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Lindsay Clancy Jury Again Tells Judge They're Deadlocked; Ceuta Residents Criticize Government's Response to Migrant Influx from Morocco; Officials: More Than 1,200 Have Died in Nepal Flooding; PA Officer Charged After Fatally Shooting College Student; Haitian-Born Ohio Student Dies in Apparent Suicide After Losing Immigration Status & Then Being Forced to Wear an Ankle Monitor 3-3:30p ET

Aired September 02, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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


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[15:00:30]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Deadlocked again. For a second time, the jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial tells the judge they cannot reach a verdict. And again, he tells them to keep trying. The nine women and three men have been deliberating for nearly 30 hours.

And a family's grief and a community's demands for justice. Now, a police officer is charged with manslaughter and the fatal shooting of a college student.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And New York City says thanks, but no thanks to A.I. in schools. The biggest school system in the U.S. banning the technology from some classrooms.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Thanks so much for being with us. I'm Boris Sanchez alongside Brianna Keilar in the nation's capital. And we begin with breaking developments in the triple murder trial of Lindsay Clancy. The judge just gave a formal instruction to jurors to deliberate further after they, again, said they were deadlocked.

The nine women and three men have been trying to reach a verdict for some 28 hours now over five days.

KEILAR: The former nurse is facing murder charges for strangling her three children three years ago. Her defense lawyers say Clancy is not criminally responsible because she was experiencing extreme mental illness. Postpartum psychosis, they say. Let's get right to CNN's Jean Casarez, who's outside of court in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Jean, tell us more about what just happened there in court.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was right after the conclusion of the court officer's lunch hour, which is one to two o'clock. And right after that, the family went into the courtroom. The attorneys went into the courtroom, the media, the public all in the courtroom. And then the judge called for a sidebar, which he always do -- does, because the -- the attorney should be able to learn first what is happening.

But very shortly after that, the jury walked in and that is when the judge issued a very formal charge to the jury to continue to deliberate. He focused on that there are -- are two sides. You both are on polar sides in this jury. And if you feel that guilt is appropriate, you need to look at someone that believes Lindsay Clancy should be acquitted. Open up your eyes. Think about what they're saying. On the other hand, if you believe there's an acquittal, listen to what your fellow juror is saying about beyond a reasonable doubt that guilt has been proven in this case.

It is formal because the American Bar Association, as well as precedent case law in Massachusetts, even an 1800s case, helped form and fashion this because now there is a true deadlock. So, it's very serious of how the judge approaches it. The jury then, after he finished, walked back to the jury room and they have been deliberating now for about an hour.

KEILAR: All right, Jean, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about this now with Mark Eiglarsh. He's a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. All right, there it is. They've been at this an hour more, almost 30 hours total, though, Mark here. I wonder, considering this is the second time the jury has said they can't come to a consensus over two days, how much this Tuey- Rodriguez charge really helps? Or should we be thinking the likelihood here might be a hung jury?

MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: While anything could happen, let's be real. If these jurors could speak, they'd actually say, Judge, wait, are you kidding me? You want us to listen and be more open minded? What the hell do you think we've been doing for five days? That's what we've been doing. We can't reach a verdict. We've let you know that already twice. So, he's doing this because that's what the law requires. It goes back to a Supreme Court case, Allen versus the U.S.

And in 1896, the courts say, you know what? You've got to give him a dynamite charge. See if you can throw some dynamite in that jury room and get people to change their minds. And in this case, what that means is someone's going to go from she's a murdering mother to I think maybe she deserves mercy after all this time, very unlikely.

SANCHEZ: Yes. If this does end up being a hung jury, what kind of information could we expect to learn from them? Do you think we'll glean something that will indicate to prosecutors whether having a retrial might produce a different result?

[15:05:00]

EIGLARSH: Listen, there have been trials, especially some high profile ones, where the jurors never speak to anyone. But that's usually unlikely. There'll be somebody who gets to somebody and we'll get an idea, I think, as to how split they were. That's useful information to the prosecutors because they seem hell-bent to retry this thing.

