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U.S. And Iran Trade Attacks In First Major Escalation In A Month; One Dead, Around 15 Missing In Grand Canyon Flash Flood; Trump Calls For FCC Action Against NBC'S Kristen Welker. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 31, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:45]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the U.S. and Iran are trading new attacks in the first major escalation in the war in more than a month. Iran fired missiles toward U.S. military targets in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates after a U.S. strike on Iranian rocket launchers that they say were trying to launch sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

This comes as the other key regional chokepoint is coming under threat, the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The Houthis have threatened to cut off this very narrow waterway through which a big chunk of the global economy transits, potentially opening up a new front in this war.

CNN's Nic Robertson had exclusive access today to an island in that strait. No international reporter has been there since the start of the war. Nic, what are you seeing and what are you learning this morning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. Right now I'm standing at Bab al-Mandab. Behind me is the Bab al-Mandab Strait. And we were out on that island just a couple of miles out to see there. You can see the coast of Africa, which tells you something really important -- just how narrow this vital waterway is. It's about 12 miles -- Africa. We can see it -- Eritrea and Djibouti. We could see commercial vessels going through that narrow, narrow chokepoint.

And a couple of years ago 10 percent of the global oil was passing through that way. It's down to about four percent now.

And if the Houthis manage to break through in their fight north up the coast from here, and the Houthis are the big Iranian proxy. They're the most powerful proxy Iran has in this region at the moment. They have hypersonic missiles. They have targeted Israel before. They've been hitting Saudi oil tankers out in the sea here. They had drones up, according to the Yemini military earlier on today trying to target vessels out at sea.

So if the Houthis and the Iranians behind them are able to get control of this territory where we're standing here in Yemen on the Red Sea -- if they get that it'll be very easy for them to choke off the Bab al- Mandab behind me here. And that means the price of oil could get driven up even further. That means potential political pressure on President Trump.

Look, this is a really little-known war. Very few people ever come here or ever get to see it. It's been sort of a local war that's been dragging on -- a civil war -- for maybe 10 years or more now. You've got the Houthis backed by Iran. You've got the Yemeni forces backed by Saudi Arabia and other allies.

But it has hit a moment where it becomes geopolitical where the Iranians have shut down the Strait of Hormuz because they don't want -- they don't want oil to get out there. And that's to put pressure on President Trump. And now they're trying to shut it down here as well, which would again ratchet up that pressure on President Trump.

And what we've witnessed here -- we've seen the port just up the coast from here that the Houthis rocketed. Vessels destroyed, sunken at the port. That port is effectively closed. We've seen the missiles that the Houthis are trying to have smuggled in here by Iran. Iran sort of put it hiding these missiles in commercial equipment.

And this is what the Yemeni military took us to see and they showed us missiles. They said look, this is a brand-new kit. It is designed to hit maritime vessels shipping. And we not shipping talk -- we're not shipping vessels. We're not talking about small missiles here. The Houthis are not a ragtag force. They control the capital and control a lot of the west coast -- the Red Sea -- in Yemen already.

These missiles are about twice as long, you know, as the span of my arms. Sophisticated missiles for targeting aircraft as well. Sophisticated radar equipment that can scan 80 kilometers into the sky, we were told. That's what the Iranians are smuggling into the Houthis because they want the Houthis to take more control in Yemen and shut down this waterway here.

It's been a real eye-opener to get up close to this war. But the biggest eye-opener, I have to tell you, is being out on that island a few hours ago and seeing just how close Africa is, and then just how easy it would be if the Houthis got here -- and it's not impossible that they would -- for them to shut that waterway off.

SIDNER: It is a stark reminder about how this can escalate.

[07:35:00]

Nic Robertson, thank you for being there -- the first reporter to be able to make it there since the war began. I do appreciate it -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. With us is Congressman Gabe Amo, a Democrat from Rhode Island. He is the vice ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs committee. Congressman, good to see you this morning.

Based on Nic's reporting from Bab al-Mandab and based on the developments overnight with the U.S. and Iran trading fire again, how much closer to a resolution in this conflict do you think the United States is? REP. GABE AMO, (D-RI) (via Webex by Cisco): Well, I don't think we're any closer to a resolution and that highlights the challenge with President Trump's pursuit of a war of choice with no end in sight and no commitment to a diplomatic resolution that is necessary.

