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Supreme Court Temporarily Pauses Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act; Democrat Rep. Casar Holding Meetings With Voters In GOP- Leaning Areas; Putin Declares Brief Easter Truce With Ukraine; Some 40M From South TX To OH Valley Could See Damaging Winds, Hail; Two Fathers Killed During Florida State Attack Identified; Some Children Left To Navigate Immigration Court Alone; U.S. & Iran Wrap Second Round Of Critical Nuclear Talks In Rome; New Study: Shingles Vaccine Can Decrease Development of Dementia; Trump Admin Freezes $2.2B For Harvard After University Rejects Demands. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired April 19, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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


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[13:00:51]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we start this hour with breaking news. The U.S. Supreme Court issuing a new blow to President Trump's immigration crackdown. The high court issued an order overnight temporarily pausing deportations of migrants potentially targeted under the Alien Enemies Act.

Attorneys made an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court on Friday on behalf of a group of Venezuelan immigrants in Texas who say the Trump administration was working to remove them without sufficient notice to challenge their deportations. In the high court's 7-2 ruling, only Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is live for us in Washington. Julia, where does this case go now?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this temporarily pauses action on what has been a fast developing case. In that order issued overnight, the Supreme Court paused the deportations of a group of immigrants in Texas who said that the Trump administration was working to rapidly deport them.

Attorneys for the Venezuelan migrants issued an emergency order late Friday night -- an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, excuse me, early Friday night. And they said that their clients were at risk of rapid deportations and had not had time to challenge this.

And so I want to pull up part of that court order for you now and highlight what the Supreme Court said. They ordered that the Trump administration to respond to the emergency appeal once a federal appeals court in Louisiana, which covers cases from Texas, takes action on the case. The order said, quote, "The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court". So in the meantime, no one in this group should be deported.

Now, the order did draw dissents from two Conservative Justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The order came overnight around 1:00 a.m., so we did not receive a statement from them at that time. But the court has indicated that we will see a statement from Alito at some point.

And at the heart of all of this, the Alien Enemies Act is an 18th century law, and it's the authority that we saw used to rapidly deport hundreds of alleged gang members from Venezuela to El Salvador just last month. It's been making a lot of headlines.

And this is not the first time that Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act has landed at the Supreme Court. In fact, just last week, the nation's highest court said that Trump could use the act but highlighted that there are guidelines in place saying that if a migrant is subject to removal using the act, that they should be notified and they should have time to have their removal reviewed in court. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Julia Benbrook. Appreciate that.

All right, I'm joined now by Democratic Texas Congressman Greg Casar. He is the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Congressman Casar, great to see you.

REP. GREG CASAR (D-TX): Hi there. Thanks for having me on.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful. So what are your concerns about whether the White House will even respect the U.S. Supreme Court ruling?

CASAR: Look, these issues aren't just about immigration. They are about the civil liberties and the basic rights of every single American. What Donald Trump has done is that he has targeted innocent families, sent them on flights to a prison camp in El Salvador outside of American rule of law, outside of being able to see a lawyer, and is basically saying, who cares if the Supreme Court or any of our laws matter or apply to him?

We do not have a king in the United States of America, and that protects all of our rights. So we should all be concerned. When Donald Trump, instead of protecting people's public safety or following the law, goes into ports like he did here in Texas, a 10-year-old U.S. citizen with brain cancer just because they were targeting her parents, or when they targeted somebody for having an autism awareness tattoo and said that that was a gang symbol.

[13:05:04]

Look, these are the sorts of things that affect not just immigrants, not just non-citizens, but the basic rights of every single person. The President must follow the laws of the land and follow orders from the Supreme Court.

WHITFIELD: Even outside of this court ruling or any court ruling, we heard the President say that he would also want to send homegrown criminals to, say, the prison in El Salvador or beyond. So the President has made it very clear what his point of view is and what his intention might be. What are you hoping Congress will do if the White House were to continue to defy court orders, including this U.S. Supreme Court order?

