he's 100 percent right, is going to impact the down ballot ticket here. And it's just so interesting because Paxton, he's not a good candidate. And I don't understand why Trump is putting himself in this situation, that they could lose a seat and have to put money in Texas that they could be spending in Maine, Alaska, North Carolina, Iowa, all these other battleground states that Democrats are going to be really competitive in. And he has they could lose the Senate. And this is a reason why, because Trump only cares about Trump. He doesn't care necessarily about these members or even the governor's race.

33:55I mean, it's a test of loyalty. He said it himself. Absolutely. Absolutely. And again, I think that what we're seeing in some of the polls in Texas is that those voters that we're going to vote for cornyn will turn out and vote for paxton so so you know i do think it's it's about making sure that you know voters turn out and and the most loyal ones will likely turn out and no matter who wins tomorrow's competitive primary runoff we are getting a bit of a preview of the general election matchup here's how one recent attack ad from a super pack supporting paxton is going after the democratic nominee james talarico god is non-binary It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption.

34:40The American flag is such a complicated symbol for most of us. Prophetic voices like Jesus have helped me reckon with my own whiteness, my own masculinity. The Democrats have a weird, a weird candidate. Low T Tallarico, too weak for Texas. And Tallarico, or Paxton is also hitting Tallarico for claiming he's a vegan, in which Tallarico's campaign responded with this image of him. You can see taking a bite out of a turkey leg. Democrats say they're cautiously optimistic about running against Paxton, but how concerned should Democrats be about defending some of those past comments from Tallarico in a ruby red state like Texas?

35:22I just think that people care that their prices are really high and they can't afford things. Texas ranks last in health care. Their children rank last in health care. That is a problem. That is a massive state that should not have those sort of statistics. And if they're worried that he's a vegan or he said something, I think that Republicans are going to learn that a cultural war doesn't work when you guys are the ones in power and you're the one that inflation is high. We're fighting a war that nobody wants to be in, which is impacting gas prices. People can't afford energy in Texas, which is a huge issue.

35:50So you can have these cultural arguments. But what really matters is people want money in their bank account and want to be able to afford gas. And they can't do that right now because of Trump and because of Republicans. And this is how you lose in ruby red states with a Democrat. How do you see it? I do think that this is all about electing somebody that shares people's values and shares Texas values. And so I think that that's what this will turn in. But I don't disagree that a lot of this is going to turn on the affordability issue, right? Looking at gas prices, looking at housing, health care, things like that.

36:23And so at the end of the day, when we get to the general election, those are the issues that are really going to matter here. And help us understand just your point about the rising gas prices and affordability. A majority of Americans polls show are not happy with where things stand. I mean, but President Trump has always had his committed base. Help us understand why the voters, like you were saying, in Texas, those Republican primary voters, will stick behind Trump's candidate, even though they're unhappy, perhaps, with the way the economy is right now. I think they'll stick with President Trump and with whoever the nominee is because they think that President Trump has a better solution, has a better way about addressing the affordability issue.

37:06Right. That the America First agenda will ultimately prevail and ultimately lower costs. It will continue to rein in inflation, that ultimately gas prices will eventually go down when the war is resolved and things like that. So I think that it'll turn on some of those issues in terms of who has a better solution for the future. And we just heard James Tallarico and some of the things he was focused on. And that was played in that clip, right? God is non-binary. It is essential that we try to reduce our meat consumption. The American flag is such a complicated symbol for most of us. You know, I know you're saying that people are going to vote on the economy and not on culture wars.

37:44But do you think James Tallarico has been focused enough on the affordability message? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that he's been out there. Those clips are from years ago. These aren't things that he's been out on the campaign trail talking about. He ran a competitive primary against Jasmine Crockett. He's going into every corner of Texas, as you know. We used to go to camp in Texas, I know. So you're familiar with how large it is and how diverse the state is, and I think that you have to meet people where they are, and I think he's doing that. All right, thank you both. Appreciate it. Coming up, meet the brave Coast Guard crew behind a daring rescue in a cave along the California coast.

38:24In our national lead, never-before-seen footage shows a daring rescue near Santa Cruz, California to save a group trapped in a cave. One exit out led to a bluff too steep to climb safely. High waters blocked another exit, but three people in the group could not swim. The emergency led local firefighters, patrol crews, even the Coast Guard to respond. After some careful maneuvering, Cruz managed to save all eight people trapped in the cave. And let's bring in the heroes, the rescue team from the Coast Guard. Thank you so much for being with us. Thomas Sizer, let me start with you first. You weren't actually on duty when the emergency call came in.