The fact of the matter is the American people are feeling the pain of these decisions. The cost of gasoline, the cost of food and fertilizer, the cost that the American people are facing has not been addressed by this president and his commitment to pursuing this war and never having an out but having many inflection points that certainly have not been materialized, whether it's an economic D-Day or continued false timelines. He's left the American people holding the bag and paying the price.

BERMAN: One of the ways that the president suggests the price of oil could come down is with this new deal with Venezuela for the United States to take control or at least profit off of some of their oil.

The Wall Street Journal, in its editorial today, made clear that there's still a lot of questions about this. They wrote in the, you know, Trump takes the oil in Venezuela editorial. "Much still isn't known, but this all looks like an example of the Trump administration extending its creeping crony statism beyond U.S. shores. In the 'Godfather' saga, the Cuban dictator got a golden telephone from him visitors but was soon out of power."

What have you learned from the administration so far about this Venezuelan deal? What questions do you have?

AMO: Well, the devil is in the details, and we certainly haven't heard answers. I returned to Washington this week as the House is back in session and this was one of the big questions that we need to have answers for.

The fact of the matter is the president took us into another conflict bordering on an occupation of a country that he says he's running and doing it for oil. When we have seen wars pursued for oil that has resulted in bad things for the American people and for the world. So we need answers on how this is moving forward and which of his billionaire buddies is going to get rich off of this deal.

BERMAN: So to domestic politics for a moment here. Politico interviewed Sen. Bernie Sanders last night. They were talking about the Michigan Senate race and Abdul El-Sayed, but it has ramifications for the sort of fissures for the Democratic Party writ large.

Now, Sanders told Politico, "I think there are a few who would say, 'You know what? It's not worth it'" -- he meant of El-Sayed winning. Sanders said in an exclusive interview when asked if there are Democrats who want to see El-Sayed lose, Sanders said, "Democrats view El-Sayed and other progressives in his mold as 'a threat to oligarchy' and a 'threat to American foreign policy and our continued support for the extremist Benjamin Netanyahu government in Israel."

Do you feel as if there are Democrats who want to see other Democrats lose in the midterms? AMO: Look, I can speak for myself, and I want Democrats to win at the House, I want us to win the Senate, and I want us to stop the high cost, the chaos, and corruption of Donald Trump.

We have to be aligned. This division -- you know, putting people in various corners with different jerseys. We're playing on the same team and that team is to help the American people and fulfill the promise of elected office to make life better for people and help them pursue an American dream that I believe in.

And so, look, I'm a big tent Democrat. I want us to have a space for a range of ideas but with having some standards for how we want to support the people in our communities, and that's what I'll stay focused on.

BERMAN: So there are some fissures even in Rhode Island, right? There is a Democratic primary for governor in your state where the incumbent governor Daniel McKee is facing a tough, tough battle.

Who do you support in this Democratic primary, which is still a week away, I think, which is incredibly late by most standards?

AMO: Yeah, and look, it's still going on. We have the -- I think the last primary in the country. And Rhode Islanders are going to have to make a choice. But it doesn't have the same set of ideological fissures that we see in other parts of the country, I think. We have had challenges as a state, but we also have a broad set of opportunities.

So I'm looking forward to working with whomever comes out the primary because my biggest job is to deliver for my constituents in Rhode Island, and that's the most important thing I can be focused on.

[07:40:00]

BERMAN: But it is notable you're not endorsing the Democratic incumbent, yes?

AMO: I've worked very closely with Gov. McKee, and I'll continue to work with him and whomever comes out of the primary next week.

BERMAN: Congressman Gabe Amo from Rhode Island. Thanks so much for your time this morning -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, J.B.

This morning more than a dozen people are believed missing after dangerous flash flooding hit the Grand Canyon. At least one person, a 46-year-old man, was killed along the Colorado River but there are few details -- additional details available so far on what happened to him.

The flooding started Saturday afternoon triggered by a series of storms in the area. And the weather threat not over yet. More rain and thunderstorms are possible again today.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking all of this for us and he's joining us now. Derek, tell me, what are you seeing?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: In fact, it's raining right now across the Grand Canyon -- light, kind of transient rain showers. But this is the problem here because some of these canyon walls -- they tower over 4,500 feet, especially near Bright Angel and the Phantom Creek area where the flooding occurred this weekend.