CASAR: The courts should be the check on the President when he breaks the law. The Congress should use every single tool at our disposal to hold the President accountable. We shouldn't be acting like it's business as usual in the Congress if Trump is defying these court orders. And the people of the United States have to be the ultimate check on this President.

Look, I'm on the road right now, clearly, between different parts of Texas, talking and having town halls in Republican areas. And what I hear from voters, including those who voted for Donald Trump, is that they were voting for public safety. They didn't think that they were voting for Trump to take law enforcement officers off of working on homicide cases, off of working on cartels that are moving guns and putting those officers on deporting innocent people and innocent families and breaking the law.

And so, ultimately, I think the people of the United States are going to be the ultimate check on this out-of-control, not just President, but all these members of Congress that go along with him like his employees instead of acting like representatives of the people.

WHITFIELD: We appreciate that you said yes to this interview, even though you are on the road, on your way to another town hall. You've done quite a few. In this one, you're going to a neighboring Texas congressional district, not yours, but District 10, and you will be face-to-face with constituents there.

This is a district that is represented by your colleague Republican member of Congress, Michael McCaul. So, how would you describe the tone of similar town halls that you've done and how is that preparing you for what you could face today?

CASAR: House GOP members right now are still not hosting town halls and facing their own constituents. So I and many other Democrats, especially progressive caucus members, are fanning out across the country and showing up. This is one of multiple town halls I'm doing in Republican districts in Texas and across America.

I'll be in Colorado, in fact, in Republican districts next week. And I think right now we should be talking to everyone because the fight isn't left-right. It's everyone against the billionaire class. I'm talking to voters that are much more conservative than me, people that may not and certainly may not have voted for Joe Biden or Vice President Harris.

But say that only the billionaires win when we cut Social Security in order to give a billionaire tax cut, that only the billionaires win when we fire veterans while giving Elon Musk another plush multi- billion dollar contract.

So this is a real opportunity for us to bring folks back to our side, build a bigger tent within the Democratic Party, and transform our party into one where folks may be able to disagree on some social issues or on this issue or on that one, but ultimately where people can actually see that the Democrats are willing to represent rural America again and win back the trust of working class voters here in Texas and across the country.

WHITFIELD: So I'm presuming you have spoken to your own constituents as well, or you continue to do so, even though you are in another district in Texas. And as you just said, you're going to be heading to Colorado. So you are, you know, kind of crisscrossing the map, if you will, not just talking to voices that you believe are in sync with yours.

So I wonder if you could express to me how challenging that might be, or if this also challenges you on how to direct or redirect your focus as you head back to Washington.

CASAR: Look, I was a labor organizer before I was ever an elected official. And I feel like I'm going back to those roots with these town halls. I just left the west side of San Antonio in my district. I'm headed up to northeast Travis County to a Republican congressional district.

And I've found that if Democrats refocus and put as our number one message, working people's interests first, before corruption, before the billionaire interest, before all these other things, if we say we're going to pee for working people first, then the message connects.

[13:10:11]

This message of saying we've got to break the unholy alliance between corporate greed and corrupt government, I can use that message that I'm talking about with you right now. I used on Fox News Live the other weekend. I use it on Univision.

I can use it in rural Texas, suburban Texas, or urban Texas, or suburban Colorado. It works because the vast majority of people believe that we shouldn't have the ultra-rich using their wealth to buy politicians and then to get themselves more wealth while pushing down your wages or making your retirement less secure. That's something that brings us together and can build a bigger tent for the Democratic Party of the future.

WHITFIELD: Congressman Greg Casar, thank you so much for your time. Safe journey as you continue to travel in your car on to your upcoming town hall today. Thank you so much.

CASAR: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All right. And this breaking news now, Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has declared an Easter truce in the conflict with Ukraine. It went into effect about an hour ago and goes on until tomorrow evening. The declaration comes just a day after President Trump said he wanted to see a peace deal done quickly.

CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Matthew Chance in Moscow for us. Matthew, what is Putin saying about what brought on this truce?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an Easter truce. I mean, it's, you know, Easter in the Christian calendar. And on the face of it, it's because of that Putin says that he's decided to call this 36-hour truce. It actually went into force about two hours ago and it ends at midnight tomorrow night local time. So 36 hours, not even not even two days.

