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270-Plus Killed, 1,300-Plus Missing After Floods Hit Nepal- China Border; Today, Hearing on Renewed Push to Add Trump Name to Kennedy Center; Soon, Closing Arguments Set to Begin in Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 27, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds dead, well over a thousand missing, and so many disaster sites impossible to reach. The cataclysmic avalanche of water that swept through Tibet and Nepal, we have a reporter this morning racing to the scene.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And in Massachusetts, closing arguments for the trial of the mother accused of killing her three children. The Lindsay Clancy case could actually be in the hands of the jury this afternoon.

And a climber stuck on the side of a Georgia mountain, how a drone helped make this daring and delicate rescue.Kate is off today. I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: Breaking this morning, a surging death toll, the urgent search for survivors, including dozens of Americans, and, frankly, the struggle to get information from the cataclysmic flash flood disaster on the Nepal-China border. We are getting new video in just this morning

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God. Oh my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You can see construction workers just fleeing the torrent of water moving toward them. Then there was this video from the border crossing. This was the first video we saw, that wall of water just sweeping buildings away in just seconds.

The death toll has now, the official death toll I should say, has jumped to at least 270 people. That is almost certain to rise. There are 1,300 missing, including at least 700 foreigners, and every time we say at least, we mean that. There could be far, far more. At least 65 Americans are unaccounted for this morning. Entire villages have been buried in several feet of mud. Rescuers are racing to reach survivors before rain hits the region today.

The likely cause of all of this, a huge chunk of glacier, right, the beginning of that first arrow just snapped off the side of a mountain. It was thousands of feet long. It fell thousands of feet, and the sheer force of that pulverized all the rock and ice and debris into the catastrophic flow that tore through the river valleys. That tip of that arrow at the beginning, that is that border crossing where that wall of water crashed through that we've now seen so many times.

We want to get right to CNN's -- I should note, we have Hanako Montgomery, our reporter, racing to get to the scene, but as you can imagine, it is super difficult to move through Nepal right now.

In the meantime, Gage Goulding's standing by for us to give us the latest on everything we're learning. Gage?

GAGE GOULDING, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I want to start with this. This was a quote that really hit me hard, and I'm going to read it. It's from a scientist that was talking about that giant piece of glacier there, John. They describe the amount of water as a gobsmackingly unbelievable amount of water.

I don't think I've ever heard that adjective to describe an amount of water, and I think that is appropriate. Whenever you look at the video of that border crossing and you see a multi-storey building just absolutely wiped away effortlessly by Mother Nature, gobsmackingly unbelievable amount of water, I think, is probably the most appropriate definition.

And, John, you were talking about the number of those that are confirmed dead and the number of those missing. That number is going to continue to climb. Right now, 270 dead, more than 1,300 missing. Of those is a group of 77 foreigners, including 22 Americans. That is the largest concentration in one single group of Americans that were going to Mount Kailash.

This is a time of year where there's annual pilgrimages up and down this area. There's another group, 100-plus Indian travelers. They're missing as well.

So, there's these pockets of people where -- you know, there is still hope, right? There's a lot of hope that people are holding out that maybe they're just off the beaten path. Maybe we haven't been able to find them yet. But there's also the realization when you see these videos in, you know, today's day and age, where it's immediately posted on social media, you have to wonder. I mean, this is an insane amount of water, a force that you'd wonder how could anybody survive this?

[07:05:01]

So, what I'm saying is for family members of those that are just waiting, it's -- as the days have now been passing, it just makes you wonder what is the answer going to be.

I want to pull up a little bit of an interview with one of those family members. That's the reality right now, trying to find out and waiting for any glimpse of hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAGANNATH UPADHYAY, FAMILY MEMBERS MISSING IN NEPAL: I am positive. I am hoping they have escaped the flash flood and they are somewhere where the network is out of reach and then there is no connectivity. That's my hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOULDING: And this is not just impacting one area, yes, the actual physical impact there in Nepal on the border with China, but this is impacting families in 30-plus different countries, truly a worldwide catastrophe playing out in Nepal right now.

And a lot of us, you know, are still trying to process exactly how does this happen. How does this much water get shoved down a river all at once? And, you know, you were talking, John, about the piece of glacier that fell off there. It was falling about 7,000 feet from the mountainside from what we're being told. And the glacier itself was a -- or I should say the chunk that fell off, was over a half a mile wide, if you will.