So that water -- if it actually falls on the rim of the Grand Canyon that has to go somewhere and it eventually makes its way down toward the Colorado River. And it can flood those rivers and the tributaries very easily, especially when we see around an inch of rain in about a 30-minute period.

That is what really occurred on Saturday. There were four waves of rain that came through across the Grand Canyon, but it was that last fourth and final wave that really was the nail in the coffin because that put the rush of water, picked up the debris flow from a nearby burn scar, and that allowed for all of this debris to just wash downstream.

This is kind of being fueled right now by the monsoon season. A typical weather pattern that sets up this time of year rotating around a high pressure system. You can see some of these showers moving on this morning, but they could pick up once again this afternoon before dying down overnight and then kind of recycle the process into the day tomorrow. Nothing exceptionally heavy in this forecast but any additional rainfall in this very sensitive area could be concerning.

So this is the Dragon Bravo burn scar that is really the impetus between or behind this debris flow and the mudslide that happened. Remember, when we get these burn scars so much happens to the surface of the ground. It becomes what we call an impermeable surface. And so when the rain falls on top of that, that ash and the burnt topsoil -- well, eventually it is going to not really have anywhere to put that water, and it's going to keep it at the surface and take some of that debris along downside the slopes with it. Remember, the topography very steep.

And when you are in the Grand Canyon and are hiking in these areas, you see debris flows like this. This is when you need to escape to higher ground. The problem is it's so steep that it's tough to get up those canyon walls. Really not many locations to really evacuate for this area without the help of a helicopter or the park rangers -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. And Derek, you're getting at what I was wondering -- just the debris flow seems so dramatic here. And they closed down river traffic --

VAN DAM: Well --

BOLDUAN: -- on Sunday because of it.

You're explaining -- it just looks so -- even additionally dangerous. Not just the flow of the water; it's just what's in it. VAN DAM: Well, here's the -- here's the Canyon Walls. There is how

steep they are. The water comes off the canyons and then you can see all of these trees and debris. But this is a building, clearly. So when it washes down this topography and the slopes and the Colorado River, it is all going to be funneled in the same locations.

I mean, I don't want to draw the connection here but it's important to realize that something similar in Nepal occurred -- a similar idea where water is getting funneled through a narrow space -- a narrow canyon or a narrow mountainside.

And that is going to just push the water in one direction. Obviously, following the flow of the downhill slope. And it is going to pick up whatever it can find along the way, whether it be boulders, trees, roots, homes, bridges, buildings. And that is what is going to come down with so much force, depending on that slope, as it travels downstream.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. Around 15 people still missing and unaccounted for this morning because after all of this.

Derek, thank you very much. It's great to see you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, Kate.

Now to the aftermath of that catastrophic flooding in Nepal and China. The number of dead and missing has significantly increased. Now more than 900 people are confirmed dead. And overnight, a big jump in the number of missing to more than 4,700 people, each one with families begging for answers as to where their loved ones are.

One of those people is Gaurav Shanker Khare, whose brother is among the missing there in Nepal. Thank you for joining us this morning. I know that you are desperately trying to find answers.

Can you tell me about your brother? What was he doing in the Nepal?

[07:45:00]

GAURAV SHANKER KHARE, BROTHER MISSING IN NEPAL: Well, thanks for connecting us.

My brother, Vivek Shankar Srivastav, he has been missing since the last five days actually -- exactly from the day of the event, like 26 morning NST -- 8:30. And he is from U.S. You know, a U.S. citizen. He came from all along Atlanta, Georgia and he was on a trip to Manasarovar across Tibet, China. And he was in a group of 10 and all from there -- from U.S. They're Indian origin citizens but U.S. citizens now. And they are, like, green cardholders from there.

And they are more into, like, religious pilgrimages to India --

SIDNER: Yeah.

KHARE: -- as well as doing charity and all. And so this was just a life aim achievement like in Hinduism. Once you talk about the Manasarovar pilgrimage it's that important. And no one just never knew that what is about to come and then. So it's very unfortunate that the incident -- that it happened at the very largest scale and just we are hoping -- I'm just leaving for Kathmandu tonight. I'm in New Delhi.

