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Hundreds of Immigrants at US-Mexico Border Hoping to Cross the Border; Ronny Jackson Will Not Return to His Old Job as Trump's Personal Doctor; President Trump Criticized White House Correspondents Dinner; President Trump to Meet with Kim Jong-un in the Next Few Weeks; President's Attorney Michael Cohen May Flip on His Boss. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 29, 2018 - 19:00   ET

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


[19:00:00] LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But this has been a very, very tough, tough journey for them. Many people sniveling as well as coughing. Many of them are sick because of the type of environment in which they have traveled through to come here. This woman obviously in a wheelchair that quite frankly looks very -- very sort of beat up. So I can only imagine what that wheelchair, the story that that wheelchair would tell.

I want to sort of make sure you understand what's happening right now beyond the high emotion, the migrants that are very excited but also anxious. We are right now not far, within feet of the United States of America. So many of these migrants will tell you horrific stories of what they left behind in Central America. So what they see on that other side is hope and what they are hoping for is to seek asylum.

This is the legal way to do it. The U.S. federal law says if you want to seek asylum go to a port of entry. That's what they are doing and. So many of them have said, and actually I'm going to keep walking and see if we can talk to a few more as we -- as we make our way over, you know.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: She is from El Salvador.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: So she knows she is going to the United States but she doesn't even know exactly where she is going.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

I'm asking her how she feels given the excitement and the anxiety.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: She's nervous. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: She's traveling with her child and her husband. And she is worried that she will be separated. You know -- gracias, senora.

Many of the women have told me that exact same thing that on their mind right now that they are worried about family separation. I will say I checked in with homeland security there. They are saying they will not be separating families unless they believe a family or a child is in danger or not with their legal guardian.

Border patrol has also put out a statement saying at this time that they are full in terms of capacity. So the reality is some of these people, the more than 100 people that are negotiate now in line to get into the United States of America may actually not get in because their facilities are at capacity.

I'm smiling a little bit because I know this family very well. This is Jonathan and this is Omar, and they are Gabriela Hernandez's sons. We have followed them for days.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

By days I mean weeks.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

I'm asking her I noticed she has taken the moment to eat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: She grabbed some food because she says that she has heard that the food inside is not very good. Gabriela is pregnant, and, again, traveling with Omar as well as Jonathan.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

I'm asking her how she feels.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: She's nervous.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: She's afraid of the exact same thing, that she's afraid that they are going to take these two children away.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

I'm asking her how does she explain this to these two children that are seemingly completely unaware of what's happening right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTIAGO: I'm going to let her go on her way. I'm going to send it back to you guys.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: And Leyla, if you can still hear me. I just want to ask you, you said that they are going on their way. They are on line to try to get processed. Have you heard about the processing situation meaning they go in and they go to sort of the center and then what? Where do they sleep tonight?

SANTIAGO: So that's -- that is still the very big question is there's so much uncertainty, you know. For them they are not deterred by the statements of the Trump administration. But they are going in here with hope, again, of what could be on the other side which is a better life away from violence and poverty, but they have no idea what exactly they are getting themselves into. They don't know will they be separated. What facility they will go to, even if this facility will actually take them in. They have no idea what exactly will happen next.

What we do know is that border patrol has said within the last hour that they are at capacity in terms of the amount of people that they can process right now. That's interesting because with, you know, just in the last few weeks we heard homeland security. We heard attorney general Jeff Sessions say they are sending extra U.S. attorneys, extra immigration judges to process the cases of this caravan, but at this time we are sort of waiting to see. I as a journalist who has been following this forever, I'm waiting to see. And certainly those migrants hoping for a better life are waiting to see what is next in their journey.

[19:05:19] BASH: It certainly is the climax of that long journey that you have been on along with them and documenting and bringing to the world the human face and the human reality of what is going on down there now that they have reached the border especially.

Leyla, thank you for your amazing reporting.

SANTIAGO: Thank you.

BASH: And we are following other breaking news right here in Washington.

