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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Hundreds Missing After Catastrophic Flashflood; Meta Settles Social Media Addiction Case for $18 Billion; Tributes to a Life Well Lived. Democrats Slam Graham's Argument Against "Government Run" Healthcare; Former Israel Hostage Details Harrowing Captivity By Hamas. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 26, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

This hour, unbelievable scenes of destruction after a massive wall of water crashed into parts of Nepal. Villages reduced to a pile of mud, more than 150 killed, hundreds of others, including 47 Americans, are still missing. What we've learned about the cause of this catastrophe and the rescue efforts ongoing tonight.

Plus, major changes coming soon to Instagram and Facebook after Meta agreed to an $18 billion settlement. The deal ending a legal battle over claims the social media platforms harmed the mental health of children and teens. We'll walk you through the changes Meta agreed to make.

Also, the tributes from around the world from every walk of life, from every political party, showing just how much Dolly Parton transcended music. We're reflecting on that legacy with a musician who had the honor of taking the stage with her ahead.

And also a new phase in the confusing legal battle over President Trump's efforts to limit mail-in voting. We're just over two months away from the midterm, so how soon could this get resolved? I'll ask the New York attorney general.

I'm Bianna Golodryga, in for Jake Tapper. The Lead tonight, critical search and rescue efforts are underway tonight in Nepal after devastating flash floods and mudslides along the border of China. Hundreds of tourists in Nepal, including nearly 50 Americans, are missing. More than 150 are confirmed dead.

Rescue teams across the region are struggling through debris, rain and mud to try to reach those still stranded. In Nepal, entire bridges were swept away and villages were submerged when the initial surge of floodwater began. And in China, an intense mudslide engulfed the port that connects the border nations.

CNN's Will Ripley is following the latest from Taiwan, and CNN's Jennifer Hansler is at the State Department for us.

Will, what can you tell us this hour about the ongoing rescue efforts?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're certainly trying as best they can as daylight comes back to this region to find people. The difficulty, of course, is that a lot of these areas are incredibly remote. You're talking about the Himalayas, difficult to access even in normal weather, not to mention the fact that so many of the roads have been destroyed.

There was a helicopter pilot flying over when this disaster hit, this massive flooding, estimating that the waves were possibly 15 to 20 feet high. But if you look at the video and you look at the way that buildings were enveloped, and we are learning that the river, the Trishuli River, essentially rose about 30 feet in 30 minutes.

And then all of the debris and the rock and the mud was accumulating as the water was making this ferocious path cutting through the valley, cutting right through villages, cutting through the border crossing that had just been rebuilt after the 2015 earthquake, only has been open to passengers just the last three years or so.

That was a concrete building that was designed to withstand earthquakes, and yet you saw it was just enveloped by the waves there, some of the most dramatic footage of a natural disaster probably that we've ever seen.

This is not a typical monsoon flood, which is common in this area. The monsoon flood would happen obviously because of rain, but there was no rainfall in the area. And so what scientists have been doing is looking upstream at what the potential cause could be, and it seems as if the consensus is now that this may have been a piece of a glacier that broke off. It was described as a rock and ice avalanche that jammed a river and caused the water to accumulate.

There was also a 4.4 magnitude earthquake detected nearby, so they're trying to figure out if there's some sort of a link. What would have caused the water to dislodge that, that avalanche of ice and rock to dislodge? And then all of that built-up water just making its violent path, that chain reaction, taking the river and basically with the levels so dramatically high that you just saw the speed at which it was moving.

Cars were tossed around, power lines snapped apart, buildings either partially submerged or in some cases just they fell apart altogether in the force of this. And, of course, making this even more horrific is the fact that this is a very popular route for both Hindus -- Hindu pilgrims and also tourists, especially this time of year.

And that's why you have a lot of folks on the ground fearful that this number of hundreds missing right now is actually an optimistic number and they're afraid that the number could go much higher than that, including dozens of Americans, people from all over the world who were in this beautiful area during a very popular season to visit when this horrific, really, there are no words to describe how bad this disaster was when it hit. GOLODRYGA: I've never seen video like this. Looks like something o- out of a terrible sci-fi film.

