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CNN Headlines: Prince Harry And Meghan To Move Back To Britain; Diddy's Former Bodyguard Speaks About Conflicting Accounts On Tupac Murder; Cancer Vaccine Shows Promising Results In Melanoma Trial. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired August 20, 2026 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:30:40]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It is half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.
The U.S. national debt has hit a record $40 trillion. Experts say that spending on programs for older Americans is one factor driving that number higher. Decades of tax cuts and pandemic relief have also added to the debt. The Treasury Department says it will buy back more long- term bonds in the coming months.
Five Americans are among seven people killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya. There were no survivors. Also among the dead is Ecuador's intelligence chief. The helicopter was carrying tourists from a wildlife conservancy when it went down.
And Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are making a shocking move. They're heading back to the United Kingdom with their young family after parting ways with the royals back in 2020 as you may remember. Few details about the move are known but one thing is very clear -- the pair will be returning as private citizens.
CNN's John Laurence has the story for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN LAURENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Prince Harry and Meghan are reportedly planning to return to a private residence outside of London this month. Their children, 7-year-old Prince Archie and 5- year-old Princess Lilibet, are enrolled for classes in Britain this upcoming term, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did talk about how brilliant the schools were in Britain. He also talked about he thought that the sense of community was really important.
LAURENCE (voiceover): The couple fled from the United Kingdom to the U.S. in 2020 when they stepped back from the responsibilities linked to the crown. MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: He won't be returning to his royal role, even if he wanted to. The king has made it very clear and I'm sure that Prince William has made it even clearer, that isn't an option.
LAURENCE (voiceover): King Charles was made aware of the situation on Sunday. Insiders say the king's cancer diagnosis may have led the Sussexes to come back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they were at Highgrove, face-to-face, close- up, I firmly believe that Harry saw changes in his father and that helped kind of move the dial.
LAURENCE (voiceover): While the king is reportedly happy that he'll be able to spend more time with his family, there still may be tensions between Harry and his elder brother.
FOSTER: I'm thinking William has had -- he's just now set on the idea that it's him and Kate and the three kids that are now the future of the monarchy and Harry has no part in that.
LAURENCE (voiceover): I'm John Laurence reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: New this morning the DEA is joining the investigation into the death of actress Hayden Panettiere. That is according to reports from The New York Times and ABC News. The 36-year-old died Sunday at an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina.
Dispatch audio referenced a possible overdose and CPR in progress, but authorities have not addressed whether an overdose actually took place. No cause of manner of death has been determined pending results of toxicology tests, which could take weeks to get back.
CNN has reached out to the DEA and Greenville police, as well as representatives for Panettiere.
Developing this morning, the South Korean defense minister is saying that he estimates North Korea now possesses as many as 120 nuclear warheads. Compare that to President Donald Trump's recent assertion that Pyongyang has less than half of that.
And this comes as the president says he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year, but it's not clear how concrete those possible plans are. Kim's powerful sister is one of his closest confidantes, and she says that she's completely unaware of any upcoming meeting but adds that he "personally has good memories and feelings for President Trump."
The president wouldn't elaborate on his correspondence with Kim Jong Un but had this to say about their relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I get along with him. And you know what? The fact that I get along with him -- it's a good thing, not a bad thing. I know Kim Jong Un very well and he's going to be fine. As long as we have a smart president he's going to be fine. If we have a dumb president, then he's probably not going to be so fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:35:00]
SMITH: On Monday, Trump demanded a sudden reduction in joint military drills with South Korea, a U.S. ally. Those drills have long irritated North Korea.
All right. We take you now to Las Vegas and the murder trial over the killing of rapper Tupak Shakur, which Duane "Keffe D" Davis -- will the jury believe him? That's the big question here. The one who told investigators in 1998 that he didn't know who killed Tupac -- will they believe that one, or will they believe that Duane "Keffe D" Davis, who told law enforcement a decade later that his own people were behind it?