"Politico" is reporting tonight that the President's embattled White House physician Ronny Jackson will not return to his old job as Trump's personal doctor. Now this comes, of course, after a series of allegations that he drank on the job and gave out pills like candy. Again, allegations, and that he created a toxic work environment. These scandals previously until last week did not matter to the President. He still wanted him to be his pick, his V.A. secretary, but ultimately Ronny Jackson was forced to withdraw because of all of these allegations coming out in a flurry.

Let's get right to the White House and the CNN's Boris Sanchez.

And Boris, of course, Ronny Jackson was the primary physician for the President before the President nominated him to the V.A. He's still in the White House medical unit as of now. My understanding is that when Ronny Jackson was nominated, that somebody else stepped up from the White House medical unit to be the President's primary physician, and that's going to stay that way. Ronny Jackson is not getting his old job back.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right, Dana. At least that's what "Politico" is reporting right now. CNN has reached out to multiple White House officials not only for confirmation of the news but also for an explanation considering how much praises the President has heaped on Ronny Jackson.

It's kind of surprising that he won't move back into his old role. The President clearly admirers the add Miller. Further, the President has gone so far as to threaten Democratic Senator Jon Tester because of his role in downing Jackson's nomination for V.A. secretary. The President spoke about this last night in Michigan. Listen to some of what President Trump said about Ronny Jackson last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Admiral Jackson started studying, and we was working so hard. I suggest it had to him, you know. War hero, a leader, a great -- you know, he's an admiral, a great, great guy. Fifty years old, and he started studying, and then he started getting hit with vicious rumors, vicious are. And the secret service told me just coming in, sir. We checked out all of those things. Sir, they are not true. They are not true. So they try and destroy a man. Well, they are doing it with us. They are trying their damnest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: On two quick notes, Dana. These allegations come from more than 20 sources that have spoken to Jon Tester about Ronny Jackson. And further, multiple sources that have spoken to CNN and other media outlets. The White House produced some documents on Friday that attempted to contradict or at least push back some of these allegations which, of course, Jackson has denied. We are still awaiting an explanation for why he is not going to return as the President's personal physician. We will let you know when we hear back, Dana.

BASH: Boris Sanchez, thanks so much for that report.

And coming up, the President takes a post-rally victory lap. We saw some of that in Boris' report. We are going to talk about more as controversy swirls around another event last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good evening. Good evening. And here we are, the White House Correspondents Dinner. Like a porn star says when she's about to have sex with a Trump, let's get this over with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:13:09] BASH: Politics and punchlines. President Trump touts his big rally in Michigan while taking a dig at his favorite target, the media, and its annual dinner in Washington. This is what he tweeted while in Washington, Michigan was a big success. Washington D.C. just didn't work. Everyone is talking about the fact that the White House Correspondents dinner was a very big boring bust. The so-called comedian really bombed.

That comedian he's referring to is Mitchelle Wolf. And she delivered a very controversial speech last night, a roast, described by some as hate-filled and vile but others as very funny and appropriate. Here's a taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE WOLF, COMEDIAN: Of course, Trump isn't here if you haven't noticed. He is not here, and I know, I know I would drag him here myself, but it turns out the President of the United States is the one (bleep) you are not allowed to grab.

We have Sarah Huckabee Sanders. We are graced with Sarah's presence tonight. I have to say I'm a little star-struck. I love you as aunt Lydia in "the Handmaid's Tale." Mike Pence, if you haven't seen it, you would love it.

There's also, of course, Ivanka. She was supposed to be an advocate for women, but it turns out she's about as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons. She's done nothing to satisfy women, so I guess like father like daughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: While reviews for Wolf were mixed, the crowd in Michigan was all in for President Trump. Take a listen to what they chanted when Trump started talking about the peace talks with North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Nobel! Nobel! Nobel! Nobel!

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's very nice, thank you. That's very nice. Nobel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Joining me now is CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter.

And, Brian, what do you think? Was it a big win for the President when you just look at the pure optics of everything that happened last night?

[19:15:20] BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Among his base, yes. And I think he has now formed a new tradition because this is secretary year in a row that he's snubbed the White House Correspondents dinner and held a rally instead.

