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New Video Shows Glacial Collapse that Sparked Flood Disaster in Nepal; American Survivors Speak Out After Deadly Nepal Disaster; Jury Resumes Deliberations in Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial; Marine One Again Struggles to Communicate with Air Traffic Control; You Adults Flock to Prediction Markets. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 28, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: .The dad, I guess, who seemed pretty chill, sort of just shooed the bear away. Not sure I would be that chill with a bear eating my breakfast.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking at this hour for the first time, we are hearing from American survivors of that deadly Nepal flooding. They witnessed the wall of water sweeping people away and everything else in its path.

At the same time, more than 1,300 people are still missing, and rescue efforts have finally resumed after being paused for fear of another major flooding event there.

All right, next hour, deliberations are going to resume in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, accused of killing her three children. A jury now deciding if she did it while gripped in a state of postpartum psychosis.

And overnight, word of another communications issue between President Trump's helicopter and air traffic control. Are the president's pet projects in Washington to blame for radio issues?

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

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news this morning, we are getting new information just in on the situation in Nepal. So rescue operations are resuming. They are back on, and we keep getting some new video showing the scope of the disaster.

The rescue efforts, they were paused overnight over fears of a lake that China says was formed in the initial disaster that began overflowing. It threatened another flood. But now those concerns at least have subsided for the time being.

There have been rescues. You know, soldiers pulling survivors just out of the mud that was at a hydropower plant. The disaster has so far killed more than 500 people in Nepal.

More than 1,300 are still missing, including dozens of Americans. And honestly, we have very little information about the situation in China. So this death toll could be much higher.

There is what you're seeing right there, is images of the lake that does have people concerned. It formed during the initial landslide. The rocks and everything dammed the river with trees and debris, and there was concern that the water that was caked up behind it was going to overflow it.

There is also new video this morning of the moment when this all began. Now, if you look closely there, there is a difference between the smoke and the clouds. The smoke-ish is that glacier collapsing, sliding off to the ground there -- that was taken by a Chinese tourist.

And causing this rush of water. The flood water is so powerful. You can see it just pushing that huge boulder, just rolling it like a toy down the riverbed.

I don't think I've ever seen anything like that.

All right, let's get to CNN's Will Ripley, who is in Kathmandu this morning, Will, trying to speak to people there who are desperate for information.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's just really difficult to describe this scene here, but there's a woman who just came and looked at a list of people who were being rescued, and also a list of people who are confirmed dead. I don't know the details of what she saw, but you can see on her face just how anguished she is right now, and we've seen this type of scene just repeated over and over and over again here in the capital of Nepal. This is the teachers' hospital.

It's one of the busiest medical centers in this city. And let me show you this way. Let's just walk through the crowd here, John, because there's a whole wall of people here, and the number of pictures have kind of been increasing throughout the day.

Photos of people who are missing, family members who are waiting here, hoping their loved ones are going to end up on this list here. This is a handwritten list of names of people who are confirmed survivors who are being treated right now at this hospital. All day, people have been hearing that there might be more survivors brought in, but as of the six hours or so we've been out here, still only (INAUDIBLE) survivors, but if you look at this table over here, the number of people who are now registered as missing has grown from 1,200 when we arrived here this morning to now more than 1,600 people.

All these people who are here gathered at the table are adding the names of their loved ones to the list. And about a five-minute walk from here, there's a morgue with a much larger wall of photos of dead bodies, and a much larger crowd of people looking at these photos of dead bodies, trying to see if they can identify their loved ones there. And I saw people, bodies of all ages.

There were men, there were women, there were children.

[08:05:00]

There were also photographs of body parts. They actually were trying to photograph arms and legs that might have had tattoos on them, hoping that family members might be able to identify these remains. Now the worst of it is the video that you've seen now, undoubtedly, at the China-Nepal border crossing.

That large concrete structure that looked to be about seven stories tall, with that giant black wave crashing over it, and another angle that showed row after row of blue buses that were just washed away like toys. Within the last couple of hours, we have spoken with the only two known Americans who survived from that border crossing. They were sitting on one of the buses.