But if you find out that maybe there was 10 in favor of acquittal or not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, then maybe it's not worth it. Maybe they can justify letting this one go or working out a deal with the defense.

KEILAR: And then what would happen in that case?

EIGLARSH: If?

KEILAR: If they decide not to retry it, if this is indeed a hung jury.

EIGLARSH: Yes, likely they're not going to let it go because prosecutors are politicians. And whatever the division is, likely they're not going to lay it down because that'll send a message to those who strongly believe and are entrenched in the position that she killed three kids and she cannot get away with it, that he's soft on crime.

So, I don't know if it's really going to matter. I think this case is so polarizing and so political that he's going to retry this case no matter what.

SANCHEZ: Clancy's defense attorney was asked earlier by the press whether he would do anything differently. He said that he couldn't think of -- of anything that he might do differently. I wonder if you think prosecutors in -- in a potential retrial should reexamine their approach and -- and perhaps take a different course.

EIGLARSH: I think with utmost love and respect to both sides, they should both consider taking a different position. Prosecutors should come out of the gate and be more sympathetic to her mental illness. Their own experts undermined what they said in opening. They said this was real. They said the suicide attempt shouldn't have been mocked like the prosecutor said. Oh, it was just a superficial attempt. It was a minor cut.

No, their own experts undermined them and said this was a real bona fide suicide attempt. And similarly, again, with utmost respect to the defense lawyer who was passionate. He did a great job, but he fizzled at closing time. And again, I say this with utmost respect. There was no organization to his closing.

And whatever he focused on was not the central issue, which is prosecutors bear the exclusive sole burden of proving her mental state. And if you think maybe one side, maybe the other side, then that has to be not guilty because they didn't prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

KEILAR: And, you know, you actually have reached out to Clancy's legal team offering to help if there's a retrial. You haven't heard back. But how do you think they should approach this differently if it comes to this?

EIGLARSH: Well, I don't know that those cross examinations need to be as long as they were. Again, it's perfect if everybody digs his chili, but that's hard to find. There are some who probably might have been put off by some of the things he did, and he didn't need to do all of that. Some people definitely need to be handled. I always decide who needs to be done in. There are some who don't, and they'll give you what you want simply by doing it in a more professional, nicer manner. You get more flies with honey.

And then those who say, no, I didn't get those reports or I didn't need this. I just got it from the -- from the defendant herself. Then you go, really? That's how you practice? That's insane. So, I think that there's some -- some learning to be done by both sides. And I offered my assistance because I truly believe that this is a case where there is reasonable doubt. And I don't think the state met their burden on that important issue of proving that she was sane at the time. The evidence is equally consistent with both sides.

KEILAR: Mark Eiglarsh, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

EIGLARSH: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, protests happening across Spain amid the nation's worst immigration crisis in quite some time. We'll take you there.

KEILAR: Plus, a Pennsylvania officer charged with manslaughter for killing a college student who knocked on the wrong door after a night out with friends. We have that story and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:13:30]

SANCHEZ: Breaking news, protests are happening right now across Spain over the handling of migrants in Ceuta. The Spanish territory on the north coast of Africa has become a hot spot in the global debate about migration.

KEILAR: In late July, about 72,000 people surged across a breakwater barrier from Morocco into Ceuta, including unaccompanied minors. Most of the migrants returned home quickly. On Monday, Spain's prime minister said at least 5,000 still remained. CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward is there in Ceuta.

Clarissa, tell us what the scene is like there.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ... this is a way to (INAUDIBLE) and even the addition of 5,000, I should add that (INAUDIBLE) 9,000, and the presence has had a massive impact on the way things happen, which is why you're seeing this huge crowd. I mean, I'm talking thousands and thousands and thousands of people have come here tonight and have taken to the streets (INAUDIBLE) ...

KEILAR: All right, we're having some connectivity issues there. Obviously, she's in a very crowded place. SANCHEZ: Yes, we'll work to get more information from these protests as they are ongoing across the country of Spain and bring it to you as we get them.