39:03When did you know something was going wrong? I've got a firefighter friend who was listening to his scanner, and he informed me. and that was, oh man, that was pretty soon after it happened. So I called the aircraft commander, Lieutenant Straits, and as I'm actively throwing my wetsuit on and grabbing some fins and headed to the scene, and I knew we'd be a good asset for this. And yeah, I wanted to make sure that if there was a need for us, that we'd be there ready to help the other professional agencies on scene. Quite fortuitous that you're hanging out with a firefighter friend. Christopher Bernard, three of those trapped inside, did not know how to swim.

39:49And that must have complicated the mission quite a bit.

39:56Yeah, fortunately, they were kind of trapped on an open beach area, part of that cove. So they weren't able to exit through the cave to get out. But luckily, there was enough area there for us to be able to conduct that voice off the beach. Josh Straits, how different is a cave rescue from an open water rescue? I would think it would maybe even be much more dangerous. Oh, yeah. Lots of things at play, a lot of hazards that aren't always known. Every cave is different. We do training at our advanced helicopter rescue school, so our rescue swimmers get to do that every three years. So we do have some techniques that make it a little safer, so we're prepared to do that if necessary, But thankfully, we weren't required to do that.

40:44And this, we can recover them from the beach. Justin Kessinger, what advice do you have for people who are out this summer to avoid being trapped in such a dangerous situation?

40:56I would say let people know where you are and make sure that you always have another friend with you. Check what the weather's doing. Check what the tide's doing. Making sure that you all are safe. and know when sunset comes so it can be daylight out and more people are able to see you. Yeah, I might add, stay away from caves. Matthew Stickle, as I don't need to tell you, helicopters can be difficult to handle. What are some of the challenges you faced during the rescue?

41:27Main challenge definitely was nighttime. It was pretty dark. Definitely the wind was a factor for us. But luckily, our partner agencies on scene have a scene pretty well illuminated for us. And it's just all around crew formation, managing the wind and our power requirements in order to fly safely and get people safely off the beach. Well, a huge thanks to you all. A job well done. Thank you so much for joining us today. Some American heroes right there in the flesh.

41:56Thank you. Thanks for having us. And welcome to The Lead. I'm Pamela Brown in for Dave Tapper on this Memorial Day. Today and this hour, President Trump says negotiations with Iran are, quote, proceeding nicely. But U.S. officials tell CNN there are still disputes over sanctions and the country's nuclear program. CNN's teams are live in the Middle East and at the White House tonight with the very latest details. Plus, Pope Leo issues an urgent warning about the risks of artificial intelligence while standing alongside the creator of one of the biggest AI companies. We're going to walk you through what the Pope said just today.

42:33Also, the world is not ready for this Ebola outbreak. That is the warning from an infectious disease expert who treated Ebola patients during the 2014 outbreak. Dr. Selene Gounder will join us live to share her concerns as the World Health Organization warns, we don't know how much this virus has spread. And President Trump backed his opponent and pushed him out of a job. Now Congressman Thomas Massey is claiming his opponent's bamboozled voters. Our panel is here to weigh in.

43:08The lead tonight, the United States and Iran are once again seemingly inching towards a deal to end the war, even with key details still up in the air. Today, oil prices worldwide dropped sharply in anticipation of the Strait of Hormuz reopening, while the U.S. and Iran iron out details around sanctions in Iran's nuclear program. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while in India, emphasized the deal is in its early stages. Takes a little while to hear back. So we have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open, enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matters.

43:48And hopefully we can pull it off because it's not going to make a bad agreement. Right now, an Iranian delegation is on the ground in Qatar for negotiations a promising signal, U.S. officials say. So I want to bring in CNN's Kevin Liptec at the White House and Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv to talk more about this. Jeremy, I want to start with you. What are you learning about what's in this framework and the status of negotiations to finalize the rest? Well, Pamela, as you know, there is this delegation of senior Iranian officials in the Qatari capital. They include Mohammed Khalid Baf, the Speaker of Iran's Parliament, who is the lead negotiator on this deal, as well as Abbas Araqshi, the foreign minister of Iran and the director of Iran's central bank.

44:31And as of two hours ago, a source telling us that the negotiations were still ongoing in the Qatari capital. And they're discussing some of the key foundational aspects of this deal. Here's what we know is in the deal so far. It would see the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It would, in exchange for that, end the United States blockade of Iranian ports. The two sides would then have 60 days to reach a final status agreement, including on that key issue of Iran's nuclear program. But U.S. officials are indicating that they have gotten already commitments from Iranian officials that Iran will not pursue a nuclear weapon.