Now, of course, these are all approximations, but it was enough to trigger what would equate to a 5.2 magnitude earthquake. That's according to the USGS. And, originally, that's what everybody thought was there was an earthquake that caused this, but in reality, it was indeed this piece of glacier falling off and creating a scene that I don't even think I've ever even seen in a movie.

BERMAN: All right. Gage Goulding for us doing a great job explaining what happened. Gage, stand by, because I want to show people again. This was the glacier. The glacier, which was thousands of feet long, it fell 7,000 feet, crashed into the valley, pulverized itself into water and debris, and then rushed down river. This area right here is that border crossing, right, that point right there, that border crossing where we've seen this horrific video of things just being swept away. You can see the force of that.

I want to give you also just a sense of the destruction. This is a picture downstream of one of the river valleys. This is the before. But take a look here. I want you to keep your eyes up here -- oops, I just jumped forward there -- at that area up there, right there and right here, and just watch as we slide through. And that whole area I just described there, it's gone. It's gone, swept away.

Whatever houses or buildings were there, gone. Whatever housings or buildings here, simply gone as well. You can see again, look at all the structures at the side of this before and I have to see where this is here, and then slide here, that was the after. This is before. So, you can see what it's like before and just how much space has been taken over by the mud and the debris after, just simply devastating.

One more video I'll show you again. We saw this the other day, but these are those buses, right? We saw those buses sitting there. Just watch what happened as the water moved through, just simply took them away, pushed them through that city and really leaving nothing more in its wake. We're going to have much more from the scene. Our reporter is racing to get on location. In the meantime, let's go to Sara.

SIDNER: Really stark, John, seeing the before and after there, especially when you see it consume that four-storey building. It just gives you the idea of the scale, awful. Thank you so much.

Look, we are just hours away now from closing arguments in the Lindsay Clancy trial. She's pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity due to postpartum psychosis. But one of the last voices the jury heard from was a psychiatrist yesterday saying she did know right from wrong the day that she killed her three children. More on that trial ahead.

And act before it's too late, a stark warning from Bill Gates to world leaders about A.I.

And a terrifying moment as police move in against a flame-throwing suspect barricaded with a bomb. How this all ended.

Those stories and more ahead.

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[07:10:00]

SIDNER: Another try to get Trump's name inscribed on the Kennedy Center at issue today in a federal court. The judge already ruled against it being renamed for Trump months ago, but this time, the board wants to add an inscription below the main sign, and they want it to read, restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump.

All of this comes just two months after the venue was forced to remove the Trump name from the building after a court barred them from renaming the center. Since then, a tarp has been covering the front of the Kennedy Center.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House. Alayna, what can we expect from today's hearing, and have there been any comments from the White House?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Look, Sara, this has been quite a saga as it relates to what the board of the Kennedy Center, which I should note is made up of mostly Trump appointees, what they've been trying to do and the issues they've been facing in the legal space.

Now, this hearing today, this emergency hearing you're referring to, is part of a lawsuit brought by Congresswoman Joyce Beatty.

[07:10:02]

She's a Democrat from Ohio. And, essentially, it's against President Donald Trump and the Kennedy Center's board. And, essentially, this was filed last Friday by Beatty. She's an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, I should point out. And she's asking U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to stop the board from its plans to move forward with putting the president's name back on the Kennedy Center and on the front of the complex.

Now, I just want to lay out for you what exactly the board is proposing here, and this was all approved by the group in an August 13 meeting. Essentially, if this is approved, it would put Trump's name on the entryway sign twice and again on a third location on the complex grounds. The proposed signage would read, quote, The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump, endowed by the Trump-Kennedy Center Fund.

And then the last line here would be if the fund had -- if it reaches $100 million in donations. The board is also seeking to rename the physical grounds of the art center, quote, President Donald J. Trump Plaza.

And just to give you a sense of how we've been here before. Just a couple months ago back in May, Judge Cooper had ruled that the renaming of the Kennedy Center, trying to make it the Trump-Kennedy Center, was unlawful. He said in that in that filing, quote, the Kennedy Center's organic statute makes crystal clear that the center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the board's unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.

