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Luigi Mangione Arrives at Court for the First Time in Months; Kissing Bug Disease Now Considered Endemic in the U.S.; Trump Speaks Before Visit to the U.K. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 16, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're going to show you video from moments ago. That is Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in the middle of a New York City sidewalk. That's him walking into court.

His attorneys though are asking the judge in this New York courtroom to throw out the state murder case outside the courthouse. CNN has seen supporters of Mangione lining up once again, as we have seen previously, including holding signs that say, free Luigi.

Joining me right now is Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst, for much more on this. They want -- Mangione's team essentially is trying to argue that it's impossible to -- that he face federal charges and state charges and defend it the same time. They're asking him to dismiss this murder indictment on the state level. Do they have a strong argument?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, Kate, good morning to you. Just unpacking that, the answer is no. What happens is is that federal courts and state courts both have an interest in prosecuting you, and you can do that on the different theories. We've seen it over and over again. We've seen it in instances certainly involving the police. You might remember Derek Chauvin, right, that case and the kneeling on the neck, state, federal court, sort of Rodney King. I mean, it goes back a long time.

And the bottom line is that the federal government has an interest with respect to a different theory of prosecution that doesn't violate double jeopardy. Double jeopardy, meaning you cannot be tried for the same offense, right, twice. And so I think on that basis, they do not have a legitimate basis with respect to dismissing the state case. They have some other arguments that I think might be effective.

BOLDUAN: They are also asking -- so federal and state officials have said that the state is going to be presenting its case first.

JACKSON: Right.

BOLDUAN: The defense team wants the federal case to go first. Why? JACKSON: So, there are reasons for that that are very specific. Number one, there's a law in New York and it's under the civil procedural law, and it indicates that if you go forward federally, whether you're acquitted or convicted, you cannot repeat, cannot have a state prosecution thereafter. So, it makes good sense. So, therefore, from a resource perspective, you're not defending in state court and then having the go to federal court.

The other thing is that if you think about the federal prosecution, there's the death penalty associated with it. That's much more serious. Think about getting convicted in the state and then having to go to federal court and now have a death penalty prosecution that you're dealing with would be very hard to overcome that based upon the publicity and all factors. So, there are very legitimate reasons as to why they want the defense team to have the federal case out the way.

I think the last reason Kate, very briefly, is that I think they have some viable and legal arguments for the state level as to why it really shouldn't be eligible for the death penalty and why it shouldn't really even be federalized. And so they're going for the whole enchilada (ph). And if the motion practice in federal court is that this is not a federal crime for a lot of logistical legal reasons, then they get the state case out of the way and the federal case out of the way.

BOLDUAN: So, it seems that this could be a critical moment for Luigi Mangione and what happens from this moment on for his case and which one and what it means for him.

It's great to see you, Joey.

JACKSON: Always.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so, so much. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning, researchers say the kissing bug disease is now endemic in the United States and not getting the attention it needs. There are new warnings the cases are being dramatically undercounted.

Let's get to CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who's here with us. First of all, what -- I keep on reading this headline. What exactly are we talking about here with the kissing bug and what does it mean to be endemic?

[09:35:00]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, it sounds pretty innocuous, right, maybe not that bad. Call it the kissing bug. This is Chagas disease, C-H-A-G-A-S disease.

A lot of people haven't heard of it because typically, up until recently, it's something that's been sort of confined to the tropics, to Mexico, Central America, South America. But like we've seen with other things, John, over the last couple of decades, as weather has gotten warmer, some of these tropical diseases have started to move further and further north.

So, I think we have a map. The map, you'll see sort of your -- you're seeing Chagas disease now, kissing bug disease, in several states. Dark blue states are where it's endemic, and that basically means it's there as opposed to just people traveling to other places and bringing it back with them. They're actually getting infected in those states. That's what endemic means. So, you know, we're seeing it more and more.

