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Interview With Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) About Running For Governor; Interview With Mayor Chokwe Lumumba Of Jackson, Mississippi, About Threat Of Major Flooding; NASA's Artemis I Mission Prepares For Launch Tomorrow Morning; Three Killed, Two Injured In Houston Shooting; More People Use Marijuana Than Tobacco In The U.S. Aired 6- 7p ET

Aired August 28, 2022 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:29]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST (voice-over): Tonight, the governor of Mississippi declaring a state of emergency as people are told to brace for major flooding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water is deep, (INAUDIBLE), and I just don't know what to do but pray.

MAYOR CHOKWE LUMUMBA, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI: If you are capable of getting out now, get out now.

BROWN: Meantime, President Biden getting blowback from Republicans for suggesting semi-fascism drives Trump's allies.

GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: He called half of America semi- fascist because he's trying to stir up controversy. It's horribly inappropriate, and he should apologize.

CEDRIC RICHMOND, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE DNC: He reinforces that Democrats have the right message to continue to highlight the dangers presented by the extreme MAGA Republican Party.

BROWN: Also tonight the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, warning unchecked cannabis use could be damaging young brains.

DR. NORA VOLKOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE: We need to recognize that what may be OK for an adult may not be OK at all for an adolescent.

BROWN: And counting down.

FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: The Artemis rocket is finally on the launch pad ready to fly for the first time on Monday.

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: It's no longer the Apollo generation. It's the Artemis generation. And that brings new discoveries.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

This week Florida's former Republican governor Charlie Crist won a primary election so that he can run for governor again but this time as a Democrat. One of his chief talking points? Taking the wind out of the sails of incumbent Republican Governor Ron DeSantis ahead of a potential 2024 presidential bid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHARLIE CRIST (D-FL): It is the Democrats' last chance to stop him. And it's going to be a lot cheaper to do it in Florida than it would be to do it in 50 states. If you want to help Joe Biden get a second term we need to shut Ron DeSantis down in Florida now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Florida congressman and Democratic candidate for governor, Charlie Crist, joins us now.

Hi, Congressman. So your opponent has a record war chest for a governor.

CRIST: Hi, Pamela.

BROWN: Your campaign donations are far short of what he has. As one fundraiser told CNN, quote, "Charlie has a better chance at getting a large check from the Tooth Fairy under his pillow than he does from national donors," making the point that Florida is not viewed by Democrats as a winnable state. What are you going to do to change that in these next 11 weeks until the general?

CRIST: Well, it's imminently winnable. There's no question about that, Pamela. When you look at Florida today it's about a third registered Republican, about a third registered Democratic, and about a third registered independent. That's really the definition of a swing state. So I think our chances are very good. I've polled ahead of him at some points in this race. Behind a little bit sometimes in this race.

But I know I'm on the right side of history on the issues that matter to Floridians like a woman's right to choose. I am pro-choice. He is not. He signed a barbaric law, frankly, to 15-week law and it doesn't even give exceptions for rape or incest. It's just unconscionable. You know, plus Florida's unaffordable anymore. I mean, if you're a millionaire or billionaire in Florida you're probably doing fine but most of us are not.

And so buying a house is challenging to say the least. Renting an apartment is difficult. I mean, you know, I, as a member of Congress, rented an apartment in Washington, rented an apartment in St. Pete, guess which one was more expensive? The one in Florida. That's what DeSantis has done. He has taken his eye off the ball of Florida, the issues that concern them, you know, the inflation that we're suffering from, the economy that we're suffering from. Middle income Floridians are squeezed and crushed. -- BROWN: And let me just -- let me just jump in there really quickly.

CRIST: And the governor is more focused on the White House.

BROWN: If you would, let me just jump in because you had painted the picture starting early on in the answer to my question that Florida is a swing state but the bottom line is there are more registered Republicans than Democrats now in Florida. I mean, does that concern you?

CRIST: Well, what concerns me is the fact that there are a lot of registered Democrats and a lot of registered independents that outnumber that. Plus let's not forget, there are some moderate Republicans that still live in Florida that I think we have a great chance to get their vote.

[18:05:02]

You know, Republican women by and large don't like, you know, some white guy in a governor's mansion in Tallahassee telling them they don't have the right to choose and make their own decisions about their body, their reproductive rights. That's wrong.

