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Shannon Sharpe Fired by ESPN After Settling Sex Assault Lawsuit; Radioactive Wasp Nest Found at Site Where Nuclear Bombs Were Made; How Lifestyle Changes Can Slow Cognitive Decline. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 31, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe is speaking out after being dismissed by ESPN. The network is cutting ties with Sharp fewer than two weeks after he settled a lawsuit with an anonymous woman who claimed multiple instances of sexual assault and battery. She initially sued him for $50 million.

Sharpe has denied the allegations and addressed his termination on his podcast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON SHARPE, HOST, NIGHTCAP PODCAST: Obviously, I'm sure everybody's heard the news by now that I will not be returning to ESPN. I found out this information a little earlier in the week. And really the only thing that I really ask is like, guys, could we wait until Monday?

My brother's going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I really wanted to be about him and I wanted to be about my family. I know this would, I said, this coming out will overshadow everything that he's worked his entire life for. And unfortunately, you know, it didn't happen that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: With us now, the reporter who first broke the story, senior sports media columnist for The Athletic, Andrew Marchand. Andrew, thank you so much for being with us. What are you learning about Sharpe's departure from ESPN?

ANDREW MARCHAND, SENIOR SPORTS MEDIA COLUMNIST, THE ATHLETIC: Well, I think when you look at why they made the decision, this is a Disney owned company. When you go back to the allegations, Shannon Sharpe fought them initially publicly and there was a back and forth that didn't shine well on anybody involved. So at that point, where you look at Shannon Sharpe and what he means to ESPN, he's a great entertainer in sports television, but he was only on twice a week.

He'd be on First Take, which is their morning show, very popular with Stephen A. Smith. They're paying him a good sum, more than $6 million per year to work a couple of days a week. So it did seem sort of inevitable that Sharpe would not be back just because he's not a player on ESPN, despite being very talented.

SANCHEZ: And how about his response that this all could have waited until after his brother was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? I mean, the settlement isn't new.

MARCHAND: Yes, I mean, my job and reporters jobs is to, you know, break stories and tell people what's going on. I disagree with Shannon's remarks. I don't think it's going to overshadow his brother going into the Hall of Fame at all.

[14:35:00]

It's a great accomplishment for Sterling Sharpe, the first two brothers to go into the Hall of Fame. Shannon's already in. So I don't think one really has anything to do with the other.

And you know, this wasn't ESPN putting this out. This was me finding out the story and reporting it. So, you know, when you have news, you just report it.

So I don't think one really has anything to do with the other. And I don't think it overshadows anything. The focus will be on his brother during the Hall of Fame weekend.

SANCHEZ: I also wanted to get your thoughts on another sports related story. Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas arrested, accused of taking part in this high stakes illegal gambling ring. What do you make of the charges he's now facing?

MARCHAND: Yes, you wouldn't want to be Gilbert Arenas right now. It's an odd story. As a player, Arenas made more than $100 million.

So it's kind of strange that he'd be caught up in something like this. He made a video after being released, after being charged. And it didn't seem like he had a care in the world.

He's facing up to, I think, 15 years in prison. So it's a very odd story. Gilbert Arenas, another guy who has made a transition from playing into media, has a popular podcast as well, has been on some networks, including ESPN at times.

And so it's an odd story, to say the least, that he'd find himself in this situation.

SANCHEZ: Andrew Marchand, thanks so much for joining us.

MARCHAND: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: This just into CNN.

Justin Timberlake is revealing that he's been battling Lyme disease. The 44-year-old singer shared the diagnosis in an Instagram post, saying that it explained his onstage struggles that have drawn criticism from fans. Timberlake said the tick-borne illness has caused nerve pain, fatigue and other symptoms during his world tour.

Despite those health issues, Timberlake said that he doesn't regret finishing the tour, saying that performing in front of his fans brought him joy. He also thanked his wife, Jessica Biel, and their sons for support. Timberlake says he hopes that sharing his story will help others battling the disease.

Coming up, a radioactive wasp nest uncovered in South Carolina near a site where the U.S. manufactured nuclear weapons. We have details when we come back.