SIDNER: You're leaving for Kathmandu tonight. So

KHARE: I myself -- yeah.

SIDNER: You're leaving for Kathmandu tonight.

KHARE: Yeah.

SIDNER: So you are going there with the intention of trying to get answers. Do you have any idea of where your brother was when the flood actually hit?

KHARE; Yes. Yes, absolutely and just keeping that positive hope. I'm just leaving India right now. And my brother, he was at the Nepal immigration center. We got the document that he brought to the immigration stand at 8:30 NST. That is morning -- almost equivalent to Indian time. Yeah, IST.

So it was in the morning, 8:30, and the incident -- that flash flood that happened around about 9:05 NST. So that was half an hour in between that immigration point and crossing over the Tibet Chinese checkpoint and move towards the other side of the border.

So what we are expecting and hoping for is that he caught the bus or the vehicle on the other side of the border and he might have moved towards the base camp and all. But at that very moment this fearsome thing happened and so we are unsure. But I'm in touch with the embassy of India and Nepal, as well as the embassy of India and China, and the U.S. embassies as well.

And so just trying to figure out the sequence of the event and trying to trace out that where the entire group should have been at that moment so that I can get a little -- maybe a glimpse of maybe the idea of their whereabouts.

SIDNER: Can you give me any sense -- have you heard from any of the 10 people, and are all of the families of those 10 people in the group speaking with one another?

KHARE: No, no, no. No, not a single person is, I mean, in touch and it's really unfortunate that none of them have come out with something or the government has not. These all people are on their priority list, and they are still in searching for them. They are in the missing category right now -- yeah.

SIDNER: I'm so sorry to hear that. I know that you're going there to try to get some answers and we'll stay in touch with you as you try to find your brother --

KHARE: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- and try to find what happened to all 10 people that were in that group.

Gaurav Shanker Khare, thank you so much for joining us this morning and good luck on your trek there from India to Nepal -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning when the reporting gets tough, the president threatens government retribution. The president says NBC's Kristen Welker should face what he called "rebuke or punishment" from the FCC after comments she made about his endorsement record.

In a statement, NBC said, "Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her."

With us now, CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter. The president really doesn't like people talking about his endorsements.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: And it's revealing that he was taking out his ire at Kristen Welker only a few days after HBO's Bill Maher said that Trump was texting Maher about a comment that Maher made about his endorsement record on HBO a week before.

So again and again, the president being angry about media coverage when anybody talks about his endorsement record in a way that he doesn't want.

And we've heard this weekend now -- today from Anna Gomez, the chief -- actually, the only Democrat on the FCC who is very concerned about the president's rhetoric when it comes to the agency that she works for. And here's what she said on X. She told me, "These threats to press freedom are dangerous. The undermine the foundation of our democracy, and they have no place in it."

[07:50:00]

So she's saying -- she's saying the FCC has no authority to punish journalists just because the administration doesn't like something they say -- and that is true. The FCC has very limited power. Congress set it up that way. The FCC has no power to punish Kristen Welker for something she reported accurately on the air.

But what we are seeing is the same thing we've been seeing at the Justice Department and in other federal agencies -- President Trump's attempts to wield control to appoint people to carry out his wishes and then to exert control and use the federal government in ways it has never been used before.

So in this case you have the president saying that Welker will be reported to the FCC over the comment that she made.

By the way, if viewers go to fcc.gov you can report anything you want but there's no way to report or make a complaint about news coverage because that's not the way the system is set up.

But here you have another outrageous comment from the president, and it shows how he's trying to use the FCC to carry out his wishes.

I asked FCC chairman Brendan Carr what he would do about the president's request and I have not heard back from Carr.

BERMAN: Yeah. It'll be interesting to hear. He tends to try to do something to show the president that he's taking action when ordered to.

STELTER: He tries.

BERMAN: Brian Stelter, thank you for your reporting this morning -- appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, gentlemen.

A serious warning about a petting zoo and their adorable baby goats. It turns out those goats pose a potential danger to anyone who was petting them. We'll explain coming up.

Prosecutors say he faked being an NFL player and managed to swindle more than two dozen women out of a million dollars alongside his buddy. Now they're both facing several charges.

