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Scott Bessent Announces Sustained Financial Operation Against Iran; 90,000 in Reno Urged to Evacuate as Fast-moving Hawk Fire Approaches; Nevada Wildfire Blamed on Human Activity but Exact Cause Unknown; Prosecutors Call Rebuttal Witnesses in Clancy Murder Trial; Texas Teacher Pleads for Release of Husband Detained by ICE. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 24, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: After not only U.S. military forces, but also U.S. economic interests in the Gulf, as well as the economic and military interests and bases of the Arab Gulf Nations. So this could very well lead to a much broader confrontation, one that the Arab States have tried to avoid, even though some of them have attacked Iran as well. It's going to be something that will require a lot of finesse to keep -- basically keep it boxed in.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Colonel Cedric Leighton, Justin Wolfers, thanks so much for the perspective, appreciate you joining us.

Still to come, some 90,000 people are being urged to flee as a fast- moving wildfire advances toward Nevada neighborhoods.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And later, more witnesses take the stand in the Lindsay Clancy triple-murder trial, as both the prosecution and the defense prepare to make their closing arguments. We have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[13:35:00]

SANCHEZ: Some 90,000 Nevada residents in the Reno area are being urged to evacuate from a fast-moving wildfire that erupted on Saturday. The Hawk Fire spreading fast and continues to burn out of control.

KEILAR: Fire officials say the cause is unknown, but they do say it's related to human activity. CNN's Josh Campbell is on the ground in Reno with the latest.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: The governor of Nevada has declared a state of emergency for Washoe County, which includes parts of Reno where we are here in Nevada, as well as Lake Tahoe. That's because this rapidly evolving fire, known as the Hawk Fire, continues to burn. Authorities say it's now chewed through more than 15,000 acres, currently at zero percent containment. As fire crews continue to battle these flames on the ground, they're also fighting the fire from the air. Authorities have brought in aerial assets, including from neighboring California, again, bringing in fixed-wing and helicopters to try to attack that fire from the air.

Now, this is all part of this ongoing destructive fire season that we've seen throughout many parts of the Southwest, with fires causing mass evacuations, sometimes evacuations of entire towns. Now, we saw in these really dramatic images that on Sunday, near where we are here in Reno, the fire moving very quickly downhill towards residential areas, that causing authorities to issue these evacuation orders. Up to 90,000 people are now being urged to leave that area for their own safety.

Our colleague, Sara Sidner, spoke with one of the fire officials here locally this morning to provide an update.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICHARD EDWARDS, TRUCKEE MEADOWS FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: Fire conditions change rapidly, especially in this area, with the evening winds that we get predominantly anytime after mid-afternoon into the early evening. So, we really encourage those that are under a get-set evacuation, that 45,000 number, to have their stuff ready, have their go-bags ready, have their medications, their pets, their important documents, some clothes, toiletries, whatever they need packed up and ready to go on a moment's notice.

And then we also encourage those folks, if they have a place to go, if they have another place to stay, to go ahead and leave the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: And of course, as the firefighting continues, there's an important human factor in all of this. We're told there have been some injuries, at least three first responders injured, as well as three residents.

Thankfully, none of those injuries are life-threatening. And you have tens of thousands of people that are now displaced. Where we are, this is one of the many shelters, the evacuation centers here in this area.

This is a convention center that has now been turned into a place of refuge for people around this area. You can see the Red Cross has been brought in. People, some of them say that they fled quickly with just what they had on them. That's how fast-moving this fire was.

The CNN Weather team says that weather conditions continue to look concerning throughout the rest of the week, with high winds and high temperatures. It could make it more difficult for these firefighters who continue to try to get some type of containment on this blaze.

Again, as of right now, zero percent containment. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Josh Campbell for that report. So he's one of the final witnesses, jurors will hear from a psychiatrist who examined Lindsay Clancy, says she was not experiencing psychosis when she killed her three young kids. The latest from the courtroom when we come back.

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[13:42:58]

KEILAR: Now to a Massachusetts courtroom where prosecutors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial are wrapping up their case against the mother who is accused of killing her three children.

SANCHEZ: One of the final witnesses, a psychiatrist, who says that Clancy was not psychotic when she killed her kids and tried to take her own life.

Here's part of what he said on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. AVRAM MACK, PSYCHIATRIST: As I understand the deaths, they were done methodically, one by one, in a way that was organized. Similarly, her attempt at suicide was organized and thoughtful in a sense. My opinion is that she retained the capacities that are required for having criminal responsibility for these actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Jean Casarez is following the latest from the courthouse, and she joins us now. Jean, things seem to be especially intense today.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, because this is the battle of the experts, and the expert testimony is what the jury needs to listen to. They need to see what side they believe is reasonable in this case.

But Dr. Avram Mack, who actually was a psychiatrist, he is specializing forensic psychiatry. He testified about many things, but it was really the final day right there. So close in time.

And as you just played, he said that there were very decisive actions, starting from early that morning. He took his -- she took her daughter to the physician, the pediatrician to her five-year-old checkup and found out she needed Pedia-Lax because her daughter was constipated. And then she came home and made a snowman with her children.

