Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Deadly Flood Disaster in Nepal Update; Jolene Gosha is Interviewed about Her Missing Friend in Nepal; Jury Resumes Today in Clancy Trial; Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) is Interviewed about Changing Lake Ontario's Name. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 28, 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]

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Cool out time. You could spend millions on getting your place potentially to survive in great luxury and comfort in that kind of silo, if indeed something you didn't expect goes wrong.

And then, on the other end of the spectrum, we went to a sliver of beach in Mexico, which I have to say was like staggeringly arduous. A really beautiful place to be. But we learned the most basic survival skills there. How do you start a fire with nothing. How do you catch fish with nothing. Build your own shelter. Look, things you might think, oh, yes, I know how to do that. But ultimately, when you're thrown into 35 degree plus 100 Fahrenheit heat in a place like that, exceptionally hard. And I have to say, I was staggered by how ill- prepared I was for anything like that.

And it's a sign, I think, really of people, you know, thinking, if they have all the money in the world, they can provide for themselves the possibility of perfect luxury until the end in this, quote, end of times, which is so staggering how many people we spoke to in this felt is going to come at some point in our lifetime. And on the other end, to the real harsh survival world of, if you basically have a knife, how do you start a fire and try and feed yourself? It's so hard to count the calories and keep working.

John.

BERMAN: I got to say, when that time does come, Nick, you will be my first call after everything you've learned with this reporting.

Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much.

The whole episode of "The Whole Story" airs Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern on CNN and streaming Monday on CNN All-Access.

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

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Any moment now, a jury will resume deliberating in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. She is accused of killing her three children. Her defense says she didn't realize what she was doing because she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors tell a different story. We could have a verdict as early as this morning.

And breaking this morning, the number of dead and missing mounting now in that Nepal disaster. Rescue efforts have resumed as we hear for the first time from Americans who survived after being on a tour. What that wall of water, as it rushed towards them, they talk about what they did.

And some incredible video now showing the moment a woman was rescued after being pinned under an SUV. We'll tell you how this ended.

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

BERMAN: All right, we do have breaking news this morning.

We are now hearing from two of the only Americans who are of known to have survived the catastrophic flooding in Nepal. That so far. Just the terrifying stories they tell. They are moving and they're, frankly, shocking. We'll get to that in just a second.

Rescue operations have resumed in the flood zone. They paused overnight over fears that a lake that China says was formed by the initial disaster, there was concern that that lake was overflowing, threatening a new flood. That didn't happen. They're back working again, although it is nighttime there.

A closer look at one of the situations that had them on concern -- concerned. This is the lake that was formed when the debris fell, blocked the river there. That may have been overflowing. Apparently not as much of a concern now.

There's also new video of around the time of the initial landslide, when the huge piece of glacier, you know, several thousand feet long broke off a mountain, fell several thousand feet. You can see those highlighted areas a little bit where the clouds are sort of distinguished from the puffs of, I don't know if it's smoke, but it's debris billowing up there among the clouds. They believe that was the glacier falling.

The death toll in Nepal has now soared to more than 500 people. More than 1,300 are still missing. Although you're going to hear in a second from Will Ripley that that number, 1,300, may be low. That number may be rising. So, let's get to Will Ripley on the ground in Kathmandu.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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 rows -- a row of blue busses that were just washed away like toys.

Within the last couple of hours (AUDIO GAP) we have spoken with the only two known Americans who survived from that border crossing. They were sitting on one of the busses. Their names are Pattabi (ph) 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 busses that were all parked in a row.

[09:05:05]

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 are -- 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.

ANJANA RAJA, NEPAL FLOOD U.S. SURVIVOR: When we ran out, the other nationals who were there, they ran out with us. Except for one lady, the Italian. We ran to the right of the bus. She took the left of the bus and vanished.

And then we started going up the cliff, which was right beside the bus. So, the only good thing that our driver did was he parked the bus a little on an incline. So, the water didn't hit our bus first. It kind of went through the road first.

So, the way it came, it came just like a tsunami. It just came -- going all the way up. And just like a tsunami, the -- how it sweeps, going like a row, it just took the busses, the plants --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Houses.