I'm sure he likes the picture, seeing a bunch of journalists in fancy tuxes and ball gowns on one side with his real on the other side. But I don't think this was persuasive on either side. This is not the sort of topic that changes hearts and minds. Instead, it sends people into their respective corners. And maybe that was the issue with Michelle Wolf's speech.

I think if I had heard Michelle Wolf's speech at a comedy club downtown New York City, the audience would have ate it up. People would have been in stitches. They would have been in tears. They would have loved almost every minute of it.

We can debate a couple of jokes, maybe the abortion joke. That was certainly very sensitive. A couple of jokes about Sanders were controversial, but this was a very funny performance on paper and at a comedy club. The difference, of course, was the setting. When it was happening in front of a ballroom of journalists at a time when the President says the media is at war with him this, kind of made it look like the media is at war with him and I think that was the tone issue.

BASH: Well, you know, she particularly criticized White House press secretary Sarah Sanders who was on the dais with her which made for something that was very uncomfortable. Let's listen to part of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF: I actually really like Sarah. I think she's very resourceful. Like she burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye. Like maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's lies. It's probably lies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So that seems to be the joke that has even reporters who don't always get along with Sarah Sanders who are genuinely offended by the way that they think that she tells them the truth in the White House press room. Even they said, you know what. That crossed the line. What's your take as an observer of the media?

STELTER: I think I would ask is there a line anymore?

BASH: Yes. Good point.

STELTER: And should there be a line anymore. This country has changed a lot in the last ten years especially compared to 20 or 30 years ago. The country is much more polarized. People are much more in their own tribes. And the behavior from the White House belies and deceit from the White House. That is significant and important and worth talking about. Look, comedy is supposed to make people uncomfortable. It's supposed

to provoke. It is supposed to push the envelope, but I do think, again, the setting matters. This room may not have been the best room for some of her jokes. Let's see though. I wonder if in ten years people are going to have a better impression of this stand-up act than they did last night.

BASH: Yes. It is always possible, no question. But I think it is hard to know, but I think you nailed it. It's just so polarized and such a tough time. Maybe it's time to just kind of take a step back and say maybe we need a time-out.

STELTER: Maybe two comics. Maybe a liberal and conservative comic next year.

BASH: Exactly.

STELTER: I don't know.

BASH: Who knows? We have a whole year to debate it.

Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

BASH: And coming up, historic summit. President Trump touts his own diplomatic efforts in the Korean peace talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They were saying what do you think President Trump had to do with it? I'll tell you what. Like how about everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:23:07] BASH: President Trump is making clear he thinks he deserves a lot of credit for the historic peace talks under way between North and South Korea. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: One of the fake news groups this morning. Now, they were saying what do you think President Trump had to do with it? I will tell you what. Like how about everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And President Trump is expected to meet with Kim Jong-un in the next few weeks on the issue of denuclearization. And that brings us to your weekend Presidential brief, a segment that we bring you every Sunday night highlighting some of the most pressing national security issues and information that the President will node when he wakes up tomorrow morning. And here to bring you that is CNN national security analyst and former

national Security Council adviser Sam Vinograd who spent two years helping prep for the President's daily brief in the Obama administration.

Good to see you, Sam. So what does the President need to know as he looks ahead to this meeting that he says he is going to have in a few weeks with Kim Jong-un?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think he is probably getting daily briefs on North Korea because of the seemingly rapid pace of breakthrough moments. And I think his advisers are telling him the security situation has increased. We don't have rockets flying and the North Koreans say they have at the least frozen their nuclear program.

But the devil is in the denuclearization details here. Denuclearization is a general term. It can mean a lot of different things, and that's why we have arms control experts, arms control treaties that can help set the specific conditions for President Trump before he walks into the room with President Kim. And in the interim we have to be really wary of shiny objects.

Kim Jong-un is publicizing these breakthrough moments. He is stopping nuclear tests. He is letting experts and journalists supposedly attend the closing of this nuclear site but these aren't olive branches. This isn't denuclearization. He is doing these things because he said he doesn't need them anymore. He already has a nuclear capability. President Trump needs to keep his eye on ball and specifically define U.S. conditions.