45:12But what's key to understand here, as these negotiations are still ongoing, is that Iranian officials, through state media largely, are indicating that many of these points are not as the United States is describing them. There are disagreements over exactly how open the Strait of Hormuz will be, whether or not Iran has actually made any commitments on the nuclear front. And then also on the issue of Iran's blocked financial assets, whether those assets would be released as a very first step in any agreement or only after the Strait of Hormuz is reopened. And then there's the thorny issue of Lebanon.

45:50Iranian officials indicating that they believe that this will lead to an end of the war in Lebanon as well, where we have seen, even despite a ceasefire over the last six weeks, daily Israeli strikes, daily Hezbollah attacks against Israeli troops, a back and forth that is continuing and in fact escalating even tonight. The Israeli prime minister, for his part, says that he has gotten assurances from President Trump that he will have the freedom to operate against threats in Lebanon as he sees fit. That is another potential issue that could unravel this deal before it comes to fruition. Pam. Was at this moment moment and Kevin, you're at the White House.

46:28How are U.S. officials approaching this next stop with Iran and how long could this realistically take? You heard the secretary of state said it could take a bit. Yeah, and President Trump says that he is in no rush to get this finalized. What we've heard from officials is that this could actually take days and days, in part because every word that they change in this memorandum of understanding has to be approved, in their view, by the Iranian supreme leader. And that can be quite a pained process, in part because he's believed to be in hiding. And you have heard these clashing explanations over the last 24 hours about what exactly has been agreed to, whether it's the financial relief that the U.S.

47:07will provide Iran or what it has been agreed to in terms of Iran's nuclear stockpile. And actually, on that front, Pamela, we have just heard from President Trump just in the last few minutes on True Social. He wrote, the enriched uranium, which he calls the nuclear dust, will either be immediately turned over to the United States or to be brought home and destroyed, or preferably in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or at another acceptable location with the Atomic Energy Commission or its equivalent being witness to this process and event. So on the surface, that message sounds like a red line from the president.

47:48But, you know, digging into it, it is actually demonstrating a degree of flexibility here. You know, previously, the president has been insistent that the United States take possession of this stockpile. You know, it's almost a thousand pounds of highly enriched uranium. He just said last week that he thought it would be, quote, psychologically important for the U.S. to get its hands on it. This message suggests that the president would, in fact, be willing to allow it to remain inside Iran if it's destroyed or perhaps to move it to a third country. You know, Russia, for example, has offered to take possession of it.

48:22The U.S. has discounted that. China is another country that you hear raised as a potential recipient of the uranium. And so this message, I think, important as the two sides go back and forth on the wording of this deal. The president just now demonstrating a new degree of flexibility as the U.S. tries to get this over the finish line. All right. Kevin Liptak and Jeremy Diamond, thank you both. We do appreciate it. And here with us now is former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, who previously served as a national security advisor to President Trump during the first term. Ambassador, are you feeling optimistic about this memorandum, given that we've seen negotiations break down before when it comes to the finer points of Iran's nuclear program?

49:06Well, I hope the negotiations break down because every day that goes by is a gift to Iran. It gives them 24 more hours to recover from the pummeling they took during the six weeks of U.S.-Israeli attack. It gives them time to try and reconstitute their government, which increasingly looks dysfunctional and decision-making capability. And it postpones the day of reckoning, ultimately, when the threat that they pose to control over the Strait of Hormuz is resolved in a way that they never come back and do it again. I think the ceasefire was a mistake. I think these negotiations are a mistake. I think we're on the verge of something that ultimately history will decide was a catastrophic loss for the United States.

49:50We have done significant damage to the Islamic Republic of Iran. And right now we're letting them undo the damage. And that is a real tragedy, not just for us, but for the people in the region too. So you think even if a deal is reached and Iran commits to some of these sticking points that the U.S. wants, like moving all the enriched uranium out, that that would still be a failure?

50:18Well, it's very hard to know what the terms they're discussing are since they change day by day. But it seems a constant that the uranium issues kick down the road for at least 60 days. This is what Iran wants. They want more time. 60 days turns into six months, and then it turns into more than that. I don't think Donald Trump is analyzing what America's strategic interests are here. I think he's looking at the price of gas at the pump, and he's doing whatever he can to bring it down. You can do that. But just say, we're going to acknowledge that Iran can use the threat of military force to close the Strait of Hormuz anytime it wants.

50:54And the only thing the rest of the world will do in response is beg them to open it again. That's where they want to be. And that's what we're close to putting them in the position of holding from now as far as the eye can see. All right. So let's talk a little bit more about that, because the president posted on Truth Social that, quote, quote, if I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama. Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it or knows what it is. But as you know, and you point out, a lot has changed since the Obama administration negotiated the Joint Plan of Action, or JCPOA, to kneecap Iran's nuclear program back in 2015.