But, obviously, you have to look at it in the context of what's been going on diplomatically. President Trump, of course, and the Trump administration have been trying very hard to forge some kind of diplomatic solution. And they've been very frustrated at that.

President Trump, you know, himself has expressed his frustration, said he was pissed off notoriously with the sort of foot dragging of the Kremlin. And I guess this is an attempt by the Kremlin to ease that criticism of them so that they can say, look, we are, you know, kind of in favor of doing, you know, having peace. And this is a sort of sign of goodwill, a show of goodwill from our part.

There are a couple of issues, a couple of questions that have still got to be answered. Will Ukraine follow suit? I mean, already the Ukrainian leadership has expressed scepticism at, you know, what will really happen over the course of the next 36 hours -- next 36 hours, rather. They say that Russia has made announcements in the past, but hasn't followed up on them with actions on the ground.

In fact, both sides accuse each other of violating various agreements that have taken shape, particularly recently. So that's one issue. Will it be implemented?

Another question, quite a big question is, is this a one off, you know, solitary ceasefire or does it open the possibility that it can be extended? You know, could it be -- could it go from 36 hours to 48 hours or to 72 hours or could it go on for those 30 days?

Certainly, I expect diplomats in the United States will be trying to sort of start to make that happen to try and turn this into more than just, you know, a short ceasefire for Easter and more into what perhaps could turn into the beginning of the end of the Ukraine war. That would be the ultimate objective, of course.

It's too early to say that's the case now. But I expect that's what this is raising hopes for. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Matthew Chance in Moscow, thanks so much.

All right, coming up, millions of families right here in the U.S. need to keep a close watch on the weather this holiday weekend as severe storms threaten to bring damaging winds, hail and potentially tornadoes. We're tracking the forecast.

Also, nearly seven months after Hurricane Helene ravaged parts of North Carolina, a highway connecting a popular tourist destination to the rest of the state reopens.

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[13:19:01]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. A severe weather in parts of the country could put a damper on those Easter egg hunts and family cookouts. Storms moving across the country have the potential for thunderstorms and flooding.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the latest on the weather that may impact your Easter weekend plans.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Roughly 40 million people are under some type of severe weather, and that stretches from Texas all the way up into the northeast. You've got a lot of cities that are going to be impacted by these storms.

And you're talking damaging winds up around 60, even 70 miles per hour hail that could be golf balls or even larger. And, yes, the potential for some tornadoes exists, especially along the Mississippi Valley region and stretching back into the southern plains.

A lot of these storms have been ongoing since this morning, but we really start to see them ramp up overnight tonight. As you can see, more of those storms about 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 p.m. really getting going across portions of Oklahoma and Texas.

The system is progressing eastward. It just doesn't really look like it is, and that's because it's a very, very slow-moving system.

[13:20:01]

So even by around 9:00, 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, it's still raining across some of the same portions of Oklahoma and Texas, while some parts of it are starting to begin to spread eastward into the Ohio Valley and Tennessee Valley as well.

By Sunday evening, that big line begins to form, but, again, still looking at Wisconsin all the way back to Texas. So still some of those same areas looking at some of these storms over and over again. So not only do we have the potential for severe thunderstorms, but we also have the potential for flooding, simply because these areas are just going to continue to get rain in the same spots.

So you have the potential for some flooding, especially in the red area here, but really anywhere that's highlighted on this map has the potential for that flooding. And the reason is widespread totals of 2 inches to 4 inches, but there will be some isolated pockets that could pick up 5 inches or even 6 inches of rain.

Keep in mind, for a lot of these areas, while it's been dry the last few days, they had a tremendous amount of rain at the beginning of the month, so that ground is still pretty saturated in several spots. By the time we transform into Sunday, you're still looking at another round of severe weather, a little bit slightly east compared to where it is today.

But still St. Louis, Kansas City, Tulsa, even down into Shreveport, still looking at the potential for some tornadoes, some damaging winds, and some large hail.