BROWN: And we're going to talk about that. And I'm going to be asking about that later in the interview.

CRIST: You know, African --

BROWN: And I will be asking you about that. And just for numbers, Republicans outnumber Democrats by approximately 200,000 which is a reversal from the last decade just to put numbers to that. And I want to get to the more specific issues that I know you want to talk about. But first I want to ask you about this. Even though some vulnerable Democrats are reportedly shying away from having President Biden's help on the campaign trail, you have said you would absolutely want him to join you.

What is your message to fellow Democrats who are distancing themselves from him right now?

CRIST: Well, you know, I can only speak for myself. I support the president. I think he is doing a great job. I really appreciated what he did for college students by getting the ability to forgive some of the loans that they've been, you know, burdened with. By doing what's right when it comes to Roe vs. Wade and signing an executive order which I have already reported I will do. I'll sign an executive order on the first day of the Crist administration to protect a woman's right to choose. Because it's the right thing to do.

I was raised with three sisters. I'm an only son. And I understood from the get-go that it's important to treat others well, to be decent to people, and to respect their wishes.

BROWN: Do you still identify as pro-life?

CRIST: I'm pro-choice. I'm pro-choice and that's why I've got 100 percent rating by Planned Parenthood, by NARAL. I mean, Pamela, it's this stark. When I was a Republican governor, I vetoed an antiabortion bill. And I think that's the right thing to do because I do respect a woman's right to choose. And the governor that we have doesn't. As I said, the law he signed doesn't even have exceptions for rape or incest. I mean, that's barbaric.

BROWN: Let me just ask you about your position, though, because in the past, you have said you were pro-life. So has your views on this changed over time? Has your perspective evolved into how you look at it now?

CRIST: No. They've only gotten stronger. You know, and that's why, as I said, as a Republican governor of Florida I vetoed an antiabortion bill. That bill was calling for an ultrasound to be taken before a woman could make that decision and would have to pay for it at the same time. I thought it was mean spirited. I thought it was inappropriate. I thought it was wrong. As a Republican governor, I've already done that. I'll do it as a Democratic governor, and I look forward to it.

BROWN: I understand but in the past you have said that you were pro- life. Now you're saying you're pro-choice. You said that your view has only gotten stronger. So just help us kind of square that if you would. Saying in the past you were pro-life.

CRIST: Sure. Well, yes.

BROWN: Now saying your views have gotten stronger to be pro-choice.

CRIST: Deeds are the most important part of this discussion. So as a young state senator I voted against an antiabortion bill in health care committee, killed the bill in committee on a 3-3 tie, it never went to the Senate floor. As I've already told you a couple of times, as a Republican governor I vetoed an antiabortion bill. I mean, my record is crystal clear. And that's why Planned Parenthood and NARAL have endorsed me and supported me, given me 100 percent rating on the issue of choice and reproductive rights and respecting those reproductive rights for women.

Nobody in this race, because it's only me and Ron DeSantis now, has a better record on protecting women and standing up for them and fighting for their choice and making their own decisions for themselves. They're not going to find a better defender than Charlie Crist of their right to choose.

BROWN: Let me ask you about -- going back to President Biden. This week at a DNC fundraiser the president criticized extreme MAGA philosophy and said it's almost like semi-fascism. There has been a lot of pushback to this. GOP Governor Chris Sununu talked about it today. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNUNU: Horribly insulting. I mean, the fact that the president would go out and just insult half of America because effectively half America votes Republican, and half of America ultimately votes Democrat. You know, it swings a little bit one way or the other. But effectively call half of America semi-fascist because he is trying to stir up controversy, he's trying to stir up this anti-Republican sentiment right before the election.

It's just -- it's horribly inappropriate, it's insulting, and people should be insulted by it. And he should apologize.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: People like Hochul and Crist are representative of this leftist mindset that they do believe the conservative half of the country are effectively second class citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Your opponent DeSantis taking the chance there to criticize you as well as we heard. Some are saying this is as bad as when Hillary Clinton termed Trump supporters deplorables. Do you think that's a productive message from the president of the United States against millions of Americans?

[18:10:04]

CRIST: I think what's important is to state the facts as they are. I'm running against Ron DeSantis. He is my only opponent. And so I want to talk about what he's done to my state. He recently fired a state attorney in the Tampa Bay area, well respected, because he expressed an opinion about, you know, what he would do in terms of exercising his prosecutorial discretion.