51:31Now Iran has this added leverage with the Strait of Hormuz. How does the U.S. in that context create a deal that is the exact opposite, as the president said. Look, that's all salesmanship by Trump. He doesn't offer any idea of what the substance is. It's sort of like Richard Nixon's secret plan to end the war in Vietnam. I mean, you can listen to this day after day. It doesn't say anything. The only way to establish deterrence, again, against Iran trying to close the Strait of Hormuz is to take it away from them militarily, to open up naval traffic on the Arabian side of the Gulf, allow Arab oil out into international markets while keeping the blockade against Iranian oil.

52:17That increases, at least continues, the squeeze on Iran financially. But by allowing oil to flow from the Arab states, it reduces the pressure on international markets. Iran has to learn the lesson. It cannot get its way in the Gulf by military force. It's reasonable to ask, why didn't the administration think of this at the beginning of the war? I don't know the answer to that question. But the answer now is not to have a diplomatic deal that can be reversed by Iran, like turning a light switch on and off. And you just had the newly appointed leader of Iran's National Security Council saying in his first public message that there will be no retreat in Iran's fight against the U.S.

53:00and Israel. And just to expand a little bit on what you alluded to, I mean, do you think the president fully understands Iran's position here and what it would take for them to reach a deal that would be better than what was previously negotiated? I don't think the president understands the fanaticism of what's left of the regime and the people who are in power. He is somebody who has spent his whole life making deals with people. He thinks everybody wants to make a deal on just about anything. That's not what these people are into. And they can see that Trump is so palpably desperate to have a deal that he can declare to be a victory and that lowers prices of gasoline.

53:42And they're playing him on that. They're stretching him out. They're buying time. All of that works in their advantage. Former Ambassador John Bolton, thank you so much. Thank you. Coming up, the stark warning from Pope Leo today about the dangers of artificial intelligence and what he thinks needs to happen to rein it in. Plus, the head of the World Health Organization heads to the Democratic Republic of Congo and warns that Ebola is outpacing rescue efforts. We're going to hear from a doctor who has seen the tragedy of Ebola firsthand and has a warning.

54:24Our faith and tech leads intersect today in our series, AI, Friend or Foe? Today, Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S. pope in history, issued a new warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence. As CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb reports, the Pope worries, among other things, that AI may be concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a select few.

54:49A Pope weighing in on the debate over artificial intelligence. Leah XIV wants the church's voice heard on what he sees as a revolution, taking the unprecedented step of personally presenting an encyclical letter on the issues. one of the highest forms of papal teaching. Artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed. The word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences and indicating paths forward for humanity. Doing so alongside Chris Ola, a co-founder of Anthropic, the leading AI firm, which has been in a legal dispute with the Trump administration.

55:36Some might believe that matters of AI are best handled by computer scientists like myself. They are mistaken. The questions raised by AI are bigger than the AI research community, not just in their implications, but also in their nature. An ethical and human-centered development of AI is a top priority for the American Pope, who is known to be tech savvy. At the heart of his plea, an insistence that technology cannot replace the, quote, grandeur of humanity, nor take the place of God or personal conscience, and that AI should not be controlled by a powerful few and warning about its use in war.

56:17Leo wants to influence those responsible for the new tech, after a ten-year dialogue between the Vatican and Silicon Valley over AI. The Pope sees AI as raising more than just technical questions. He sees it as asking profound ones about what it means to be human. Now in the past the Catholic Church has made mistakes entering into scientific debate. But Pope Leo believes that faith and science, while asking different questions, shouldn't be in opposition, but help one another. This encyclical likely to be a landmark text for Leo's papacy. A pope seeking to address a defining issue of the age. Christopher Lam, CNN, Rome.

56:58And our thanks to Christopher Lam. Here to help us explore a little further is Kim Daniels. She's the director of Georgetown's initiative on Catholic social thought and public life. Nice to see you, Kim. So how much impact do you see this having on ordinary Catholics? You know, I think it's going to have a great deal of impact, not just on ordinary Catholics, but on all people of goodwill. Today, Pope Leo delivered something that is urgently needed, and that's a people-first vision of AI. You know, we've seen such unease, I think, among all of us over these past months, whether it's college students who are booing commencement speakers who talk about AI or workers who are concerned about what's going to happen with their jobs, parents worried about their kids' education.

57:43And what Pope Leo did today was enter into that moment, into that unease, and say, I'm going to offer a framework of principles and a moral vocabulary to bring to the conversation. Human dignity, the dignity of work, care for the vulnerable, transparency and accountability, and most of all, democratic engagement from all of us that we bring these principles to the conversation. What is the significance of the Pope entering into the arena and being a leader when it comes to AI safety, essentially? It's important to know that the Vatican has been a part of these conversations, as Chris Ola said earlier today, at the launch of Magnifica Humanitas for a long time now.