WHITFIELD: All right, Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

All right, nearly seven months after Helene ravaged parts of North Carolina, a highway connecting a popular tourist destination to the rest of the state is now open. A new stretch of freshly paved Highway 9 near Chimney Rock in the mountains of western North Carolina is now open to cars.

This comes as the North Carolina Department of Transportation says crews worked through the winter to complete repairs from Helene. They say 90 percent of damaged roads are now reopened.

And we're learning the two people killed Thursday during the Florida State University mass shooting were both fathers. One of the victims killed is Tiru Chabba, named in a statement released by attorneys representing his family. The father of two was an employee with Aramark Food Services who lived in Greenville, South Carolina.

The brother of the second victim identified the other person shot to death as Robert Morales, an FSU dining coordinator. Morales' brother said, quote, "He loved his job at FSU and his beautiful wife and daughter. I'm glad you were in my life".

We're going to turn now to CNN's Nick Valencia, who is there in Tallahassee, where it looks like the memorial behind you has grown. And you also have some breaking developments on the five survivors who were shot?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. It's still so sad and heavy here, as the safety and security of many here on the FSU campus has been shattered forever. Still very much so a somber scene as we start this Easter weekend. We've seen students come and go here on legacy walks and praying. And you can see the traffic here behind me.

But we did just check in with the hospital. We wanted to get an update on those surviving victims, and we're told that as of yesterday, one of them was released from the hospital. The gunman, though, is still hospitalized, and we don't have any update on him.

We do know that he is going to be facing first-degree murder charges. But as far as the motive why he did this, what may have inspired him to allegedly carry out this mass shooting rampage, that's unclear. We did speak to a law enforcement official, though, with knowledge of the investigation, who tells us that at least one of the things that they're following here is whether or not the shooting was connected to a rally that was supposed to happen sometime Thursday afternoon before 3:00 from the Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society.

And that's a group, a student group here on campus, that the gunman, alleged gunman, was very critical of in the past. We also know, according to court documents, that he had a tumultuous relationship with his biological mother. He was wrapped up in a years-long custody battle, the victim of domestic violence.

He was kidnapped as well by his mother at one point in 2015, trafficked essentially from Florida to her native Norway. But those who have learned the facts here on campus about what this alleged gunman went through say that there's still no excuse for what he is accused of doing here.

It's -- I mentioned a somber scene. That memorial behind me is growing, especially for those two victims who died as a result of this. Robert Morales, Tiru Chabba, both beloved members of this community, not students here, but people that worked here on campus and had a rich history here.

Robert Morales was a dining coordinator for at least a decade, a local football coach, a mile up the street, Leon High School. All of those things are really playing into the heaviness here in the atmosphere around us.

The FSU president, though, he's made it clear that they want to return to some sense of normalcy. So on Monday, these students will come back to class. And I'm sure for some of them coming back, they don't have -- you know, they'll be looking at their college experience in a whole new way. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia, thanks so much in Tallahassee.

All right, coming up, as the Trump administration cuts funding to legal services representing thousands of migrant children, we'll take a closer look at young children trying to understand their legal rights in an immigration court.

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[13:29:31]

WHITFIELD: All right, young children who may not even know they're left from their right must learn to understand what their lawful rights are in an immigration court. No adults to represent them, not even an attorney. Advocates say that's a scene playing out in the U.S. as the Trump administration cuts funding to legal services to represent many undocumented children to face their deportation proceedings alone.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the story.

[13:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVELYN FLORES, MANAGING PARALEGAL, CHILDREN'S PROGRAM, AMICA CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS (through translation): They had to cross the border of Mexico and the United States.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This story time starts at the U.S. southern border. It's a tale for children who crossed into the United States alone and are in government custody.

Fulanito, a cartoon cat, is supposed to represent them. The lesson, almost impossible to imagine for a child, how to navigate the U.S. immigration system alone.

FLORES (through translation): A very important right that Fulanito has now that he is in the United States is the right to go to immigration court.