Jennifer, how are U.S. officials responding to the crisis, especially in trying to determine the fate of those dozens of missing Americans?

[18:05:00]

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Bianna, that is, of course, always the key challenge here when it comes to embassy officials, State Department officials assisting those Americans who are affected by this horrific natural disaster.

Now, the State Department right now is only confirming that they are aware of Americans who have been impacted. A Nepal tourist official told the Associated Press that they're aware of at least 47 Americans who were impacted by this who are missing. That number is likely to rise.

Some of the challenge here is that Americans are not required to identify when they go abroad. They're not required to register with the U.S. State Department, so they don't have necessarily a fulsome list of the people who were in this area, and they are asking Americans who are there to do so.

We heard from a State Department official earlier today that they are also working with local tourist groups and local authorities to both provide assistance and also help identify Americans who may be missing, injured, or perhaps dead in this awful disaster.

The other key element that U.S. officials are working on right now is potentially providing humanitarian assistance. We know that the State Department is in touch with the Nepalese government. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that they stand ready to provide that humanitarian assistance. Oftentimes what we will see in these disasters is the State Department dispatching what's called a Disaster Assistance Response Team. This is a group that have specialized in these disasters to help with search and recovery in this issue. Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: All right. Jennifer Hansler and CNN's Will Ripley, you'll stay on this story for us. Thank you.

I want to bring in Allison Chinchar in the CNN weather center. So, Allison, walk us through what could have caused this and how did no one see this coming?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so what was initially thought was that this was actually triggered by an earthquake. Here, you can see that dot. But now what the U.S. Geological Survey is saying is that's not the case. This was a landslide, a very powerful landslide, that was so powerful, it actually triggered and measured a 5.2 tremor on the seismograph machines.

Now, to kind of put this in perspective to show you the area where this is taking place, it's in the Himalayan region where that landslide took place, and we've got the little marker here so you can kind of see where that starting point was. We zoom in to give you a little bit better perspective.

Now, if the landslide initiated in this general region, everything surrounding it would fall down with it. So, you're going to have ice, you're going to have water, you're going to have rocks, even some boulders that comes down with it, down into the valley below. This is the glacier tongue that then flows down into the river valley.

And to kind of show you some before and after images of what we're talking about here, this is image taken yesterday. Now, it's flipped upside down. So, this is the same glacier tongue we just showed you. But focus here on the green area. Now, we fast-forward to today, and all of that green changes to brown, just showing all of that debris flow of where everything went as that landslide continued down along the valley floor.

And it wasn't just in one place. Again, you kind of show this area, but then we widen out to kind of show you where it goes from there, it continues to follow down through the river valley and into this particular area where we have several buildings here.

Now, everything would have flowed down in this direction before reaching those buildings, and the video here clearly shows all of that debris from that landslide just sliding into that area, just demolishing all of those buildings that were in that general region.

But this isn't the only spot. Again, that water, that debris, everything along with it is just going to continue to go down through the valley, even more so where you actually then end up having some villages, some towns that were impacted.

So, we zoom in here to kind of give you a general layout of these neighboring towns that are here. We zoom in a little bit farther north, and you can start to see this bridge right through here, okay? Now, we're going to show you some video of that bridge. There is that wall of water and debris just racing down here, flowing not just through where normal water would go, but also into the surrounding buildings, the streets, everything that's there, and it is such an immense amount of water and debris that comes through.

At some point, this bridge eventually just gives way. It's just simply too much of a force for it to be able to hold steady enough. And you'll see it here. It's just about to go. And then it will also follow along with all of the rest of the debris that's being pushed down by this immense flow. It also continues to spread into there. You can see it kind of go there. It spreads into a lot of these buildings, so those buildings also start to sustain some damage as well.

So, again, just kind of giving you that overall scope, this was not just one particular area that was hit. It was multiple areas that were hit, and that's why we're seeing so many of these videos come out.