[19:25:21] BASH: The President is also just on a different topic weighing in on the Russian lawyer who was at that infamous Trump tower meeting set up by his son Donald Trump Jr. Now he is claiming that she actually was a Russian informant, quite different than what she says before.

VINOGRAD: Yes.

BASH: Here's what the President says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Have you heard about the lawyer? For a year, a woman lawyer, like I know nothing, and now all of a sudden she supposedly is involved with government. You know why? If she did that, because Putin and the group said, you know, this Trump is killing us. Why don't you say that you're involved with government so that we can go and make their life in the United States even more chaotic?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: You understand the intelligence as -- as it pertains to Russia, how Vladimir Putin works. He might not be work.

VINOGRAD: I actually agree with President Trump on this which doesn't happen often, but I think this Veselnitskaya interview was a win for Putin any way you cut it.

Remember the intelligence community said that the Russians goal is to sow discord and to confuse and demoralize the American people. I think a lot of us are confused and demoralized when we think about the fact that Trump's inner circle went and met with someone with ties to the kremlin. That makes them look even more suspect. So I think that Putin thinks that, again, he has accomplished his goals.

The interesting thing is, remember, during the campaign Putin's all about discrediting Hillary Clinton. I think he may have a new target right now, and that might be Donald Trump. He may be angry that Trump sanctioned Russian oligarchs or hit targets in Syria, so we may be seeing a new phase of Putin's information warfare campaign where the box controls that have been promoting pro-Trump messages are now waiting for the green light from President Putin to issue information that's damaging to President Trump.

BASH: Well, certainly this was one of them.

VINOGRAD: Yes.

BASH: This lawyer saying that she was actually an informant, the lawyer who met with her son is one of them. So he certainly could have a point.

Thank you so much.

VINOGRAD: Thank you.

BASH: Always great to see you.

And coming up, the loyalty test, rather. New questions about the President's attorney Michael Cohen and whether he will flip on his boss as his legal and financial pressures mount. Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti weighs in next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:32:05] BASH: The attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels believes President Trump made a critical mistake this week during a rambling interview where the President commented on his personal attorney Michael Cohen and the lawsuit to silence Daniels who alleges she had a sexual encounter with the President back in 2006.

I want you to hear exactly what the President said when he spoke to FOX News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much of your legal work was handled by Michael Cohen?

TRUMP: Well, he has a percentage of my overall legal work, a tiny, tiny little fraction, but Michael would represent me and represent me on some things. He represents me like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal. He represented mean. And, you know, from what I see he did absolutely nothing wrong. There were no campaign funds going into this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then why is --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Let's talk it over with Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels' attorney.

And Michael, sources are telling CNN that the FBI seized recorded phone calls between Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels' former attorney Keith Davidson, calls made days before the FBI raid. What's the significance of that?

MICHAEL AVENATTI, STORMY DANIELS' ATTORNEY: I cannot personally confirm or deny that. But what I will say, Dana, is that it certainly wouldn't surprise me. My understanding is based on the reporting at least that that is accurate. You know, it would be another dumb move in a long list of dumb moves by Michael Cohen over the last 10 to 15 years, Dana, in connection with his representation and work on behalf of Mr. Trump. At this point, nothing would shack me as it relates to incompetence.

BASH: Dumb move. But what are the ramifications?

AVENATTI: Well, if he has recordings of discussions with him and Mr. Davidson, I mean, that may open him up to liability. We may be able to bring suit against Michael Cohen because Mr. Davidson would have been operating as my agent's client, perhaps on the circumstance of those discussions and when they occurred. If he has conversations with other individuals and other locations of the country, that may subject him as well as whoever he was working for at that time, and if it was for Mr. Trump, may subject Mr. Trump or the Trump organization to additional liability. I mean, that's just a really stupid thing to do to be making recordings without people's permission, generally especially if you're talking about sensitive subjects.

BASH: So on Friday a judge issued a stay for the lawsuit going on out in California. Can you just explain the next steps after that and whether you think that perhaps something that you said might have -- in an interview or even in court might have caused, that and are you worried that that hurts your legal strategy?

