By Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN

New Orleans (CNN) — Quietly, someone no one had been thinking about as a 2028 contender showed up to a meeting of Democratic activists here and started to incept a presidential campaign – including for himself.

It helped that the meeting was in the city that gave Mitch Landrieu the accent with which he squeezes three soft syllables out of the second word in “New Orleans.”

“You can begin to dream about the America that should be. Because we are not going back to where we were. It’s like when New Orleans got destroyed by Katrina,” he told a gathering of the Young Democrats of America attached to an otherwise ho-hum seasonal meeting of the Democratic National Committee this month.

“We grabbed our past – that was important, that told us who we are,” Landrieu added. “We got rid of the mistakes we made. And we looked forward to a new day where we can make New Orleans the city it should have been if we had gotten it right the first time.”

He was riffing without notes.

“You get to construct a new day, if you win,” he said. “And that is what 2028 and beyond is going to be about.”

More Democrats were with Landrieu that night upstairs at the famous Galatoire’s restaurant in the French Quarter – elected officials, operatives and influencer Carlos Espina, who has 14 million TikTok followers and had keynoted the main DNC meeting earlier that afternoon.

Multiple people in the room who listened to his toast told CNN later they’d been surprised how much it felt like a soft launch.

Upward of two dozen Democrats are already writing books, touring potential early primary states or otherwise setting up presidential campaigns-in-waiting. Most are better known than Landrieu. But with few registering as more than a blip in early polls, plenty of less familiar names see an opening to make their case and see if they can catch on.

Walking along the Mississippi River the next afternoon after yet another speech, this time to the DNC executive board, rousing them to be as hard-nosed as necessary to win big in this fall’s midterms, Landrieu bit harder than most when acknowledging that what would be a dark horse presidential run is very much on his mind.

“Whether I’m the president or one of a hundred of my best friends are president, I am at a point in my life where I really feel like the future of the country is at stake,” Landrieu told CNN. “And so, people say, ‘What, are you going to run for president?’ Maybe.”

A native son

In the run-up to the 1976 election, with America was still reeling from Watergate, New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu thought about running for president, seeing a path for an outsider conciliator in a race that ultimately put another southerner, Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, in the White House. (The way Mitch Landrieu tells the story, it was his grandmother who was most disappointed, saying when Moon Landrieu passed on a campaign, “All the other mother’s sons are running for president, and mine’s not.”)

Mitch Landrieu is one of nine children, a former state lieutenant governor who ran for mayor after Katrina ravaged his hometown and lost before winning four years later.

Last week, as he led a mini-tour of the waterfront he worked to revitalize, Landrieu could point to the ferry system to the city’s west bank with its new terminal, the land he’d swapped with the railroad to build three miles of parks, fountains and walkways, where he could point out how new sewage and water systems, revamped schools and libraries stood in spots that were once under 17 feet of water.

The workers setting up for the French Quarter festival who greeted him with hugs, the many people who called out “Hey Mitch!” or “We need you back,” the man with the candied pecan sampler tray who insisted on a

By Manu Raju, Alison Main, CNN

(CNN) — Sitting in a coffee shop in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Abdul El-Sayed is ready to dispel the notion that he’s unelectable.

The 41-year-old son of Egyptian immigrants whose sharply progressive views align with those of Sen. Bernie Sanders, El-Sayed is seen by many Democrats in Washington as the kind of candidate they fear: someone who wins a primary and loses in November, costing them a shot at the Senate majority.

El-Sayed scoffs at that.

“I think there is this notion that electability is about being the least offensive,” he told CNN. “If that were true, why would Donald Trump have won the presidency twice?”

Whether he’s right could have enormous ramifications for control of the Senate.

Michigan’s open Senate seat is now emerging as a GOP hedge against a potential takeover for Democrats, who need to net four seats to flip the chamber. Losing Michigan would make the Democrats’ task almost impossible, a major reason why a leading Republican outside group just announced plans to pour $45 million into the state – more than any other pickup opportunity – to boost former Rep. Mike Rogers, the likely GOP nominee.

Republicans are hoping that the ultimate Democratic nominee emerging from the August 4 primary emerges battered and cash-strapped, giving Rogers a leg up.

“If he wins this seat, if they are successful in trying to buy this seat, then there is no path at all for Democrats to take control of the US Senate,” said state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, one of the three Democrats vying for the party’s nomination.

Yet Democrats have to resolve their own internal struggles first.

Rep. Haley Stevens, a 42-year-old who represents a district in the Detroit suburbs, is a favorite among many in the party establishment who see her as the most electable. The 39-year-old McMorrow is trying to brand herself as a candidate who can woo both traditional Democrats and progressives hungry for a shakeup of their party’s leadership.

El-Sayed, a former public health official who wrote a book on Medicare for All, is pushing to the left on several key issues.

The thorny questions facing Democratic voters: Should they back a candidate certain to energize their progressive base? Or should they fall in line behind the party establishment and pick someone who might better woo swing voters?

“Anybody committed to shutting down Trump and the MAGA movement,” said Jeff Albright, an undecided Democratic voter in the Detroit suburb of Canton, when asked about his most important issue. “That’s No. 1.”