[14:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We're now learning that crews found a radioactive wasp nest at a site in South Carolina that once made parts for nuclear bombs. That's right, it's the Savannah River site near Aiken. And a Department of Energy report details that the nest had 10 times the radiation level allowed by federal regulations.

SANCHEZ: Officials affirm that there is no danger. They don't want anybody to panic. They say the nest had no wasps. And the report adds that its workers sprayed it with insecticide, just to be safe. It was spotted specifically on a post near tanks where liquid nuclear waste is stored.

Let's discuss with Joe Cirincione. He's a nuclear policy analyst and the author of "Nuclear Nightmares, Securing the World Before It's Too Late." Joe, thanks so much for being with us.

A radioactive wasp nest, no wasps found on it. Could there be radioactive wasps flying around somewhere?

JOE CIRINCIONE, NUCLEAR POLICY ANALYST: Oh, absolutely.

SANCHEZ: Cool.

CIRINCIONE: Hi Boris, and thanks for having me on. I mean, I think we have to take -- we have to take this seriously. But, you know, we're not going to get into science fiction here. This is not a Peter Parker moment. The kid in the comics who's bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes Spider-Man.

It's very common, actually, in sites like this to find radioactive insects, animals, birds. For example, Chernobyl is widely known to have radioactive wolves, eagles, storks, owls and insects as well. Fukushima, the site of the nuclear disaster in Japan, has fish that have contained radioactivity.

So it's not surprising we would find elements of radioactivity in insects at this site. It's a 300 square mile site. It has about 34 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in several dozen underground tanks.

Those tanks leak. The environmental catastrophe, of course, caused by the radioactivity from that waste is tends to be limited to the site. It doesn't often sink into the groundwater.

But it's not surprising that wasps who construct their nests -- and if you ever taken one out, you know this -- construct their nests mainly out of dirt, will pick up the contaminated dirt from the site, use it to fashion their nests and become radioactive themselves.

KEILAR: We knew you were the guy to talk to, Joe, because your book is Nuclear Nightmares. This is one of them, as far as I am concerned.

CIRINCIONE: I don't have a chapter on this.

KEILAR: You don't? Well, you can add an addendum. OK, so I guess I have a question, which is when something like this happens, can you learn something from it? Can it be an indicator of something? What does it tell us?

CIRINCIONE: Oh, sure. So the radioactive levels were quite high here, 100,000 DPMs -- disintegrations per minute. So it's a high level of radioactivity, you know, is considered dangerous, which is why they immediately took action.

[14:45:03]

You know, they say they didn't find any wasps, but they sprayed the nest to kill the wasps. So it's unclear where those wasps actually are right now. You can learn that this is a sign of a problem. I mean, clearly, there's a contamination issue here.

This isn't the first time there's been contamination discovered at the site. There's a number of groups in the area around the Savannah River site, like Savannah River Site Watch, that monitor this and are quite upset with the environmental conditions at the site. So this tells you there's still contamination problems, and you should be taking action there.

This is not a situation that's going to harm the citizens of Georgia immediately. I wouldn't be looking to Augusta or Atlanta and worrying that radioactive wasps were coming to the city near you. But it is concerning to the site and the neighborhoods and the areas around the site itself.

SANCHEZ: Not a concern immediately. That immediately feels like it comes with an asterisk. What's the worst thing that could happen if you get bit by a radioactive wasp? Or stung, I should say.

CIRINCIONE: You know, I don't think you're going to turn into, you know, Michelle Pfeiffer or Angelina Lillie in the Ant-Man comics that become wasp woman. That's not going to happen. But, you know, you would get a low, very low level of radioactivity.

You get -- the main damage would be from the bite itself, not the radioactive material you would ingest. And unfortunately, it's not going to give you superpowers.

KEILAR: That is unfortunate because I was banking on that, Joe. I was. Joe Cirincione, great to talk to you about this. Thank you. CIRINCIONE: My pleasure, Brianna. Nice to talk to you.