He also, Governor DeSantis, teed off on Walt Disney World. Why? Because they decided to express their right to free speech about a piece of legislation the governor was considering signing. And as a result, because they exercised their right to free speech, he tees off on them. Now, I don't know what term you want to apply to that. I think, you know, he's an autocrat who clearly wants to tell everybody what to do, including women, taking away African-American congressional districts in my state, two of them.

Making it harder to vote. He is anti-Democratic. I'll put that label on him. I'm a Democrat running to fight for and protect democracy, everybody's right to vote, and he is on the other side --

BROWN: And I understand --

CRIST: -- of it making it hard to mail in ballots

BROWN: I understand and you've taken that position repeatedly against your opponent Ron DeSantis, but when it comes to President Biden you have said you wanted him to come campaign with you in Florida so it does matter what the president says, and how you view it. So, again, let me just ask you what do you think about the president calling millions of Americans semi-fascist?

CRIST: Listen, he's got to express and be honest about what he feels in his heart and his soul. And I think that's probably exactly what he did. Now, to your question, do I want him to come campaign for me? Absolutely. I mean, what he's done, I'm wearing the American and Ukrainian flag. How he's handled that situation is almost miraculous. You know, keeping the E.U. together.

Expanding NATO. Doing what's right to make sure that these people who are literally fighting and losing their lives to fight and defend democracy against a giant opponent Russia, it's remarkable what the president has done, and probably because it's all based on relationships that he has had over the years.

He's trusted. He's a decent guy. He works hard. He tells the truth. And I think that's exactly what he's done.

BROWN: There's also -- there's been a lot of pushback as you well know within the Democratic Party on the president's plan to pay down student debt. Now no doubt President Biden has had a string of victories lately. And some people, Democrats in particular --

CRIST: He is on a roll, no question about it.

BROWN: He's been on a roll and it is important to point that out. But there has been criticism from within his own party about this plan. You have Tim Ryan, a Democrat, saying this targeted approach only helps some people. That it's the wrong approach. That it's unfair. We've heard that sentiment from other moderate Democrats. What is your take?

CRIST: Well, I heard Tim interviewed and I thought he did a great interview as a matter of fact. We're both been in the House of Representatives together. He also talked about reducing taxes and the tax burden. I want Floridians to know this about Charlie Crist as it comes to these issues. Number one, we don't have a state income tax in Florida. As long as I'm your governor, we will never have a state income tax in Florida.

So, you know, I think part of Tim's message was talking about taxes, maybe a more broad approach besides just what was happening to college kids, but I think it's very important that the president did focus on giving some relief to college students and their huge debt. It's outrageous. And frankly the price of college is outrageous. That needs to be looked at as well. And that's exactly what I do --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: We're going to be talking about that later in the show.

CRIST: When I get elected governor of Florida.

BROWN: That tuition is only -- college tuition is only on the rise so that while you may give some students or former students a little bit of relief with this, the bottom line is it's not fixing the underlying problem with college tuition costs.

I want to ask you before we let you go, your opponent has made parents' rights --

CRIST: Exactly. BROWN: -- a center piece of his campaign. You just announced the head

of the largest teachers union in the region as your running mate. What message are you trying to send there?

CRIST: Well, you know, I remember the organization PTA, parent teachers association. I think parental rights are indispensable and must be part of -- you know, that's just right. But we ought to also appreciate teachers and their expertise in the field. I don't think they are mutually exclusive, Pamela, is what I'm trying to say. The bottom line is goals and getting goal set. And the goal is to give the very best education for our children we possibly can. And parents have to be involved. Teachers obviously have to be involved.

You know, all of these things should work together in a positive way. You know, DeSantis is trying to tear people apart. I'm trying to bring people together. That's the bottom line. We need a governor with a heart, a governor with decency, a governor that'll protect a woman's right to choose, a governor that will protect your right to vote.

[18:15:04]

He's making it harder. He's on the wrong side of all of these things. That's why I'm going to beat him. That's why I'm going to win on November 8th and I look forward to it.

BROWN: All right, Congressman Charlie Crist, thank you. We really appreciate your time on this Sunday night.

CRIST: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: And we want to note that we did reach out to Governor Ron DeSantis, Crist's opponent in the Florida's governor race, to see if he would like to come on. We are still waiting to hear back. Not holding my breath.