GOLODRYGA: Just terrifying. Thanks for explaining it to us, CNN's Allison Chinchar. Well, the size of the memorial is growing at the Dolly Parton statue in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee, where crowds are paying their respects to the country music icon and philanthropist. Next, a musician who shared the stage with Dolly Parton joins me to share his stories about working with her.

[18:10:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: In our Pop Culture Lead today, musicians who worked with the late Dolly Parton are praising her impeccable vocals and musical instincts. The country music icon and philanthropist died Tuesday at the age of 80 after a short battle with cancer. So, what was it like to work with Dolly Parton?

Chris Thile joins me now. He's a Grammy Award-winning mandolin player and singer-songwriter, founding member of the bands Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers. He played mandolin for Dolly Parton for a couple of years.

Chris, literally, you pulled yourself away from practice and rehearsal to talk to us. So, I really appreciate it. Tell us what it was like being in Dolly Parton's musical orbit, and how you're feeling as you grapple with her loss today.

CHRIS THILE, GRAMMY-WINNING MUSICIAN: It was like being around the sun.

[18:15:00]

She shined brighter than anyone I've ever been around, and was just generosity incarnate. The way that she would make you feel as a musician put you instantly at ease. She would walk into the room and really see everyone who was there, and would treat you like you were Kenny Rogers. It was majestic to behold. And then what she would bring out of you just musically.

So, there's -- She's Dolly, and we all know that. But as a musician, I think one of the things that's rippling through my community is her sheer brilliance as an artist. And that was resonating through every bar of music that she ever made. And so all of us were elevated in her presence. It was remarkable.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. She made it seem so easy, but you're right. I mean, she was a musical genius, having written over 3,000 songs. And you told a great story on social media while you were playing for Dolly. You asked her if she would sit in with you for a song on your solo show, and she said yes. And you played and sang Jackson together. You happened to find this old clip of it. Let's watch a little bit.

GOLODRYGA: I mean, treasure that video forever. How surreal was that moment?

THILE: Well, what was crazy is that she would always be so -- I mean, to be honest, she made us chicken and dumplings in the studio. She was always there before we got there. She was there after we left. She would take a genuine interest in all of our lives. And, I mean, I was this 19, 20-year-old kid. No one knew who I was. I mean, people still don't. And Dolly treated -- again, treated you like you were just the only person that she ever wanted to hang out with.

And I remember her saying, now, Chris, if you ever need anything, you just ask. And I did. Wild Hair, it was one of my first solo shows for 150 people. You know, she plays for 25,000 people. And she said, yes, absolutely. Let's work something up. And I remember, so her manager kind of gave me the high sign, all right, she's at the back door right now. So, introduce her. I transitioned, like improvised from the middle of the song I was in to, y'all, I can't believe I get to say this, but please make welcome Dolly Parton. And on she comes, and off we go. And, I mean, these 150 people, they lost their minds, of course.

And Dolly, the brilliance, the humor, I mean, she did like a type five in between every song. It was unbelievable. And I actually learned later that a lot of people didn't even really believe it was her. They thought it was just maybe the best Dolly impersonator they'd ever seen in their lives. I can't believe that video turned up. I didn't know anyone had gotten it.

GOLODRYGA: Well, keep it. Keep it in a lockbox, because you are very, very lucky to have had that opportunity to share a stage with her.

And when we see videos of Dolly Parton singing live, I mean, going back to the earlier point of her making it seem so easy, but she had such a natural- presence and precision as well. How would you describe the singularity of her voice?

THILE: Well, you hear the 100 percent commitment to every single syllable of every single word. The belief that she had in the urgency of her message and the utility of her message is unlike anything I've ever encountered in a musician before.

I think she knew that she was capable of making music that would make people feel better about being human, and I know all of us on stage felt it, and I know all of us in the audience felt it. You know, I've been on both sides of it.

