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Mangione Could Plead Guilty in Federal Case Today; Concerns over Conditions on USS Lincoln; Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) is Interviewed about the USS Lincoln; Muncie, Indiana, Mayor Dan Ridenour is Interviewed About Flooding; Lake Mead Hits New Record Low. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired August 14, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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[09:00:00]

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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, we are standing by at this hour for Luigi Mangione, set to return to court, where sources say he could plead guilty to federal charges tied to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Also this morning, the Navy and the defense secretary now pushing back as lawmakers demand answers following reports of sailors on board the USS Lincoln being pushed to the limit by a 250 plus day deployment, food shortages and other worsening conditions.

And after 99 birthdays, just how do you ring in 100? Well, obviously, you jump out of a plane. Doesn't everybody? The big leap that's become a tradition now for one woman.

Sara, John and Kate are all off today. I'm Erica Hill, holding down the fort with my friend Danny Freeman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: In just under two hours, Luigi Mangione is expected to return to court for a quickly scheduled hearing, where sources tell us he could plead guilty to federal charges tied to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Federal prosecutors charged the 28-year-old with stalking that resulted in death. Those charges could see him sentenced to life in prison.

Meanwhile, in state court, he is facing second degree murder and weapons charges. That trial is scheduled to begin in just a few weeks, on September 8th. But any plea deal on the federal charges could impact that state case.

CNN's Kara Scannell is outside of the New York courthouse where this is all happening.

Kara, tell us, what can we expect today?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Danny, sources tell CNN that Luigi Mangione is likely to plead guilty today. They are still working through the terms of this agreement. And nothing will be set in stone until he actually appears in court and they go through the process.

But this is the state of play. Things are still fluid. But the -- what he would come in today would be to face these federal charges, these federal stalking charges, in connection with the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

But this could have a big impact on the state case, where he was set to go to trial in just a few weeks on state murder charges for the same crime, essentially. So, if the guilty plea goes through today without a hitch, then it is likely that his lawyers will move to try to get the state case thrown out. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office have raised concerns about that throughout this process, and they have said that they want to make sure that whatever outcome exists is just for Brian Thompson's family.

Now, sources tell me that members of his family and executives from UnitedHealthcare will be at the court hearing today to see how this unfolds. The sources also say that no members of Luigi Mangione's family are expected to today -- to attend today's conference.

So, things are still fluid on the ground. We're a few hours before the court hearing gets underway. But sources say that it is likely impossible that he will plead guilty today to these federal charges, but ultimately it will come down to what happens in the courtroom to see if they get across the finish line and to see if he does ultimately plead guilty. The big question will also be then the state case and whether that moves forward. There are -- a lot of litigation will be expected there it's expected, but we're just a couple of hours away from that today. Anything can happen. Things could change.

But this could be moving toward a resolution of this case. A story, the shooting in midtown Manhattan that really kind of shocked the nation, and that ignited a huge debate about the health insurance industry.

So, we're standing by, Danny. We'll let you know what happens as this plays out in just a couple of hours.

FREEMAN: Yes, it all did indeed, and we're very thankful to have you down there.

Kara Scannell, thank you so much for that reporting.

Erica.

HILL: This morning it has now been more than 250 days at sea and more than 200 days since the ship, the USS Abraham Lincoln, last pulled into a port. And the crew on board now, his has really become a marathon deployment as this war with Iran stretches on. And, this morning, there are growing concerns about their well-being as we're learning more about the conditions on board.

Sources telling CNN a sailor jumped overboard this month.

[09:05:00]

That sailor was rescued. But that account comes amid reports of similar attempts by multiple crew members. That's in addition to the reports of food shortages, contaminated water, plumbing issues. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calls the reports, quote, "completely misrepresented."

CNN's Brian Todd is following a lot of these developments for us.

So, Brian, what more do we know this morning about the actual conditions on board that ship and what type of relief is on its way for these sailors

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, these reports are nothing short of jarring. Our colleagues, Pamela Brown and Ross Atkins, site three U.S. officials as saying a sailor on board the aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, went overboard earlier this month. Two of the officials tell CNN the sailor was quickly rescued, was medically evaluated, treated, then transferred off the ship for follow-on care. One official said the sailor went overboard wearing a life vest and was not injured. The official added that the Navy considered the incident a mental health episode.

Now this incident, which has not been previously reported, adds to the growing concerns about the crew of the USS Lincoln. The news outlets "Stars and Stripes" and the Navy Times" reported this week that there had been multiple attempts by crew members on the Lincoln to jump overboard. Those outlets cited interviews with sailors and families of those on board who described the impacts of a very lengthy deployment.