Governor DeSantis, you are welcome to join us at any time. Would love to hear from you and your thoughts on the interview I just did with Congressman Crist.

Well, get out there now. That is the warning from the mayor of Mississippi's largest city as record-setting rains are pushing the Pearl River to a dangerous crest in Jackson just hours from now. And it brings back horrible memories of devastating flooding in the area just two and a half years ago. Mississippi's governor has declared a state of emergency.

We're going to get the latest now. Joining me now is the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, Chokwe Lumumba.

Mayor, thank you so much for coming on. Your city has suffered major flooding two and a half years ago. Residents tell our Nadia Romero that they feel better prepared this time. What have they done, what have you done differently?

LUMUMBA: Well, unfortunately, Pamela, we've had a significant amount of experience with flooding in our city due to the recent flood of 2020. And so that has, you know, now given us an opportunity to better prepare and better understand what we're contending with. And so it has been our mission to speak to the residents early and often, giving them all of the detail of what they need to do to evacuate. How they should prepare evacuation kits, working with a strong coalition from not only city departments but county representation and representation from the state.

And so I've been pleased with the response and, you know, just disappointed in the fact that my residents have to contend with these same challenges so frequently.

BROWN: Forecasters have revised downward the crest of the Pearl River from 36 feet to 35 1/2. How significant is that to residential areas?

LUMUMBA: Well, of course it's always good news to know that the projections are going down. However, at 35.5, that is still a level that is sufficient to cause a significant damage to certain homes. And so we don't want our residents to take the evacuation warnings lightly. We want them to get out and be prayerful that the worst does not come. We will certainly be delighted if they can return to their homes not suffering significant damage. But we don't want to risk the potential that it could happen and they be present within their homes.

BROWN: And how has your community responded to this threat?

LUMUMBA: Well, Jacksonians are incredibly resilient not only to be dealing with the present circumstance, with the Pearl River potentially going to 35.5 feet. The rain that we have suffered over the last couple of weeks has led to flash flooding. And with that, we've also been dealing with the issue of a pandemic that the entire globe has been dealing with and the recent flood of 2020. And so they have in the midst of all of these challenges they have demonstrated their very best not only supporting their neighbors and, you know, friends but heeding the warning by and large of city officials.

BROWN: And we're just taking some live, a live look here of pictures in Jackson, Mississippi, and some of the flooding that we're seeing there right now.

Mayor Lumumba, best of luck to you as you navigate the situation for the residents there. Thank you so much for joining us.

LUMUMBA: Thank you.

BROWN: And still to come this hour the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse warns that unchecked cannabis use could be damaging young brains. She joins me live to discuss.

But before that former astronaut Leroy Chiao is here to talk about NASA's new mission to the moon and the creepiest space sound you have ever heard. You will not want to miss that. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:23:35] BROWN: Well, just a few hours from now NASA begins its journey to bring humans back to the moon. The Artemis One mission's launch window opens at 8:33 a.m. in Florida. There won't actually be any people on this spacecraft but its space flight should collect valuable data for future manned missions.

Here is the NASA administrator, Bill Nelson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELSON: This first flight is a test. We test it. We stress it. We make this rocket and the spacecraft do things that we would never do with a human crew. The main purpose of the flight is to test the heat shield because you can't test that in a lab.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And joining me now is retired NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao who is also a former commander of the International Space Station.

Hi, Leroy. So even though this flight is unmanned, what makes it so important? Why should people watching right now care about this?

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, it's always exciting when there is a launch of a new vehicle and this has been a long time coming. This rocket is actually has more thrust. Generates more thrust at lift-off than the Saturn 5 Moon rockets, although it carries a little less payload to orbit. But nonetheless it's an exciting thing, it's been a long time coming. The first iteration of this program if you will was around 2004-2005, got redesigned by the Obama administration in part because of the committee that I was part of, the review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee in '08-'09.

[18:25:07]

And so this rocket has been in development since '10. 2010, and finally here we are in 2022 getting ready for its maiden flight. So getting back to the moon is, you know, we haven't been there for almost 50 years since Apollo 17 back in 1972, so this is very exciting, it's a stepping stone to Mars, if you will, to develop and test all of our hardware we're going to use to train astronauts as well as all of the scientific objectives of going back to the moon.