Kissing bug disease, it's called that because these bugs, these kissing bugs typically bite you on the face. And they leave this sort of characteristic mark. When that happens, they oftentimes drop the parasite onto your face as well. And people will scratch at that, and that'll store a stick the parasite into your skin, and that's what causes the infection.

I think we have a couple of pictures of what this looks like, a chagoma, which is a typical sort of a lesion that people get on the skin, it's pretty characteristic. There you see it. It can also, oftentimes, John, get into the eyelids. People oftentimes will rub their eyes and inadvertently put that parasite into their eye and that causes a pretty characteristic swelling of the eye, something known as Romana sign. I think we -- yes, there you go. There's a picture of that as well. Yes. It doesn't look good, but that's pretty characteristic of Chagas as well, John.

BERMAN: Yes. Also, I mean, how do you know if you have it and how can you protect yourself, Sanjay?

GUPTA: Yes. It can be tough, especially in the early phases, because people may develop a fever. They may have that chagoma, but that can look like other things as well. And for a lot of people, that will sort of be it. It's sort of that acute phase, that immediate phase of infection. A lot of people may not have any symptoms whatsoever. But I think part of the reason they want to draw attention to this is there is a percentage of people for whom it can become more serious can affect the heart, can affect your G.I. system as well.

These are nocturnal bugs. They're about a half inch to an inch in size, so pretty characteristic. If you look for those bugs, in terms of protecting yourself, they typically want to enter your home at night. So, really, making sure, especially after the sun goes down, the doors are shut, any cracks are sealed, so those bugs can't get in. It can be challenging.

And then, again, especially in those eight states that I showed earlier on the map, that's really where you're seeing most of this most of it in Texas actually, John.

BERMAN: I think based on some of the pictures you've shown here, people are going to want to pay attention to this very closely.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

GUPTA: Thank you. BERMAN: And, of course, don't forget to scan the Q.R. code on your screen, head to cnn.com to send us your questions about all of this. Kate?

BOLDUAN: I too can be a Q.R. code, just kidding.

Coming up for us, we just have just in, President Trump was just speaking to reporters at the White House. We're getting that tape turned around so we can play that for you. You're looking at Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews. That's where the president's headed because he is headed to the U.K. now with the first lady for a state visit.

We've got much more right after this break.

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[09:40:00]

BERMAN: All right. Just moments ago, President Trump left the White House. He's headed to the United Kingdom. He spoke on a number of subjects. Let's listen.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: (INAUDIBLE) of a hundred. And they said, let's go get people that (INAUDIBLE). Nothing wrong with that, but they have to make their own appearance (ph). But they should listen.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: No, I will.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: It no longer has to be. I mean, (INAUDIBLE). I can tell you that as they put the hostages in front of them (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALKS)

REPORTER: You'll travel to the U.K. today. What do you hope to achieve?

TRUMP: Well, my relationship is very good with the U.K. and Charles, as you know, who's now king, is my friend, and it's the first time this has ever happened where somebody was honored twice. So, it's a great honor. And this one's at Windsor. They've never used Windsor Castle for this before. They used Buckingham Impala. And I don't want to say one is better than the other, but they say Windsor Castle is the ultimate, right?

[09:45:03]

So, it's going to be nice.

But, basically, I'm there also on trade. They want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit. We made a deal and it's a great deal, and I'm into helping them. Our country is doing very well. We've never done this well. We're making -- having trillions of dollars come in because of the tariffs, and they'd like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So, we'll talk to them.

But, primarily, it's to be with Prince Charles and Camilla. They're friends of mine for a long time, long before he was king. And it's an honor to have him as King. And, you know, I think he represents the country so well. I've watched, he's such an elegant gentleman and he represents the country so well.

REPORTER: Robert Redford passed away today. Did you hear about that?

TRUMP: Oh, he did? Wow. He was really --

REPORTER: In his sleep at his home.

TRUMP: Well, that's a good way to go, I guess. But I'll say Robert Redford was great. He had a series of years that he was -- there was nobody better. This just happened, I guess. Wow.