ALVAREZ: Evelyn Flores, of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, gives this presentation to kids in custody weekly.

And she's not alone. Legal service providers serve a critical role for unaccompanied kids, whether preparing for court or getting ready for school.

Now, those lessons are taking on added significance amid concerns that children will be stripped of the very legal services they need.

(on camera): This image that you share in your storytelling could be all a child has to get through their immigration proceedings.

FLORES: Yes.

ALVAREZ (voice-over): The termination of a federal contract for legal services has left organizations like Amica scrambling, and the thousands of children they and others serve potentially facing deportation proceedings alone.

Without attorneys, advocates say, kids don't stand a chance.

SCOTT BASSETT, MANAGING ATTORNEY, CHILDREN'S PROGRAM, AMICA CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: The system is just too complicated for a child to succeed alone without an attorney.

To ask a 12-year-old to do that without the support of an adult, much less one trained in the complicated world of immigration law, it's just not feasible. It can't happen.

ALVAREZ: A child's deportation proceedings start shortly after they cross into the United States, similar to an adult.

WENDY YOUNG, PRESIDENT, KIDS IN NEED OF DEFENSE: I was in a court last summer where a 3-year-old was in proceedings. He played with his toy car in the aisle of the courtroom until he was called.

And then a young woman picked him up and brought him to the front of the courtroom.

I knew that child knew something dramatic was about to happen. He started crying. He was inconsolable at that point.

ALVAREZ: Under U.S. law, immigrants don't have a right to counsel at the government's expense, not even children, leaving them to depend on volunteer lawyers or NGOs.

YOUNG: Federal support is everything. Without those monies, we would probably see more like 90 percent of these kids going through proceedings without counsel.

ALVAREZ: In March, the Trump administration cut off federally funded legal services for 26,000 unaccompanied children in the United States, prompting lawsuits.

A federal judge has since ordered the administration to temporarily restore funding. But to date, that hasn't happened.

The uncertainty has led to staff layoffs and disrupted legal services for kids.

As the administration cracks down on immigration, experts argue that taking away attorneys will only hurt efforts to get migrant kids to court.

BASSETT: The dinosaur and the unicorn --

ALVAREZ (on camera): OK.

BASSETT: -- are huge, huge hits.

ALVAREZ (voice-over): Organizations who work with migrant children often have to get creative to get the kids to open up.

Children often color as they share why they fled their home countries and get acquainted with attorneys.

BASSETT: They get thrown off the walls --

ALVAREZ: Or they play with stress balls.

One group in Michigan even has toy court sets for one-on-one legal screenings with kids.

YOUNG: We'll have toddlers running all over the place, and my staff is explaining to them using toys, crayons, chalkboards, what their rights are in the immigration system.

And it's both -- something that's both very poignant, it's very joyful, but there's also a tremendous sense of gravity to it.

ALVAREZ: It's a nursery school where the lesson is how to fight your deportation proceedings?

YOUNG: That's exactly right.

[13:33:34]

ALVAREZ (voice-over): Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:38:16]

WHITFIELD: All right, live pictures right now out of the Vatican, where the Easter vigil service is just now getting underway.

Earlier today, Vice President J.D. Vance visited with Vatican officials and shared what the Vatican calls an "exchange of opinions" on migrants.

A statement from the V.P.'s office does not mention immigration, but says the conversation involved Catholicism in the U.S., persecuted Christians and President Trump's commitment to world peace.

Vance, who is a Catholic, sat down with papal leaders after the pope earlier this year called the Trump administration's deportation plans, quoting now, "a disgrace."

It's not clear if Vance will be meeting with Pope Francis, who is recovering from his recent bout of pneumonia.

All right, happening today, a second round of critical U.S. and Iranian nuclear talks have now wrapped up in Rome. They were led by Iran's foreign minister and White House special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

The two sides are expected to meet again next Saturday in Oman.

CNN's Betsy Klein is at the White House for us.

Betsy, are we getting a sense of the tone of these talks?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, we're still awaiting a readout from the U.S. side of how these talks went. But some cautious optimism so far from the Iranian side.