And now I feel like even though, of course, there's this intense sense of loss, there's also this intense sense of awe in the beauty that one of our fellow human beings was capable of not only making, but sharing in such a meaningful way with all of us. And it's like sharing it to the extent that we feel like it's ours, and that now we get to feel -- we get to share it with other people.

And I feel like that's some -- her message is a message that can give us all the, the fuel we need to get out there and make a difference, bring a little beauty into the world.

[18:20:01]

GOLODRYGA: You shared a stage with her, and she made you chicken and dumplings. You're going to have to share that experience with us later at some point.

Chris Thile, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

THILE: Oh, it's my pleasure. Love you, Dolly.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you. We all do.

All right, well, Canada fires back, announcing significant new tariffs on hundreds of U.S. goods. We're breaking down how this growing trade war could impact the prices that you and your family are paying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: In our Money Lead, Americans could start feeling even more financial pain next month. Canada is hitting back at the Trump administration with tariffs ranging from 15 percent to 50 percent on over 700 American goods in an effort to match U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar, notably doubling its duties on U.S. steel and aluminum to 50 percent, set to take effect September 8th.

The mayor of Windsor, Ontario, Drew Dilkens, joins us now.

[18:25:00]

We should note Windsor is just over the border from Detroit and known as the automotive capital of Canada. Mayor Dilkens, welcome to the program. Thanks for joining us.

So, as I noted, the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs are already in effect. Now, Canada's retaliatory tariffs will take effect early next month. Can Windsor's manufacturing sector survive those, and then the 50 percent tariffs on Canadian cars and auto parts set to take effect January 1st?

MAYOR DREW DILKENS, WINDSOR ONTARIO: Well, we are so tightly integrated, I don't think any of us can survive this. This will be bad for business on the Canadian side of the border, but it will be equally bad in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and beyond. And I think smart, sensible minds have to prevail here. We have to get back to the table and find a resolution that gets to a solution on this comprehensive trade agreement that we have called USMCA.

GOLODRYGA: And how do we do that?

DILKENS: Well, listen I think we have so deeply -- we have such a deeply integrated economy, especially in the auto industry and the parts sector. It is unfathomable to believe that we're ever going to get to a point where we're going to apply 50 percent tariffs. And if that happens, Bianna, I'm telling you, 10,000 people will be out of work in Michigan within a week, 10,000 people will be out of work in Ontario within a week as the OEMs simply idle production and send people home because the price of the vehicles will not be affordable to anybody in the United States or Canada.

And so we have to get people back to the table and recognize first principles. We have a comprehensive trade relationship called USMCA. That provides for duty-free and tariff-free trade for goods produced on our continent. Donald Trump came in his second term, and he started dismantling that piece by piece, hiving off steel, aluminum, auto, lumber, and many other things.

And so he has done this unilaterally. We're in this position where now Canada is really left with no other reasonable alternative to send a signal back to the United States saying, we can't tolerate this behavior.

GOLODRYGA: I want to read a headline for you that caught my attention from The Economist, and it's this, Mark Carney must be aware of an all-out trade war. And it goes on to point out, quote, The trouble is that America's economy is 13 times larger than Canada's and far better equipped to cope. Mr. Carney should look for ways to walk back his retaliatory tariffs.

I mean, do you agree with that assessment? He obviously is an expert in the field of economics. Do you think that America is too big for Canada to take on?

DILKENS: Well, listen, there's no doubt your economy is far larger than ours. You're ten times the size of Canada. None of us want to be here. And we have to find a sensible way back to the table that deescalates some of the rhetoric that has been thrown back and forth across the border in the last week or so.

But there also has to be a strong reflection, Bianna, that you can't have a trade agreement that only works for one party. We have built a tightly integrated supply chain, especially on the auto side, that, you know, one would -- one has often said that it is analogous to unscrambling an egg if you're trying to decouple the integration that we've built between the United States, Canada, and, of course, Mexico through NAFTA and USMCA.

And so we have to find a way to make this make sense because a trade war makes no sense for Canada, but it doesn't make any sense for the United States as well.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, hurting consumers in both countries.