The jury heard both stories yesterday. Last night my colleague Laura Coates spoke with the former bodyguard of Sean "Diddy" Combs. Gene Deal told her that he's not buying what prosecutors are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENE DEAL, FORMER BODYGUARD TO SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS: I believe that the full truth holds with FBI investigators. The full truth holds with documents and certain things that has been sealed. And that the full truth holds with people who was actually there. And that only individual who was actually there, that's here, is Suge Knight.
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: What about Keffe D?
DEAL: Well, if you know the Keffe D story, um, can you really believe anything that has transpired with him?
COATES: You know, Deal's name came up as a potential witness in the trial, but he wants nothing to do with it.
DEAL: I don't see no reason for me to testify when they always have -- they already have information. They already have --
COATES: They still want you --
DEAL: -- all the information.
COATES: -- to give some context. That wouldn't be reason enough?
DEAL: Oh.
COATES: Would you be willing to testify? Obviously, if you were subpoenaed, you'd have to appear.
DEAL: Well, I have to appear, but I can always revoke my Fifth Amendment right at any time.
COATES: How about Diddy? Do you think he would take the stand --
DEAL: So --
COATES: -- and speak?
DEAL: Do I think he would?
COATES: Um-hum.
DEAL: I don't think he would. I don't think that the burden of proof is on the prosecution. And right now they are trying to fabricated some of the things about the East Coast and the West Coast and call it a war like that --
COATES: Hmm.
COATES: -- when I would see some of these guys still hanging out and chilling with each other. You know that I'm saying? But to the tabloids and to individuals in the law enforcement community they say it was an East Coast-West Coast war.
I heard an individual get on the stand just the other day, Mob James.
COATES: Um-hum.
DEAL: Mob James said that Tupac --
COATES: Inherited.
DEAL: -- inherited the East Coast-West Coast war between Suge Knight and Puffy. No! Tupac and Puff hated each other way before that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: You can find our full special coverage of the Tupac murder trial on CNN All Access, HLN, and Amazon Prime hosted by Laura Coates.
A developing story today. A Pennsylvania State Police helicopter and a small plane collided. A pilot was killed and two troopers are hurt. The helicopter was in the middle of a training exercise on a grassy area next to a runway when it happened.
According to State Police, the small two-seater plane hit the chopper from behind. At one point the two pilots in the helicopter were trapped but one pushed out a window and helped the other trooper out before first responders arrived.
The FAA and NTSB are investigating.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's family road trip reality show is now out, and one episode is getting a lot of attention. A conversation with his daughter went viral after Duffy questioned whether Harvard would be a good fit with the family's conservative Catholic values. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: My problem is we have thought about how we raised you and how hard we have worked to, I think, raise what is a remarkable young girl. If I send you there, I think what happens is they have professionalized figuring out how they can take good, young girls like you and I think corrupt their minds.
You don't have to believe what I believe. You don't have to have the political viewpoints that I have. But I do think it's important that you make those choices for yourself and you have a fair representation of what they are. And I don't think the Harvards of the world give you that kind of well-rounded picture.
PALOMA DUFFY, SEAN DUFFY'S DAUGHTER: But I went to an extremely conservative school in high school, and I was in an extremely conservative family. And that if I go to a liberal setting, that's a way more rounded education than if I got to a conservative high school and then go to a conservative college.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:40:00]
SMITH: The show was set to debut in June but was delayed. Some Democrats questioned the timing as gas prices surged during the Iran war. They also noted the show's sponsors had business with the Transportation Department.
Duffy's wife said the family wasn't paid and a nonprofit covered production costs.
In today's Health Express, a potential breakthrough in melanoma treatment. Moderna and Merck -- they say that a personalized mRNA vaccine combined with another drug helped prevent skin cancer from returning or spreading in high-risk patients in the late-stage trial.
CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirell has more for us.
MEG TIRRELL CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This experimental cancer treatment could mark a potentially huge advancement in cancer care using an approach that seemed like science fiction just decades ago. Now it's a step closer to becoming a reality. A personalized cancer treatment based on the same mRNA technology behind the COVID vaccines to help people's immune systems better recognize and fight cancer.
