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Flooding Disaster Hits Nepal-China Border; Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) is Interviewed about Trade with Canada; Closing Arguments in Clancy Trial. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 27, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Taking a swing at some of these videos. Some of them are pretty creative, but some of them, as I mentioned, are kind of cringe worthy.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Brian Todd, you're a national treasure. That's all I can say. I appreciate -- I appreciate the work you do.

TODD: I don't know how to channel the rappers. You know, this is -- this is not the right avenue to do that. But, you know, what can I do?

BERMAN: It's the avenue you have. It's the one you were given.

Brian Todd, appreciate you being with us. Appreciate all the work you do. Thank you very much.

A brand-new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, the death toll rising from catastrophic flooding in Nepal. Authorities are warning of another potential flood surge as rescue crews race to find more than 1,300 people still listed as missing. We are live on the scene in the disaster zone. We will take you there.

And the battle over putting President Trump's name on the Kennedy Center, well, it heads back to court today, days after the administration threatened to demolish the building if renovations aren't allowed to move forward.

And moments from now, closing arguments begin in the Lindsay Clancy trial. The mother who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the murders of her three young children. The case could be in the jury's hands by this afternoon.

Kate is out today. I'm Sara Sidner, with John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news this morning, the death toll jumping again from the flooding disaster in Nepal and Tibet. On the ground, there is this race to find the missing. And that includes dozens of Americans this morning. We're seeing new video of this devastation and the moment it happened.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That's just one of the pictures of bridges we've seen simply swept away by the flow of water and debris.

Of course, the first video we saw was the border crossing, the border crossing from China into Nepal. The wall of water swallowing buildings in just seconds. Now, I said the death toll has jumped again. The official toll now, 350 people killed. We're told 1,300 are still missing. That includes 700 foreigners. At least 65 Americans are among those unaccounted for.

As they try to get to the scenes, you can see some of the pictures here of some of these towns and villages, small cities, covered in so much mud. And there is concern that there is rain on the way today. Officials are saying the likely cause of the disaster was a huge chunk of glacier some thousands of feet long, right, snapping off the side of a mountain there and then plunging down thousands of feet. It pulverized itself into rock and debris and water, and that just flooded down the river valley, into those towns and villages.

CNN is one of the only international networks at the scene of the disaster. Our Hanako Montgomery is there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're just a couple hours northwest of the capital, Kathmandu. And right now I am pretty high up. I'm in a safe location. But just below me is one of the rivers that saw some extreme flooding over 24 hours ago. The Trishuli River. And I don't know if you can see, but just a little far in the distance, there is a suspension bridge that has been partially destroyed.

Now, this suspension bridge helped villagers in this remote area go from one part of the country to the other side in this little isolated island area here. But again, because the suspension bridge has been partially damaged, no one's been able to go across and actually ascertain who here on the other side needs rescuing.

And this is just, I mean, example after example of just illustrating how bad the damage has been after this severe flooding. We know that more than 200 people were killed, hundreds more are missing. And right now, rescuers are racing to find any survivors who might need any medical assistance.

And just again, in the distance here, John, a little far from me here, but there is a house right on the riverbank. And I don't know if you can see, again, part of it flooded with mud. And something I also want to point out to you here is, if you can see, this river bank, it is pretty muddy, but this all used to be green agricultural rice fields. But again, completely covered in mud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, that was Hanako, who filmed that just a few minutes ago. About an hour or so ago for us. She has been on the move and she is now, I think, back with us live.

There you are, Hanako, in the Nuwakot district, I think, still. Give us a sense of where you are, what you're seeing all around you.

[09:05:07]

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, as we talked about (AUDIO GAP) to right now given that it is a really remote part of Nepal, but also because so much of their power (AUDIO GAP) main roads in Nepal. And actually (AUDIO GAP) busses filled with supplies. But right now you can see, I mean, there are hardly any cars around. And again, that is partially because this road has been destroyed because of the flood water. Also, people are sheltering in place (AUDIO GAP) to higher ground. Also trying to find their family members, their friends again due to this very, very extensive damage from the flood water.