AVENATTI: No. The court was very clear that nothing that I had said had anything to do with the court's decision. And the court wasn't going to take into consideration anything that I had predicted relating to an indictment. The judge was very, very clear on this.

I think at the end of the day the judge erred on the side of protecting Michael Cohen's Fifth Amendment rights. He issued a temporary 90-day stay. We are planning on appealing that. We are concerned that the stay may go beyond 90 days depending on what happens with the investigation and the potential criminal charges in New York.

But I don't find that order, Dana, to be a big win for Michael Cohen or for Mr. Trump. I mean, the court went out of its way to discuss how likely it was that Michael Cohen was going to be indicted for very, very serious charges which, of course, is something that I've been saying for some time.

And as I have said in the past, I think that the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office has acquired a treasure trove of information from those raids and otherwise. I think Michael Cohen is in a world of hurt in a very, very bad spot. And I think there's no question that he's going to trade up, if you will, and roll over on the President.

[19:35:49] BASH: You dropped a pretty big bomb, an allegation earlier today on "STATE OF THE UNION" here on CNN suggesting that the former RNC finance chair Eliot Brody may have actually been a fall guy in that scandal involving $1.6 million, a payout to silence a former "Playboy" model.

It's a pretty big insinuation. It sounded like you were saying he wasn't really the character there who did it. It was somebody else, maybe the President?

AVENATTI: Well, be I'm going to stand by the exact words I used this morning with Jake, and as opposed to the interpretation of those words by perhaps by you or others that want to take it perhaps a step too far at this point.

My point is this. I have serious doubts based on what I know as to whether in fact that was negotiated on Mr. Behalf of Mr. Brody or on behalf of somebody else. There's a lot of questions relating to how that transaction went down, the involvement of Mr. Davidson, the involvement of Mr. Cohen who I understood prior to the transaction had zero involvement, little to no involvement with Mr. Brody, barely even knew him from what I understand. Highly unusual.

BASH: So you did not suggest -- you were suggesting that it was really the President?

AVENATTI: Just to be clear. What I'm suggesting is in my mind based on what I know there are serious questions as to whether it was on behalf of Mr. Brody or somebody else. And that's what I'm saying at this point.

BASH: OK. Well, you predict that Michael Cohen is going to flip on President Trump. The "National Enquirer" is preparing for that possibility apparently.

Michael, we are looking at "National Enquirer's" cover here. We usually don't up the "National Enquirer" but it is very relevant to this. What's your theory?

AVENATTI: Well, I tweeted out the cover this morning. I mean, I think it's pretty clear what's going on here. The administration and Mr. Trump are preparing for Michael Cohen to flip. And what they want to do is they want to start a campaign now undercutting or undermining his credibility so when he does flip and he does turn state's evidence and he begins discussing all of the facts and the issues that that he's aware of that could cause considerable liability, center field and otherwise to the President, they want to be able to argue that he is a liar, that he's turned state's evidence only to help himself and he has no credibility. And I think that this is the first shot, the first salvo, if you will, towards that effort.

BASH: Michael Avenatti, thank you so much for joining me this evening. Appreciate it.

AVENATTI: Thank you. Have a good evening.

BASH: You, too.

And coming up, could marijuana be the key help solving opioid crisis? Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks about that and his upcoming special report next here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:56] BASH: This just in. Sources tell CNN President Trump is expected to speak at the NRA annual meeting this week in Dallas. A White House spokesperson telling CNN we are finally -- excuse me, we are finalizing exact details but we will keep you posted.

And five years after the launch of his award-winning series "Weed," CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at it again, cutting through the smoke to explore how medical marijuana may actually help in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

Here's a look at "Weed four, pot versus pills."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every morning former NFL lineman Cal Turley begins his day with a cup of coffee and a few hits of something he calls a necessary medicine, marijuana. Before pot, he used pills, lots of pills.

CAL TURLEY, FORMER NFL LINEMAN: Since 1996 when I blew my knee out, you know, it was a pain killer, a muscle relaxer, a sleep aid and anti-inflammatory. Those four are staples in an athlete's regimen of medicines.

GUPTA: It's the opiate, it is the pain killer that I think people are real coming to terms with.