The splits within the party

The fight so far has revealed huge splits among Michigan Democrats over major issues – on immigration enforcement, health care, support for Israel and the state of their party’s leadership.

El-Sayed has called to abolish US Immigration and Customs Enforcement while Stevens and McMorrow want changes to ICE’s practices instead. El-Sayed has sworn off any corporate PAC money while Stevens continues to accept PAC funding, despite her calls to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.

While McMorrow now bans corporate donations to her campaign, it’s a shift from her position accepting them when running for state Senate, something she says shows she’s “willing to be someone who evolves” and has now learned how to campaign “differently.”

“We can’t be Republican-light,” McMorrow said in an interview at a brewery in the Detroit suburbs.

El-Sayed attacked McMorrow for “a flip” in positions.

“It’s not just your positions, it’s about whet

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN

(CNN) — When I started filming the first “Weed” documentary back in 2012, I could not have predicted where this journey would take me — or the stories that would keep unfolding long after that initial exploration into the world of cannabis.

At the time, I thought I was making a single self-contained film about a controversial plant and its place in modern medicine. What I didn’t realize was that I was also beginning a long, evolving conversation about hope, healing and who gets to be taken seriously when talking about something as provocative as medical marijuana.

Over the past year, I’ve traveled across the country filming the eighth installment in this decade-plus-long series. This latest chapter focuses on women and weed — a natural progression, and one that felt overdue.

What I immediately learned was that cannabis has become a lifeline for countless women who feel unseen by conventional medicine. They are grandmothers trying to ease the side effects of cancer treatment, athletes managing endometriosis, teachers navigating the sleeplessness and mood swings of menopause. Everywhere I went, I heard versions of the same story: “I tried everything else, and nothing really worked. Cannabis was the only thing that helped.”

As we learned, this is unfortunately a familiar pattern rooted in a long history. For as long as medicine has been practiced, women’s health concerns have been minimized, misdiagnosed or dismissed.

As a young doctor, I saw this with my own mother, and then again 20 years later with my wife. Conditions like autoimmune disease, postpartum depression and chronic pain syndromes were too often chalked up to stress or hysteria. Even now, women remain underrepresented in clinical trials, even though biological sex can dramatically affect how medications work or if they even work at all. This exclusion has left major gaps in our understanding of how best to treat half the population, and women have unquestionably suffered as a result.

When it comes to menopause, the situation is particularly problematic. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) once promised relief, but warnings and controversies about potential risks left many women worried. Faced with few good options, it’s no wonder so many are turning to cannabis. In the data, you see it clearly: Women now outpace men when it comes to cannabis use, especially among middle-age and older adults.

In the stories I gathered over the past year, I heard something profound: a quiet revolt against being ignored.

One of the most surprising places I found this revolution unfolding was Oklahoma. The state that once had some of the toughest drug laws in the country is now, somewhat affectionately, called “Tokelahoma.” Since medical marijuana was legalized there, an entire industry has sprung up seemingly overnight — scrappy, local, women-focused and driven by a can-do ethos that could only happen in America’s heartland.

I met women who had become unlikely entrepreneurs, building businesses powered by equal parts grit and compassion. There was April, a mother in Tulsa who pivoted from selling houses to dispensing cannabis-infused edibles that help women manage chronic pain. There was Bonnie, a young businesswoman in Tulsa growing strains that could help women with everything from sexual dysfunction to insomnia. And then Ebony, a trained chef who moved to Oklahoma to make edibles, is now a community doula and cannabis educator at the heart of a community of users called cannamoms.

What struck me most was how mission-driven these women were. For them, cannabis wasn’t about escaping reality; it was about reclaiming agency.

These women are rewriting the narrative around cannabis — rooted in scientific data, which they are slowly starting to gather as well. They’re creating products specifically for women, guided by empathy and experimentatio

Por Sunlen Serfaty, CNN

Se concibió como un amplio jardín de esculturas para honrar el 250 aniversario de Estados Unidos, con 250 estatuas de figuras como Kobe Bryant, Elvis Presley y Rosa Parks.

Pero, con el 4 de Julio acercándose rápidamente, es poco probable que siquiera una estatua del Jardín Nacional de Héroes Estadounidenses del presidente Donald Trump se erija a tiempo, según dijeron a CNN fuentes familiarizadas con la planificación.

Fundiciones y artistas de todo el país que solicitaron trabajar en las enormes esculturas de estilo clásico —que tardarían meses en construirse— no han tenido noticias de la administración Trump.

Y los planes del jardín no se han presentado a la Comisión de Bellas Artes ni a la Comisión Nacional de Planificación de la Capital, dos agencias gubernamentales cuya aprobación se necesita antes de que pueda construirse.

“No se ha revisado formalmente”, dijo una persona familiarizada con los esfuerzos de planificación. “Según mi experiencia con aprobaciones previas en el distrito, no veo cómo esto podría estar listo a tiempo para julio”.