Now, according to Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, the Abraham Lincoln has not made a port call in more than 200 days. That's about six and a half months.

Now, just last month, our colleague, Pamela Brown, was reporting on board the Lincoln. She spoke with Airman Randall Stone (ph) about the low morale on the ship and just what he had to say about the food rationing alone on board was disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You said that there was like food was -- there wasn't much food. Tell me about that.

AIRMAN RANDALL STONE: Oh, man. Let me tell you. So, we were running pretty low on rations. I mean, at some point, some points of the day, it would just be about noodle -- noodles and tuna mixed in together and that was it. Sometimes --

BROWN: That's all you were eating.

STONE: Sometimes you'd get a corn dog. Sometimes you'd get a hot dog. But, you know, those were some -- those were some rough days. I'm glad we made it past that.

BROWN: It was during the beginning, right, of the --

STONE: Halfway through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: And that's not all. The "Navy Times" and "Stars and Stripes" report that about a week ago about 200 family members of the sailors on board the Lincoln voiced concerns over the sailors' mental health and safety conditions when they met at a town hall meeting in San Diego with Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao and other senior officials. The "Stars and Stripes" reported that during that town hall, one spouse was in tears when she said she had received a message that very day from her husband saying, quote, "he hopes he doesn't wake up tomorrow," end quote. In a statement to CNN, the U.S. Navy said, quote, "we have not observed an increase in suicidal ideation or attempts aboard the ship. We take every service member's well-being seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise," end quote.

One U.S. official told CNN, the Navy's internal tracking of reports of suicidal ideation on the Lincoln had actually gone down in recent months. Nevertheless, Erica, the USS George Washington carrier strike group is on the way to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln.

HILL: All right, Brian, appreciate it. Thank you.

And I should note, coming up in our next hour here in "THE SITUATION ROOM," Senator Richard Blumenthal will join to discuss his letter, which he sent to the Department of Defense, over these concerns on the USS Lincoln.

Danny.

FREEMAN: Joining us now is Congressman Jonathan Jackson, a Democrat from Illinois. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Let's start here. What is your reaction to these reports of harsh morale and conditions on board the Lincoln?

REP. JONATHAN JACKSON (D-IL): Well, first of all, these soldiers should be believed. These are people that are -- don't have a political agenda. They've sworn to give their life for our country. We give them the lip service of grateful for your service, but look at the horrendous conditions that they're in. So, first of all, I would ask again Secretary of Defense Mr. Pete Hegseth to resign, do something that has merit, has credibility. He's not capable of leading this service.

The worst thing you can do is to deflect and then deny these people's pain. There are service members who are hurting. They have mental anguish. They have a monotonous task. They've been out on this platform for over 260 days. They have substandard food.

Think about this here. The physical aspect of what they're going through. Five thousand people are on this ship. This is a floating city. This is 95,000 tons that is now in the Arabian Sea. I've raised this concern early on. The average temperature is 100 degrees sitting out there in the Arabian Sea. And they've been out there. And now the toiletry, the heating, the air conditioning, the cooling, it's unsustainable.

[09:10:01]

This was an ill-conceived war. And now we're all paying the price. Believe our soldiers. Let's bring them home.

FREEMAN: Congressman, I'm curious, from your position, especially in Congress, how closely do you think Iran is monitoring these reports? I mean, do these reports of harsh conditions, does that put our service members at risk when it comes to the enemy here?

JACKSON: Absolutely. And this is the Iranians calculation that -- almost like an Ali (ph), that this would be a rope-a-dope, that they anticipated the United States coming. They had decentralized their attack. They had what they call a mosaic defense where there were 31 separate military branches, divisions that could shoot back and hit bases where we've had over there in the gulf states where this ship would normally go to refuel and take people to port. Those bases have now been destroyed. And so now we've had to push this ship out into the Arabian Sea, miles away, which is harder to get the refueling, harder to get the food. So, the logistical plan was totally annihilated.

And so, yes, the Iranians were underestimated and their level of sophistication, the weaponry that they had, that they would be able to use low-tech, low-cost drones to do severe damage to our bases. This is why Secretary Pete Hegseth showed up in June, before we left for recess in July, asking for an emergency $85 billion. They strategically took out the air defense systems. They started attacking the bases. They pushed our aircraft carrier further out so that the ship -- the planes would have a harder time being able to be sent into the eastern part where their bases are in the bunkers where they're making those drones.

FREEMAN: Right.

JACKSON: So, no, this was terribly thought out. It was not thought out by Mr. Hegseth.