Their names are Pattabi and Anjana. They're from Northern California, from the Bay Area. They said they were sitting on the bus, just chatting with some other tourists from Italy, and all of a sudden, they looked outside the bus and saw people running, and they knew that something was wrong.

Then they looked up the hill, and they saw a massive wall, a black cloud, as they described it. They didn't know if it was water. They didn't know if it was smoke.

But they knew that it was moving very quickly down the hill towards their bus and the other buses that were all parked in a row. They had had breakfast at the hotel with members of tour groups that were inside that building getting their visas processed to cross from Nepal into China, into the Tibet region of China. Those people have disappeared, presumed to be gone.

Even people on their own bus, when they saw this black wall approaching of water, they ran to the right, and passengers, other passengers ran to the left, and they'd never seen them since. But they ran up a hill, and they were able, just sparing a matter of seconds, to be able to get to a vantage point where they could then turn around and watch the horror that was unfolding beneath. Here's a portion of that interview that we just did.

Please take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANJANA RAJA, NAPAL FLOOD U.S. SURVIVOR: So the way it came, it came just like a tsunami. It just came going all the way up. And just like a tsunami, how it sweeps going like a row, it just took the buses, the vans, houses, people, everything.

We saw people just getting sucked in the water. It was so traumatizing to see that. People are screaming, but of course water doesn't hear anything, it just kind of sucked them in. I don't know if they were thrown away somewhere in the shore, but then this happened, it was just a span of 30 minutes. In 30 minutes, everything was swept and gone. It was, there was no water after that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: They don't know exactly how they did it, but they crawled and climbed and ran their way up that hill with a small group, and a local tour operator, who they say really saved their lives because he told them where to go higher and higher up the hill. They didn't have a cell signal, so they had no idea what was happening until at one point they did briefly have a cell signal, and at this point they still didn't know if the flood was over, if there was going to be another event. But what they did when they had a brief cell signal is they picked up the phone and they called their daughter.

And in that 60 second phone call, while they had a cell phone signal, they gave their daughter all of their passwords for their accounts, because they thought that they might not survive. And they wanted her to have all the information that she needed, so that she could do what needed to be done, if they didn't make it. And they told her they love her, and to please take care of their younger son, her brother, who's in the Boy Scouts.

And then the call got cut off, but they've now survived, and we have much more of this interview with them. We had a long conversation with them, and we'll be sharing that with you throughout the day here. But it was just extraordinary and harrowing to hear the details of how they survived.

BERMAN: It's stunning. Will Ripley, I have to say, that is stunning. It's miraculous.

It gives you a sense of the scope of the tragedy. We appreciate the work you're doing. We'll come back to you in a second.

And I just want to show people where Will is. Will's in Kathmandu right here. Not far, not terribly far from the site where all this happened, but Kathmandu not affected.

And he was talking about the border crossing where that couple was there, and you can see all the structures here. The buses were up here. I don't know exactly where that couple was on their bus, but this was before the wave came in, and this was after.

So you get a sense of what they survived there. Truly miraculous. We'll get back to Will in Kathmandu as soon as we can -- Sara.

SIDNER: It is remarkable. I can't wait to hear more of their story.

All right, we're just about one hour from jury deliberations resuming in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy. The jury, nine women and three men, will decide the fate of the mother accused of killing her three children. The defense says she was over-medicated, failed by doctors, and suffering from postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors argue she planned the killings. She knew what she was doing and made a choice. Today, jurors return at 9 a.m. Eastern to weigh whether Clancy should be held criminally responsible for her actions. CNN's Jean Casarez is outside court for us.

Jean, you have been at this trial from the beginning. You have been watching it. Give us a sense of what you have been seeing in court inside and out.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, inside, the jury has been so focused. I mean, what I saw was that they would not deviate from looking at the witness that was on the stand. Even when the defense attorney or the prosecutor was asking the question, they didn't turn to look at the prosecutor and then turn to the witness.

