By Katia Hetter, CNN

(CNN) — Social media trends are fueling a dangerous form of substance use among teenagers in the United States involving common household and commercial products, including inhaling nitrous oxide, or laughing gas.

More than 500,000 American adolescents reported inhalant use in the past year, according to an estimate based on findings in a new study published in the journal Preventive Medicine.

I spoke with CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen to learn more about inhalants and why they appeal to so many teens. Wen is an emergency physician and adjunct associate professor at George Washington University. She previously was Baltimore’s health commissioner.

CNN: What are inhalants, and what substances are teenagers using?

Dr. Leana Wen: Inhalants are chemicals that produce mind-altering effects when people breathe in their fumes. The substances are often common products found in homes, schools, garages and stores. Teenagers may inhale gases, sprays or solvents to experience a brief high that can include euphoria and hallucinations.

These products include glue, shoe polish, paint thinner, aerosol sprays, gasoline and nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas. Nitrous oxide has legitimate medical and commercial uses. In medicine, it is used for sedation and pain control, including in dentistry and in operating rooms. Commercially, nitrous oxide is sold in cartridges that can be used in whipped cream dispensers. Increasingly, though, these products are being marketed and discussed online as recreational substances.

One reason inhalants are especially concerning is that they are inexpensive, widely available and often legal to purchase. Adolescents may wrongly assume that because these products are common household items, they are relatively safe. And parents and caregivers may not be aware that these items are being misused in this way.

CNN: What did this new study find about inhalant use among adolescents in the US? Are certain populations more at risk than others?

Wen: This study analyzed nationally representative survey data collected between 2021 and 2023 from over 33,700 adolescents. Researchers found that 2.2% of adolescents reported using inhalants in the past year. That may sound like a small percentage, but when applied nationally, it represents well over a half million teenagers. About 0.7% reported inhalant use in the past month, and 0.3% met criteria for inhalant use disorder, which means that their use had become severe enough to cause clinically significant impairment or distress.

One important finding was that younger adolescents ages 12 to 13 actually had higher rates of inhalant use compared with those ages 14 to 17.

I found this to be surprising when I first saw the results, but, as the authors explained, this finding aligns with prior research showing that inhalants are often among the first substances experimented with by young teenagers because of how commonplace they are.

Another important finding was that there were strong links between inhalant use and other risky behaviors. Adolescents who used tobacco, got into physical fights

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By Alejandra Jaramillo, Sunlen Serfaty, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that his “National Garden of American Heroes” will be built in West Potomac Park, advancing a yearslong push for a sweeping sculpture park honoring hundreds of prominent Americans ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

“I’m proud to announce the site of the NATIONAL GARDEN OF AMERICAN HEROES,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social as he traveled back from a high-stakes visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

“This magnificent exhibition of statues will be located in West Potomac Park, which we are transforming into one of the World’s most beautiful public spaces. Right now, it is a totally BARREN field of Prime Waterfront Real Estate along our Mighty Potomac River,” Trump added.

It was one of multiple social media posts the president sent related to architecture while traveling back from China.

The garden project has been a priority for the president since the final year of his first term in office. But despite renewed momentum during his second term, the ambitious plan faces questions over timing, cost and support.

Sources last month told CNN it was unlikely the sculpture garden would be completed in time for the country’s July 2026 semiquincentennial celebration.

The planned garden would feature 250 life-size statues honoring a wide range of American figures, including Kobe Bryant, Amelia Earhart, Abraham Lincoln, Muhammad Ali, Christopher Columbus and Sally Ride, among others. Trump said the statues would honor “Founding Fathers, Military Warriors, Religious Leaders, Civil Rights Champions, World Class Athletes, Artists, Entertainers, and MORE.”

“The people of America (and the World!) will come here to learn and be inspired by the “Greats”. The National Garden of American Heroes is one more project we are undertaking to honor the 250th Birthday of the Greatest Nation on Earth, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!” Trump wrote on Friday.

A source familiar with the project says it is expected to come before the Commission of Fine Arts, which is filled with Trump allies, in June. It is the first time the project will be presented before one of the two commissions that need to formally approve it.

Trump first presented the idea during a political speech at the base of Mount Rushmore during his first term six years ago. He then issued an executive order officially ordering the project shortly before leaving office.

At the time, Trump described the project as a garden “to reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism.”

In 2021, President Joe Biden revoked Trump’s executive order, only for Trump to reinstate executive orders related to the sculpture garden in January 2025.

The effort to build a new sculpture garden comes as the president has worked to make a lasting impact on the nation’s capital with architectural projects including plans for a White House ballroom and a 250-foot arch near Arlington Cemetery.

On Friday, Trump also used his trip to China to spotlight his long-discussed ballroom project, posting on social m

Por Linh Tran y Brynn Gingras, CNN

Tras 29 años, nueve fechas de ejecución y tres últimas comidas, el exrecluso del corredor de la muerte Richard Glossip salió en libertad bajo fianza este jueves, a la espera de un nuevo juicio después de que su condena anterior por su participación en un complot de asesinato por encargo contra su exjefe fuera anulada por la Corte Suprema el año pasado, informó su abogado a CNN.

Glossip, quien acababa de dar sus primeros pasos en libertad al salir de una cárcel de Oklahoma, declaró a los periodistas allí congregados que se sentía agradecido con su esposa y sus abogados, y añadió que está “simplemente muy feliz”.

“Es abrumador, pero al mismo tiempo es increíble”, afirmó.

“Obviamente estaba radiante de alegría; gritaba y vociferaba, y fue un día memorable”, comentó a Jake Tapper, de CNN, el abogado Don Knight, describiendo la reacción de Glossip ante la decisión de una jueza de un tribunal de distrito de Oklahoma de fijar una fianza de US$ 500.000 a primera hora del día.