And, John, as you mentioned, there is rain forecast for Thursday night local time, which is expected to hamper some of the rescue operations. Rescue teams are still on the ground trying to locate any remaining survivors. But again, that is very, very difficult given the current terrain, the weather, and also because again it's very difficult to get in touch with any survivors right now due to the lack of connectivity.

And, John, the death toll right now, over 300 people are confirmed dead. And we know that (AUDIO GAP) more are missing. Authorities have said that they fear that death toll could tick up in the coming days, in the coming hours even, as they locate more bodies stuck beneath the debris and the mud that we've been seeing in many, many villages.

And just one thing I want to point out, John. We were in a remote village just a few minutes ago as we were driving to this new, current location. And some of the sights I was seeing, I mean, it was absolutely astonishing. I mean gas stations again just completely covered in mud. Homes, their first floor submerged in mud. And this is just some of what we're seeing on the ground several kilometers away from a majority. And the most significant part of the devastation, if you get higher up in the Himalayan Mountains, we would see far, far worse. So, you can imagine just how fearful these locals are seeing their villages completely washed away and their livelihoods also gone beneath the rubble, beneath debris that's just washed away there life (ph).

John.

BERMAN: Hanako, stand by for a second, if you will. We're going to get your video unfrozen. It's great to get that information from you. We still can hear you.

A sense of where Hanako is right now, in the Nuwakot district, this is some video we have from there. And you can see what she was talking about. This is obviously the aftermath after the flooding swept through. But you can just see what happened on the banks of this river where all of what was here just now covered in mud. We don't know if there were other buildings that were just swept away, but this is some of the devastation left behind in these towns that Hanako is describing as she moves closer and closer really to the epicenter of this.

Hanako, I know it's about to be dark there soon. We can see sort of it getting darker as you continue to talk to us throughout the morning. Do people have safe places to sleep? Are people looking for shelter at this point?

MONTGOMERY: Yes, I am. Yes.

You know, we've been able to speak to some of the local villagers who are still trying to find their family members. We actually spoke to a local mayor who said that he had no idea just how many people are actually missing. And I think that just goes to show how difficult it is to really get the full picture, the extent of damage.

The local mayor we spoke to also mentioned that it's been really hard to get some resources in these more remote parts because, again, I mean, roads have been completely blocked or submerged by the flood water. It's also been difficult to get helicopters to even travel there because they have nowhere to land given how bad the terrain is and also how bad the weather was just on Wednesday local time.

And also the local mayor pointed out that, you know, again, his village, though it was affected and though people's lives have been lost, if you keep going further, if you keep getting closer to really the epicenter of that disaster, you will see more and more devastation.

And, John, I don't know if we can pick up some of the interviews and the voices that we've been hearing of survivors. We heard from a couple of people just a few minutes ago of just how devastating this natural disaster has been for them.

Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANAK BAHADUR, FLOOD SURVIVOR (through translator): It came in suddenly and explode like a bomb. The river looked small from a distance, but it suddenly started overflowing and swept through this place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are facing a lot of challenges, and the biggest one being blocked roads. As of now, we are not able to tell how many people are still stuck or buried under the debris, as there is no way to reach the spot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:10:01]

MONTGOMERY: And, John, we still don't know the exact cause of this massive, massive flooding. But we are hearing from scientists that they believe it was partially due to a glacial collapse and also a landslide that occurred at the same time, potentially. And they're saying that that landslide was so powerful, it actually caused an earthquake in this part of Nepal. So you can, again, just visualize how awful this natural disaster has been for locals and also for, of course, the dozens of -- dozens of international family members who are still waiting to connect with their loved ones who are, again, still missing.

John.

BERMAN: It's got to be so incredibly traumatic for them on the ground. Very difficult for the families trying to get any information.