So, a lot of questions here about whether or not this is legal, what the judge is going to do, and we'll be hearing a lot more of that in this emergency hearing this afternoon. But one other thing I want to point out, because, again, there's been lots of twists and turns to what is trying to be done to the Kennedy Center. This hearing today comes just a couple days after lawyers for the Kennedy Center essentially argued that the institution, the arts institution, may need to be demolished if it does not move forward with planned renovations also approved by this board that has a lot of Trump appointees on it. They essentially said that without that work, the center will deteriorate further into an unsafe, decrepit structure that would be required to be taken down.

So, a lot that's going on and we'll have to see what the judge says, but I'd remind you, he previously ruled that you cannot change the name. This is a different way of the board trying to get at that. We'll have to see what comes of this hearing this afternoon. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. Alayna Treene, thank you so much for your reporting there from the White House.

All right, ahead for us, we're live in Massachusetts, where closing arguments are set to begin just shortly now in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, when this could end up in the hands of a jury.

And three top Service -- Secret Service officials have been placed on leave pending an investigation. What we're learning about this case this morning.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: All right, very shortly, closing arguments set to begin in the trial of a Massachusetts mother who killed her three children. Lindsay Clancy has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to three counts of murder. Her attorneys claim she is not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time, while prosecutors claim Clancy knew what she was doing.

Let's get right to CNN's Jean Casarez, who's been covering this case. She's outside the court in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Big day today, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. People have been waiting for this day. And John, the line started around 5:00 AM this morning to be able to get a coveted seat in that courtroom. The courtroom is on the third floor of this courthouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The final witness for the prosecution in their rebuttal case was from the FBI. He's a forensic psychiatrist in the Behavioral Analysis Unit. His focus was on that day, January 24th of 2023. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GREGORY SAATHOFF, FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: The activities that she engaged in that day spending, time with her children with Play-Doh, taking them outside to, to build a snowman sending photographs of the children to her mother -- to her husband on Instagram, fixing lunch and also fixing dinner for the children. So, the activities of that day were controlled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Kevin Reddington, defense attorney, has zealously defended his client. Here is what he said right after court yesterday afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN REDDINGTON, ATTORNEY FOR LINDSAY CLANCY: I hope to convey that I truly, you know, care and love -- I love her. She's just such a marvelous, sweet, innocent person. She's just amazing, and so strong, and just trying so hard to get up from -- she's been beat down for three and a half years and she feels that she's had a fair trial with the judge, and the jury's been very attentive. And all we can do is hope for the best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: There are quite a few charges going to the jury, first- degree premeditated murder, second-degree intent to kill murder, manslaughter, and not guilty by a lack of criminal responsibility or mental insanity. John?

BERMAN: The jury will have a lot of things to work through here.

Jean Casarez standing by there for the closing arguments, great to have you there. Thank you so much.

All right, this morning, the search for survivors in Nepal. We continue to look at this just devastating video from the cataclysmic flashflood, the avalanche of water that swept through there. We're going to have the latest. We're going to try to get the latest from the scene. Our reporter is racing to get near there.

A police officer under arrest after tracking his girlfriend more than 2,000 times using that A.I.-based Flock camera system.

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[07:25:00]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, there is a surprising poll out that caught a lot of people's attention. It is from New Hampshire, which is a Senate race that frankly hasn't been on a lot of people's radar. You can see the Republican, John Sununu, is leading there, basically too close to call, right, within the margin of error. But if you look at the pure numbers there, 45 is more than 43 percent. That would make New Hampshire a toss-up. Again, this is a state that Democrats currently hold.

With us now, Dave Weigel, politics editor for Semafor, and Jackie Kucinich, the Washington bureau chief for The Boston Globe, Massachusetts, very close to New Hampshire, right, the Globe, the paper of record in New England. I got to believe when people saw that poll, which came out late yesterday, raised a lot of eyebrows.

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE: It did. And and I think for good reason, because we haven't seen these kind of numbers before. I think this is one of these polls, though, that you're going to have to wait and see what some of the other numbers look like perhaps from some other surveys to see if this is an outlier or not, because there hasn't been a whole bunch of polling in for this particular race quite yet.

[07:30:01]

And because it's New England, we haven't even had the primary yet. It is on September 8th.

BERMAN: Yes, which is one of the biggest scandals there is every year.