58:27But what Pope Leo has said is that this is going to be a priority for his papacy. He took the name Leo in reference to an earlier Pope Leo who responded to the Industrial Revolution. And Pope Leo, our Pope Leo, is saying he's responding to the AI revolution. I think what he brings is a certain moral authority and also the resources of our well-developed moral tradition, a global church that is present in communities around the country and that is accompanying people on the ground as they respond to this kind of transformation that we'll be seeing. And also, of course, a real attention to the vulnerable and those who live in poverty, making sure that everybody is a part of this conversation, not just the wealthy and powerful.

59:10And the Pope writes that every technical or economic decision should include spiritual discernment and be an opportunity for assessing whether the advances in AI are promoting justice and participation or concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a select few. And it was notable because one of the co-founders of a top AI company was actually there. What do you think? Do you see any chance of that happening, of seeing the Pope's dream come true on that front? You know, I think what's interesting is the fact that Chris Ola was there really signals that Silicon Valley leaders are listening, that they recognize.

59:46And he said, we have incentives in the industry that go in the wrong direction, whether it's geopolitical incentives or market incentives that sometimes drive us to do things that aren't right. He explicitly said that. And so what he called for was a dialogue, again, not just between Catholics, but between people of all faith traditions and none. These principles, human dignity, the worth of the human person, the dignity of work, the idea that we care for the vulnerable, all of these are things that we can all share and that need to be part of the conversation. And it also struck me when he used the word disarm.

1:00:21And initially, when you hear that, you might think, oh, so does he want to get rid of AI altogether? And that's not what his message was. It was about disarming AI from power or other corrupt features. What did you make of that? I mean, his acknowledgement that it was a strong word to use. For sure. And I want to be clear, just what you said, that this is definitely not a sort of Luddite or rejection of technology. It's not that kind of approach. He definitely says that this transformation is here and it's happening and there will be lots of good opportunities from it. We shouldn't deny that. Of course, there'll be lots of positive developments.

1:00:55but only if we put these principles at the center of the conversation. That word he used, disarm, was very intentional on his part. It's one he's used since the very beginning of his papacy with this idea of saying really that it's about taking conversations that are too often about money and power and bringing them back to everyday people and the principles that we all hold dear. The understanding that we're people who are embodied people who live in relationship with others, that we know how to love, that we have a moral conscience. All those things are things that people do, but not machines, and they should be part of this conversation.

1:01:30Kim Daniels, thank you so much. Thank you. And coming up, the latest on the growing global health crisis of Ebola. Medical experts are warning of two suspected cases in Italy. Up next, we'll be joined by a doctor who says the world is not ready for this outbreak.

1:01:52In our health lead, the Ebola outbreak will likely get worse before it gets better. That's according to the World Health Organization. And today, the head of the WHO said he's heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday to assess the outbreak. The death toll in the DRC continues to climb. at least 220 deaths in the country are now thought to be linked to the virus, according to the WHO. And this comes as neighboring Uganda has recorded seven confirmed cases and at least one death. The Ministry of Health says Italy is testing two symptomatic people for the virus after they recently returned from Uganda.

1:02:29So here to discuss is infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist Dr. Selene Gounder. So nice to see you, doctor. So you wrote this op-ed for USA Today titled, The World Isn't Ready for This Ebola Outbreak. And you write that this outbreak has every structural condition that turned West Africa's 2014 epidemic into a catastrophe, plus several more. So walk us through the risk factors you're seeing here. Right. So what we're seeing is an outbreak that is spreading in urban areas, across borders, across different countries. with many different migrant workers and with very weak health care systems at baseline.

1:03:10And then on top of that, you have Rwandan-backed armed militia, what are called M23, that have been occupying much of this area. So that is leading to even greater instability. You have the dismantling of USAID, which USAID, our international development agency, they used to fund a lot of the people in country on the ground that would response to an Ebola outbreak. And they would also help with things like supply chain for personal protective equipment, so your gowns, your gloves, and so on. And so because we have all those other risk factors plus some additional ones, it really predicts a catastrophic outbreak here that we're already falling behind on.

1:03:52And do you see that becoming a huge issue for America? Well, it depends on how you think about that. I think, for example, the situation in Iran is a good parallel here. So we may not see American citizens dying from the conflict in Iran, but it is certainly affecting Americans at the gas pump. And similarly, the minerals that are mined and used in your smartphones, your EVs and numerous other technologies that many of us are dependent on, those minerals come from exactly this part of the world. So, yes, I think there is a concern in terms of potential spread, sporadic spread outside the borders of the region.

