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Families Search for Loved Ones After Catastrophic Nepal-China Flood; School Bus Driver Saves Dozens of Children, Narrowly Misses Flood; Army Leadership Void Fuels Fears Over Hegseth's Culture War Focus; CDC Faces Growing Questions Over Measles Death Count; Princeton Review Reports 15 Colleges Cost More that $100K a Year. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 02, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: 500 people still missing seven days on. And some video there of the aftermath of this flooding as we get into these hard-hit areas.

Joining us now is Gaurav Khare who is searching for his brother. He has made it to Nepal. I spoke to you earlier in the week when you were in India and you were beside yourself trying to just get some information. Have you learned anything new about your brother now that you have traveled to Nepal?

GAURAV KHARE, BROTHER MISSING IN NEPAL: Yes, thanks for getting me again, CNN. Well, I landed yesterday night in Kathmandu, and this morning I've been trying to get into the news of some leads for my brother, Vivek Srivastava, from the Indian embassy in Nepal as well as U.S. embassy in Nepal. So, I was fortunate to get a call from them, and it was a welcome note from both the embassies.

The Indian embassy has, in case, committed to their role in this scenario, as Vivek is a U.S. national. So, they are meeting an Indian national and sending their support to make any effort across the border or the border-perpetrating region, which has been impacted at a large scale. And coming up to the U.S. embassy, this is a case of very disappointment, which I want to point out at CNN itself. And I have been tweeting since the morning that I've been the counselor, a scholar in Beijing -- the U.S. embassy in Beijing also, and I had a telephonic conversation, and I met the counselor here at the U.S. embassy in Kathmandu as well. But the point is, they hardly have any information for missing U.S. nationals in their hands. They're giving up assurance that they'll survive.

Now, the relief measures are also lending, and you can see the latest tweets from both CBS and the CNN news and all. And they are coming up with sound sensors, and they are coming up with thermal sensors and all. But this could happen on day two and day three for their own nationals, for the rescuing of the people largely within the border or across the China.

And still they are keeping their fingers crossed, and they are just assuring the relatives like me who are coming all the way from India, or maybe they're flying from U.S. in search or in a hope for something there.

SIDNER: Gaurav, we were having a little bit of difficult time hearing you, but we did get your message that you were there, that you have been contacted and contacted the embassies there as you continue to look for your brother and hope that you will find him there alive, as authorities are using all sorts of things like thermal imagery to try and find people. CNN's Anderson Cooper was able to visit one of the hardest hit areas in Nepal to see how they're recovering, and he spoke to a bus driver who saved dozens of children. Here's what he found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "ANDERSON COOPER 360" (voiceover): It's been one week since disaster struck and in Trishuli this is the end of the road. Once a bustling market, now soggy and cement-soaked, it looks like a wasteland. The river is running fast, the water is still high. Residents and visitors stand and stare.

BIBHU RAJ ACHARYA, NEPALI RESIDENT This water source has been a life for people living here. And by that, I mean they've been living here for generations and generations.

COOPER: Looking at the water today, does it look different to you?

ACHARYA: Yes, it does.

COOPER: In what way?

ACHARYA: Well, it makes me sad. It makes me sad and emotional as well because this is one of the sacred water resources that we have. And, you know, when you mourn for somebody in your family, once they have died, people go off across this river and then they do all the rituals over there. So this is kind of like a holy river cross.

COOPER (voiceover): Buddhist monks came from Kathmandu to pray and offer blessings. Traffic snarls on broken roads. A jack-knifed truck is hardly noticed.

A local school bus driver Chhiring Tamang saved the lives of some 50 children, picking them up just before their school was destroyed and crossing a bridge before it was washed away.

CHHIRING TAMANG, SCHOOL BUS DRIVER WHO SAVED CHILDREN: (through translator): After two minutes after me crossing the bridge the flood came on my side. Kids started screaming after seeing the flood.

(KIDS SCREAMING)

TAMANG (through translator): There was shouting.

[09:05:00]

One kid fainted inside the bus. They were asking me to drive faster. On the road, there were people running like ants to save their lives. After I drove uphill, I could see the flood out really ahead of me. I reached the higher location, and I felt safe with the kids. I took a long breath and then I continued my duty of dropping the kids, came back, and parked the bus at the police station.

COOPER (voiceover): I asked him what it feels like to be a hero.

TAMANG (through translator): It's a sad time for me. I have lost my nephew. He was working in the same school. I'm very said that my nephew is dead.