We understand that these talks lasted about four hours between Steve Witkoff, the special presidential envoy, as well as the Iranian foreign minister, moderated by Oman.

The talks we're indirect. And I say indirect because the Omani foreign minister served as a mediator, really shuttling messages back and forth between the two sides that were siloed.

But just to take a step back and talk about how we really got here.

[13:40:01]

Then-President Barack Obama back in 2015, negotiated a nuclear deal with Iran. It was something that Trump, as a candidate back in 2016, campaigned on ending. And he did just that in 2018.

Of course, the situation in the Middle East has changed significantly since then, of course, after the October 7th attacks in Israel and the subsequent conflict between Israel and Hamas. As well as Iran really taking steps, very important steps toward developing a nuclear weapon. So President Trump and his team would like to see a diplomatic solution here.

And these talks marked the second round of discussions. Iran's foreign minister said the talks we're -- lasted about four hours. He said there was, quote, "movement forward" and that there was agreement on some principles.

Now, these talks come after the "New York Times" reported that the president waved Israel off of attacking Iran's nuclear facilities to give these negotiations some space to progress.

But the president, making clear that there will be consequences if a deal is not reached. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can't have a nuclear weapon.

I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.

With Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. And if they have a nuclear weapon, you'll all be very unhappy. You'll all be very unhappy because your life, your life, your life will be in great danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, we expect a third round of talks next Saturday in Oman. And we also expect talks between technical experts on the U.S. and Iranian side to take place in Oman starting next Wednesday -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Betsy Klein at the White House, thanks so much.

All right. Coming up, a new study is giving scientists hope about preventing dementia in aging adults. A Harvard Medical School doctor joins us to explain the breakthrough.

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[13:46:50]

WHITFIELD: The Trump administration is taking more actions in its escalating feud with Harvard University. On Friday, the Department of Education issued a records request demanding Harvard disclose any foreign funding or foreign ties going back a decade.

The new demand comes as the Trump administration threatens to withhold billions in federal funding after the university refused to implement a series of policy changes, such as scrapping DEI programs and reforming its admissions process.

Harvard has 30 days to hand over records of any potential foreign ties, though officials say it has filed such reports for decades as part of its ongoing compliance with the law.

All right. A new study is giving scientists hope about preventing dementia in aging adults. Research published in the journal "Nature" found patients who received the shingles vaccine were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia compared to those not vaccinated.

The study found the effects can last for at least seven years. More research is, however, needed to determine if that timeline can be extended.

Here now to talk about this breakthrough, professor at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Anupam Jena. He's the co-author of the book, "Random Acts of Medicine."

Dr. Jena, welcome. Great to see you.

ANUPAM JENA, PROFESSOR OF HEALTH CARE POLICY, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL & AUTHOR: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: So as you look into this new study, what is the most encouraging finding here?

JENA: So it was fascinating.

What these folks did is they took advantage of this experiment that happened in Wales more than 10 years ago, where people who we're born right after September 2nd of 1933 were eligible to receive what's called the shingles vaccine. And people who were born just before that weren't eligible.

And what they showed was that if you we're just eligible to get that vaccine, 50 percent of the population in Wales got it. And if you weren't eligible, 0 percent got it.

And the punchline is that if you follow those people who were eligible to get the shingles vaccine, they say seven years later, there we're about 20 percent less likely to get dementia.

Which suggests, I think, in quite a strong way that the shingles vaccine might have some protective effect against dementia.

WHITFIELD: And why do you believe that is or what's the explanation behind that?

JENA: So it's a little bit early to tell, but there's sort of two theories.

The first is that the vaccine might prevent reactivation of a virus. This virus causes chickenpox in kids. And later, when it reactivates in adults, it can cause shingles, which is a painful rash.

And the vaccine prevents reactivation. And so by doing so, might reduce the risk of dementia if the virus itself has sort of an effect that's bad for neurons, the cells in the brain.

WHITFIELD: So the CDC has estimated that about one in three people develop shingles in their lifetime, with an estimated nearly seven million American adults developing Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common disease that causes dementia. That number is expected to double to 14 million by 2060.