FREEMAN: Congressman, I want to get your reaction to new reporting on the dwindling U.S. weapons stockpile amid the ongoing war. According to "The Washington Post," which cites U.S. officials, the military has lost about 25 percent of its MQ-9 Reaper drone fleet during this war. How vulnerable does this leave our military since this has been such an important surveillance tool in this war with Iran?

JACKSON: Well, it's huge. Think about this. These are very sophisticated weapons that have to use a supply chain that's linked around the world. When we start on raising tariffs, start undoing trade restrictions, we start limiting the amount of supplies that we have. We do not internally manufacture all the things that we need to produce a bomb. So, we have to get certain critical minerals out of China. They've got to get them out of Africa. We've got, you know, 700 million people that effectively had bans from Africa. The world is not cooperating with us. So, in order to assemble those weapons that we currently have, they've been connected from the entire world supply chain, and now we've disrupted it. So, no, replenishing it is going to be even more difficult.

FREEMAN: And the last thing, Congressman, I'm just curious, does --

JACKSON: And I don't even want to talk about the mismatch of them having $30,000 drones versus our $2 million missiles. So, they had also anticipated the attrition rate at which we would end up having to spend too much. And we're talking about -- we have $1 trillion Defense Department budget. They have less than a $10 billion defense budget.

FREEMAN: All right, Congressman Jonathan Jackson, thank you so much for sharing your perspective this morning on the evolving situation in the Middle East. Appreciate your time.

Erica.

HILL: A statewide disaster emergency declared in flood-ravaged Indiana. And the rain isn't over yet. We'll speak with the mayor.

Plus, the water level at the nation's largest reservoir has now reached a record low. So, do officials actually have a plan to address the crisis?

And a jury is now seated in the Tupac Shakur murder trial, nearly 30 years after his death. We have the latest for you on opening statements.

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[09:18:11]

HILL: Happening now, a flooding emergency unfolding in the Midwest. There are flash flood warnings right now in parts of Indiana where days of rolling storms and heavy rain have left communities submerged, and in many neighborhoods, just devastated. In Muncie, the water was deep enough across the streets rescuers had to use motorized boats. The fire chief there says in his nearly 30 years on the job, he has never seen flooding like this. The mayor calling this a 100-year event.

The mayor is with us now, Dan Ridenour.

Mr. Mayor, appreciate you taking the time to join us.

I know you actually just got back from touring your city. Can you talk to us about what you saw this morning?

MAYOR DAN RIDENOUR (R), MUNCIE, INDIANA :Yes, there was some improvement in some areas. We've had a number of areas, primarily on the south side, where the amount of rain we received, which, was the most we've ever -- we've received since 2000 -- since 1923. The amount that we've received was far exceeding that.

So, and Wednesday, when we had this rain come through, we had to do a number of evacuations. We had whole blocks and blocks and blocks of streets in certain sections of town that had to -- people had to be evacuated. The power was going off. And it's been devastating for many, many families.

What I saw this morning was one of those big pockets had completely cleared out. We still had the barricades up because we didn't want people going up and down and viewing and creating havoc because some of the cars were completely underwater. So, we wanted the residents to be able to handle that situation.

But many of those people have been moved out. And so we'll start working on how to get them back into their lives.

[09:20:00]

But there were a couple other areas. There's still massive water you cannot pass through. And the river continues to drop down. But we also had hours of rain last night. It stopped about 35 minutes ago, thankfully. And we hope that we have some time where we can get some additional work done.

HILL: Yes, I mean, just the -- one flooding event is enough, right? But when you're talking about the days of rain, one building on top of another.

You know, oftentimes what we see in these situations, especially when you're inundated like this, is so many areas that don't typically need to worry about flooding, people may not have flood insurance. Flood insurance isn't cheap. They may not be able to afford the flood insurance. How much of that do you think is impacting Muncie?

RIDENOUR: Oh, I think it's very dramatic. In some of these areas, we know that house after house after house they did not have flood insurance. And it's very damaging. That's why we've declared an emergency. Our county did. The state has. And we're hoping that FEMA will get involved.

You know, we have had a number of churches and non-profits and other organizations who are offering to help. And we've got a couple semis coming in with some supplies today. So, we've put them in one of our parks. So, you know, we're making do as we can right now. And we appreciate all the support and a lot of the neighboring communities that were not as negatively impacted as us have offered to help as well.

HILL: It is certainly in the toughest moments, right, is when we see our neighbors shine the brightest as they step up to help. The cleanup is going to be a lot, as I know you know. There's also the lingering emotional toll for your residents. Are you preparing for that as well, Mr. Mayor?