My nephew called me before I crossed the bridge. This was right I informed the principal regarding the flood. He told me, uncle, where are you? There's a flood coming in the river.

He was a helper at the school. He informed me to not go to the school. He lives in the same school which is family. He had a daughter and his wife is disabled. They are safe now. They have nothing left as my nephew was the only breadwinner of the family.

COOPER (voiceover): Later, he showed us a photo of his nephew. His name was Tridam Lama (ph). There are many heroes here but even they have heavy hearts.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Trishuli.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Those images are so hard to keep in mind what is happening there in Nepal.

coming up, in an unconventional mood, the CDC says they're not going to count two reported deaths related to measles in Pennsylvania. They explain why ahead.

And new reporting this morning on the Pentagon's priorities. The mounting concerns over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's fixation on culture wars. Those stories and more ahead.

[09:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: There's new CNN reporting in today on growing concerns about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's priorities within the Pentagon. Sources say that Hegseth is damaging the Army's efforts to modernize with what people inside view as his focus on culture war issues and also what we've seen recently of him pushing out uniformed and civilian leaders who aren't aligning with that vision. It comes as the military faces another leadership void after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned this week after months of tension with Secretary Hegseth.

CNN's Haley Britzky has the new reporting on this. She's joining us right now. Haley, tell us more about what you have learned.

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Kate. So, Secretary Driscoll, as you just mentioned, who submitted his resignation, brought up some of these concerns in his resignation to the administration. A source familiar is saying that he raised concerns about the Army's ability to modernize, so adapting to the modern battlefield.

And specifically concerns with Hegseth's blocking of those efforts by firing generals who were responsible for them. So, sources pointed to firings of Army Chief of Staff General Randy George earlier this year, as well as a general officer in Europe, highly respected General Christopher Donahue, and another general who was down in Texas, General David Hodney. All three whose sources said were very instrumental in this push for the Army to adapt technologically, to adapt their approach to the battlefield.

And so, Driscoll clearly being frustrated by Hegseth sort of pushing these leaders out who were very responsible for this. And a former senior Army official told me, Kate, that when you fire these guys for arbitrary reasons, it creates confusion and a void. The Army is enduring turbulence right now.

So, sources saying that Hegseth, while he may have been interested in modernization and transformation, that when he speaks, he primarily focuses on these culture war issues. We've heard him say time and time again, going after the Biden administration for, you know, perceived woke-ism in the military, things like gender identity. He frequently comments about quote, dudes in dresses.

And so, sources just saying that while he may have been signing memos saying to prioritize these issues, when it comes to what the Secretary of Defense is saying, they're not seeing that same prioritization. So, the Pentagon obviously pushing back on this, saying Secretary Hegseth has slashed bureaucracy, unleashed innovation. But clearly, it's a concern for sources in and out of the Pentagon -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Haley, thank you for bringing your reporting to us. I really appreciate it --Sara.

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

This morning, new controversy over the measles outbreak. The CDC said it is not counting two deaths in Pennsylvania as deaths related to measles, despite state health officials linking both deaths to the virus. The decision raising new questions about how the federal government is tracking the outbreak this year.

CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell is here. What is going on here? I remember this battle during COVID, where the administration would say, well, those aren't really the numbers. But they never did this, where they refused to take the numbers from a state.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a new frontier here. But some of those same questions are coming up over, did an infectious disease cause a death? And there are a lot of charges that this kind of language is sort of an anti-vaccine move to try to cast doubt on public health establishment, whether a disease is really that dangerous. And right now, of course, we're talking about measles, which we know is really dangerous. So in Pennsylvania, there is a growing outbreak that's approaching 500 cases, 87 hospitalizations. And the thing under debate is these two deaths that the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced last week.

Now, Governor Shapiro, a Democrat, was at the press conference with the state health commissioner when they announced these deaths. And they called them measles-associated deaths.

[09:15:00]

And then when he took the podium, he also said he'd spoken with RFK Jr. that day. And he called him out for what he said was spreading misinformation. He said there's real-life consequences to scaring people and not relying on actual doctors and actual medical professionals to provide unbiased information.

And so then you saw the next day, RFK Jr. shooting back on social media. And there had been this sort of back and forth from the local coroner in Lancaster County where this is centered, who originally said he didn't have any records of measles deaths and then questioned whether the death was actually caused by measles. This was an infant. It's a tragic situation.

And the secretary is saying the announcement appears to have been premature and the deaths may even have been altogether fabricated by one of the governor's hopeful staffers. So then the question is, what does the CDC do? It updates its numbers on measles every week when we got the update, we had an asterisk in the deaths column.