They were focused on the witness. Also, yesterday, when the defense had concluded their closing arguments, the judge asked the jury, you know, would you like a little break? Because they'd been going for an hour.

Would you like a little break before the prosecutor begins? No. No.

They wanted to keep going, keep going. You can tell that they are so focused. You know, yesterday, they deliberated three and a half hours, you know, more or less.

And today will be the first full day of deliberations. But the arguments were focused. They were polar opposites.

But the central issue here is, did Lindsay Clancy know right from wrong on January 24th, 2023, at that pivotal moment? I want you to listen to some of the closing arguments, first the defense and then the prosecution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN REDDINGTON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: How does this turn into this? How? Because of the damn medicine and the lousy medical care.

JENNIFER SPRAGUE, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: She killed them. And she left them there on the floor with the bands around their necks. She didn't bring them up to their beds and put them with their favorite stuffed animal and cover them up gently and lovingly, leaving them peacefully there. No.

She left them discarded on the basement floor like broken toys because she was done playing the game. You know to a moral certainty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CASAREZ: We don't believe there were any questions yesterday, none that we know of, because jurors can have questions as the deliberations proceed, questions of law, questions about the jury instructions. But we'll be right here. And if there are any questions coming out of that jury, we will let you know -- Sara.

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Jean. You have done great reporting throughout this case. We do appreciate you.

All right, to you, John.

BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight. Communication troubles between air traffic control and Marine One, the president's helicopter. This is the second time it's happened this month.

How the construction projects -- the ones the president launched around D.C. -- may be partially to blame.

And why doomsday prepping is going mainstream.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, overnight, new communications problems for Marine One, the president's helicopter. And this is the second time something like this has happened in a month. So the helicopter was trying to depart from the White House when it had trouble talking to the control tower and had to rely briefly on other helicopters to relay messages.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOWER: Do me a favor. I can't hear Marine One. If you hear Marine One, can you let me know?

AIRCRAFT: Affirmative. We have positive calls with Marine One.

TOWER: Marine One, are you trying to reach me?

AIRCRAFT: Affirm. National Tower, Marine One. Proceeding as briefed with momentary delay.

TOWER: Marine One, roger. There is a helicopter traffic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: If you can hear Marine One, let me know. Those are words that you do not want to hear. The helicopter came within 700 feet, we should say, of a passenger jet.

With us now, CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo. Mary, I mean, when we're talking about the president's helicopter, this is supposed to be like a zero-fail operation here. And now twice in one month.

What's going on?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, you know, it's kind of amazing because it's a problem of geometry. You know, we're so used to satellite communications, but this communication is literally radio communication from Marine One to DCA Tower. When the line of sight -- or rather the line of radio communication is out of whack, they can't hear each other. So they had met way back in July, and they worked out the deal as they were moving the helipad. Remember, there's construction going on for the new helipad at the White House, and they were moving it from the South Lawn to the Ellipse. By moving that, it changed the geometry, and the communications weren't as good as DCA.

They needed to move the receiver, which they subsequently did, to the top of the tower at DCA. Why they didn't do that immediately, I don't know, but they have to work it out. And they had an agreement dating back to 2013 that if the radio communication doesn't work, then they transmit the message through joint base, Anacostia-Bolling.

And if that doesn't work, they resort to a telephone. But the bottom line is it's supposed to be secure communications, and so therein lies the problem. They need to get this worked out because they did lose separation earlier in the month with civilian aircraft.

BERMAN: And, Mary, there was another incident that we got new information on overnight. This had to do with the Air Canada jet that collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia and killed, well, I believe there were deaths there. And we learned that two air traffic controllers left work early that night.

They left their posts early that night, which is a pretty glaring headline. And then I was reading in various newspapers that this is something that sometimes happens. What's going on here?

How concerning is it?

SCHIAVO: Well, it's very concerning, especially it's going to come down to what they've already told investigators. Now, everyone knows that the FAA still says there are about 1,500 air traffic controllers short. They've been hiring or trying to hire over 2,000 a year, but training takes a couple years, and hiring is not just a simple overnight thing.