REPORTER: The guy (INAUDIBLE) in Utah in his sleep.

TRUMP: Yes.

REPORTER: And what movie would you say you liked the best in?

TRUMP: Well, you have a lot of them. Honestly, he made -- I'd say he made seven or eight great movies. They were really great. There was a period of time when he was the hottest. I thought he was great.

REPORTER: Are you going to delay the TikTok ban?

TRUMP: Well, we have a deal on TikTok. I've reached a deal with China. I'm going to speak to President Xi on Friday to confirm everything up. We made a very good trade deal, and I hope it's good for both countries, but a very different deal than they'd made in the past.

REPORTER: What companies are involved?

REPORTER: What companies are going to buy?

TRUMP: We'll be announcing that. We have a group of very big companies that want to buy it. And, you know, the kids wanted it so badly. I had parents calling me up. They don't want it for themselves. They want it for their kids. They say, if I don't get it done, they're in big trouble with their kids. And I think it's great. I hate to see value like that thrown out the window.

REPORTER: So, on auto, can I ask you, so auto executives --

TRUMP: You know, you're talking about tens of billions of dollars of value.

REPORTER: Some auto executives are concerned that compromising the 15 percent for auto tariffs coming in hurts American automakers. What do you say to -- TRUMP: I haven't compromised anything. Where did I compromise?

REPORTER: Going down to 15 percent.

TRUMP: Going down to 15 percent? We charged well. And where did the 25 come from? It came from there. You tell me. Just so you know. They paid nothing for years. Now, they're paying 15 percent. And some things can pay more, like chips could pay more. Pharmaceuticals could pay more. You know, there's a bigger margin. With a car, you have to make 15 percent before you make a profit. It's pretty tough. So, we had a big deal. Don't forget, the European Union is paying our country because of tariff $950 billion. Think of that. We're talking about a year, $950 billion. Japan is paying us $650 billion.

These are companies that paid us nothing until I came along. And China's paying us a tremendous tariff. You know what the tariff is, right? You know what the tariff they're paying us? What?

REPORTER: Yes. So, it's 30 percent for the fentanyl as well as whatever for the 301.

TRUMP: 20 percent for the fentanyl, but the overall is about 55 percent, okay? That's as opposed to nothing. Would you say that's a difference? We are -- we have a big decision coming up. And if the Supreme Court rules the way, hopefully, they will, because I mean, every legal expert said we win that case. But you still have to watch.

And the Supreme Court's been terrific. You know, I think they're very fair. All I want is fairness. Then we win. But if we win the Supreme Court case, which is the finalization of tariffs, we will be by far the richest country anywhere in the world, and we'll be able to help our people more, and we'll be able to help other countries when we want to.

But I will say, if we win that case, our country, you see what we've taken in just on a temporary basis, we've taken in trillions of dollars, trillions with a T. And we will be by far the richest country in the world. There'll be nothing for us (ph).

You know, one other thing. We will have tremendous power to negotiate. The use of tariffs, I settled seven wars, four of them was because I was able to use tariffs.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) the interview criticized that some CEOs make tons of times more in salary than average workers worried about polarization. Do you share that concern?

TRUMP: Well, I do say there's a big gap. I do say that. Don't forget I'm a popularist. There's a big gap.

REPORTER: Mr. President, it's been a month since (INAUDIBLE) in Alaska. A month on, do you think that meeting accomplished what you hoped for?

TRUMP: Yes, it accomplished a lot, but it takes two to tango also. You know, those are two people, Zelenskyy and Putin, that hate each other.

[09:50:02]

And it looks like I have to sit in the room with them because they can't sit in the room together. There's great hatred there. But, no, that meeting accomplished a lot.

REPORTER: Mr. President, do you still have a complete confidence in Kash Patel? What are you hoping from the testimony on the Hill today?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, I think that Pam Bondi has done an unbelievable job and everybody agrees with that. And Kash, you know, if you look at -- take a look at what he did with respect to this horrible person that he just captured. He did it in two days. It took other similar cases four days, five days, four years, if you look at certain shooters.

