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Murdaugh's Lawyers Seek New Trial Over "Discovered Evidence"; Biden Touts Economic Record, Slams Trump In Pennsylvania; Stores Lock Up Products, Stop Selling Items To Deter Theft; Families Cope With ADHD Drug Shortage During Back-to-School. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 04, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. Heartbreak and hardship in Hawaii continues nearly a month after the deadliest wildfire in a century broke out. The search for the missing is ongoing. As travel to the island has dropped 70 percent. Tourism of a major -- majority of the state's economy.

Now the governor says, as of now, families of 41 people have filed missing person reports, but the official list of unaccounted for remains at 385. Investigators directed people to file police reports to help them get more details on those still missing from the fire.

Also hazardous highchairs. There's a recall of 83,000 Tommy brand highchairs called Boone Flair or Flare Elite. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the bolts used to secure the seat to the pedestal base can loosen, letting the seat come off. And officials say 24 falls resulted in 11 injuries due to the problem. The highchairs were sold at Bed Bath and Beyond, Target and Amazon, among other retailers.

And finally, rescues amid dangerous rip currents this Labor Day holiday. One person has died and more than a dozen others had to be saved along the. Jersey Shore. One image shows lifeguards forming a chain searching for a submerged victim in Beach Haven, New Jersey. You see that chain behind me? The 22-year-old man did not make it over this shoulder. There another swimmer is missing in Seaside Park -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: So he may be serving two life sentences for killing his wife and son. But the case of Alex Murdaugh may not be over. His defense team is seeking a new trial. The disgraced attorney from one of South Carolina's most prominent families was convicted of the double murder in March. CNN's Dianne Gallagher joins us now with the very latest. So Dianne, what is the rationale from his defense team for a new trial?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Boris, the defense team said that they'll be filing a motion for a new trial based on, quote, after discovered evidence. And really, that's the only detail that we've been given here. They would not elaborate on exactly what that evidence is instead pointing us to a press conference that they were expecting to hold tomorrow afternoon with attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin on the South Carolina State House grounds over by the state Court of Appeals.

Of course, Alex Murdaugh was convicted by a Carleton County jury in the brutal murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul back in March. A judge sentenced him to two life sentences which he is currently serving in a South Carolina prison.

About a week later, his team filed notice that they did plan to appeal. But they didn't give any other details about what that appeal would be based on at the time. Now this is all coming as we are getting a better glimpse into what was happening in the minds of the surviving Murdaughs as that trial was going on. In a new docuseries that dropped on Thursday from Fox Nation. Buster Murdaugh, the only living Murdaugh who is not in prison, spoke with the media for the first time at length about his father and his late brother and mother. Buster saying that he still believes that his father is innocent of those killings, but acknowledged that the trial did change his perception of the man he's always called Dad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:35:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I look up the definition of psychopaths. Like someone who can completely get away with lying and acting normal and carrying through as if nothing's happening. Does that describe your dad when you look at those definitions of that?

BUSTER MURDAUGH, SON OF CONVICTED MURDERER ALEX MURDAUGH: I'm not prepared to sit here and say that it encompasses him as a whole, but certainly I think there are characteristics where you look at the manipulation and the lies and the carrying out of that such, and I think that's a fair assessment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Now, Buster was not the only Murdaugh we heard from in that docuseries. Alex Murdaugh himself, his voice was recorded on phone calls to his attorney, Jim Griffin. And it actually got him in a little bit of trouble with the prison system, the South Carolina Department of Corrections took away his canteen, phone and tablet privileges, because of that. Boris, Omar, South Carolina does not allow inmates to be interviewed when they are currently incarcerated.

SANCHEZ: Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much for the update -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Well, Boris, we got a lot coming up. President Biden, celebrating Labor Day by trying to woo union workers in Pennsylvania. How he's defending his economic record and slamming his predecessor.

Plus, more stores are locking up products or they're just not selling them at all to deter shoplifters. Details straight ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:55] JIMENEZ: President Biden, spending part of this Labor Day in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. He praised union workers, defended his handling of the economy and slammed former President Trump's record. But even with unemployment at historic lows, a healthy stock market and falling inflation, the President is having a tough time selling his Bidenomics.