[08:20:00]

But the question is going to come down to where is their leave -- they're leaving their job post that night approved by their supervisor? Was it known or did they just walk out? And what has been said to the investigators?

Because obviously not revealing this to the investigators would be potentially, you know, a serious offense, even a crime if you're lying to federal investigators. But if the leave was approved or if they were allowed to go home early and the supervisor approved it, then the issue comes down to, then why are you doing this when you have a shortage of air traffic controllers? Some people will argue, I can see this coming, that, look, they have to do mandatory overtime, they work six-day work weeks.

You know, they thought that was OK and it was approved to leave that night. So the facts behind all this will come out. And if it wasn't approved, I would expect very swift and severe punishment, you know, removal from the job, maybe something worse if they didn't tell the truth to the investigators.

But the FAA is not known for swift, decisive punishment action. That remains to be seen.

BERMAN: Mary Schiavo, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

We are seeing new images out of Nepal. Not this, other ones of the disaster that struck there, the cataclysmic flooding. And we are hearing for the first time from American survivors. They were inside one of the buses at this border checkpoint.

You will just not believe the story they have to tell.

And a pilot had nowhere else to land but straight into the ocean. What led to this crash?

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: New this morning for you. New data shows young adults under 21 are flocking to prediction markets as their popularity explodes. Young adults are barred from most kinds of gambling in the U.S. But prediction markets allow them to put money down for predictions on everything from sports to elections to culture and even the weather. CNN senior reporter Marshall Cohen has more on this story. It is popular. I hear from a lot of young people that they are really into this.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: You got that right, Sara. Five billion dollars. That's the amount so far this year spent by these young Americans ages 18, 19 and 20 on Kalshi, which is the most popular prediction platform in the country.

But most people don't realize that prediction sites technically aren't considered gambling under the current law. Gambling, like you said, is regulated by the states. In most states, it's 21 plus.

These prediction platforms are treated more like the stock market and other derivatives markets, and they're regulated by the Feds. They are 18 plus. And a lot of critics call that a loophole.

So you can see the numbers right here on your screen. They are significant. $5.4 billion in estimated trading volume for those young under 21 adults on Kalshi and almost $4 billion of that is sports -- by far the most popular category on these prediction sites.

And everyone I've talked to said that number is going to pop just two weeks from now when the NFL season gets underway. So for its part, Kalshi insists that it takes this very seriously. They say they have aggressive internal safeguards to protect younger users like deposit limits and warnings sent to you on the app if you are showing patterns of unhealthy trading.

And Kalshi also donated $2 million earlier this year to a group that combats gambling addiction and trading addiction.

But I'm going to be honest. The states are just not buying it. Look at this map, Sara. Forty four states across the country have banded together to call for more regulation.

This is blue states. It's red states. It's in all corners of the country.

State attorneys generals have said we don't think this is investing. We don't think that this is a financial market. We think this is a casino and it should be regulated as such and taxed as such, too.

That's being debated in the courts. There's still not a final decision on that. We'll see what happens.

But huge numbers here. And, Sara, I should also just point out before I give it back to you, CNN has a partnership with Kalshi. We use its data to cover some major events.

But editorial employees like you and me are not allowed to use prediction markets for obvious reasons -- Sara.

SIDNER: For obvious reasons. And when it comes to young people, it's kind of getting them in the habit of betting. It's kind of getting them in sort of the habit of seeing if they can make money by guessing on something.

Maybe they're educated guesses, but that has a lot of people concerned as well. Marshall Cohen, thank you. Great reporting from you this morning. Appreciate it.

All right, ahead, the frantic search is happening right now for survivors. After a scare overnight that stops the search happening in that devastating flood area in Nepal, we're hearing from Americans now who made it out of the disaster alive.

And President Trump signs an executive order to rename Lake Ontario Lake America. What Canada's prime minister is saying about all that.

Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)