Now, I have confidence in everybody in the administration. My administration, and a lot of people are saying it, not just me, it's so far the best administration ever formed. You look at our financial people, our country is making a fortune. We have to keep tariffs because our country has become successful because of tariffs.

We have the case in the Supreme Court. That's a very vital case for the success of our country. It's very vital to negotiate with other countries. And remember, other countries charge us tariffs. That's a very, very big case. And if we win that case, our country will be by far the richest country anywhere in the world. And then we can help our people. We'll get rid of debt, we'll get rid of everything, we can help our people, and we can even help other countries where they need it.

REPORTER: Narcotics in Venezuela. President Maduro in Venezuela thinks that you're getting ready to invade his country. What is your message to him?

TRUMP: Well, I would say this right away. Stop sending Tren de Aragua into the United States. Stop sending drugs into the United States. We knocked off actually three boats, not two, but you saw two. And the problem is there are very few boats out in the water. There are not a lot of boats out in the water. I can't imagine why. Not even fishing boat, there's nobody wants to go take a fish. So, it's one of those things.

But I would say to them very strongly, stop sending people from your prisons into our country. They're sending their prisoners. They've done that already. So, the numbers just came out, another month with zero people getting into our country. And these are figures, John, with people like you that would like me to do badly. Nobody has ever done on the border like I've done.

REPORTER: What would you say to President Zelenskyy if you meet with him in New York? What will you say?

TRUMP: Well, he's going to have to get going and make a deal. He's going to have to make a deal. Zelenskyy is going to have to make a deal. And Europe has to stop buying oil from Russia, okay? You know, they talk, but they have to stop buying oil from Russia.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) to be the wealthiest man who's ever occupied the White House. How much wealthier are you now than when you returned to the White House?

TRUMP: Well, I don't know. The deals I made, for the most part, other than what my kids are doing, you know, they're running my business. But mostly the deals that I've made were made before. That's what I've done for a life. I built buildings like I'm building a building here. You know where I'm -- you know what? You see that area?

REPORTER: Yes.

TRUMP: That is going to be the greatest ballroom anywhere in the world, and for 150. So, it gives me pleasure to do it for the country. And I'm paying for it. I'm paying for it. The country's not. And that's an expensive ballroom. I think it'll cost $250 million. And it will be, I think, the finest ball (ph). So, for 150 years, John, do you know this? They've wanted a ballroom, and now they're going to finally have it. And it's going to knock your socks off.

REPORTER: Is it appropriate, President Trump, that a president in office should be engaged in so much business activity?

TRUMP: Well, I'm really not. My kids are running the business. I'm here. You know what the activity -- where are you from?

REPORTER: I'm from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: I love the Australians. You're hurting Australia, right? In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now, and they want to get along with me. You know, your leader is coming over to see me very soon, president. I'm going to tell them about you. You set a very bad tone.

Go ahead, John. Maybe you can set a nicer --

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Quiet.

REPORTER: Mr. President what are you hearing about the operation in Gaza, the Israeli operation? Are you concerned?

TRUMP: Well, I'm hearing that they want to go in and I'm also hearing that Hamas wants to take our 20 hostages plus dead bodies. You know, they have about 32 of them and they want to put them in the way of any attack. And nobody's happy about that situation. It came out yesterday. I'm sure you saw that. They want to -- supposedly they've taken the hostage out of deep caves and tunnels, and they're bringing them, putting them on the frontline. Nobody's heard of that one for a few centuries.

REPORTER: You saw that the U.N. said that Israel is guilty of genocide and they committed acts of genocide in Gaza. [09:55:00]

TRUMP: They voted on that?

REPORTER: The new report out saying multiple acts of genocide.

TRUMP: When it comes to a vote, we'll see what happens. That'll come to a vote, but we'll see what happens.