1:04:35But there are also real economic impacts that Americans might be facing. And you spent some time on the ground volunteering as an Ebola aid worker. so you have experience on the front lines of an outbreak. You say that containing Ebola requires more than functional systems. It requires trust. What do you mean by that? Well, you have the loss of trust now because you have these armed militia. There has been some collaboration actually between the U.S. government and the Rwandan government there, which makes the local population in the Congo very angry at the U.S. They, whether you agree with them or not, they think that we are helping wholesale theft of the mining, the minerals in the region.

1:05:22So they're very angry and distrustful for that reason. They're also very upset by the way in which USAID pulled out. And then you just have other issues around a dysfunctional health care system. We know from experience in the U.S., you know, the harder it is to navigate your health system, the more problems you have with your health insurance and so on, the less trusting you are of the system. And you see exactly those same issues there as well. And on top of all of this, sources tell CNN that the Trump administration issued a directive to stop individuals at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases from communicating with the WHO, effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on this virus outbreak.

1:06:04What is your reaction to that reporting? Well, it's very short-sighted, and it's part of the reason this outbreak was detected late, is that we have not had normal communication and conversations between experts in the United States, whether it's with NIH or CDC or USAID. All of those agencies would normally have had people who were, some of them, even in-country. And it's a little bit like, why do we have military bases operating overseas. It's partly because it allows you to see the situation on the ground and interface with your analogs with folks in the local government. It's not just about being able to respond in the moment, but also about having information that helps you understand what is happening and when you need to really kick into gear and respond.

1:06:56How concerned should we be that we're now seeing patients with Ebola that are outside of the epicenter in the DRC? Well, the cases in Kampala have me very concerned. Those have been confirmed. And Kampala is a huge urban city. It's one of the biggest transit hubs out of southern Africa. So you have a lot of people traveling in and out of there to places like Europe. So that has me concerned. The cases in Italy have not yet been confirmed. So it's a little bit too early to say about that. But I think big picture, what we're dealing with on the ground is we're falling behind only one in five people who are contacts of cases who should be checked on every day for 21 days to see if they develop symptoms.

1:07:39If they develop symptoms, isolate them and treat them. We're only the response is only reaching one in five. And so every person who's missed can become part of the next chain of transmission. All right, Dr. Selene Gounder, thank you so much. Really appreciate your perspective on this important story and all of your expertise. Well, the incredible true story of how the reporting from a college freshman led to the resignation of Stanford University's president. That young man wrote a book about his experience, and you'll hear from him. That's next.

1:08:18In our national lead as a freshman at Stanford University, Theo Baker's investigative reporting revealed that research papers co-authored by the university's president, Mark Tessier-Levine, contained falsified data, and he reported that, and that triggered the resignation of the college president. In his new memoir, How to Rule the World in Education and Power at Stanford University, which is out now. Theo Baker takes us inside that reporting and inside Stanford's secret elite society. Theo Baker joins us now. Theo, I should disclose, I blurbed your book. I'm friends with your parents, but this is the first time we've met and it is a great book.

1:08:55So you arrived at Stanford with the hopes of becoming a coder, wanting to forge an identity separate from your parents who are journalists, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. Still, you ended up joining the student newspaper and you broke one of the biggest stories a college student has ever broke. Well, thank you for having me. Yeah, it was a pretty eventful year. I showed up thinking I was going to be part of this taqmilya at Stanford, where so much innovation and promise have developed. Very quickly discovered that things were not exactly as I expected. So not only did you take on Stanford, along with its lawyers and its PR team, after your reporting, you then decided to write a book about that.

1:09:27And beyond that, you turned it into a broader expose of the Stanford University culture and also just elite college culture in general. What made you want to go beyond the original reporting and take a look at college culture in general? Well, very soon after I showed up, I realized that there was this sort of Stanford inside Stanford. That there was this group of students who were courted as the next trillion-dollar startup founders. And for them, there were yacht parties and slush funds and this entire culture that is designed to find talent and exploit it as soon as it arrives on campus. that culture results not just in the innovation that Stanford is so known for, but as I very quickly discovered, in fraud, in deceit, and all of these unsavory business practices that are the natural result of this incentive structure.

1:10:10So in the New York Times opinion essay, and Ophred, you wrote, you're part of the first college class of the AI era. Chat GPT arrived on campus about two months after we did. When we graduate next month, the technology will have altered our lives in very different ways. What do you mean? Well, there's this immense stratification. AI really is an accelerant for all of these things that were already brimming beneath the surface. Nowadays, you know, if you know how to use AI and say the right things, you can make a huge amount of money. The guy who taught me how to shotgun a beer freshman year dropped out.