RIDENOUR: Yes, we have been. It's devastating. People can lose their whole lives, you know. I know what it's like to know where something is, and then it's gone. And you have to -- so we're -- we've got a number of resources set up to help with that situation. And -- but mainly we're just trying to make sure everybody is safe. I know we've had 383 confirmed situations where we moved people out of their homes. Primarily seniors. They didn't all go to facilities that we had available. Some of them went to family that -- if they could. But that -- it's just a lot of turmoil and a lot of frustration and just that feeling of loss that people have when you're not in and around your, I guess I'll call it stuff.

HILL: Yes.

RIDENOUR: It's damaging to people's lives and psyches.

HILL: It is. Absolutely. Well, Mayor Dan Ridenour, we appreciate you taking the time to join us. Wish you the best of luck heading forward. And if we can continue to help get the word out about things you need, please do let us know.

RIDENOUR: All right. Thank you, Erica.

FREEMAN: New this morning, a critical reservoir is facing a critical crisis. Lake Mead is drying up. The nation's largest reservoir, which sits on the border between Nevada and Arizona and provides water for millions of people in seven states has fallen to a record low.

More now from CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For the boaters who still love Lake Mead, reminders of the mega drought are all around. The bathtub ring, which shows the high-water mark from the mid-80s, is now almost 19 stories tall. Old sunken boats and worthless drinking water intakes get more exposed by the day.

WEIR: They couldn't have imagined when they built this the kind of mega drought that would drop Lake Mead by 70 percent. That used to be the water intake tower.

WEIR (voice over): A satellite time lapse shows how much of the nation's biggest reservoir has disappeared in the last 25 years. Mead, 27 percent full, while Lake Powell only 23 percent and dropping. Together they keep 40 million people alive in seven states, which have never agreed on how to share. While the dry, lower basin states of California, Nevada and Arizona have volunteered to make cuts, Doug Burgum's Interior Department could force much steeper ones, especially to junior rights holder Arizona, where water is needed to make everything from copper to microchips to most of the nation's winter vegetables.

GOV. KATIE HOBBS (D-AZ): I would argue that all of those things are not just important to Arizona's economy, they're important to the national economy.

WEIR (voice over): And Governor Katie Hobbs seems willing to fight for their share all the way to the Supreme Court.

HOBBS: We are very hopeful that it will align closely with the proposal that we put forward, the three lower basin state proposal. And nobody wants to end up in court. But this is a critical situation for Arizona, and I'm going to use every tool available to me. We have set aside millions of dollars to fight in court if that becomes necessary. I hope it doesn't. But we're not at that point yet.

[09:25:00]

WEIR (voice over): Utah is among the upper basin states refusing to offer new cuts, even as Saint George has some of the cheapest water and highest per capita use in the west. And that's not even counting this private surf ranch with wave and wakeboarding pools for 56 homes and another similar development under construction.

WEIR: You can surf in the driest county in Utah. How can you justify that? Whether they're pulling it out of a brackish aquifer or it's private water, how is that a good look for Washington County?

ZACH RENSTROM, GENERAL MANAGER, WASHINGTON COUNTY WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT: So, unfortunately, like other communities, certain things were approved years and years and years ago. And we're kind of dealing with those. Since then, we have completely changed all our rules. But not just a surf lake, but a data center, or a golf course. We've implemented this very strict policy now of large water users.

WEIR (voice over): Zach Renstrom is trying to get his very conservative county to copy Las Vegas, where nearly every drop of Sin City's wastewater is captured, cleaned, and put back into Lake Mead thanks to the foresight of leaders like Pat Mulroy.

PATRICIA MULROY, FORMER CEO, SOUTHERN NEVADA WATER AUTHORITY: I mean the minute you accepted climate change as a reality, you had to accept that this day was coming. And if you're in the water business, you hope for the best and plan for the worst.

WEIR (voice over): She thinks Burgum should be using more carrots and sticks to get the states to agree, and proposes desalination plants in California for irrigation so farmers could give their shares to thirsty cities and wildlife habitats.

MULROY: To put the states through the pain and anguish of having to go through another round of cut discussions, I would put that off. But where I would put my energy is I would put the states together and empower a body or a group in the lower basin and upper basin to look at ways to augment this river system. I mean we have stayed away from desalination, and it blows my mind. You can't conserve your way out of this. You can't cut your way out of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Thank you, Bill Weir, for that reporting.

All right, up ahead, new polls show who's got the edge in that Michigan Senate battle that could decide the balance of power on Capitol Hill. We're going to look at the numbers.

Plus, calling all Slim Shady fans. This could be your chance to walk a mile or perhaps eight in Eminem's shoes. His rare sneaker collection is going up for auction, and we're going to tell you why.

Stay with us.

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