REPORTER: And what do you think Pam Bondi saying she's going to go after hate speech? Is that -- I mean, a lot of people -- a lot of your allies say hate speech is free speech.

TRUMP: She should probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly. It's hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart. Maybe they'll come after ABC. Well, ABC paid me $16 million recently for a form of hate speech, right? Your company paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech. So, maybe they'll have to go after you.

Look, we want everything to be fair. It hasn't been fair. And the radical left has done tremendous damage to the country, but we're fixing it. We have right now the hottest country anywhere in the world. And remember one year ago, our country was dead and now Washington D.C. is fixed and I fixed it. The mayor was fine. The mayor was just fine, okay? The mayor had the sick city for many years. He's been mayor for many years. The one that fixed it was me and my people. And it is so safe. You should take your beautiful wife tonight and have dinner down there. You won't be shot, you won't be accosted. You won't even be looked at incorrectly by anybody. Washington, D.C. is safe.

Now, we're going to Memphis where it's pretty rough, to put it mildly. And then we're going to have to go a friend of mine who is a big railroader, he stops in all the cities. He knows every city. He said, sir, you have to save Chicago. So, I'm going to go to Chicago early against Pritzker. Pritzker's nothing. If Pritzker is smart, he'd say, please come in.

So, last week, over the last week-and-a-half, 11 people in Chicago were killed, murdered, and 38 were shot. And then Pritzker -- and, by the way, this is going on constantly. If they lose less than six or seven people a week with murder, they're doing a great job, in their opinion. Chicago is a death trap, and I'm going to make it just like I did with D.C., just like I'll do with Memphis.

Now, remember this? So, a man comes into my office, one of the biggest businessmen, I'll tell you, he runs Union Pacific. Is that big? The biggest railroad in the world, I guess. And he started off as a railroader. He was running a railroad, a little caboose. He was in a caboose. Now, he runs a whole damn thing.

45 years ago, he started off at a caboose. I don't know what that's all about. And he became the top, so that's a good place to start. But he came in, he knows the country intimately. He's looking to do a merger by another railroad, the one that worked at the little problem in East Palestine, right. And they want to buy that railroad, as you know, pretty public. But I sat with him, I talked, I said, so you know every city? Yes, sir. I go into every city and I have for 45 years. I said, where would you go next? He said, St. Louis is in big trouble, he said, but Chicago is a great city. You can save Chicago, sir. Don't let Chicago die.

This is a guy telling me it with great knowledge. He said, don't let Chicago die, sir. It's dying. Don't let it die. I'm going to Chicago next.

REPORTER: The UAE, Mr. President, what do you think they want when you do a deal with (INAUDIBLE)?

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Well, I just want something to happen, whether it's federal states, most likely it's going to be state. The question is whether or not we overlap with a federal judge. So, they're looking at that. But the state is very competent. The governor's doing a very good job. As you know, they have the death penalty. It's a tough death penalty too, as you know. But they have the death penalty.

So, as to whether or not we judge, we will be working with them. We may or may not be able to judge.

REPORTER: And when it comes to the governor of Utah, what do you make of his overall message of nonviolence --

TRUMP: Well, I agree with it, agree 100 percent. But most of the violence is on the left.

REPORTER: He said that social media is a cancer. Do you agree with that? The Utah governor said that social media is a cancer and more people should log off and take some time away.

TRUMP: No, it is not a cancer in all respects. In some respects, it's great. But there are segments, there are deep, dark holes that are cancerous, absolutely. Beyond cancer, they're death.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Well, that was a great decision. It was rigged case to start off with. It's great. The court has ruled that she's a disaster. She's a disaster with a boyfriend, the boyfriend that she paid a billion dollars for his expertise, but he never did it before.

Now, she should be prosecuted. She was a -- what she did to people -- forget about me. What Fani Willis did to innocent people, patriots that love our country, what she did to them by indicting them and destroying them, she should be put.