BROWN: Why do you think it's taken so long to get to this point to go back to the moon?

CHIAO: Part of the reason is, you know, most large organizations and NASA is not immune from this nor the contractors that design and build the spacecraft. As they grow bigger and larger they grow a little more bureaucratic, a little less efficient, and so unfortunately it's taken longer and, you know, a lot more money than it would have in the past.

For reference, the Apollo program, I mean, the NASA was created in 1958, in 1969 somewhat less than 11 years later we landed the first humans on the moon. This program in one iteration or another has been going since 2004-2005. So, you know, that's kind of just a reference point. But we are here now and so the launch is exciting. It certainly costs a lot more than most of us thought it would. It's taken a lot longer than most of us thought it would, but at least we're here now.

BROWN: I want to turn to something else in space, black holes. That's always an interesting topic, right? Black holes.

CHIAO: Sure.

BROWN: Earlier this week NASA posted a short clip of what one sounds like. Let's listen.

That literally sounds like my worst nightmare. I don't know. I don't know. Like that's a very ominous sound, Leroy. What did we just hear?

CHIAO: Well, this is obviously synthetic because, you know, you need a medium for sound to travel through like the air. And so in the vacuum of space there would be no sound if you will to travel through. So this is a synthetic, an estimation of if there is some pressure near a black hole what this might sound like. Pretty eerie, though, you know, based on this estimation. But, you know, if you got that close to a black hole I think you'd have bigger problems to worry about.

BROWN: Yes, that's a fair point. All right, so this week NASA also released new images from the James Webb telescope taken of Jupiter. They are stunning but it's not the red and brown planet we're used to seeing. What's going on here? Help us better understand this.

CHIAO: So James Webb is like by far the most sensitive instrument we've launched into space and it's unique in that the mirrors are cooled by cryogenics to a very, very low temperature, and what that enables us to do is to look back at objects in the infrared spectrum. And that's one reason why it's placed where it is away from the earth, away from the sun, pointed away from these objects so that the heat from the earth and the sun don't interfere.

So it's able to give us more insight into XO planets, places in our own solar system like Jupiter as you point out, and also look almost to the edge of the big bang almost, you know, 13.8 billion light years away which is pretty incredible. And so what you're seeing in these clear images of Jupiter have never been seen before and the coloration of course is artificial, it's been generated to create the contrast that we need but they're spectacular nonetheless.

A lot of information coming back as you pointed out making discoveries already, identified carbon dioxide in one of the XO planet atmospheres, so really exciting stuff and I expect more to come from the years of operation of James Webb.

BROWN: All right. Leroy Chiao, always great to have you on. Thanks so much.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Thank you.

BROWN: And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday.

Three people are dead after a man set fire to a building and then opened fire on people trying to escape. How awful. Our Polo Sandoval is live with the details on this, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:33:48]

BROWN: New details tonight on a horrific and tragic incident in Houston. Three people are dead this evening, two others are injured after a man set fire to a building. Police say he then shot at people who ran out of the fire.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is following this story for us. So what more are you learning, Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, this is just horrific and quite frankly senseless when you get to some of the details that investigators released about the shooting that happened about 1:00 this morning at what's been described as a multi-room rental facility. Basically the owner of a building there in Houston was renting individual rooms and police say overnight one of the residents of this facility set fire to portions of the building, went outside armed with a shotgun, and then as people were hoping to escape, opened fire.

He shot and killed three people ages 40 to 60 years old. Houston Police arrived just after firefighters who responded had to retreat, trying to seek safety as that -- during that hail of bullets and that's when one officer shot and killed the gunman.

I want you to hear directly from Houston's police chief as he describes the horrific nature of what happened overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF TROY FINNER, HOUSTON POLICE: This suspect unfortunately and very sadly and evilly set fire to several residents, laid wait for those residents to come out, and fired upon them.

[18:35:13]

As HFD arrived first as they prepared to fight the fire, the suspect began to fire. I don't know if he was firing in their direction but they had to take cover.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Now the big question of a possible motive here, police chief did add that apparently the suspect had been served eviction papers recently and he believes that that may have been, to use the chief's word, the trigger point to this horrible incident that took place. But again, that investigation is still ongoing after four people killed, one of them the gunman shot and killed by Houston police officers that acted very quickly apparently.

Back to you.

BROWN: Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

Well, the number of people getting high in the U.S. has hit an all- time high. More Americans are now smoking weed than cigarettes.