A new "Wall Street Journal" poll out today shows just 37 percent of those that responded approve of Biden's handling of the economy. Nearly six in 10 disapproved. So let's get to CNN senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche. Look, he took shots at Donald Trump's economic record today. What did he say here?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Omar, President Biden has been trying to draw starker and starker contrast to the economy under his administration and the economy under his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. And he's been honing in on job creation specifically. Talking in recent days about the fact that the job creation under President Biden has been nearly historic. And contrasting that with President Trump and saying he's only one of two presidents in history to lose jobs in office.

But he also is borrowing a page from Trump's playbook and trying to drill down on one critical concern of this constituency that is union workers who feel that their jobs have been shipped overseas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The last guy was here, you were shipping jobs to China. Now we're bringing jobs home from China.

And I'll ask, your pensions, were at risk. We helped save millions of pensions for your health.

And the last guy was here. He looked at the world from Park Avenue. I look at it from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I look at it from Claymont, Delaware.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: President Biden trying to tap into the blue collar concerns of that critical constituency. Union workers, long a bedrock of Democratic voters but their support has been harder to come by in recent years. President Trump, with union support, was able to flip Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2020, and many rank and file workers stayed with him in 2020 as well.

And so interestingly, President Biden is trying to shore up that support. He's appearing in front of union workers in the battleground state of Pennsylvania for the second time in three months and trying to pursue some policies that will help him win that back -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes, maybe a preview of what's to come in the campaign season? Kayla Tausche, thank you very much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: If you've cruised the aisle of a major retailer lately, you may have been surprised to find a plastic clear barrier blocking you from certain items carrying the clear message, don't touch the merchandise. In fact, locked up goods are now popping up at a growing number of stores around the country, all due to what retailers are calling a shoplifting crisis. I want to bring in CNN Business consumer reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn. So, Nathaniel, how big a deal is shoplifting for these retailers?

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN BUSINESS CONSUMER REPORTER: So Boris, the retailers right now they are sounding the alarm on shoplifting, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dollar General, Target just about every major retailer is saying it's a huge problem.

If you look at the numbers, you look at shrink which includes retail theft, before the pandemic shrink was at about $62 billion. We've seen it spike to $95 billion in 2021. So clearly growth here. But it's not just shoplifting that's impacting retailers. Amazon is really hurting them and also people shopping less in stores.

SANCHEZ: So how are store now responding?

MEYERSOHN: So Boris, we're seeing more items locked up, like you mentioned. In some cases stores are going to stop selling some of the items that are being stolen more frequently. They're adding extra security. And then in some cases even threatening to close stores if there's not policies to crack down on shoplifting.

SANCHEZ: And apparently self checkout is also a big contributor to shrink, to theft.

[15:45:00]

MEYERSOHN: It is Boris, so recently Best Buy and Costco. They've both said that more people are stealing when they're using self checkout. So it kind of raises the question, why are we seeing self checkout at just about every store if more people are stealing from it? Also these stores are often very under staffed, so if the retailers want to crack down on theft, maybe pull out self checkout and hire more workers.

SANCHEZ: Very much a serious concern. Nathaniel Meyersohn thank you so much for that.

Still to come. It's back to school season, but some students diagnosed with ADHD are struggling to find the medications they need. The impact of the drug shortage and what it can mean for their academics, when we come back.

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[15:50:15]

SANCHEZ: As students head back to school, there's a nationwide shortage of drugs that are used to treat ADHD that has families scrambling to find alternatives. Medications like Adderall have been in short supply since last year, and that shortage has not let up. CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell has more on this, Meg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARA PITTS, ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER PATIENT: I have to pack up.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Packing up to start college -- a time of nerves and anticipation.

PITTS: I think I'm just most excited to get out into the world and see what I can do.

TERRILL (voice-over): For Clara Pitts, headed off to her dream school, Brigham Young University, there's an added level of anxiety --

PITTS: Welcome to ADHD packing for college.

TIRRELL (voice-over): -- because the medicine she takes for attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder is part of a nationwide shortage.

PITTS: It's just really scary not knowing if I'll have consistency in my medication.

TIRRELL (voice-over): It started last fall when one drugmaker had a manufacturing delay, but it hasn't let up. Clara has had to switch from Adderall to another medication called Vyvanse. But some dosages of that drug have been hard to come by as well. All of this has made the back-to-school season even more stressful for students like Clara and their families.