[13:50:05]

So based off this study, is that going to be your recommendation and that of others who say, if you are eligible to receive a shingles vaccine, you should because there are other great benefits like this, potentially staving off dementia, you know, accelerating Alzheimer's symptoms, et cetera?

JENA: So I think it's a second potential benefit. The main benefit -- if you've ever had shingles, it's really painful. So you'd like to avoid it.

So the main benefit of getting the shingles vaccine is actually to prevent against this painful rash that we call shingles. There may be the secondary benefit down the road in terms of reducing the risk of dementia.

I think it's too early to tell if that will fully materialize, but I think this study suggests this is a place where we should be investing into figuring out the answer to that question.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's very encouraging. I'm sure it's being received that way by a lot of people and scientists and doctors.

So while I have you here, I also wanted to bring up something else that's making headlines, given your affiliation with Harvard, et cetera.

The Trump administration freezing the funding of more than $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts for refusing to comply with the White House demands.

That money that Harvard would receive and that money that often goes toward research and studies in the health-related, you know, sectors.

So how much of a setback potentially will that be for Harvard University to no longer have that kind of money for research? Will it be a barrier to continue the kind of breakthrough research and studying that -- that university is known for?

JENA: So, you know, not speaking on behalf of the university, but on behalf of myself, I'm an economist and a physician.

This kind of funding is critical, not just to our university, but to universities around the United States who are doing this sort of biomedical research and other research, just like you asked about earlier.

And it's not always a linear relationship between what you fund and what we understand about science and the human body. Some of this stuff takes decades.

And these kinds of investments, I think, are critical for improving health in the future.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Anupam Jena, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate and expertise.

JENA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Political strategist, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Comedian George Wallace joined the "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" crew on a new episode tonight at 9:00 and streaming next day on Max.

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[13:57:18]

WHITFIELD: A growing feud between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar is now headed to a federal court. The dispute escalated when Lamar used his halftime show at the Super Bowl to sing his diss track, aimed at Drake, before more than 100 million viewers.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us now with details.

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ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: What started out as a rap battle has turned into an epic court battle.

The feud between Rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar has escalated, yet again, with Drake claiming that he was defamed by Kendrick Lamar at two high-profile events, the Super Bowl halftime show and the Grammy Awards.

Drake made the new claims in an amended complaint to the defamation lawsuit that he originally filed back in January against his own record label, Universal Music Group.

Accusing the label of defamation in the publishing and promotion of Lamar's song "Not Like Us." Both Drake and Lamar are clients of Universal Music Group.

In "Not Like Us," Lamar calls Drake a, quote, "certified pedophile," an allegation that Drake has fiercely denied, therefore saying that the diss track is defamatory.

The song was, quote, "broadcast to the largest audience for a Super Bowl halftime show ever."

Drake's lawyers said in their latest filing, writing, quote, "It was the first and will hopefully be the last Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist."

Now, during the Super Bowl halftime show, Lamar skipped over the "certified pedophile" lyric.

But he did rap another line where he accused Drake of targeting young girls, rapping, "I heard you like them young," and then looking directly at the camera, a moment that immediately went viral. The week before the Super Bowl, Lamar attended the Grammy Awards,

where he took home five awards, including record of the year and song of the year.

At the Grammys, clips of "Not Like Us" played during the ceremony when he won his award, and the crowd sang along very loudly to another controversial line about Drake.

Now, Drake's lawyers claim that these two broadcasts amplified defamatory language about Drake to massive audiences.

Lamars halftime show brought in the largest audience ever for a Super Bowl halftime show, with over 130 million viewers, and the Grammy Awards drew over 15 million viewers.

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Drake's amended complaint does not accuse Lamar of any wrongdoing, solely lodging allegations against Universal Music Group. UMG has repeatedly denied Drake's allegations, calling his lawsuit "illogical and frivolous."

The record label has said that the lawsuit should be dismissed, arguing that it could restrict free speech protections for musical artists.