Hanako Montgomery, who is on the scene now, I hope people appreciate, I certainly do, how hard you have worked to get where you are. You and your team have done a remarkable job. And just so people know, we've been trying to get her on the air wherever we can. Whenever the signal is good enough to get to us, we talk to Hanako and her team there because these are the first images we're getting, not what you're looking at now, but some of the pictures you saw before of just the mud covered villages there, talking to people, the witnesses who saw themselves this right here. This is the first type of image we've seen, ground level shots of this today as Hanako and others are reaching these areas for the first time. Just remarkable images. We appreciate the work you and your team are doing, Hanako, and we'll get back to you as soon, again, as we can.

In the meantime, other news today. New overnight, the U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer, says he is not having any active discussions with his Canadian counterpart as this trade war between the United States and Canada simmers, or really even gets hotter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIESON GREER, UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: Canada has had the best deal. We offered an even better deal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

GREER: It would have been a springboard for future progress for us. And now that is -- that's gone away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, no talks. This lack of progress comes as CNN has learned that some Republicans are not so happy with the administration for getting involved in this trade battle just before the midterms.

With us now is Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, who is not a Republican. She is a Democrat from Michigan.

How do you feel about this trade war? How do you feel about the fact that the U.S. trade rep says there's no discussion scheduled?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): That was news to me that I just heard. And it actually depresses me. Because I want to say to you, Canada is our partner. That -- people do not understand how geographically close to Canada that we in Michigan and many other states are. My district is actually north of Canada. Our countries are so intertwined economically. We build more than 650,000 vehicles a year that are sold to Canada. We support 550,000 jobs of the parts that are made to go in Canadian vehicles. A part for an automobile will go an average across the bridge eight different times. And that's economic security, national security. If -- we need them. And they need us. And I think that what we have been watching is absolutely inexcusable. I have a letter that's going to go from a number of members today to the president. I'm looking at introducing a resolution next week. Canada's our friend and our partner.

And just a symbol to me of what we are doing, Canadians paid for a new bridge from Detroit to Canada because we needed one. And, got complicated. And then the United States didn't want to open it because they didn't think it was a good deal. I don't know what's not a good deal about another country paying for it. And the day that we were -- we opened it, we finally opened it after months of -- I won't use the word I want to use, we put a 50 percent tariff on a hockey stick, and the bridge is named after Gordie Howe, who was born in Canada and one of the greatest hockey players in the United States of America. This is not in anybody's interest, and it's not in America's economic or national security interest.

BERMAN: I can see this makes you angry. I can also see you trying to use restraint here, which gets to my next question then, because when the president was musing about changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America, you posted on social media, quote, "let's just call it Lake Natalie, so we know you'll start protecting our Great Lakes."

So, what do you doing there, Congresswoman?

DINGELL: Well, I just was in a mood. You can tell that I know how important Canada is to us. I've gone to Canada. I've testified about the Great Lakes in Canada. I have many friends that are in the Canadian parliament, and we work together to solve problems.

[09:15:03]

The Great Lakes are 20 percent of the fresh water in the world. And let me tell you something, John, do you think a fish in the Great Lakes or in the Detroit Saint Clair River knows whether they're in Canada or America? Do you think a bird knows that they're in American territory or Canadian territory? The air we breathe, we share the air. It's -- this is just a very senseless war we don't need.

And I'll give you another factoid. Just for our hospitals, in Detroit, would have to shut down if we didn't let Canadian nurses come over the bridge every day. Our countries are so intertwined, I just don't know why we are picking this senseless fight.

BERMAN: Congressman, you're certainly in the epicenter of a whole bunch of hot button issues right now, both internationally, domestically, politically, right, with the Senate campaign happening in your state. And you, at a rally, again, you don't like to hide, I think, your emotions hear. You, at a rally, were talking about what you don't want to talk about.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DINGELL: I'm done. This election is about what's going to happen when we elect Abdul to the United States Senate.

