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Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is Interviewed Troops in Chicago; Cartel Fight with a Military Strike; Adelson Trial Update; Man Receives Relief from Chronic Pain. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired September 03, 2025 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: A younger American. Look at this, the American dream still holds true. In 2010, age 18 to 29, it was 56 percent. Look at where that number has absolutely tumbled to. It has dropped. What is that? That's 35 points to just 21 percent. We've seen some drop with senior citizens, those 65 or older. But that's just been a drop of 53 to 41 percent.
What is essentially going on here is, the American youth have lost faith pretty much completely in the idea of an American dream. And that, of course, goes back to the idea of why there's poll after poll after poll that shows that younger people, more so than any other part of our nation at this point, have seen deepening pessimism in their personal lives as well.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is it just economics, or is there something more?
ENTEN: Yes, OK. So this, you know, look, if you work hard, you'll get ahead. That's the American dream, the idea of it being tied to the economy.
BOLDUAN: But I think it goes deeper than that. As I was mentioning, I think it goes into their personal lives. And this to me is just -- it's just scary. It's just scary.
OK, what are we talking about? Have five or more close friends. Back in 1990, look at this, 63 percent, the clear majority of Americans said they had five -- at least five or more close friends. Look at where that number has tumbled to now. It's just 40 percent. So, basically, we're just seeing a complete collapse of sort of the American structure, right? It's economic, yes, but it's also people in their personal lives, whether or not they have close friends.
And then all of a sudden, if you feel like you work hard, you can't get ahead. You go home, you try and have friends, and you don't really have that many close friends. And get this, the percentage of Americans who have no close friends has jumped up from 3 percent to now 17 percent. Seventeen percent of Americans say they have no close friends. No wonder pessimism is really taking a hold in the American public.
BOLDUAN: Right.
ENTEN: As I said at the beginning of this, America, we have a real problem.
BOLDUAN: Yes, impacting like your entire outlook on life, not just -- right, not just --
ENTEN: Yes, it's -- exactly right. It's economic, but it's social as well.
BOLDUAN: So interesting. Thank you, Harry.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: John. Nope, I'm going to keep going. Let me try this.
Windstorms -- coming up for us, windstorms, flooding, even a live birth. A nurse is now recounting how she helped unsuspecting parents welcome a baby girl in the middle of Burning Man. See that sign? We've got the story.
And a five year old sneaks out of the house to take a trip to Chick- Fil-A. His biggest concern as he's being helped home by officers? Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to get me in jail?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm not going to put you in jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:35:34]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, the war of words escalating between Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and President Trump over the president's threat to send National Guard to Chicago. The president is vowing that the troops will go into the city, but not saying when. And Governor Pritzker says he has no idea what the president is talking about when it comes to crime in Chicago.
With us now, Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois. He is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senator, thank you so much for being with us.
You've got strong feelings about what the president continues to suggest and whether he has the authority to do it.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): I certainly do. And let me tell you, I've learned in politics there's a good reason and a real reason. The good reason stated by the president is reducing crime. We're all for that, aren't we? The real reason is he's got a political agenda. Why does he just pick
states with Democratic leadership? If you're looking for the real crime rate across America, you would include states with Republican leadership reported by the FBI. Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina. Haven't heard much about those, have you? The reason, obviously, is Republican governors.
The same thing is if you're going to pick a city out, there are cities all across the country with terrible crime rates. If the president wants to deal with those, let him work with local officials in Fairbanks, Alaska, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, Dyersburg, Tennessee, Jackson, Mississippi.
This is an agenda to put troops on the ground for the mass deportation effort, which the president is trying to push through. That's the real reason.
BERMAN: So, it's happening in Washington, D.C., where you're standing right now. Obviously, the president's legal authority is different in Washington than in other cities.
But the mayor in Washington has a bit of a nuanced view. Isn't as opposed to the idea as you are in Chicago or other people are in other cities and has sort of welcomed or at least praised the results of the federal efforts in Washington. Do you think it would make a difference to have some help from the National Guard in Chicago?