Moderna and its partner Merck said a late-stage clinical trial of the therapy met its goals in treatment melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. In patients who had surgery to remove the cancer, the trial showed that the treatment reduced the risk that the cancer came back or spread to other parts of the body.
So here's how it works. Each patient's tumor is sampled, and a personalized mRNA treatment is designed just for them. Then, like a vaccine, it shows the immune system how to recognize the target. The treatment is given on top of an existing therapy for melanoma called Keytruda.
And the companies didn't yet release the full results from the study, so we don't yet know exactly how strong the benefit is. They say they're going to present those at an upcoming medical meeting. They also say that they plan to file for regulatory approval within months in melanoma. And they're also testing this in other kinds of cancer, including lung, kidney, and bladder cancers.
Moderna's CEO told me he felt this was as big a day for humanity as when they showed in late 2020 that their COVID-19 vaccine worked, calling it "A new chapter in cancer care."
Doctors say they hope it could potentially bring about a whole new way to treat cancer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: It's time for Buzz Express, the stories that have people talking.
The late Val Kilmer will be starring in a new movie thanks to AI.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Clip from YouTube/First Line Films "As Deep as the Grave."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: The move is called "As Deep as the Grave" and the production company just released some footage. They worked closely with his family on this and they used old images of Kilmer and old recordings of his voice. He was actually cast in the movie before he died. He passed away last year after battling throat cancer.
Also --
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Clip from Netflix "Untold Mr. T: I Pity The Fool."
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SMITH: Mr. T is getting his own documentary on Netflix. They just released the trailer, and Netflix says that this will tell the full story behind the mohawk, the chains, and the catch phrase "I pity the fool." That premieres September 8.
Next up on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS another twist in the back-and-forth over the naming of the Kennedy Center as President Trump seeks to put his stamp on it. And a new development in the high-profile case of a woman convicted of killing her in-laws with poisonous mushrooms. Details on that and more ahead when CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS returns.
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[05:48:00] SMITH: The Kennedy Center says that it plans to put President Trump's name back on the building early next month. That's according to a new court filing and a drawn-out legal battle over the future of the performing arts venue. A federal judge previously ruled that the board acted unlawfully by adding Trump's name alongside Kennedy's and ordered it removed.
The board voted again last week to close the center for renovations and add an inscription saying, "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump."
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that his new reality cooking show "REAL FOOD" can help families eat healthy without breaking the bank. But salmon cakes for $5.00 a serving?
CNN's Tom Foreman puts that claim to a real world price check.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new reality show pushes healthy, affordable eating with sides of dubious claims about the food industry's science and public wellness.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: The dietary guidelines that have been -- that have put Fruit Loops at the top of the food pyramid.
FOREMAN (voiceover): But the math raises questions in this cooking class too, especially when the secretary and his guest chef whip up crispy salmon cakes with apple, white beans, and green salad.
KENNEDY: So, the servings of each of these -- we asked to keep it under $5.00.
FOREMAN: I am on my way to the store.
FOREMAN (voiceover): But when we started buying ingredients used in the show, even going for the lowest prices at a big, competitive chain, the cost heated up fast.
FOREMAN: This was the cheapest frozen wild sockeye salmon that we could find. They put a pound and a half at $8.99. Our price, even with a bonus from the store, was still over $24.00.
[05:50:00]
Look at this. This is the avocado mayonnaise. They priced this at 40 cents because they're only using two tablespoons, but this cost us more than $11.00. They're pricing it by the part and that's not how grocery stores sell things.
FOREMAN (voiceover): Of course, you might use those leftover ingredients later. The recipe was not too complicated. But while the show repeatedly says this dish will cost less than $20.00 to feed a family of four, just getting all those ingredients into our kitchen cost a whopping $70.54. FOREMAN: Yes, it's very tasty and it certainly seems to be healthy, but the program remains. If you walk into a grocery store with $20.00 and you expect to walk out with everything you need to put four plates of this on the table for your family, I don't see how it can be done, which I think will make this claim for many consumers difficult to swallow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Tom, thank you.