I am done. So don't any reporter ask me again about Hasan Piker. It's not what November is about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, I'm a reporter. Why can't I ask you about Hasan Piker, when he has campaigned with Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

DINGELL: Look, I'm going to -- I'll tell you what I'm tired of. I'm really worried about health care. I'm worried about reversing the SNAP cuts. I'm worried about hunger. I'm worried about affordability of groceries and gasoline and housing and a broken health care system. And quite frankly, everywhere I've gone for the last ten days, someone throws a camera in my face or a phone in my face and ask me questions. I don't agree with him. I've made it very clear. And not only do I agree Israel's got a right to exist, but as I got more into him, just, you know, looking at things he's said, there are a lot of things that deeply disturb me.

But he's not on the ballot. And I think people are trying to distract about what's at stake and what happens and what the consequences are after November. And we have a lot of other candidates in Michigan who are running in very competitive seats. People need to be able to talk about the issues that are at stake in November. And a streamer, who I don't understand why he's got so many followers, is not on the ballot, is not what is at stake. The person that we elect and what they're going to do in the Congress, and whether they're going to rubber stamp what comes out of the White House or reverse the health care cuts that have cost millions of Americans their health insurance is what matters to me.

BERMAN: Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, like I said, in the middle of a lot of different things right now. We always appreciate you coming on. And no swears. No swear words this morning.

DINGELL: I got to (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Yes.

DINGELL: I know, I'm behaving. But I do tell it as it is because, John, I'm tired of people measuring each word and not -- and not -- just, I tell it as it is. People know where I stand.

BERMAN: Congresswoman, we appreciate you being with us. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John.

Ahead, happening now, closing arguments in the Lindsay Clancy trial, the mother accused of killing her three children. The jury may actually get this case today. We'll have a live report for you.

And it is no longer science fiction. The future is here. And it has the U.N. sending out an urgent warning concerning killer robots.

Plus, caught on camera. A man outside of jail accused of trying to throw drugs into the jail. What happened to him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:23:14]

SIDNER: Happening very soon, closing arguments are about to get underway in Massachusetts in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy. This is a huge day. This is her attorney, Kevin Reddington, walking into court just moments ago. People started lining up outside of court overnight just to get a spot inside the courtroom to watch all of this go down.

Clancy pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to three counts of murder for strangling her three children. Her attorney says that she's not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time. While prosecutors say that Clancy planned these killings and knew right from wrong.

CNN's Jean Casarez is live for us outside the court. She has watched this trial from the start, and she will be there for the end.

Jean, what are you learning this morning?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're minutes away from the closing arguments. And we have learned that that line started outside court at two a.m. in the morning to get a coveted seat. And it was primarily women.

Well, we know the courtroom is packed now. They've been allowed in. It is primarily women in the public gallery. Kevin Reddington, defense attorney, has been in the courtroom. They're getting everything set.

But it was yesterday, it was the prosecution's final rebuttal witness from the FBI, a forensic psychiatrist, part of the behavioral analysis unit that focused in on that final day, January 24th of 2023.

(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 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.

[09:25:15]

So, the activities of that day were controlled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: The defense attorney in this case, Kevin Reddington, has zealously defended his client. His passion is so, so apparent.

Listen to him after court yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN REDINGTON, 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 has been very attentive, and all we can do is hope for the best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And we do know that Lindsay Clancy just has entered the courtroom. That is never shown on camera. She is the defendant. She is accompanied by two nurses that sit in the front row. A court officer wheels her in.

But the focus here is on the jury. I was in that courtroom, and I saw them very attentive to the prosecution. I saw them very attentive to the defense. They appear to be very fair, looking at both sides of the evidence, but they will announce the final decision.

Sara.

SIDNER: And that is what we expect juries to do. But this case has been heart-wrenching from the start.

Jean Casarez, in Plymouth for us giving us all the latest details, thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, a new push to crack down on autonomous weapons. Why the United Nations says we are now close to -- well, dangerously close to crossing a moral red line.

And then a climber clings to the face of a mountain after getting stuck. But if you're going to get stuck clinging to the side of the mountain, it helps to have cell phone service.

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