DURBIN: Well, it certainly -- it certainly could. But let's -- let's -- the starting point is this, local officials, like a governor and a mayor, can work with federal officials to be more effective in reducing crime. That's a given. I accept that. But in the situation in Chicago, this is not a negotiation any way whatsoever. They are moving troops, we understand, and to federal facilities like Great Lakes Naval Training Station. I've contacted the secretary of the Navy. I want a briefing on just what exactly is happening at that important federal facility in the Great Lakes area that serves Chicago and the region. If we're going to deal with it on a federal basis, let's do it in cooperation with the initiative coming from the local officials asking for help.
BERMAN: Now, crime has been -- violent crime and the levels have been going down in Chicago, as they have in many cities across the United States according to FBI crime statistics. There's a quote that's often attributed to former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who says, it's great when the numbers go down, but people don't walk around saying, I feel 22 percent safer. What do you think people feel like is happening in Chicago?
DURBIN: Well, I tell you one thing they feel like. They feel like they're too damn many guns in Chicago and they're coming in from other states like Indiana. The federal government want to help us? Stop this flow of weapons into our city of Chicago and state of Illinois. We know they're coming in from state with lax laws when it comes to firearms, and the federal government can do something about it.
What has this president done about it? He's eliminated -- dramatically eliminated the people who were supposed to make sure these gun dealers are held to the law. That's an important step to really reduce the crime in the area and reduce the concern of local officials.
BERMAN: So, you're back at work in the Senate. I mean you're always working as a U.S. senator, but back at work in Washington right now, the Senate back in session. Something that could happen by the end of the month, a government shutdown. And there are some calling for Democrats to stand up for the president. One of the issues has to do whether he can unilaterally cause rescissions in foreign aid funding. That's a little bit complicated here.
But the idea of whether or not to fight, not as complicated. Do you think that Democrats should take a stand here? Because some in the party, some activists, were critical of Leader Schumer when they did not take a stand earlier this year.
DURBIN: We have taken a stand, and the stand is for bipartisan negotiation.
[08:40:05]
I'm on the Appropriations Committee. We have successfully passed eight bills on a bipartisan basis with overwhelming roll calls. Let that be the starting point. If Congress reasserts its constitutional responsibility for funding, does it on a bipartisan basis, we can avoid any crisis.
BERMAN: Do you think a shutdown would help or hurt the president politically? And there are some who have concerns he would actually use the moment to even wield more power.
DURBIN: Listen, it's in the hands of the president and the Republicans as to whether we're going to have a bipartisan solution or not. We're willing to stand and work with them. We think there are things that need to be included in this budget, such as relief from the terrible cuts in health care that were part of the big, beautiful bill. You know, those things are going to hurt a lot of families and a lot of businesses across America.
BERMAN: Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois, great to see you this morning. Thank you so much for coming on.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: The White House has announced a targeted U.S. military strike was carried out on what they say was an alleged drug boat traveling in international waters in the Caribbean. The president even shared a declassified video of the moment that the strike took place. He says that the boat was full of drugs and tied to the Venezuelan cartel Tren de Aragua. Eleven people were killed in that strike. The president talked about it moments after it happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the last few minutes, literally shot out a -- a boat, a drug carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat. And there's more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time. And we just -- these came out of Venezuela. And coming out very heavily from Venezuela. A lot of things are coming out of Venezuela. So, we took it out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: CNN's Jennifer Hansler has the very latest and much more detail on this from the State Department for us.
What are you learning?
JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Kate, this is really a significant and seemingly unprecedented escalation by the Trump administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described this alleged drug boat as coming from Venezuela and this strike taking place in the southern Caribbean.
And this is seemingly the first time we have seen a U.S. military asset used to lethally target members of the cartels. In past months, the Trump administration has designated cartels, including Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations. Secretary of State Rubio deferred questions on the legal authorities for taking this deadly military strike to the White House legal counsel's office, but he did point to these designations as terrorist organizations.