KEILAR: And when we come back, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us to answer your questions about how to avoid those wasps. No, I'm just kidding. How to slow down cognitive decline as you age.

Stay with us.

[14:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Some new research indicates that healthy habits like a good diet, regular exercise and socialization can help protect your brain as you age. And research shows that lifestyle changes may even have an impact after cognitive problems appear to start.

KEILAR: Yes, we asked what you wanted to know about this link between lifestyle and the risk of cognitive decline. And we have CNN chief medical correspondent and author of the book, "Keep Sharp," Dr. Sanjay Gupta here to answer them.

Sanjay, starting here with Alan from Ottawa, Canada. He wants to know, does having type 2 diabetes accelerate cognitive decline if you're over the age of 70?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so the short answer is yes. There is a -- there is a link. There is a concern that having diabetes can actually accelerate cognitive decline.

A couple of quick things, though. When you look at the global population in the United States, about 11 to 12 percent of people have diagnosed diabetes. When you get over the age of 65, the number is closer to 30 percent. So, you know, close to a third of people in that age range.

But there is this link between having blood sugars that are too high and having insulin that doesn't work as well, something known as insulin resistance. There's an association between that and having cognitive decline.

In fact, some people have started calling Alzheimer's type 3 diabetes. The link they feel is that strong. So getting control of blood sugars earlier in life, certainly as you get older, very important for all sorts of reasons, including brain health.

SANCHEZ: Our next question is from Cal, who asks, what kind of impacts can learning a new language or learning to play an instrument have on cognitive decline?

GUPTA: Yes, this is really interesting. So the idea that people focus on things like crossword puzzles or number games, things like that, that can be good, obviously, for your brain, brain training exercises. But what crossword puzzles mostly do in terms of benefit is make you better at crossword puzzles. If you're actually trying to create new neurons, create more resilience, doing new things, like was asked, learning a new instrument, learning a new language, new being the operative word, really seems to have a bigger impact overall on cognitive health.

I thought there was this really interesting study looking at identical twins, one who played an instrument, one who did not. So genetically identical. And they found that the twin who played instrument was more likely to have good cognitive health later into life. So there does seem to be this really interesting correlation, not causation, but correlation between music and overall brain health long term.

KEILAR: That's fascinating. OK, and finally, Sanjay, and this is super important that we ask you about this, because we have had several people ask, they say, I see a lot of products out there that you seem to be promoting. It looks like it might be AI.

First, let's take a look here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, AI GENERATED: Scientists believe they may have finally found a natural way to not only fight but potentially reverse the devastating effects of the disease. The most surprising part, the key is in some new drug. It all comes down to a simple honey recipe and a powerful traditional Indian root developed by Dr. Sanjay Gupta himself.

GUPTA, AI GENERATED: I want to say that this is truly a landmark in modern medicine, and I am honored to be a part of it. Today, new hope is born. In fact, I'd call it a new certainty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right, Sanjay, can you confirm this is not you?

GUPTA: That is not me. You know, I got to say this stuff's scary.

[14:55:00]

I mean, you can probably tell because you guys know me that that's not me.

But a lot of people are getting duped by this. And then these these ads go on to charge people hundreds of dollars. That's a scam. It's a total scam.

Look, a couple things. First of all, something sounds too good to be true. Probably is. We learned that one from our parents. But also pay attention to these videos that you see online nowadays. If something seems off about the audio or the video, search for other sources to see if this is confirmed elsewhere.

And I can promise you, Brianna and Boris, if we had something that big to report, a cure for Alzheimer's disease, for example, you'd be hearing about it on legitimate news sources, not shady social media sites. So beware.

SANCHEZ: Yes, really important message, especially as that technology starts to get more sophisticated and it gets harder and harder to tell what's real and what's fabricated. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, always great to see you.

KEILAR: For real, though.

SANCHEZ: The real, the real Dr. Sanjay.

KEILAR: To really see him. Yes, that's right.

SANCHEZ: So we're just hours away from President Trump's deadline on trade deals. We're going to tell you which countries are still in limbo and which ones got a 90 day pause. Rather, which one?

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END