CNN's Harry Enten joins us to run the numbers up next after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:11]

BROWN: For the first time ever more Americans use marijuana than tobacco.

CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten joins us to run the numbers.

All right, so, Harry, let's talk about weed. Marijuana use seems to be exploding in this country.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my god. I mean, I walk along the Upper West Side. It smells like Woodstock basically. I mean, at this particular point, look at this. The percentage of Americans who say that they're smoking marijuana regularly is up to 16 percent, that's an all-time high. Compare that to when my mother was basically my age in October of 1969. Just 4 percent of Americans said they had ever tried marijuana. Now that's up to 48 percent. So the fact is we're in high times.

BROWN: We are in high times. Marijuana use at an all-time high. All kinds of puns we could be using here. But you're right, you know, I feel like I go different places now and it's like I smell a whiff of marijuana like more now than in the past. Right? You're like, what's going on over there? So has smoking cigarettes had a very different trend?

ENTEN: It's the exact opposite trend. I mean, look, back in July of '69 nearly half the population, 40 percent, said that they had smoked cigarettes in the last week. Now just 11 percent. That is an all-time low. So cigarette use way down. Marijuana use way up.

BROWN: And there is a major age correlation when it comes to pot smoking. Right?

ENTEN: There absolutely is. If you're in my age bracket, look at that, 30 percent say they currently smoke marijuana.

BROWN: You're such a baby.

ENTEN: You jump up to my mom's age -- yes. Yes, just a baby. I'm just a baby.

BROWN: Just a baby.

ENTEN: Although I think I look older than I used to. But if you go up to my mother's age bracket, look at that, seven percent. So clearly a correlation here between age and smoking marijuana. The young people far more likely to do it, though I have never smoked. I just want to say that out loud. BROWN: Of course not. Of course not. Exactly. So let's talk about the

fact that cigarettes aren't really as cool among young people, right, according to the polls?

ENTEN: The exact opposite age gap. Right? And if you look at those under the age of 35 just 8 percent say they currently smoke cigarettes or did so in the last week. You go age 55 and older 14 percent. So age is with marijuana you go older less likely. Cigarettes it's the exact opposite.

BROWN: And the upswing in marijuana usage has come with more people wanting it legal, correct?

ENTEN: That is exactly right. So, you know, if you look at the use of marijuana should be legal, back in October of 1969 it was just 12 percent. And look at that. September of 2000, 31 percent. We crossed that 50 percent threshold in October, 2011. And now look at this. 68 percent.

But you know, there is one thing that has nothing to do with marijuana, Pam, that I did want to discuss. Your executive producer Adam Charlston is leaving us and Adam and I have a nice little thing going back and forth on e-mail. He had no idea I was going to do this. So I just wanted to note that 87 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Briton, but Harry has a 100 percent favorable view of my favorite Briton, Adam Charlton.

I just, you know, it was one of those funny things, Pam, where I went down to Georgia a few months ago for my cousin, my second cousin once removed bar mitzvah and I just so happened to stop by the CNN Studios and that was when I stopped by, I spoke with Brian who's a senior of yours, and I spoke with Adam who is an executive producer. And we decided that we were going to do this.

And I must say it was one of the better side journeys I ever made because Adam is a true gentleman and a scholar. I know that my producer helps me out. Sabrina Schulman (PH) is a huge fan of his. They have been sending e-mails. She is such a big fan. And so everyone is a huge fan of Adam and I just want to end this segment by noting that because it may be shalom, adios amigos, but Adam will always have a special place in my heart and I know in your heart as well.

BROWN: I can say with confidence that the team has a 100 percent favorable view of Adam as well, always pushing to make the show better. Your segment "Run the Numbers" is a prime example of that. He has so much passion and energy for this show. So much love for the show. We're going to miss Adam tremendously.

Harry Enten, thanks so much.

ENTEN: Bye, Pam.

BROWN: And be sure to check out --

ENTEN: I'll see you next week --

BROWN: He's probably freaking out, like, OK, wrap so that we can go on with the show. The timing is bad.

Be sure to check out Harry's podcast "Margins of Error," you can find it on your favorite podcast app or at CNN.com/audio.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. The director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse is warning tonight that unchecked cannabis use could be damaging young brains. So on the heels of that discussion with Harry we're going to discuss this. What does marijuana do to the young brain? She joins us live after this quick break.