Ha habido algunos avances. La Casa Blanca se ha centrado en West Potomac Park —un pintoresco terreno a lo largo del río Potomac, popular para ver los cerezos en flor de Washington— como el lugar para el jardín, dijeron a CNN personas familiarizadas con los planes. Y la administración contrató a Michael Franck, un arquitecto que reside en Washington, para asesorar el proyecto.

Pero la Casa Blanca no ha anunciado formalmente la ubicación, y fuentes dicen que incluso eso podría cambiar.

Los retrasos y giros del proyecto son emblemáticos de los esfuerzos más amplios de Trump por remodelar la arquitectura y la cultura de la capital del país, incluidos planes para un enorme salón de baile de la Casa Blanca que reemplazaría el Ala Este y un arco triunfal con detalles dorados cerca del Cementerio Nacional de Arlington al que algunos grupos de veteranos se oponen.

A algunos críticos les preocupa que el jardín de esculturas también reciba una aprobación automática por parte de la Comisión de Bellas Artes (CFA) o la Comisión Nacional de Planificación de la Capital (NCPC), que han sido copadas por designados de Trump.

Una fuente familiarizada con las aprobaciones de construcción dijo que temía que el jardín de esculturas “se imponga sin aprobación” del Congreso o de las comisiones, “como en el caso del salón de baile de la Casa Blanca”.

El jardín no se discutió en la reunión del jueves de la CFA, y fuentes de la NCPC dicen que no tenían conocimiento de ningún plan en el calendario de la próxima reunión mensual para revisar el proyecto.

La Casa Blanca declinó hacer comentarios.

El proyecto es un empeño personal de Trump que lleva años gestándose. Es una idea presentada por primera vez durante un discurso político que el entonces 45º presidente pronunció al pie del Monte Rushmore hace seis años.

Trump anunció que había decidido encargar un monumento “a los gigantes de nuestro pasado” que sería “un vasto parque al aire libre que contará con las estatuas de los mejores estadounidenses que hayan vivido”.

Poco después, la Casa Blanca publicó un decreto que pedía la creación del Jardín Na

Por Arit John, CNN

En unas elecciones intermedias que probablemente se decidirán por cómo se sientan los votantes respecto a la economía, los republicanos están lidiando con cómo hablar de la guerra en Irán y su impacto en los costos del combustible.

Los republicanos habían pasado las semanas previas a la guerra destacando los precios más bajos bajo el presidente Donald Trump. Ahora, con el promedio nacional de la gasolina subiendo por encima de los US$ 4 por galón por primera vez desde 2022 y con los índices de aprobación económica de Trump cayendo a un mínimo histórico, los demócratas buscan vincular la guerra con su mensaje más amplio sobre la asequibilidad, argumentando que los republicanos están más centrados en asuntos exteriores que en reducir los costos en casa.

El Comité de Campaña Demócrata para el Congreso (DCCC, por sus siglas en inglés), el brazo de campaña de los demócratas de la Cámara de Representantes, comenzó a difundir anuncios digitales el mes pasado en sus 44 distritos objetivo, culpando a los republicanos del Congreso por el aumento de los precios de la gasolina.

Algunos candidatos demócratas, como Janelle Stelson, que busca una revancha contra el representante Scott Perry, un republicano de Pensilvania, han llevado su mensaje directamente a los votantes en gasolineras de los distritos que aspiran a representar.

“Deberíamos estar gastando dinero en casa, no US$ 1.000 millones al día en una guerra en Irán”, dijo Stelson a CNN en una entrevista. “Mientras tanto, tienes a todo el mundo aquí en el centro de Pensilvania diciendo: ‘Mírenme. Necesito ayuda. Me vendría bien un pedacito, aunque sea diminuto, de ese dinero’”.

(El Center for Strategic and International Studies, un think tank con sede en Washington, estimó que la guerra cuesta más de US$ 890 millones al día).

La campaña de Perry no respondió a las solicitudes de CNN. Pero el congresista dijo a City & State Pennsylvania que esperaba ver bajar pronto los precios de la gasolina.

“Como tantos ciudadanos en nuestra región y en todo el país, quiero que bajen los precios de la gasolina, y entiendo de primera mano la presión que estos precios altos ejercen sobre las familias”, dijo Perry en una declaración al medio. “El objetivo de todos es que pronto se logre una resolución a la guerra en Irán, para que podamos librarnos de la amenaza de un Irán nuclear y los precios de la energía puedan volver a los niveles previos a la guerra”.

Los precios del petróleo bajaron el viernes después de que Trump e Irán anunciaran que el estrecho de Ormuz está abierto a los buques comerciales durante el resto del alto el fuego entre ambas naciones.

“Creo que muchos republicanos están respirando aliviados de que este episodio esté llegando a su fin”, dijo Alex Conant, estratega republicano. “Trump fue elegido para domar la inflación y crear empleos, y si puede mostrar avances en eso antes de las elecciones de mitad de mandato, los republicanos estarán en una situación mucho mejor”.

Los republicanos han argumentado que los precios más altos de la gasolina son temporales, aunque los precios de la gasolina tienden a subir rápidamente cuando el petróleo se encarece y tardan más en bajar cuando los precios del petróleo caen. Los analistas dicen que los altos precios de l