TURLEY: Yes. Because it's very easy for those to go from one to two to three.

GUPTA: To more than a dozen a day, it became a near deadly addiction.

TURLEY: I was completely hopeless. The side effects are very real. Suicide is a constant thought. And I'm raging on my family, all these things.

GUPTA: And raging on the football field.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now Turley throws the helmet.

TURLEY: Everybody talks about marijuana as a gateway drug, and reality is this was my gateway to drugs.

GUPTA: Football was.

TURLEY: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Sanjay Gupta recently sat down with CNN's Ana Cabrera to discuss why he has changed his opinion on medical marijuana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[19:45:05] ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So how does marijuana actually work to get people who are addicted to opioids off those drugs?

GUPTA: I think there's three ways that it really works, and they are pretty interesting. One is that cannabis can help treat the underlying pain, first of all. Opioids are a pain killer. Cannabis has been regarded as a pain killer now as well. The consensus, the science, the scientific community is pretty clear on this, but it also seems to be able to help people who are withdrawing, who stop the opioids and then start to have the withdrawal which is a worsening of the pain, the nausea, all that that accompanies that. It's very much like people who are taking chemotherapy who are cancer patients. We know that cannabis can help those patients. It can help opiate withdrawal in the same way.

The third way which I find the most interesting and something I learned here, Ana, is that when your brain is exposed to opioids, within a few days the brain is changed. There's a part of the brain actually affected by that and makes it very difficult for you to use good judgment, to have good decision-making. Makes it very difficult for you to just say no.

CABRERA: That's why it has such a powerful hook?

GUPTA: That's the addiction part of it. And no matter what, you continue taking opioids, that part of the brain does not heal. What this brand-new research here shows out of Sloan-Kettering in New York is that CBD, which is a component of cannabis, can help heal that part of the brain which was remarkable.

CABRERA: Wow.

GUPTA: I mean, because people always thought, look, it's like a fried egg in a pan, right. That's what cannabis is going to do to your brain, and what research is doing is that it in fact can heal the addict's brain so that they don't feel the cravings anymore.

CABRERA: But then people say they will get hooked on marijuana.

GUPTA: They say that it's a gateway. They say there's an addiction component with it and there is a risk of abuse with marijuana I think like anything else, mostly a psychological addiction. There is really not evidence of the thing, a gateway drug in the sense that your body has changed and therefore you now need to go to harder and harder drugs.

CABRERA: And you ended up writing an open letter to this administration. What was your message?

GUPTA: The message, I wanted to be very substantive here. I want to show that the real obstacles in the way of actually making any progress with regard to cannabis, the schedule one issue, but also showing the fact that cannabis now from a scientific medical perspective based on the researchers out there who are full of these facts and figures, not rhetoric and politics, are actually providing data on what cannabis can do.

You come to the conclusion after you look at all of this, and I put this in the letter, that if you had to design a substance de novo, just design something to help us lead us out of this opioid epidemic, it would look very much like cannabis. Treat the pain, treat the withdrawal and heal the brain. Not very many things can do that.

CABRERA: You obviously are a believer. You have been for a while that you said you are still learning despite the fact that you have been studying the effects of marijuana for years now.

GUPTA: I am definitely still learning, and I wasn't always a believer. There was a time when I was writing columns for various magazines saying I don't think that there's any merit to this. I just don't believe it. But it was only when I started to realize that the majority of studies in this country that were being funded were designed to look at harm, not benefit, that you have to leave the federally funded studies. You had to go outside this country to find labs that were doing this other kind of work. Tens of thousands of people are dying every year of opioid overdoses. There's never been a reported overdose to cannabis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: The CNN Special Report "Weed 4, pot versus pills" airs tonight 8:00 eastern right here on CNN. Don't miss it.

And Marvell studio's blockbuster "Avengers Infinity War" made history this weekend scoring the biggest global box office opening ever. The movie made an estimated $630 million, shattering the record previously held by "the fate of the furious." It was also a big win domestically taking home an estimated $250 million, beating out "Star Wars, the force awakens." Disney holds nine of the ten biggest openings in North American history.

