By Brian Stelter, CNN

(CNN) — Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have cleared the way for CNN, HBO and Warner’s other media brands to join Paramount Skydance later this year.

Shareholders “overwhelmingly” voted in support of the takeover deal, WBD said after a pro forma special meeting took place on Thursday morning.

The vote was anticlimactic, but still a crucial moment in the monthslong struggle for control of WBD, one of the biggest media companies in the world.

Paramount, led by CEO David Ellison, still has to secure regulatory approval in the United States and other countries, but company executives are optimistic that they’ll be able to complete the deal in the third quarter of the year, meaning by the end of September.

“Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, building on our successful equity and debt syndications and progress across regulatory approvals,” Paramount said in a statement.

“We look forward to closing the transaction in the coming months and realizing the creation of a next-generation media and entertainment company that better serves both the creative community and consumers,” the company added.

A year ago, WBD stock was trading at about $8 per share. Paramount is offering $31 per share, so the deal has been a no-brainer for many investors.

However, it has been a source of intense controversy in Hollywood and beyond, with some entertainment industry veterans warning against media consolidation and some activists criticizing Paramount’s close ties to President Donald Trump.

Opponents of the deal held a “block the merger” protest outside WBD headquarters on Thursday morning shortly before the vote.

The opponents are urging state attorneys general in states like California and New York to challenge the deal on antitrust grounds.

Several attorneys general offices have said they are closely examining the deal, partly out of a belief that the Trump administration’s federal regulators will give Paramount the green light for political reasons.

European regulatory bodies are also reviewing Paramount-WBD and may demand that Paramount divest some assets in order to secure the necessary approvals.

Paramount executives have bet that they’ll win all the necessary approvals swiftly: The WBD deal terms include a so-called “ticking fee” that increases the price per share if the deal isn’t finalized by September 30.

While shareholders easily advanced the Paramount deal, they did not approve the other measure that was up for a vote on Thursday. That one focused on compensation packages for outgoing WBD CEO David Zaslav and other executive officers.

The payout to Zaslav could total as much as $886 million, which would be “one of the highest golden parachutes ever observed,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

The compensation package proposal “did not receive sufficient votes and did not pass,” a representative said at the end of the virtual shareholder meeting.

However, the shareholder vote was merely advisory, not binding in nature, which means the WBD board of directors may still move forward with the payouts.

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Por Hannah Rabinowitz, Steve Contorno y Alicia Wallace, CNN

El secretario de Justicia interino de EE.UU., Todd Blanche, firmó este jueves una orden que reclasifica la marihuana medicinal autorizada por el estado como una droga menos peligrosa. Esta decisión cambia una política que durante décadas ha dificultado la investigación de los posibles beneficios medicinales de la droga.

La orden de Blanche no legaliza el uso recreativo bajo la ley federal. En cambio, traslada la marihuana medicinal autorizada de la Lista I —que incluye las drogas más restringidas, como la heroína y el éxtasis— a la Lista III, la misma categoría que algunos medicamentos recetados como la ketamina y el Tylenol con codeína.

También ofrece una exención fiscal a los distribuidores autorizados de marihuana medicinal y flexibiliza algunas restricciones para la investigación de sus efectos.

“Estas medidas permitirán una investigación más específica y rigurosa sobre la seguridad y la eficacia de la marihuana, ampliando el acceso de los pacientes a los tratamientos y capacitando a los médicos para tomar decisiones sanitarias mejor fundamentadas”, escribió Blanche en una publicación en X.

La Administración para el Control de Drogas de EE.UU. (DEA, por sus siglas en inglés) celebrará audiencias administrativas ante un juez sobre el cambio de normativa, dijo Blanche.

Ya ha habido varios intentos para reclasificar la marihuana como sustancia nociva y, aunque siempre ha sido objeto de debate, ninguna administración logró aprobar una normativa definitiva. El expresidente Joe Biden inició un nuevo intento durante el último año de su mandato, pero no se concretó antes de que dejara el cargo.