Windsor, Ontario Mayor Drew Dilkens, thank you for the time.

DILKNES: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Meta is promising changes to Facebook and Instagram after settling a landmark lawsuit for $18 billion. We'll explain up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

GOLODRYGA: In our Politics Lead, new developments in the legal fight over mail-in voting just weeks before the midterm elections. 24 states and the District of Columbia today sued the U.S. Postal Service over new rules that would give the agency a bigger role in handling mail-in ballots. The states say the new rules go too far, arguing the Postal Service should not have that much control over how states run their elections.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is helping lead that coalition, and she joins us now. Attorney General James, thanks for joining us.

So, what is your biggest concern about how these rules could affect the midterm elections?

LETITIA JAMES (D), NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: Because the United States Postal Service and the President of these United States have play no role in elections. The Constitution is clear. It belongs to the states, and the U.S. postal system cannot usurp the power of the states, and they cannot frustrate our mail-in ballot procedure.

In addition to that, the timeframe is just too short to mail out millions of ballots, to change the ballot, to design a envelope. It is virtually impossible. It will cost states millions and millions of dollars. But the bottom line is this, states, under our Constitution, have control over the time, place, and manner of elections, and that's what it should be.

And so this is unconstitutional, and that's why we filed a lawsuit today, and that's why we are seeking a temporary restraining order against this rule.

GOLODRYGA: So, what would you like to see happen next?

JAMES: What I would like to see next is a TRO issued, and I would like to see is that the power that belongs to the states remain in the states. As attorney general, 24 of us are basically representing the interests of our respective states, and that's the way that it should be. This is nothing more than an attempt to basically frustrate and to suppress the right to vote. When you don't have anything to run on, you must cheat, and that's what this is.

And so it's really critically important that individuals understand that the right to vote belongs to the state. And as state attorneys general, we are doing our job as always. And in the past, in all of the cases that we have filed against this administration, against their illegal, unconstitutional executive orders, we have won over 85 percent of our cases, and I'm confident that we will win this one as well.

GOLODRYGA: Well, you know, the Supreme Court in their decision did not rule on the legality of this executive order, but at least said thus far no damage had been done. What damage do you think has been done?

[18:35:00]

JAMES: Because all the damage that I just laid out to you. It's also important to understand that the United States Supreme Court just focused again on a procedural grounds. It was not the merits of the case. And so, despite the dicta, at the end of the day, it's the Constitution that rules the day, and the Constitution clearly speaks to states' rights, and that should not be usurped by the United States Postal Service and/or this administration.

The power on elections belongs to states. It's clear, it's written, it's black letter law, and that is what we should abide by in this country. And so we will not allow this president or the United States Postal Service to usurp or frustrate our rights.

GOLODRYGA: And we know millions of Americans, Democrats, Republicans, including the president, vote by mail.

I want to turn to the other major development today, that is the largest big tech settlement in history. Meta announcing an $18 billion settlement that could fundamentally change the way children use social media. As part of this settlement, Meta agreed to make changes to its platform, such as establishing daily time limits for teen users.

I'm a mother of teens. You joined 32 states to hold the parent company of Facebook and Instagram accountable. Do you think that these changes will better protect young people compared to features that had been rolled out in the past?

JAMES: Yes. The business model of Meta is as follows. One, hook children, two, let them stay on the platform as long as possible, three, harvest their data, and, four, not tell anyone about it. It's important that individuals understand this is transformational, and this will basically change the relationship between children and social media platforms.

There have been stories and there have been studies, and internal studies by Meta, which link the mental health crisis that young people are experiencing now to social media. And what we are attempting to do, and we have been successful, and that is addressing the anxiety, the mental health crisis, the depression, and the self-harm that children are engaging in at this point in time with limitations on the amount of time that they will be on the social media platform, and provide pauses, and limit their ability to have predators focus on children, and also eliminate the ability for of children to have inappropriate content.