Those stores and more ahead.

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BOLDUAN: Very soon the jury is set to resume deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. Now, they spent roughly 10 hours deliberating at the end of last week.

On Friday, they sent their first question to the judge, asking to see two prescription pill bottles of Clancy's and the knife that she used in her suicide attempt after killing her children.

[07:55:05]

The jury is deciding whether or not Lindsay Clancy is criminally responsible for the deaths of the three children. Prosecutors have argued yes, she is. Her defense team has argued that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and so, no, she is not criminally responsible.

The jury, as you can see here, has five options. The most serious charge that she's facing is first-degree murder. She has pleaded not guilty.

Joining me right now is criminal defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh for more on this. Mark, thanks for being here.

Let's start with this question from the jury which, you know, it's impossible to exactly get into the jury deliberations -- the jury room to know why but asking to see pill bottles and the knife.

If you're her defense attorney what are you thinking about that?

MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: That they're not making a quick decision. That they're going through the evidence. And two of the major issues dealt with the knife and the pills.

The knife. The prosecutors, in opening statement and almost throughout, mocked her suicide attempt, claiming it wasn't intentional, it wasn't real. And so I think they want to look at the very knife that the prosecutors claim she didn't make real deep cuts with.

Secondly, the pills. A lot has been made of that. So they want to look at the pills and see potentially whether she took all of them and what they were for. You know they've been talking about this for weeks so I think it's incumbent upon at least one or two of them to say hey, can we take a look at those things?

BOLDUAN: Yeah. There's so much around how many. I mean, you can see even in the video here just some of the bottles that she had. Different doctors, different amounts. You know, that has been such a discussion throughout testimony.

EIGLARSH: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: You mentioned prosecutors and the argument that they're making. I want to play just a little bit of the prosecution's closing argument. It was quite dramatic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER SPRAGUE, PROSECUTOR: She had more access to treatment and care and support than a lot of people do. This wasn't a woman suffering from a lack of care, a lack of resources. She had an abundance of help, an abundance of care. She had all of that and more.

So why did she specifically do it? She was depressed. She was exhausted. She was done. She didn't want to try anymore. She felt damaged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: A 12-person jury made up of nine women and three men. What impact do you think this had on them?

EIGLARSH: Extremely powerful argument. The jurors needed to be told why. If it wasn't mental illness, as the defense -- as the prosecutors will have you believe, it must be some other reason -- and they brought up another reason. Unfortunately for them, that was like the fourth or fifth reason I think we've heard.

And the defense is going to, you know, essentially argue but not -- I think the -- look, I had a problem with their closing. I think he did a great job throughout but he kind of fizzled in closing. What he should have said was they failed to prove beyond an exclusion of a reasonable doubt that she was criminally responsible. They didn't give you any reason that was anchored by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. We didn't hear that from him in closing.

So I think this makes the case a lot more close.

BOLDUAN: Who do you think made throughout the trial -- made -- overall made a more compelling case?

EIGLARSH: I think the defense did throughout the trial, but then again, fizzled on closing. You had defense experts -- some of the top in the country -- who made it very clear that she suffered something called postpartum psychosis.

And then they explained to me and to everyone -- well, how can you go from being calm, normal, seemingly being able to have a conversation with your husband while you're killing your kids while he's at CVS? And then somehow the next minute go cuckoo for cocoa puffs? And the answer is waxing and waning. You go back and forth like waves in the ocean.

And they did a very compelling job. Unfortunately, the state did a great job too.

BOLDUAN: And we are standing by for deliberations to pick back up.

Thank you so much. It's good to see you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you.

The adorable pets from a mobile petting zoo now have parents and children being told their health could be compromised after petting baby goats. Four baby goats at Farmer Adventures of Harmony, North Carolina have been euthanized after testing positive for rabies. Officials are asking anyone who may have pet them since late July to reach out and get tested for the deadly virus. The animals traveled to at least 10 spots in six different counties, including at an assisted living facility and a back-to-school event.

All right. A man accused of posing as a San Francisco 49ers player is facing several fraud charges now. Prosecutors say 35-year-old Daejon Love targeted at least 26 women in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California and convinced them he was either an NFL player or a wealthy investor.