[18:45:00]

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Moments ago, we showed you how marijuana use is surging in America as more people say they use pot more than tobacco. A study backed by the National Institutes of Health also found a concerning rise in substance abuse among young Americans.

These are the latest results of a multi-year survey. They show that 81 percent of adults age 19 to 30 used alcohol in the past 12 months. 42 percent used marijuana. 21 percent said they vaped nicotine. And 18 percent vaped marijuana, smoked cigarettes, or used other drugs.

[18:50:02]

Dr. Nora Volkow is the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She joins me now.

So, Dr. Volkow, how concerning are these statistics?

NORA VOLKOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE: Well, they are concerning because we are seeing a significant rise in consumption of marijuana across all age groups, that it's most severe among 19 to 30 years of age. And the main concern is that actually we're seeing rises in regular use of marijuana, which is the consumption pattern that is more likely to result in negative outcomes.

And in this age group, which is 19 to 30, you still have a lot of changes happening in the brain, and one of the concerns about drug use in young people is that it can interfere with those normal neurodevelopmental processes that are necessary for your brain to fully form because drugs basically interfere with them. And among people that are 19 to 30 years of age, for example, there is also concern that during that period, they are first of all at much higher risk of becoming addicted to marijuana or to consume it in a compulsive way that can result in negative outcomes such as psychosis.

And this is relevant because more and more the marijuana that's out there in the streets is a very, very high potency. And that country where a psychotic episode, and among young people, these psychotic episodes can be long lasting, and in some of them, can result in chronic effects. So we are concerned about addiction. We're concerned about potential negative effects that marijuana might have to mental health such as psychosis.

Also concerns about how it affects depression and mood and anxiety, and how it may interfere with their health. The reality is that we do not know so much about marijuana when it's consumed with such a high potency,. And we are used -- and your speaker before was commenting about your mother's marijuana. It is very different from what we currently have. The content is at least three or four times more powerful for the active ingredients of marijuana, which is THC. And that increases its associated harms.

BROWN: Let me just ask you just to follow-up on a couple of things of what you just said. First of all, you talked about how it can interfere with the neurons in a young brain, a developing brain. What does that translate into? What would the negative outcome of that be just so we can have a clear understanding of that? And then also, how much of this is backed by hard data?

VOLKOW: Very important questions. First of all, it's important to just give a very, very short summary of brain development. When you're born, your brain is very big, and when you're reaching adolescence, it almost has reached its full size. What it hasn't done is form the connections between the different areas of the brain, which is really what is crucial for the brain to work properly.

It is one of the most complex networks of networks, and those connections, for example, are modulated by our own Endogenous cannabinoids system, and that is where the concern goes around that when these changes are happening, which are fastest during childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, consumption of marijuana may interfere with this normal neurodevelopmental orchestration driven in part by Endogenous cannabinoids.

And so there's always the concern that it may interfere and lead to improper architecture and function of the brain. Now you asked me about how solid the data is. There's been lots and lots of papers published showing that individuals that particularly consume marijuana during adolescence have changes in their brains as adults that, for example, implicate areas of our brain which enable us to feel emotions and to memorize things.

But the problem of those studies has always been that you cannot distinguish between changes that may have existed prior to consumption of marijuana that led them to smoke marijuana, make them vulnerable for that, as opposed to marijuana directing producing those changes in the brain.

In order to address these, we're currently doing a very, very ambitious study that is following longitudinally children as they transition from age 9 to 10, and they'll go into adulthood to try to answer that question whether -- because we will have brain images of them before they consume marijuana, and then we can monitor whether there are differences those that consume versus not when you're controlling for how their brain looks like before.

BROWN: Interesting.

[18:55:03]

VOLKOW: So this is an important question that still needs to be answered.

BROWN: All right. Dr. Nora Volkow, thank you for your time.

And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. You would think most sports mascots are there to have some fun, but the Atlanta Braves' mascot is in it to win it. We'll be right back.

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BROWN: The Atlanta Braves' mascot Blooper taking no prisoners during a halftime exhibition with Peewee football players this weekend. A video posted on the mascot's Twitter account shows blooper's devastating stiff arm, weed whacking young players as he eyes the goal line. Is this the mascot's official audition video for the Atlanta Falcons? He is definitely our pick.