And so this wonderful and basically extraordinary settlement is similar to the tobacco settlement, again, where you have major companies which unfortunately violate consumer protection laws and privacy laws as well. And as one of the attorneys general, all 24 of us stood up in a bipartisan fashion and decided to challenge these social media companies and their platforms on behalf of children in these United States. And I am so happy that this will address some of the social ills that we are seeing in our society.

GOLODRYGA: New York Attorney General Letitia James, thank you for the time.

JAMES: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, President Trump appears to have a new strategy for the midterms, and it involves running campaign ads about someone not on the ballot. We'll explain who up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

GOLODRYGA: In our Politics Lead, with less than 70 days until the midterm elections, President Trump doesn't appear to be worried about Democrats using ads attacking his record. In fact, Trump reportedly is leaning into it.

According to The Atlantic, Trump is planning an ad blitz touting his accomplishments. The Atlantic writing, quote, Trump wanted what one person described to us as environmental lift ads, commercials that would focus on nationalizing the midterms broadly around his victories, and he suggested that the ad makers mine his own on-camera statements as building blocks.

All right, the panel joins me now to discuss. Mike, do you believe the strategy will be effective, or are you concerned that it could actually hurt Republicans?

MIKE DUHAIME, CEO, MAD GLOBAL STRATEGY GROUP: Well, I think anytime you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars trying to lift your image, that's a good thing for the candidates and for the president, and his numbers are going to be determinative of many of these elections. But at the same time, he's been in the national spotlight for ten years certainly as a president or presidential candidate, and decades before that as a celebrity.

I don't know any amount of money that could really change somebody's opinion about Donald Trump right now. You either, you have an opinion about Donald Trump, good or bad at this point. I'm not sure that commercials will make a huge difference on that.

GOLODRYGA: And what exactly would they be touting? Well, I think you would want to put a -- well, I think they would want to put a good spin on the economic record and they'll obviously try to place blame, and I think for them, they're going to try to make contrasts between what -- where Donald Trump is trying to take the country, whether or not you agree with it or not, and with the extreme left of the Democratic Party, and that's the contrast I think many Republicans would be smart to make.

GOLODRYGA: Christine, John, you have thoughts? Let's start with you, Christine.

CHRISTINE QUINN, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WIN: Bring it on. Bring it on. I love the idea of a guy who has the worst poll numbers really of any modern-day president spending hundreds of millions of dollars saying how great he is. It's like he looked at us Democrats, you know, from two and a half years ago, three years ago, where we were saying, no, things aren't that bad. You really feel like you don't have any money, but you do. It's okay. He thought, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to tell everybody the economy's great when they can't afford tomatoes, inflation's high, and now we're fighting with tariffs on Canada? Bring it on. GOLODRYGA: And the tariff fight with Canada is only growing here. So, what do you make of it?

JOHN AVLON, AUTHOR, "LINCOLN AND THE FIGHT FOR PEACE": It's a new kind of stupid which will supercharge all the cost problems he's dealing with. I mean, this is a guy who won the last election by talking about affordability, who claimed in that confidence man way, when I'm elected, on day one, we're going to get rid of inflation, and prices are going to go down, and instead, prices are going up.

[18:45:00]

And that's one reason why he's at 25 percent among independents.

So, it is clearly, once again, all about him and his ego, but it does deep damage to the party he allegedly leads.

GOLODRYGA: Well, he may be emboldened by a victory in South Carolina here. Fresh off her runoff victory in South Carolina, Republican Senator Darline Graham is getting mocked for her argument against her Democratic opponent's support of what she says is government-run health care. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DARLINE GRAHAM (R-SC): Gun control, government run health care, abortion. Until the moment of birth, Annie Andrews backs them all.

I have a different background and vision for our state. I am a hard worker with a servant's heart. My parents worked long, hard hours to make ends meet. We did not take vacations. If they were sick, they had to get up and go to work because the doors weren't open, we weren't making money. My mother passed away when I was 11 and my father just over a year later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: So, Mike, she has made clear she is a novice here in terms of politics, but she knows and cares about local constituents and the issues that they are facing and will learn on the job. Was that convincing?