RAJA: Houses, people, everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

RAJA: We saw people just getting sucked in the water. It was so traumatizing to see that. People were 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 on (INAUDIBLE). There were -- there was just mud everywhere. RIPLEY: They don't know exactly how they did it, but they crawled and

climbed and ran their way up that hill along 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 home. And they told her they love her and to please take care of her (AUDIO GAP) younger son, her and her brother, who's in the Boy Scouts. And 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, just extraordinary and harrowing to hear the details of how they survived.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: So, our thanks to Will Ripley for that report. And we'll get back to Will as soon as we can.

With us now is Jolene Gosha, whose friend is among the more than 1,300 people missing after those floods there.

Jolene, thank you so much for being with us.

Your friend is Venus. When was the last time you heard from Venus?

JOLENE GOSHA, FRIEND MISSING IN NEPAL: The last time we heard from him was, I believe, two days before it happened. So, when he arrived to the hotel, he sent a friend a video of his view from the hotel.

BERMAN: And you say the hotel. Where do you think he was when this disaster struck?

GOSHA: The last update I heard was that the owner of the tour company had spoken to his tour guides at Hotel Kailash (ph), and they were rounding up the team and the group to have breakfast at the hotel. And about 30 minutes later is when it hit.

BERMAN: And that hotel --

GOSHA: So, we believe he was eating breakfast at the hotel.

BERMAN: Eating breakfast at that hotel. And was that hotel at that border crossing where we've all seen so much of the video from that area that was just hit by that wall of water?

GOSHA: Yes, it was very close to it. I've seen helicopter footage and it doesn't look like the hotel is there.

BERMAN: Again, and we've all seen those dramatic pictures of what happened there.

When did you realize, when did you realize where he was, where Venus was, and how close to the disaster he had been? I know that we were here the other morning, seeing the video from the first time. I was with Kate, my co-anchor. It just took our breath away. What was it like for you when you saw it?

GOSHA: So, two nights ago I -- a friend reached out and, you know, talking about Venus being in Nepal.

[09:10:06]

But, you know, I just thought the odds of him being right in that location at that time. And one of, at the time, 47 Americans was so slim. So, we were just hoping that cell towers were down and we would hear from him. But about yesterday around 7 a.m. is when we found out that he was right there at the hotel.

BERMAN: What information, if any, have you been able to get beyond that from either authorities or people who had been in contact with him? Anyone?

GOSHA: The only information we have is that the last time it was confirmed, his location was approximately 30 minutes before the flood hit and no one -- he hasn't been online. No one's heard from him since.

BERMAN: Oh, I'm so sorry. I know this has got to be incredibly difficult, every minute that passes. I think before we did have some video of Venus. Can you just tell us a little bit about him?

GOSHA: Absolutely. Yes. Venus is the life of the party. And he's so carefree and joyful. He brings a smile to everyone. He always has a smile. He truly dances as if no one is watching. He doesn't care. He is just, he's just an amazing human to be around.

BERMAN: Well, we know he is -- he is with you. We are hoping for a miracle there. This is a difficult time, I know, for so many people like you who just, right now, are dealing with the unknown.

Jolene Gosha, thank you for being with us. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about your friend Venus. Appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John. A lot of heartbroken people at this hour because of that tragedy.

Breaking this morning, we are just moments away from the jury resuming deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. The case is now in the hands of nine women and three men who will decide the fate of the mother accused of murdering her three children. The defense is arguing she was overmedicated, failed by doctors and

suffering from postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors argue she planned the killings, knew what she was doing. The jury is now weighing whether Clancy should be held criminally responsible for it.

Those are the five options here in front of you that the jury has to consider. The most serious charge is, of course, first degree murder. Clancy has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.

Joining me now is Michael Moore, former U.S. attorney. But let's first get to our Jean Casarez, following this case from the start. You are outside court. What are you learning at this hour?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me tell you what's happening right now inside. You know, different jurisdictions do it in different ways. But this morning, the defendant is in the courtroom. The attorneys are in the courtroom. And they are waiting for the jurors to come into the courtroom. And this is -- this is done in many areas where the jury just comes in, the judge welcomes them, asks them if they had a good night, probably makes sure they haven't watched, listened or talked about this case at all, and then they're sent out to start deliberations. But that's what's happening inside the courtroom.