Meantime, the death toll from last week's devastating flooding in Nepal is climbing as the desperate search for survivors and victims continues.

[15:15:04]

Disaster authority officials say more than 1,200 have died and more than 4,200 are reported missing.

KEILAR: CNN's Hanako Montgomery has joined the search for flood victims and follows the Nepali police on an arduous search mission for bodies along the region's mud-filled riverbanks downstream from the flood zone.

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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Down in Nepal's plains, the river gives up its dead. Floodwaters carry them far from where they were last seen, scattering them along the riverbanks.

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MONTGOMERY (on camera): Right now, we're on a search and recovery mission with the Nepali police. They've found hundreds of bodies that have washed downstream from the Himalayas in this river, so we're just going to go and see if we can find any more human remains that might need recovering.

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MONTGOMERY (voice over): Using sticks to probe the tall grass, they search for what the floods left behind. They find nothing, so the search continues downstream.

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MONTGOMERY (on camera): They say they found something. I'm just going to put on my mask here in case it's a -- a body. We found an animal carcass, and you can tell that it's been here for a few days. It's pretty badly decomposed.

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MONTGOMERY (voice over): The police tell us the same is happening to human remains.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through interpreter): These scenes are very heart- wrenching, but we're keeping strong and working.

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MONTGOMERY (voice over): The places to search seem endless. And what they do recover, they bring here -- a center where photographs of the found dead flicker across screens. Families stare at image after image, looking for a brother, a son, or for this man, his sisters.

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KUMAR POKHAREL, SISTER IS MISSING (through interpreter): I'm still hoping that they come back. We're looking for them and contacting all possible places, but we haven't found any leads.

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MONTGOMERY (voice over): The police tell me over 800 people were reported missing at this center alone. Just 12 were returned to families. Some, he says, are so badly decomposed, they're unrecognizable.

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SUN-INSPECTOR HARI SHARAN DHAKAL, POLICE OFFICER (through interpreter): The situation is very challenging. We're getting dead bodies, body parts, and we don't have enough people who are able to do this work.

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MONTGOMERY (voice over): Reunited holds a different meaning here. Finding remains confirms an unbearable truth, but an end to the search for some families, allowing them to lay their loved ones to rest. But they're considered the lucky ones. The hundreds who can't be identified are brought deep into the forest, to a freshly dug mass grave.

Numbers are assigned for the unnamed, with the bleak hope that using collected DNA samples, one day, someone will come looking for them.

Back at the river, the police find what they're looking for.

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MONTGOMERY (on camera): When we were with the Nepali police, we didn't find any remains, but the same team, they called us and they told us they found two bodies in the river. And now begins the really painful process of identifying these people and then reuniting them with their families.

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MONTGOMERY (voice over): Behind every missing person is a family still waiting. And behind every recovered body, the enormous task of learning who they were.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Nepal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Hanako for that report.

Still ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, a Pennsylvania police officer facing criminal charges after the fatal shooting of a college student. The latest on his family's calls for justice when we come back.

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[15:23:19]

KEILAR: A Pennsylvania police officer is facing a voluntary manslaughter charge after shooting and killing an unarmed 22-year-old college student. Prosecutors say Police Corporal Sean Farrell could have used less deadly methods when he encountered Glenwood Earl Pysher IV outside of a home last month. Pysher had ended up at the wrong address and was waiting on his friends to pick him up. CNN's Danny Freeman is with us now on this story.

Danny, tell us what you're learning.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, truly an awful story for so many different reasons. This all started about a week and a half ago on August 23rd in Upper Pottsgrove Township. That's about 40 miles outside of Philadelphia where I'm coming to you right now.

And it all started in the middle of the night where a husband and wife thought that someone was breaking into their home. So, they called 911 and they told dispatchers that they saw a young man outside on their rear patio. But critically, they said that it did not seem that this young man was armed.

So then, Upper Pottsgrove Township Police Corporal Sean Farrell, as you noted, he was the first officer to actually respond to this scene. He got out of the car, he drew his weapon, and he then saw the young man. And I'll note here, Brianna, all of this is captured on body camera footage.