And then late in the afternoon, she decided I don't want to make dinner. She asked her husband, will you get take out? She said, can you stop at the CVS and get Corey's medication? And then she also plotted how long it would take him to get to the restaurant for take- out. How long to get to the CVS? How long to get back? He said these were all decisive actions, and they were rational and they were reasonable.

[13:45:00]

On cross-examination, Kevin Reddington said, you might be a psychiatrist, but you deal with children. You don't deal with the issues that are in this case and it got worse from there, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN REDDINGTON, LINDSAY CLANCY'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So it's your understanding from reviewing her medical records that Lindsay never indicated that she was not participating in reality, that she was in a disassociated state, that she was out of touch with reality. You're telling this jury you never saw that?

MACK: I did see that evidence -- that component that she's disassociated (ph).

REDDINGTON: Great.

MACK: I don't see that as a sign, strictly speaking, of psychosis. It may have been in some cases, but I don't see any signs of psychosis or delusions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So this is going to be a pivotal issue for the jury. On that day, January 24th, 2023, rational decisions all day but the psychosis the defense saying is inside of her, manifesting during that time period. So do you go with what you outwardly see or do you believe what the expert is saying for the defense that the psychosis was there, the voices were coming on, they were telling her what to do, they were commanding her to kill her children, and that she was frankly psychotic at that point.

KEILAR: And Jean, another psychologist who examined Lindsay Clancy took the stand. What can you tell us about that testimony?

CASAREZ: Well, this expert went through a lot of the evidence that we have heard from the various witnesses, but what is fascinating is that he actually came to at least one diagnosis that the defense has. He does believe that Lindsay Clancy had bipolar 2, and that's what the defense has been saying all along. They say bipolar 2 that morphed itself into psychosis on that final day, but we're at lunch now and when we come back from lunch, he will finish his testimony.

We've got to see what his opinion is because this is a prosecution witness and they're saying she intentionally, with deliberate premeditation or atrocity and cruelty, killed her children.

KEILAR: Yeah and that bipolar diagnosis and the interaction with medication has certainly been at the heart of this trial as well. Jean Casarez, thank you so much for the latest there as we continue to watch the Lindsay Clancy trial.

Next, a Texas school teacher says her husband was waiting for his green card to arrive in the mail when he was detained by ICE. Hear their story right after this.

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[13:52:03]

SANCHEZ: A Texas teacher is now pleading for the release of her Venezuelan husband. He's been detained for more than six months at a detention center after attending an immigration appointment.

KEILAR: CNN's Carolina Peguero spoke with her and brings us this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEATHER ALAMBARRIO, HUSBAND DETAINED: Neither one of us know when we're going to see each other again. And I don't know when I'll get the call to bring him home with me.

CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN MIAMI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heather Alambarrio, a teacher and U.S. citizen, is moving mountains, hoping to be reunited with the love of her life, her husband Jose Rafael Alambarrio Cardenas. He has been held in an ICE detention center for more than six months.

H. ALAMBARRIO: My husband is kept in a place like that, such a beautiful, kind person. And there's thousands of Rafaels, hundreds of thousands across our country who are in a similar situation. And the weight of that falls on me as I turn to walk away from that place.

PEGUERO (voice-over): Heather and Rafael met during salsa lessons. And months later, they married in 2025 and filed a spousal petition with immigration authorities. They attended their routine ICE appointments in Dallas, Texas, until the last one turned into their worst nightmare, where he was detained.

H. ALAMBARRIO: And I waited, and I waited. And after about 45 minutes, the door opened, and our attorney walked out. And she looked at me, and she just shook her head.

PEGUERO (voice-over): CNN confirmed through court documents and Rafael's attorney that he doesn't have a criminal record. He entered the United States from Venezuela in 2023 and, upon arrival, applied for a political asylum. He passed his credible fear interview, but that case is still under review by the federal government.

The Department of Homeland Security says Alambarrio Cardenas is expected to remain in ICE custody while his immigration proceedings are resolved.

H. ALAMBARRIO: We had submitted all of our documents and even had our interview. So we felt like, you know, if anyone was OK, Rafael would be OK.

PEGUERO (voice-over): After spending several months in the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas, Rafael was transferred to the Adams County Correctional Center in the state of Mississippi. We spoke to him through a video call.

PEGUERO (through translator): [Foreign Language].

JOSE RAFAEL ALAMBARRIO CARDENAS, DETAINED VENEZUELAN NATIONAL (through translator): To be honest, I feel like I'm back in my country, because the way things are being handled are the same way like back home.

PEGUERO (voice-over): Despite the distance and missing their first wedding anniversary, Rafael shares the love he has for his wife.

ALAMBARRIO CARDENAS (through translator): The love of an immigrant, it's not easy. But I never thought it would be this difficult. I love Heather more than anything, and she has showed me the same. And that's what keeps me strong here.

PEGUERO (voice-over): This is not the first case of immigrants married to U.S. citizens being detained by ICE, which is why Heather wants to send this message.

[13:55:00]

H. ALAMBARRIO: Our country is a country that is great because of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights and checks and balances, and we need the balances and checks to be working for us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Our thanks to Carolina Peguero for that report. A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts after a quick break.

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