MIKE DUHAIME, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think many people will feel bad about her. I think bad about that story. I think people want to jump on it. But like attacking someone who just talked about losing their parents at 11 and 12 could backfire politically as well.

Now, do not get me wrong, this is a very tough place to learn on the job. U.S. senate races now are all national races. And to go into the spotlight, especially for her brother, who is a nationally known figure, is very, very difficult place to learn on the job.

It reminds me of, you know, what -- Governor Palin became vice presidential candidate. That spotlight gets hot very, very fast. And so, she is about to learn that she had a very difficult debate. No one has accused her of being the best candidate in America right now. But it's a good -- it's a good state for Republicans, and she should be victorious.

GOLODRYGA: So, Christine, Graham's opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews, responded to Graham's health care remarks on CNN earlier today. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANNIE ANDREWS (D), SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: What she said there was that her health care plan is you should work hard until you die. I believe that Darline's parents deserved better. I believe that health care is a human right, that we must shift America's profit motivated health care system to a patient-centered health care system that actually meets the needs of everyone in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: So, she went on to challenge Graham to three televised debates. I mean, this is a deep red state, Christine. At the end of the day, does she stand a chance?

CHRISTINE QUINN, FORMER NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER: I mean, I think it is -- it is a very much uphill battle for her. There is no question about that. But good for her for being aggressive and raising debates, which we know that, Ms. Graham is not very good at the story. She tells the reality of what happened to her parents, what happened to her and her late brother is tragic. I lost my mother when I was a teenager. It devastates you, particularly as a girl.

But then to tell us how they had to work basically till they were so, so sick that they passed away or they just could not work anymore, that's a tragedy, too. And I just do not understand the thought process of that leading somebody to say that we cannot do more about health care, that we do not need to make a change. What happened to them was terrible.

GOLODRYGA: And I -- the former Governor Sanford was on with me in the last hour, and he endorsed her opponent, but said he would campaign for her. But his concern was low turnout.

AVLON: Mark Sanford endorses endorsed the Democrat, did you say?

GOLODRYGA: No, no, no, he did not endorse Graham initially.

AVLON: Right, Ralph Norman.

GOLODRYGA: He endorsed her opponent. Yes. But now he said that he would support Graham. But he is very concerned. He is a Republican about turnout.

AVLON: Yeah. Look, I think that Darline Graham benefited from Trump, the last name. But she does not inspire a lot of confidence. I thought Norman would actually do better than he did.

I think two things there. Look, there is a lot of compassion about their small business owners for parents when they died so long ago. When you are a small business owner, you got to get up when you are sick and do the work. That's a work ethic point. There should be compassion for them.

But the fact that a decade and a half after demonizing Obamacare, the Republicans still do not have a proactive health care message. When 69 percent of Americans say health care costs are one of the top issues for them in this election, because it is a major driver of inflation and fear that if you get sick, you could, you know, you could go bankrupt as a family in the case of a serious illness, the Republicans still do not have an answer is malpractice in its own way.

GOLODRYGA: So let me ask another issue that some Republicans would say is malpractice for the president to continue to pursue. And yet he has his feud with the Kennedy Center is not going anywhere.

Now, his administration is threatening to demolish the building if it is not allowed to proceed with its extensive renovations. Is this something the president should be focused on right now?

DUHAIME: No, it's not. I mean, all the talk of monuments and decorations and renaming things is not what the American people are looking at right now. They care about affordability and prices, and that is where the focus should be.

AVLON: This is mafia boss behavior, right? If you do not do what I say, I am going to tear down the building. That is a memorial.

[18:50:01]

And he tore down the East Wing.

So, I mean, you know, there are so they need to be called out and stood up to. They cannot tear down buildings that belong to the people, not to them. And we should build back the East Wing just as it was not build the ballroom.

GOLODRYGA: Absolutely.

All right. On that note, we will leave it there. Thank you, panel.