And at this point, the corporal said, "Police, let me see your hands." And critically, the young man did put his hands up, as you see there in the still shot on your screen. The man starts then walking towards him, and then the corporal says, "stop or I'll," and then he opens fire. Before finishing that sentence, according to prosecutors, he opens fire, ultimately killing that young man.

Well, Brianna, that young man, as you noted, was not an intruder at all. Instead, he was 22-year-old Glenwood Pysher.

[15:25:01]

And what he was doing there was he was out earlier in the evening celebrating a friend's 21st birthday. He was on a pub crawl. He had been drinking. And he was walking to a friend's house, but he got disoriented, according to prosecutors, and ended up at the wrong home. That's what prompted that 911 call. Now, the Montgomery County DA, Brianna, says that this man was not armed. He was not a threat. And critically, that the officer, the corporal here, had, quote, less than lethal options, including a taser available to him.

And also, the DA noted that there was a safe distance between these two people. So, in the DA's estimation, this was not a legal use of force and ultimately charged this corporal with voluntary manslaughter.

Now, I want you to take a listen to how the DA processed this case yesterday, especially when it comes to the family of this young man who was shot and killed.

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KEVIN STEELE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They are trying very hard to understand why this happened and why their son was taken away from them. And as a parent, I can only imagine their pain, and my deepest condolences go out to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, Brianna, according to court documents, Farrell did not immediately have an attorney listed. But I will say that we did get a statement, or said the Associated Press got a statement from the family of the victim here, which read in part, the family is grateful for the work of the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, and they are looking forward to justice in this horribly tragic, preventable, and reckless conduct that took the life of their son. Brianna?

KEILAR: Danny Freeman, thank you for following that for us. Boris?

SANCHEZ: We're following outrage in Springfield, Ohio today after the death of a 20-year-old Haitian man who police say stepped into oncoming traffic on Monday morning. Pierre Damas Bel was a first-year student at Wright State University and had been wearing an ICE- mandated ankle monitor. He posted about it on Instagram, saying, "I didn't come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone, yet now I'm walking through the streets of the United States with a GPS monitor on my leg, carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience.

Local pastor Carl Ruby read a statement from Bel's father during a press conference on Tuesday.

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CARL RUBY: After my son was outfitted with the ankle monitor, he felt like he was treated like an animal. He took two trips to Cincinnati and Westerville to plead the officers to remove the bracelet since he's a soccer player and he felt embarrassed and humiliated when he's among his classmates at the university, so student at Wright State. He was bullied a lot -- with a lot of people telling him he's a criminal.

Last Friday, August 28, 2026, he told me, Dad, I felt humiliated since they gave uniforms to all of my classmates at GROTC. Their uniforms -- everyone got uniforms except for me because of the bracelet. This morning, he left the house before 8 A.M. He called me at 8:03 on a video call and he said, "Dad, I'm not feeling okay. I'm not thinking right because I have been -- because of the bullies."

And I told him, "Come, come home so that we can talk." I had my youngest to take to school, so I took him to school. Around 11 o'clock, police showed up at my door to report that my son had thrown himself under a truck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a statement. They say, quote, "ICE does not comment on the cause of death while that investigation is pending and we will not speculate about unverified claims regarding other individuals. No one is required to stay in the United States illegally and wear a monitor. Illegal aliens have a lawful, voluntary option: they can self-deport through the CBP Home app," end quote.

A friend of Bel's spoke out about the tragedy during that press conference yesterday. Watch this.

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YOLA LAMARRE, CLOSE FRIEND OF PIERRE DAMAS BEL: It's my prayer that people's hearts turn, communities -- and unity is cultivated and that Pierre brings awareness to the ankle monitor situation as it was a great impact on his mental health, as he shared with me multiple times, but also that his legacy will live on. May we actually live up to our name as a country, exemplify the purpose of the Statue of Liberty.

[15:30:00]

Pierre ...