1:10:37Six months after he started his AI company, it was valued at over a billion dollars. But at the same time, for most people, the ladder is being drawn up. The starter positions are disappearing. So I'm sure you're tired of this question. I'm sure every college senior is tired of this question, but I'm going to ask you anyway. What's next? What are you going to do next? You know, I'm not sure, but, you know, I'm really interested in continuing to tell stories that to me, you know, seem important. And if you're wondering, does he look like Susan Glasser? Does he look like Peter Baker? He does. He looks like both of them.

1:11:04Theo Baker, thank you. Congratulations on all the success. Thank you so much. All right, just ahead, Kentucky Representative Thomas Massey says Republicans made a major miscalculation on the midterms. Our panel weighs in up next.

1:11:24All right. In our politics lead, ousted Republican Congressman Thomas Massey of Kentucky isn't stepping away from his political career just yet. Nearly a week after losing his primary to a Trump-backed candidate, Massey filed to potentially run for Congress again in 2028. His move coming after his NBC interview where he reflected on his election loss. I think the biggest crime I committed against the swamp, Kristen, was showing the American people that somebody on the right could join somebody on the left and get something done, which is releasing the Epstein files that everybody knew needed to be done.

1:12:02All right. Our panel joins us now. We have Rob Bluey and Lulu Garcia Navarro here to talk about this. So just to go to you first, you know, is bipartisanship truly a death sentence, essentially, for Republicans in a ruby red district like Massey's in Kentucky? Potentially. I mean, we'll see if he's able to mount a political comeback. And I remember a few years ago, Lisa Murkowski was in danger in Alaska. Remember, Republicans tried to take her out in the primary and she was able to mount a comeback and win a write-in campaign. And so it's not necessarily a death sentence, although I think in a district that President Trump won by 35 points, it's going to be very difficult for Thomas Massey to mount a comeback against a Trump-endorsed candidate.

1:12:43And it was also one of the most expensive primaries in U.S. history, and he noted that in his NBC interview, saying that his opponents essentially bought his seat. He also said that it contributed to mass misinformation. Listen to this. My daughter, who lives outside of my congressional district, she heard somebody in the voting booth next to her trying to find my opponent's name on the ballot because he didn't even know I wasn't his congressman. That's how much they've bamboozled the people here in Kentucky. What do you think of that? I think bipartisanship isn't dead. I think when you drop$30 million on a primary race, that's going to kill your chances.

1:13:24and money and politics is still a potent and powerful force. And so is President Trump. And I think Thomas Massey is making a bet that Trump goes off into the sunset. I don't know that that's a bet I would make, but that is the bet that he is making. And this is really just the first foray of 2028. He is going to be the first of many others, I think, really trying to take the crown. There is a lot of speculation that he is thinking of running for president because of his name recognition. What I can tell you with absolute certainty is that the next seven months until he leaves Congress, he is going to be a thorn in the president's side day after day after day he's going to try and make president trump's life a misery well and you've seen it also with like senator cassidy for example and he's been much more open about his thoughts that go against president trump so i mean it will be interesting to hear what else he has to say and just to follow up on that you know you mentioned 2028 he's leaving the door open for that he's also leaving the door open for president.

1:14:20And I had a guest on my show, one of the Maha Moms, last week. And she was saying that there's a whole network around him of the Maha Moms and the whole movement. They really, really want him to run for president. Do you think he has a chance at either? Well, even if he doesn't ultimately win, there's some people who run for president simply because they want to elevate a certain set of issues. And it could be Maha, it could be the Epstein files, who knows what Thomas Massey might have in store in 2028. But I do think that if you look back at past Republican primaries where there has been a clean slate.

1:14:53And remember 16, 18, remember Donald Trump was running with that large crowded stage. Maybe Thomas Massey feels like he can appeal to a certain constituency in the Republican Party. Another member of Congress is making some moves as well for a potential presidential bid, New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She is on this unofficial tour, if you will. Axios noted that just last week she was speaking about voting rights in Montgomery, Alabama, rallying for a progressive candidate in Philadelphia, and speaking at the Ebenezer Baptist Church with Senator Raphael Warnock in Atlanta, Georgia.

1:15:25Lulu, technically, Ocasio-Cortez has three races to choose from, the House, the Senate, the presidency. Where do you think she's headed? Well, I don't think she's going back to the House. I definitely think she might consider primarying the current minority leader, which is Chuck Schumer, who has made himself very unpopular. That is a path open to her. And then there is, of course, a very wide open field on the Democratic side. She's got great name recognition. And I think what she's capitalizing on is a real feeling among Democrats and others that people are tired of politics as usual. President Trump, and I will give him credit for this, has opened the door to what is the possible.