Now, this is their -- going to be their first full day of deliberations. They deliberated about three and a half hours yesterday. So, today will be an important day. But remember, there are several hundred pieces of evidence that are in that jury room with them. Videotapes, audiotapes, journals from Lindsay Clancy, doctors reports. It goes on and on. And the focus will be to look at them if they need to, talk about them if they want to, but then finally come to that ultimate decision of which one of the charges that have gone to them do they believe, beyond a reasonable doubt, is the appropriate one.

SIDNER: You are outside court. We are just learning that inside court the jurors are now leaving the courtroom to go and continue their deliberation. They deliberated about three hours yesterday and there is more to come today.

Let me get to you, Michael. What is the precise legal question this jury has to answer about her mental state and the time -- timing of killing her children. Because the question they don't have to answer is whether she did kill her children. That question has been answered. She has killed her children. The question is whether she was in the right mental state, did she understand what she was doing, correct?

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Yes, that's right. And good morning to you all.

This -- the jury has really got to weigh this mountain of evidence that both cuts for and against the prosecution's case, and that is, did this defendant, did she have the capacity to actually, at the time that the crime is alleged to have happened, did she have the capacity mentally to do it? [09:15:12]

And that's going to be what they have to struggle with. The state has charged this case as if, you know, it's a heinous, intentional killing by charging the murder in the first degree. They have the second degree, the manslaughter charge, those things that are lesser. But they -- if they want to get a conviction on the most serious charge, they're going to have to show that what she did was knowing and intentional and that she had malice and that she was exceptionally cruel. Well, that -- you can say that cruelty happens pretty much in any murder case by just the taking of a life.

The problem that they have is, and I heard Jean mention all the evidence that the jury has in the jury room, that evidence is not just evidence that supports the defense. They'll be able to read through her diaries. They'll be able to look at the doctor's notes and they'll see the story. I think, that her defense lawyer and her team told, and that was that she had reached out for help, that she had not gotten the help that she needed, and that she had this psychotic break. And really, at the end of the day, no matter what they come back with, nobody wins in this case. I mean either, a, the state ends up getting a conviction and they put a very sick woman in jail for the rest of her life with no parole or, b, you know, there's a -- there are families of children that we think about, you know, the terrible nature of the crime. And so, the only positive I see out of this entire trial is that maybe it brings some light to the real issue of postpartum concerns that people have and deal with every day.

SIDNER: Yes, that's certainly what has happened here. A lot of people are talking about, you know, postpartum care, the care of the mother and baby.

Let me ask you, Jean, what you know about the jurors and their behavior because you have been in court, been able to watch and see how they are acting and what they are doing. There was so much emotional testimony here. What did you see?

CASAREZ: Yes. Nine men, three women comprise the final jury, the deliberating jury. And when I was in there, there were so many notes that were being taken. I mean -- and look how long this trial has gone on. And these were expert witnesses. And it was the last few expert witnesses, and they're still writing notes. I saw more notes from women than men, but I did see notes from men.

You know, the jury, they're dressed very nicely. They are very, you know, relaxed and sporty. But one man had a vest on with a tie actually in the courtroom. But they really care. It is so obvious how focused they are. I didn't see them drifting off. I've seen jurors that are sleeping before. I didn't see anything like that. I mean, just really focused in, listening to this very sophisticated testimony at the end about psychiatric issues, psychosis and knowing right from wrong.

SIDNER: They are going to have to weigh all of that, that they have been listening to for days and days now.

Jean Casarez, Michael Moore, it is a pleasure to have you both. Thank you, guys.

John.

BERMAN: All right, that's a live look right now at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Thousands there to mark the historic 1963 march -- to mark the March on Washington with a Defend the Vote rally.

And a woman pinned under an SUV after a crash, saved by police officers who lifted it off of her.

And, no, they are not changing their name back, but the Washington Commanders are selling merchandise with their old logo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:22:49]

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the reverberations of President Trump's executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, this is as the trade war between the United States and Canada intensifies. The Canadian prime minister said the name of the lake is Lake Ontario, quote, now and always.