Glossip, de 63 años, fue condenado en 1998 por su papel en el asesinato de Barry Van Treese —propietario de un motel en Oklahoma City— ocurrido en 1997. Sin embargo, la Corte Suprema anuló su condena y su sentencia de muerte en febrero de 2025.

Anteriormente a Glossip se le había denegado la libertad bajo fianza mientras aguardaba un nuevo juicio.

La jueza de distrito del condado de Oklahoma, Natalie Mai, escribió en su orden judicial que “el Tribunal considera que no puede denegar la libertad bajo fianza a Glossip”, basándose en parte en una carta de 2023 del fiscal general de Oklahoma, Gentner Drummond, en la que este reconocía que las pruebas “no respaldan la conclusión de que [Glossip] sea culpable de asesinato premeditado más allá de toda duda razonable”.

“El Tribunal confía en que un nuevo juicio, libre de errores, brinde a todas las partes interesadas, así como a los ciudadanos de Oklahoma, el cierre que merecen”, escribió Mai.

Knight declaró a CNN a primera hora del jueves: “Rich está simplemente entusiasmado con la oportunidad de poder vivir una vida real”.

Las condiciones de la fianza de Glossip incluyen el uso de un monitor GPS en el tobillo, el cumplimiento de un toque de queda entre las 10:00 p.m. y las 7:00 a.m., y la prohibición de mantener contacto con cualquier posible testigo o con los familiares de la víctima, a menos que dicho contacto se realice a través de sus respectivos abogados. Asimismo, según consta en los registros judiciales, Glossip debe permanecer dentro del estado de Oklahoma.

La decisión de la Corte Suprema de anular la condena y la sentencia de muerte de Glossip el año pasado marcó un punto de inflexión importante en su batalla legal de décadas. El tribunal ordenó que su caso fuera juzgado nuevamente en Oklahoma, al determinar que los fiscales no corrigieron un testimonio falso durante su juicio de 1998 que pudo haber influido en el jurado.

Ese falso testimonio provino del asesino de Van Treese, Justin Sneed; y de haberlo hecho, su credibilidad se habría visto afectada, socavando su testimonio como testigo estrella de la fiscalía.

Sneed fue condenado a cadena perpetua sin posibilidad de libertad condicional a cambio de declararse culpable y testificar contra Glossip. Su testimonio constituyó la única prueba que vinculaba a Glossip con el asesinato.

“Esa corrección habría revelado al jurado no solo que Sneed no era digno de confianza (como señala el amicus curiae, el jurado ya sabía que había mentido reiteradamente a la policía), sino también que Sneed estaba dispuesto a mentirles a ellos bajo juramento”, escribió la jueza Sonia Sotomayor en nombre de la mayoría.

Los fiscales de Oklahoma acordaron volver a juzgar el caso en junio de 2025, pero en ese momento le denegaron la libertad bajo fianza.

Los fiscales enfrentarán varios obstáculos mien

By Ray Sanchez, CNN

(CNN) — Disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh’s dramatic downfall was sealed following a sensational six-week 2023 trial in which he was convicted of murdering his wife and son.

But the long-running saga involving the scion of a prominent and powerful family of local lawyers and solicitors took an unexpected turn this week when the South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the murder convictions.

Saying the trial was marred by the “improper” influence of the county clerk, Becky Hill, the court ordered a new trial for Murdaugh in the killing of his wife, Maggie, and 22-year-old son, Paul, in June 2021.

While the US Constitution’s double jeopardy clause generally forbids subsequent prosecutions after an acquittal, it does not apply if a defendant’s conviction is later overturned, according to legal experts.

“It’s a do-over,” Jill Konviser, a former New York State Supreme Court justice, said via email.

The 5-0 ruling also vacated the two life sentences Murdaugh had received for the murder convictions. Still, he has separately pleaded guilty to dozens of financial crimes and will remain behind bars on concurrent state and federal sentences of 27 and 40 years.

Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office plans to retry Murdaugh on the murder charges “as soon as possible.”

Wilson told reporters his “hope is to get this case retried by the end of the year,” but noted the window is still open for his team to ask the South Carolina Supreme Court to reconsider its decision or to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Double jeopardy clause is not violated

The double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment prevents trying a defendant again for a crime after a verdict of not guilty.

“The Double Jeopardy Clause is not violated by a second trial in these circumstances, where the new trial is necessitated by errors in the first trial that are the grounds for a defendant’s successful appeal,” Jessica Roth, a former prosecutor and professor at the Cardozo School of Law in New York, said in an email.

“The Double Jeopardy Clause would bar a second prosecution by South Carolina for the same offense had Murdaugh been acquitted at the first trial, or had the appellate court found there was insufficient evidence to support a guilty verdict,” Roth added, “but that is not what occurred in this case.”

In the Murdaugh case, the experts said, double jeopardy is not at issue in a second trial due in large part to what the South Carolina Supreme Court called “shocking jury interference” by the court clerk who oversaw jurors.

“Double jeopardy doesn’t apply because it’s the same case,” Konviser said. “It’s a continuing matter, it’s still pending, it’s not final.”

Konviser said the decision this week “effectively wiped the slate clean” by remanding the case for a new trial.

“The answer is that double jeopardy applies one way and one way only, and that is that if the prosecution tries you and they don’t succeed, it’s over. They can’t come back at you,” CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson said.

“If a defendant loses and petitions for a new trial, that’s another story … If I get convicted, and I file an appeal and that murder conviction is overturned, it’s not double jeopardy be