1:16:09Can we imagine AOC as president? And I think some people can imagine an AOC as president. I mean, when you look at the polls naming those different candidates, it's still Kamala Harris that has the most name recognition and support among the Democratic base. But, you know, it's a very, very wide open field. These numbers are very small. And so she is making clear moves intended on getting her name out there. And you've had Republicans speaking to The New York Times. You didn't want to go on record because they don't want to draw Trump's ire. But they talked about how they were worried about Trump's vanity projects when it comes to the ballroom or the weaponization fund, right, that that could actually hurt Republicans in the midterms and help Democrats.

1:16:49And I wonder what you think about that. Well, I think that ultimately the American people are probably going to vote on the issues that hit them closest to home, which is the economic concerns. I mean, that was certainly true in 2024, and it was one of the reasons that Kamala Harris wasn't able to overcome some of the challenges that she encountered during her four years as vice president. And so I think that the Republicans need to focus first and foremost on doing everything they can in Congress, whether that's another reconciliation bill or pushing through other policies that are going to alleviate some of the concern that Americans are feeling right now.

1:17:20But it was interesting, just given what we've seen from voters, right, Trump, Republican voters, they they will go with who Trump wants. Right. We've seen it. We saw it in Kentucky. We saw it in Louisiana. And I had on Byron Donalds, who's running for governor in Florida. He's a Republican congressman. And I pressed him on the weaponization fund. And I said, do you think that rioters who attacked cops should get money from the federal government? And he refused to rule it out. And I just wonder if that is basically the position of every Republican right now who wants Trump's blessing. I think, President Trump, the reason you're not seeing them back away from the weaponization fund is because I think that they truly believe that the MAGA movement that he rallied throughout the course of 2024 is firmly behind him on this particular point.

1:18:07Even on attacking the cops? Back the blue and... Not MAGA? No, listen, I think you're seeing in Congress, there's a lot of people who feel very upset at this. And I think, you know, it's a problematic pitch that he's made. All right. Thank you both. When we come back on this Memorial Day, the emotional journey of a group of World War II veterans who returned to Normandy decades after their service.

1:18:35This Memorial Day, a new CNN film called Why We Dream. It shares the story of a group of World War II veterans. It follows their emotional journey back to Normandy, France in 2024, marking 80 years since D-Day, seeing where they bravely fought against the Nazis, seeing where they lost friends in the process. One veteran profile is Betty Huffman-Rosevere, Born in 1921, she enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps in 1944. Here's a bit of her story. Women began to respond, convinced they could do factory work or anything within their strength that men could do for Uncle Sam. It was a really hard time for everybody.

1:19:16Those were bad days, you know. We did the best we could. I was in a nursing school. And then I met my husband. He was a really dear person, and I was a lucky lady. He was a pilot, and he was going to Europe. As a nurse, I was really, really busy. And then he went overseas, and he was shot down over Denmark, and he died.

1:19:55When my Billy died, that's when I enlisted. I went out in the Pacific. I was the only woman and I was the only nurse.

1:20:11Because I lost my husband, I just stayed with what I could focus on. And that was the patients. I went there to help them. I don't know. I thought nurses just did that, you know. But I couldn't have done it all alone, you know. According to her Army Nurse Corps Unit, Second Lieutenant Betty Huffman-Rosevere passed away just last month. She was 104 years old. See her incredible story and so many others like that in the new CNN film, Why We Dream, tonight at 8 Eastern on CNN. And before we go on this Memorial Day, I want to take a moment to remember someone near and dear to my heart and a true American hero.

1:21:03Chase Comley was one of my best friends growing up in Lexington, Kentucky. He always had a twinkle in his eye and had a lovable, naughty side. He enlisted in the Marines in 2004 and was based at Camp Lejeune. Lance Corporal Comley was killed on August 6, 2005 in a suicide bombing in Iraq. He was just 21 years old and it was just a few months before he was set to return home. In fact, this video, this picture you're looking at right now, it was taken just hours before he was killed. You can see that big smile. Our hearts go out to chase his family today and the families and friends of every troop who died in the line of duty.

1:21:44May their memories be a blessing. The news continues now on CNN. I'm Eva Longoria, and I'm setting out to really experience France to savor its world-celebrated cuisine and explore the country's rich history. Eva Longoria, searching for France, now streaming on the CNN app. I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast, Terms of Service. What do we know about how much AI is contributing to energy consumption, energy demand right now? And how does that compare with other industries? The best resource for that is the International Energy Agency, which is sort of the global energy think tank that collects data on all of this.

1:22:27And what they predict is that about 8 % of the additional electricity that we're going to need by 2030, that will be for data centers. The other 92 % is for other things, industry electrification, electric vehicles. And AI is really only driving part of that increase in demand. Listen to CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts. Video by