Let's go around the globe to see what else is making headlines starting in Kyiv, Ukraine where officials say at least 14 people are dead following Russia's latest wave of strikes. The strikes damaged a hospital, residential buildings, and several warehouses across the city.
And in Australia, a woman convicted of murdering her in-laws by serving them poisonous mushrooms is appealing her conviction. Lawyers for Erin Patterson raised several issues about the case during a hearing in Melbourne on Wednesday. Patterson has maintained that the poisonings were an accident.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, if your car is insured with State Farm you could soon be getting some money back. We'll explain.
And we're also going to show you the rescue of a man who fell 120 feet into a creek at a Montana national park.
Keep it right here. You're watching CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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[05:56:20]
SMITH: In today's Money Express, Amazon is planning to expand drone deliveries to 500 cities this year.
Maribel Aber joins us from the Nasdaq MarketSite with that and the rest of your top Money Express headlines. Hey, Maribel.
MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, MONEY MATTERS: Hey, Brad.
So Amazon accelerating its drone delivery fleet nationwide. Prime Air plans to reach nearly 500 U.S. cities by the end of the year. Amazon says millions of items weighing five pounds or less are eligible, including groceries, electronics, and medications, with some orders arriving in as little as 30 minutes.
Prime members get free drone delivery on orders $50.00 or more. It's $2.99 after that. And non-Prime members pay $4.99 per order.
Millions of State Farm auto insurance customers are getting money back. The insurer has started paying out a one-time $5 billion dividend, the largest in its more than 100-year history. The company says the dividend will average about $100 per vehicle, though the amount varies by state and premiums paid. Eligible customers are being notified directly by mail.
A new Pop-Tart is hitting the cocktail aisle. The alcoholic drink maker Buzzballz has unveiled two new Pop-Tart flavors, Smores and Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon. Both ready-to-drink cocktails contain 15 percent alcohol by volume and are aimed at adults of legal drinking age. The company is leaning into childhood nostalgia, targeting adults who grew up eating Pop-Tarts. The Pop-Tart Buzzballz are available at retailers nationwide for a limited time only.
Brad, I was always more of a strawberry Pop-Tart fan myself.
SMITH: I was definitely the Smores Pop-Tart, and it made my dentist very happy.
Maribel Aber, thank you.
Let's get a check-in on some of the other stories making news across the country.
We start in California. A suspect is in custody after five people were stabbed at a casino in Placer County last night. Authorities say that the victims were employees and the attack happened in the kitchen area. One person went to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Four others were treated at the scene. Deputies say a man in his 20s was taken into custody within minutes.
And a tragic story out of Tennessee. Authorities say two members of Milligan University's cycling team were killed when a car struck a group of cyclists Wednesday. The university says the victims were sophomores. Seven other students were injured and taken to a hospital.
And in Montana, a high-flying rescue of a man who feel 120 feet down a cliff at Glacier National Park. You've got to check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: The man was found by a bystander who performed CPR. That's when Two Bear Air Rescue arrived by helicopter to airlift him to the hospital. He suffered multiple cracked ribs and a fracture to his elbow, but he says that he's doing pretty well and taking recovery one step at a time.
And in Missouri, a raid by U.S. Marshals -- it took a shocking turn this week. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
U.S. Marshals on deck. Deck collapses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh! UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey! Hey! Hold on. Hold on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: A deck collapsed under law enforcement as they served a felony warrant in Randolph County on Tuesday. Here's another view as seven officers, including four U.S. Marshals, were hurt -- some with broken bones. The cause of the deck collapse is under investigation.
[06:00:00]
And an 18-year-old boy is recovering after getting trapped in the sand at a Massachusetts beach. Police say that he was buried above the waist when a hole he was digging collapsed. About two dozen emergency workers spent nearly an hour digging him out. He was alert when rescued and taken to the hospital. Excellent rescue effort there.
And it reminds you to be careful when digging them holes on the beach as we wind down summer. That way you can make sure you're kicking off your fall correctly.
That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.