He also said that this counter-drug mission would continue, and described the administration as waging combat at those who were bringing drugs to the United States. President Trump described this as a notice to those who would want to bring drugs to the U.S.
Of course, all of this comes, Kate, as the U.S. has built up a massive military presence in the waters around the Caribbean and Latin America. They have also deployed more than 4,000 service members to that area. This could have significant, significant regional -- regional complications here, Kate, because we've heard from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has condemned this military buildup. He has said they will face maximum pressure with maximum readiness, and that he will not be cowed by any sort of show of force and threat against his country.
So, we could see potentially a massive flare up here. We have not yet heard from Maduro on this latest deadly strike.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: All right. Great reporting, as always, Jennifer. Thank you so much.
John.
BERMAN: All right, this morning, the defense set to call new witnesses in the murder trial of Donna Adelson, the Florida woman accused of orchestrating the murder for hire of her son- in-law. They called eight character witnesses already, including some of Adelson's friends who testified about her plans to go to Vietnam. CNN's Jean Casarez covering all the twists and turns here.
What's the latest?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right, we are in the defense case now. Anne Cunningham, a long-time friend of the defendant, she took the stand. She said she never heard her say that she wanted Dan Markel killed or she threatened to have him killed. And she remembered her venting, but it was a tumultuous divorce. She said that the day after Charles, her son, had been convicted, she was with Donna. Watch her testimony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were speaking to Mrs. Adelson after the verdict came out about her son being convicted, correct?
ANNE CUNNINGHAM, FRIEND OF DONNA ADELSON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was she upset about that?
CUNNINGHAM: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was she crying?
CUNNINGHAM: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was she -- did she appear to be distraught about the circumstances?
CUNNINGHAM: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From those same conversations with her, in that -- in that state of mind that she had, did she ever discuss with you a potential plan to just get away to clear her head?
CUNNINGHAM: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Another very close friend, Richard Schagrin. He had been a world traveler. And he was there to assist them in getting their visas, the technology involved in all that.
[08:45:04]
And he advised them, just get a one-way ticket right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you sat down to make -- to assist with the reservations, what did you discover?
RICHARD SCHAGRIN, FRIEND OF DONNA ADELSON: The ironic thing was that the round trip was a fraction more than one way. And I suggested, since you don't know when you're coming back until sometime in January, you know, book a one-way. And I remember commenting to Harvey, I said, I'd be willing to bet it's cheaper to fly from Vietnam to the United States than it is from the United States to Vietnam.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Now, all these very close friends were definitive that she was coming back because the bar mitzvah of her youngest grandson was to take place near the beginning of January. She had already bought the dress. She was ready to go. So, they -- they fully believed she would be back.
BERMAN: All right, so interesting to hear from these people who are or were friends of Donna Adelson.
Jean Casarez, thank you very much.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: So, new this morning, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is giving an update on his health. He's recovering now after facing some serious injuries in a car accident that happened in New Hampshire over the weekend, and he's speaking out for the first time also on the news that he is being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER PERSONAL ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: I got terrible injuries, but I'd have been killed if I didn't have the seatbelt on. I'd have gone right through the window. So, thank God I had the seatbelt on.
The president of the United States called me and told me that I would be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And that was actually the best medicine. I was -- felt totally better after that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Giuliani's head of security said that the car was struck from behind at a high speed. This happened on Saturday.
So, try this one on. A registered nurse, an E.R. nurse, and an ob-gyn nurse meet up at Burning Man. And thank God for it. They were all at the right place at the right time, literally camping nearby, when a woman went into labor. The baby was born at this year's Burning Man Festival, and the mother wasn't even aware she was pregnant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAUREEN O'REILLY, NURSE: My campmates ran over and said, somebody just had a baby. I started yelling at people to turn the heat on, to get me some blankets.
It was just so frightening how, you know, it was just, we're out in the middle of nowhere with nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Literally in the middle of nowhere with nothing. That's like the point of Burning Man. The baby was born at three and a half pounds. The woman was 35 weeks pregnant but says that she did not know she was pregnant at all. The baby is now in the NICU and we are told that both mom and baby are doing well.