DR. WARREN NG, CHILD, ADOLESCENT, AND ADULT PSYCHIATRIST: These young people often have difficulty paying attention and sitting still.

TIRRELL (voice-over): Columbia University's Dr. Warren Ng says treatment can have dramatic results.

NG: Well it can really change a young person's life overnight, so they suddenly aren't able to do the work that they want to do but are having difficulty focusing their attention.

TIRRELL (voice-over): But relief from the shortage may not be coming soon. Prescription rates for the medicines are at record highs, up more than 45 percent in the U.S. over the last decade. A CDC study this year found an especially large jump in prescriptions for adults in the first year of the pandemic.

Also complicating the picture, drugs like Adderall are stimulants -- control substances the government says have a high potential for abuse. So the Drug Enforcement Administration sets limits on how much can be produced.

But in a joint letter with the FDA last month, the DEA said manufacturers aren't producing as much as they're allowed to. Last year, they said there were about one billion more doses that they could have produced but did not, and said data for 2023, so far, show a similar trend.

For some, the shortage could mean dashed dreams. NG: A lot of young people that I've seen have just given up. That they've either just felt that, you know, it's too difficult. Maybe I shouldn't go to college or maybe I shouldn't have this job.

TIRRELL (voice-over): Despite those worries, Clara is looking forward to school, planning on majoring in electrical engineering. But she worries not just for herself but also others starting school with ADHD, then struggling to find their medicines.

PITTS: This is the first time that me and other people with ADHD are starting a new school year without our medication, in some cases. And I think time is going to tell whether or not we sink or swim as a collective ADHD community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TIRRELL (on camera): Now we reached out to all 11 makers of Adderall and its generics listed on the FDA's drug shortages website. Only two got back to us and said they were making as much as the DEA allows them to. So there is still a lot of lack of clarity and what is going on in the market here.

But you know the FDA and the DEA are trying to do more about this. The FDA just approved some generic versions of Vyvanse, which is another ADHD medication. And you know, hearing from patients who are dealing with this shortage, they say you can find it, but it often takes calling a lot of different pharmacies or talking with your doctor about treatment alternatives. So Boris, it's incredibly frustrating for families dealing with this. And we're hearing it could persist through the end of the year.

SANCHEZ: Yes, a real challenge for folks, especially as students get back to school. Meg Tirrell, thanks so much for the reporting -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Well, Boris up next. The Great Wall of China did wonders keeping out invaders, but it was no match for some heavy equipment. Still ahead, find out how much damage two people are accused of doing and why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:58:56]

SANCHEZ: OK, so we've told you about a tourist carving their name into Rome's ancient Colosseum. And about a woman climbing into the Trevi Fountain to fill a water bottle. But this -- this is really bad. Two people in China have been detained for taking an excavator, an excavator, to the Great Wall. Yes, that Great Wall. The one that dates back to the Ming Dynasty, hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

JIMENEZ: Look, apparently, police found that a man and woman used the machinery because they wanted to create a shortcut to pass through a shortcut, causing, quote, irreversible damage. Police say they're continuing to investigate. Look, my whole thing is, I'm also taking a shortcut when it when it makes sense.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

JIMENEZ: But this just feels like more work.

SANCHEZ: From a thing you can see from space, a historic thing. I don't know if a shortcut was the best decision.

JIMENEZ: Yes, look, for even all those examples you named before, I always feel like when I'm in those places, I'm so careful not to mess anything up. So that would have been the furthest thing from my mind.

[16:00:00]

SANCHEZ: 100 percent. I'm so nervous about damaging anything and then being that guy that gets talked about on CNN NEWS CENTRAL for damaging something like that.

JIMENEZ: Exactly.

SANCHEZ: Speaking of which, Omar, welcome to CNN NEWS CENTER --

JIMENEZ: Oh, yes, thank you.

SANCHEZ: -- there's a Jimenez and a Sanchez doing the news in the afternoon.

JIMENEZ: Has that ever happened?

SANCHEZ: I don't think so.

JIMENEZ: Well, it's happened now everybody.

SANCHEZ: It's pretty special. We appreciate you being here. We look forward to you again sometime soon.

JIMENEZ: Of course, any time.

SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper start in three, two, one. Thanks for being here.