Los críticos atribuyeron la lentitud del proceso a la reticencia de la entonces administradora de la DEA, Anne Milgram. La norma también estaba programada para ser sometida a audiencias administrativas antes del final del mandato de Biden, pero el juez principal de la DEA la suspendió indefinidamente.

En un decreto emitido el pasado mes de diciembre, el presidente Donald Trump ordenó al Departamento de Justicia que acelerara el proceso e impulsara el cambio de normativa propuesto por Biden.

Pero en los meses siguientes hubo poca movilización pública, y los defensores de la flexibilización de las regulaciones se sintieron cada vez más frustrados.

El propio Trump pareció expresar su frustración por la demora durante el fin de semana cuando le dijo al presentador de podcasts Joe Rogan, partidario de la reclasificación de la marihuana, en un evento en la Oficina Oval: “Me están tomando el pelo”.

Fuentes consultadas por CNN indicaron que tanto la Casa Blanca como el Departamento de Justicia se han enfrentado a una creciente presión por parte de la industria del cannabis para que se apruebe el cambio de clasificación.

Mientras se ultimaba un plan para seguir adelante, algunos miembros del Departamento esperaban dar a conocer sus decisiones el 20 de abril, un día de celebración para los entusiastas de la marihuana, pero se les dijo que sería inapropiado, según dos fuentes familiarizadas con las conversaciones.

Ahora, es probable que este esfuerzo revitalizado se enfrente rápidamente a impugnaciones legales por parte de los críticos, quienes afirman que la rebaja de la calificación podría fomentar el uso recreativo de una droga dañina.

Sin embargo, la flexibilización de las restricciones en torno a la marihuana goza de amplio apoyo. Una encuesta del Pew Research Center de 2024 reveló que casi seis de cada diez estadounidenses apoyan la leg

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By Rebekah Riess, Dianne Gallagher, CNN

(CNN) — A former police officer was arrested in Florida on Wednesday after authorities found information suggesting he planned a mass shooting at a festival in New Orleans, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Christopher Gillum of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is wanted in Orleans Parish on a charge of making terroristic threats. “Authorities obtained information Gillum planned to travel to a festival in New Orleans to conduct a mass shooting and then commit suicide by cop,” the sheriff’s office said.

Gillum was a police officer in Chapel Hill between 2004 and 2019, when he resigned from his role. He returned to the police department as a non-sworn employee in 2024 before leaving for another job by the end of that year, Alex Carrasquillo, communications manager for the Town of Chapel Hill, told CNN.

Authorities did not say which festival Gillum allegedly intended to target, but the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, known as Jazz Fest, begins today and runs through May 3. The festival, founded in 1970, draws roughly 400,000 attendees each year. CNN has reached out to festival organizers for comment.

Gillum was taken into custody without incident Wednesday evening at a hotel in Destin, Florida, after the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office learned he was in the area through the county’s Flock camera system, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies recovered a handgun and about 200 rounds of ammunition from Gillum’s hotel room, the sheriff’s office said. Gillum is being held in the Okaloosa County Jail pending extradition to Louisiana.

New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno did not discuss details about Gillum’s arrest, which her office described as a “potential threat suspect in Florida,” but praised the “tremendous coordination” by law enforcement agencies.

“This level of coordination extended to law enforcement agencies in multiple states from North Carolina to Florida. This is where urgent collaboration and cooperation pays off,” Moreno said in a statement.

The New Orleans Police Department and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office referred questions to state police and the FBI. CNN has reached out to the FBI and Louisiana State Police for comment.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said Wednesday’s arrest, “highlights how technology like FLOCK and strong partnerships between agencies can help prevent potential violence and bring wanted fugitives into custody safely before a tragedy could occur.”

The flagship product of Flock, an Atlanta-based safety technology company, is an outdoor camera referred to as “LPR” camera. The device can read license plates and identify other details about vehicles as they drive by. Around 6,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States use LPRs and the company’s AI system allows them to search its network of footage for a specific car.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Jeremy Grisham and Clare Duffy contributed to this reporting.

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