So, it was supposed to be the happiest night of their lives, but this couple -- this morning, a couple in California is dealing with a nightmare after a man stole their wedding gift box that was filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks and cash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE FARAHAT: He grabbed the box. The getaway car opened the front door for him. He ran right in, closed the door, and they drove off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Security video shows a man that the newlyweds do not recognize kind of scoping the place. He was there for at least 90 minutes scoping it out. He was even seen ordering a drink at the bar at one point. And then the brazen theft is also, obviously, caught on camera. You can see him grabbing the box, running off. Glendale Police are asking anyone with information to please reach out. What a nightmare.
There's also new video this morning showing the moment officers arrived and catch a wild animal, or a five-year-old who sneaked out of his home in Florida and wandered alone to a nearby Chick-Fil-A.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And as we walked in we see a little kid sitting at the table eating his breakfast with one of the managers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow, look at that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We asked where he came from, and he kept saying he walked to Chick-Fil-A.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know where your house is, right, honey?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's right across the street, right over there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Cool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: I mean, adorable. And as a apparent, like, oh my God you'd be freaking out. The officers then took the little boy to the patrol car to try to find his home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We gathered him up.
Look at that. Say thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here you go, bud. Here's a cow for you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I walked him to the back of my patrol car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to get me in jail?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm not going to put you in jail.
And we started checking the area.
All right, buddy, where's your house at?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: I feel like we want (ph) to hear the curb your enthusiasm music over this whole thing.
With the boy's direction, the officers knocked on the front door, waking up his very surprised parents. The doors were locked, so they're not entirely sure how he got out. I mean, are we sure that he's not the thief of that gift box? Because that kid is good. Seriously.
All right, so a patient finally getting relief after living with chronic pain for decades. We have details on a groundbreaking clinical trial that made it happen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:54:33]
BOLDUAN: Fifty-four-year-old Ed Mowery suffered chronic pain for decades. He went through multiple surgeries to try and find relief, was on dozens of medications. Nothing worked until he joined a groundbreaking clinical trial that implanted electrodes inside his brain.
CNN's chief medical correspondent, and author of the new book, "It Doesn't Have to Hurt," Dr. Sanjay Gupta, saw firsthand how this man's life was changed with this groundbreaking way to try to tackle something that so many people suffer from, chronic pain.
[08:55:03]
Here's a preview of Sanjay's new documentary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the fall of 2024, Ed had electrodes implanted deep into his brain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're seeing here Ed's brain. And all of these little colors represent probes.
GUPTA: And there are as many neurons in your brain, if not more, than there are stars in the sky.
ED MOWERY: Yes, exactly.
GUPTA: It's like -- it's like -- it's like throwing a telescope up at the sky and just seeing what you see or hearing what you hear.
MOWERY: Yes. That's exactly -- yes.
GUPTA: That's quite -- quite a -- quite a daunting task.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're actually recording activity from each one of those 140 contacts to try to identify where to stimulate, but identify what is the signal, the biomarker, that tracks his pain.
GUPTA (voice over): And for the first time ever, they obtained a real time pain map. What you re looking at is Ed's brain in pain. And then they pass an electrical current into Ed's pain centers. And watch what happened.
MOWERY: Both dropped to zero.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To zero?
MOWERY: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't feel pain right now?
MOWERY: Don't feel nothing. I feel my -- I feel my feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MOWERY: Like I can, but, yes, the pain's gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MOWERY: The pain's done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You -- you're not kidding me?
MOWERY: I'm not kidding.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I -- I believe you.
MOWERY: I'm not kidding. I mean it dropped -- I mean -- I mean it's barely looking at a one on both of them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's incredible.
MOWERY: It was like a veil lifting. It was like a ton of bricks falling off your shoulders. It was -- all at once, all that all at once. And it was euphoric.
GUPTA: But that was the first time in a long time, Ed, that you had not been in pain.