Up next, my exclusive interview with the former Israeli hostage held by Hamas in Gaza. Evyatar David had spent much of the last year recovering from the horrors inflicted by the terror group, but now he is on a mission to make sure the world remembers what happened. We'll bring you his story up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: In our world, lead a CNN exclusive in his first international interview, we are hearing from Evyatar David, the former Israeli hostage seen around the world in shocking images that showed him severely emaciated and being forced to dig his own grave. David spent more than two years in Hamas captivity before being released as part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement last year.

[18:55:06]

In the months since, David has been overcoming unimaginable trauma, and he joined me from his home just outside of Tel Aviv earlier this week. He speaks about what he endured and shares an extraordinary message of resilience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): It's an image that shocked the world. The emaciated figure of Evyatar David in a Gaza tunnel after being held by Hamas for more than two years. Evyatar was finally released last October, back into the arms of his family.

Now, nearly a year later, in his first international interview, Evyatar, who has made a remarkable physical recovery --

GOLODRYGA: You look fantastic.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): -- says he is still dealing with the mental toll.

EVYATAR DAVIS, FORMER HOSTAGE: One hour, it can be fine and happy. And the second one, I can remember something from captivity and get flashbacks. And also, I can wake up at night from nightmares.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Evyatar was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, 2023, and dragged into Gaza. He was held alongside his best friend since childhood. Guy Gilboa Dalal for much of his captivity.

In a propaganda video released in August 2025, Evyatar was forced by his Hamas captors to list the days he went without food. His skeletal body looking close to death.

DAVID: We were in extreme starvation. Everything is saying and saying there and doing, they tell me what to do, but of course, how you can see my body, it's totally true. I could not -- I could barely move, I could barely do anything.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): In an act of horrifying psychological torture, Evyatar was also forced to dig his own grave.

DAVID: When I -- when I tried to dig the grave just to. Just to hold the shovel, it was almost impossible. Probably the hardest physical thing I ever did. They took me like 50 meter -- 50 meters walk. And for me, it was almost, I almost collapsed. It was almost impossible for me to do.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Evyatar says his captors would sometimes eat in front of him. Another kind of torment.

DAVID: I can hear them laughing and eating cakes and drinking tea like there is no person that walks like next to them and looks like a skeleton. But this is how they are. They are very cruel.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Since those scenes of jubilation when after 738 days, he and Guy became some of the last hostages to be released from Gaza, Evyatar and other survivors say they have not had enough help from the government. His family and friends launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for his recovery.

GOLODRYGA: What could you tell this government or the next government? Because there are elections just weeks away about what they could do differently and better.

DAVID: We do not have enough help. This is why I do the campaign that my family and friends did for me, for raising money, and I hope the next government will do better.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): As for the broader situation between Israel and Hamas, Evyatar does not have high hopes for a resolution. The U.S.-backed Board of Peace announced in recent weeks that Hamas had agreed to disarm if Israel withdraws its troops from Gaza, a move which President Trump called historic but which has so far been rejected by Israel.

GOLODRYGA: You spent over two years underground with some of these men, these terrorists. You know them in a way no negotiator ever will. Do you allow yourself to envision a Hamas-free Gaza and peace?

DAVID: No, I don't think it's possible because they are pure ideology. They just want the whole land. They don't really care about Gaza. I could see -- I could see it in their eyes. It's -- it's the thing that they want the most. I never saw something like that. It's scary really.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): For Evyatar, each celebration of life's milestones now represents victory. He recently attended fellow former hostage Eliya Cohen's wedding.

DAVID: You know, they tried to take all of us and take our lives and ruin our family's life, and everybody's life. Eventually, they did not manage to like, ruin Eliya and Ziv life. Eventually, they got married under the chuppah, and it is the biggest closure in victory.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Evyatar and his brother will tour the United States in September, speaking about his captivity, something that he says helps in his recovery.

All right. Well, you can follow me on X and Instagram @biannagolodryga. You can follow the show on X and Instagram @TheLead.

Do you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD? You can watch the show on the CNN app.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.