We, of course, had those three measles deaths last year in Texas and New Mexico. The CDC essentially saying it needs to review additional information regarding the circumstances and causes of death. Now, we've, of course, been in touch with the Pennsylvania Department of Health who says they've given all of the required information about these deaths to the CDC.

And all of this puts the spotlight on the new CDC director, Dr. Erica Schwartz, who's only been in this job for a few weeks at this point. And our reporting this week says that she was involved in that decision, in fact, made the decision to at least delay the posting of these deaths. So people are looking at this as her first real test of how do you navigate Health Secretary RFK Jr. and the public health world?

SIDNER: How unusual is a dispute like this? I haven't -- I don't think in my memory I can remember one quite like this, exactly.

TIRRELL: Yes, experts across the board tell us this is unprecedented. CDC's role has been to essentially aggregate data that come from the state and local health departments. They put that on their website.

They trust the state and local health departments that their data are accurate. One person said they're now being a data editorializer. And this is really changing, potentially the trust in CDC. Amid a time when we have measles cases at a 35-year high. And just to remind folks, amid this debate over whether this death was caused by measles or not, measles we've known about for centuries has a death rate of one to three per thousand cases. We're at almost 3,000 cases.

SIDNER: So the numbers would make actual sense statistically. It is so difficult going through this because ultimately two people are dead because of the measles. Thank you so much, Meg Tirrell, I appreciate it.

All right, back to school sticker shock, more than more colleges are now charging $100,000 or more. Students, what are they thinking about that? Is it still worth it?

And a blast from the past, MapQuest, the popular navigation system, from the early 2000s making a big comeback. Why now? That's ahead.

[09:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: There's new data out on the cost of college today, showing once again, higher education is getting more expensive. The Princeton Review shows that now, more than a dozen schools cost six figures a year, and more families are turning to financial aid to help cover it all. CNN's David Goldman has taken a look at this.

I feel like it's just going to be depressing news, but please, David, enlighten us. What is this showing?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, 15 schools over $100,000. It's really mind-boggling, and it's upsetting, I'm sure, to a lot of parents like me who are thinking about sending their kids to college and wondering how they're going to afford all of this. You can take a look now at the colleges that the Princeton Review said are more than $100,000 a year now.

The amazing thing is that 98 percent of people that were surveyed by the Princeton Review still believe that college is worth it. And that, I think, is really, really important because college really can be worth it to a lot of folks. You know, one of the things that we are looking at when we're thinking about college costs is comparing it to the cost of everything else.

And college costs have really exploded higher, more than 900 percent over the past 40 years. The price of everything else over the past 40 years has gone up 241 percent. So it really is stunning.

But here's the thing, that if you go to college, then it really does open the door to higher pay. So, you know, the New York Fed has done an analysis of this, and they said that the average college graduate -- well, the median college graduate, makes $80,000 a year compared to $47,000 a year for someone who just has a high school diploma.

So it might not be right for everyone. It might not be affordable for everyone. And that's the key. But if it is, well, college might be a really good option for some people.

SIDNER: Is there an idea that families are looking for other ways to maneuver and have their children learn? Perhaps going to different schools. Because this is, what, some dozen plus schools that are now at $100,000 mark?

GOLDMAN: That's right. Well, it's not just four years of college anymore. I mean, I think a lot of people are looking at trade schools, right?

How do you bypass this AI revolution that we have that is taking over so many jobs, we think? Well, one way to do it, AI can't become a plumber. It can't become an electrician.

Both of those are in huge demand because of AI.

[09:25:00]

Because we want to build all these data centers, can't get enough electricians and plumbers. That might be a real option for a lot of people. And they pay pretty well, too.

SIDNER: They certainly do.

BOLDUAN: That's what we've been hearing. David Goldman, it's great to see you.

Man, the concept of what I will be paying for two tuitions coming up is --

SIDNER: Terrifying.

BOLDUAN: Yes, let's just keep working.

SIDNER: What is retirement exactly?

BOLDUAN: Right.

SIDNER: I don't know.

BOLDUAN: Again, but this gets at the --

SIDNER: It gets at the heart of it.

BOLDUAN: Why does it need to be so expensive? Why must it be so expensive rather than looking at ways of how to pay for it again?

SIDNER: That is what a lot of parents, including you, are looking at going forward. We'll fix it someday.

All right, this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL, Sit Room is up next.

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