MOWERY: Uh-huh. Yes. It's like the best drug I ever did, and I didn't do any drugs.
GUPTA: Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: I mean you can't ask for something better than that.
GUPTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Sanjay is here now. And just so you all know, this is a topic that Sanjay and I have been talking about for years because I suffered from chronic pain from my back.
GUPTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: But through surgery, I mean, forget about me, but this is so important. It affects so many people. He looks like he's doing fantastic.
GUPTA: He -- he -- he had chronic pain for 20 years, Kate. I mean it was his whole life. That's the thing. As you well know, chronic pain hijacks everything about your life, your identity.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
GUPTA: That's one thing that kept coming up over and over again. But he's doing great. He has these -- these electrodes still in his brain and these electrodes will predict when he's going to have a pain episode, they will interrupt it, they will measure it. So, it's essentially like a thermostat for pain in his brain.
BOLDUAN: Because pain is -- pain comes from the brain.
GUPTA: Pain comes from the brain. And this is -- this is the thing that I kept trying to get across, because I think people will hear that sometimes and they'll say, you're minimizing it. You're saying it's all in my head. Truth is, it's not minimizing it, but that is how pain works. The brain can decide if you have pain, how much. It can also create pain where not even a limb exists, like phantom limb pain. It's remarkable what the brain can do, but that's an opportunity, I think.
BOLDUAN: This is an amazing clinical trial. Again, another endorsement of thank God for medicine and science.
GUPTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: How does this -- this is -- this is a trial. How -- how can this help the general population of --
GUPTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: I mean, what are the numbers on -- on Americans who suffer from chronic pain?
GUPTA: Fifty million people.
BOLDUAN: Unbelievable.
GUPTA: One in five people, adults, suffer from chronic pain. And like we said, it's their whole life.
Obviously, brain surgery is not going to be the answer for the masses, but I think what the trial has shown is they've answered some really important questions. All pain does lie in the brain. It is measurable. Like, when you said you had bad pain, you told me this, how bad was it? It was hard for me to know. You can measure it, you can predict it, and you can interrupt it.
Now they need to figure out noninvasive ways to do this. And it might be through everything from focused ultrasound, to certain medications, or even meditation. Just things that can change the brain in very reproducible ways. We know it can work now. Now it's just a question of making it happen.
BOLDUAN: Being able to measure it is such a --
GUPTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: I mean the basis of all being able to help a patient.
GUPTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: But that is, being able to measure someone's pain rather than like the scale of one to ten, that always drove me nutters.
GUPTA: The frowny face and --
BOLDUAN: Yes, that always drove me nuts when the doctors were like, what's your -- I was like, it's -- it's everything. It's always a ten because it's such a -- anyway.
This has been three plus years you've been working on this book. I cannot wait to dive into this.
GUPTA: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: What -- what's your key takeaway?
GUPTA: I think there's a couple. I think this idea that we can actually start to figure out this mysterious sensation of pain. We can start to define it and measure it in things like that, that we couldn't do before.
But also, you know, I think opioids sort of took over the conversation for 25 years.
BOLDUAN: So true.
GUPTA: And opioids can be important. But as a result of that, we don't even know all the other things that are out there.
I went to an E.R. not too far from here where they're -- opioids is a last resort. They're using things like nerve blocks, ketamine, virtual reality in the emergency room.
BOLDUAN: Wow.
GUPTA: So, these old modalities are getting a new sort of resurgence because of this -- this new conversation we're having about pain.
BOLDUAN: It's -- that's -- I cannot wait to dive into this.
GUPTA: Yes.
BOLDUAN: And it's so great. I mean, you're taking your ability to translate very complex science and bring it to the masses is just amazing.
I -- thank you, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: It's really -- congrats.
GUPTA: Thank you for having me. Yes, you got it.
[09:00:00]
BOLDUAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The -- there is only one, that is for sure. And this Sunday you can see Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports "It Doesn't Have to Hurt." It's this Sunday, 9:00 p.m.