And coming up. What do you get when a brash New Yorker goes deep into the heart of Appalachia? You guessed it, a brand new episode of "PARTS UNKNOWN." Anthony Bourdain in West Virginia. We get a preview next.

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[19:54:04] BASH: He has been all over the world but even Anthony Bourdain admits he was surprised by what he found in the heart of Appalachia. On tonight's season premiere on "PARTS UNKNOWN," he digs into the

proud and often misunderstood culture of West Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the nanny cooked with squirrels. These aren't squirrels. This is chicken.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, PARTS UNKNOWN: Dinner is not untypical expression of hard scrabble Appalachian practicality.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't measure anything. So nothing has a recipe here.

BOURDAIN: And Neapolitan roots. Home kitchen gardens, hunting and gardening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This, my dad would called Peas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Making mama (INAUDIBLE). Now this is what I'm famous for in these parts. Have you had spaghetti pizza? No you haven't. Don't say you have. The tomato sauce was made with realtomatoes from the food bank. We harvested those yesterday and I made them spaghetti.

[19:55:10] BOURDAIN: Nearby, Joel runs an organic farm that supply it is local school system.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People here are very good. They give you the shirt off their back. Come together in times of tragedy or anything.

BOURDAIN: Christian values mean something here. They are practiced on the street and in the home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice of you to get the potatoes, right?

BOURDAIN: Linda runs five loaves and two fishes, the food bank this holds many of the lives here together during tough times. Sixteen thousand people walk through this doors annually in a county of 20,000.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: CNN's Ana Cabrera recently sat down with Bourdain to learn more about tonight's episode.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: You start this episode right here at home. We are so used to seeing you far flung, exotic places. But this extended episode to kick off the season is in West Virginia. Why West Virginia and why now?

BOURDAIN: You know, I have -- I'm in New Yorker with a lot of the sort of prejudices and expected political beliefs of a born and bred New Yorker. More and more I find myself excited and inspired and in many ways comforted and definitely fascinated by those parts of the country just very, very different than the country I grew up. This is coal, guns, God and Trump country. The heart of it. And I saw this as a challenge.

They have been spoken down to for so long. People of my political ilk dismiss them. Mock them. Speak of them with contempt. I wanted to go and basically approach West Virginia the same way that I have tried to approach all the other places I go to in foreign lands with an open heart and an open mind.

And I have to tell you I was thoroughly, thoroughly enchanted. The people were incredibly kind. It is beautiful part of the country. And I think people will see and I hope empathize and understand a little bit more why people would seem to vote against their -- against their best interest. And I think to understand how important coal is. However you feel about fossil fuel, how deep some of these things go in their sense of self, their pride, their history, their family traditions.

CABRERA: Exactly. Because this is coal country. And when you explored the culture and the fabric of some of these communities, I mean, you got right down into a coal mine. What do the people of West Virginia see as coal's role in the future of that state?

BOURDAIN: I think everyone I spoke to including miners were realistic about what the future is likely to be. But, you know, first of all, we are talking about people who often their father, their grandfather, their great grandfather and their great, great grandfather worked in those mines. Where the difference between a little bit more work in coal next year is absolutely the difference between food on the table tonight, Christmas presents under the tree if there's going to be a tree this year, immediate need.

Coal offered for many generations of a very challenge area of the country. Right out of high school the opportunity for a very high paying job. You know? With a reasonably good support system around it. With really nothing else available. So when you say, well, you know, what do we train them to install solar panels, that is nice but we are talking a very different, very different world. These are communities with no cell service in many cases. The hollers of West Virginia. You know? Where it's a 20 miles to the nearest or 45- minute drive to the nearest grocery store.

CABRERA: It is a different lifestyle all around.

BOURDAIN: Options are limited, however you or I might feel about gun ownership, going back into the woods behind your house and shooting a squirrel is a very real option that men and women sort of need to be prepared for in many cases.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: It is a big night of premiers on CNN. First up, it is CNN's special report "WEED 4" followed by "PARTS UNKNOWN" and "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA."

Don't miss any of it. Keep your stations ftuned right here to CNN.

That does it for me. I'm Dana Bash. Have a great week.