And it's not just the Canadian prime minister speaking out. I want you to listen to a preseason football game, the opening of a preseason football game last night in Cleveland. This is the legendary Al Michaels having a go at all this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL MICHAELS: In fact, we are now in Cleveland. That is Lake Erie. We think it is still called Lake Erie now on the right. We're not quite sure at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

MICHAELS: But we'll be by lake something like Ontario or whatever it's going to be called by the time we get to Buffalo. Anyway, you know what I'm talking about. Some --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of us do.

MICHAELS: Yes, right. Read the news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now, Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, among other things.

So, Al Michaels had some fun with it last night. Is this just the president having fun?

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, I don't know if we're having fun. The American people, six months after President Trump launched his war of choice against Iran, and weeks into our renewed trade war with Canada, what I'm hearing from Delawareans, John, is that they're sick and tired of this. Gas is high. Groceries are high. Health care and housing are high. Inflation has gone up. And frankly, it's just pathetic that President Trump takes strong action to rename one of the Great Lakes. I expect him to announce the "make America Great Lakes" next.

And, frankly, it's making us a laughing stock. He has threatened and then backed down on all sorts of things. Whether it was his threat of a economic D-Day against Iran just last week that Secretary Bessent walked back, or his threats of tariffs against all sorts of countries that have come and gone, or his threat to bomb Oman a few weeks ago that, frankly, no one took seriously.

This isn't good. A great power can't have a president who routinely bluffs and who, when frustrated, throws a temper tantrum.

[09:25:04]

Whether it's threatening to bulldoze the Kennedy Center if they don't put his name back on it, or signing an executive order to rename a lake that we share with what used to be our closest, most trusted ally in the hemisphere.

BERMAN: What is your preferred outcome in terms of trade with Canada, and how would you get there?

COONS: First, Trump should back down. This is a stupid, pointless trade war with a country that we share the longest unguarded land border on earth with. Look, there are folks who patrol the border for security reasons, but we don't have any military because we have been allies for decades. And so, for a majority of American states, like my home state of Delaware, Canada is our main export market. And for dozens and dozens of companies in my home state and my region, they get critical supplies from Canada. So, whether its plywood to build new housing with or it's oil and gas that we refine and put in our cars to keep our prices low at the pump, I don't think 50 percent tariffs are a good idea.

Look, Prime Minister Carney of Canada is the latest world leader to basically thumb his nose at Trump and say, I've had enough of you bullying us. We're seeing peak Trump because after this midterm election, he's going to be a lame duck. And I think President Trump should rethink whether or not a trade war with Canada sends the right signal to the world, to our economy and our people and to the people of Canada.

BERMAN: So, as I mentioned, you're on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We learned this week that the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, made this visit, this unusual visit to Moscow to meet with Russian officials there. It's not totally clear exactly what it was about. There are reports that he was warning Russia not to invade or engage in any kind of action with NATO nations. There are reports that what he was telling the Russians is, hey, we have intelligence that your war in Ukraine is going badly, disastrously even so.

What do you know, if anything, about the contest -- context of this trip? And what questions do you have? COONS: Well, what I can say is simply what's been reported in the press. And I think both of those messages would have been good messages for him to deliver. First, that Putin's war in Ukraine is disastrous. He's lost more than half a million men. He is making no progress on the battlefield, but he is imposing huge costs on civilians within Ukraine. It's time for Russia to finally get to the table and negotiate. President Trump promised, remember as a candidate, he would end this war between Russia and Ukraine on day one. Here we are a year and a half later, it's time for them to get to the table, and for Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace by having strong support from the United States and the rest of NATO, as they do.

Also, a good reason for this trip is recent increased actions by Russia. There have been jet fighter incursions, drone incursions throughout western NATO. There have been dozens of incidents of sabotage that public reporting suggests are tied back to the GRU, to their intelligence services.

Most recently, an alarming and nearly disastrous planned attack allegedly by Russia in Leipzig, a major German cargo airport where an armed drone was preparing to knock down a German cargo plane taking munitions into Ukraine. I hope that CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Putin that the United States still stands behind NATO, and we will defend NATO against any further Russian incursions, sabotage or attacks.

BERMAN: Senator Chris Coons, we appreciate your time this morning, as always. Thank you.

At least 90 Americans among the hundreds of people missing after the devastating floods in Nepal. How the State Department is getting involved in the rescue efforts.

And very shortly, the Artemis II crew will be honored after their voyage to the far side of the moon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)