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Deadlocked Jury Returns in Clancy Case; Live Coverage of Lindsay Clancy Trial; Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) is interviewed about the U.S. Escorting Oil Vessels. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 03, 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]

MICHAEL LOMONACO, FORMER EXECUTIVE CHIEF AND DIRECTOR, "WINDOWS ON THE WORLD": For whatever reason, my reading glasses, the -- I needed to have them repaired. And I was still sitting there when the first plane hit. And that was purely by luck.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: How has that affected the way you look at life now?

LOMONACO: Well, you know, some people say fate, the hand of God. I've heard all kinds of things. I can only say it was luck. But that luck gave me a mission. And the mission is, I want you to remember the people that we lost. All the people we lost. But the people that I knew, my friends, my colleagues. I can't get up in the morning and not think about that.

We created a foundation called Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund, which was for the hospitality workers who were lost on that day. That sustained 150 families for a good period of time and created educational scholarships that have lasted until this day.

We all need something. Maybe people start the day with a mantra or a prayer. I start the day with this thought that this is what I've dedicated myself to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: It's good to hear from Chef Lomonaco. It's a great series. Don't forget to tune in to watch the entire film. It airs Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN, and the next day on the CNN app.

Any moment now, jurors will be back in court to resume deliberations as a Lindsay Clancy case teeters on the brink of a potential mistrial. The big question this morning, will they be able to go back and deliberate and reach a verdict after being deadlocked on day five.

And an investigation is underway after a mass shooting in downtown Minneapolis. Two people were killed, several others injured, including police officers, after a gunman opens fire in an apartment complex.

And the busy Labor Day weekend, almost here. If you plan on hitting the road, be prepared for what could be record prices at the gas station.

John and Kate, out today. I'm Sara Sidner, with Omar Jimenez. And this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news at this hour, right now, jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial are about to get back to court, as the case does appear at risk of a mistrial. We will see. The jury has spent nearly 30 hours considering Clancy's fate without coming to a unanimous agreement. Could that change this morning?

Clancy is accused of murder after strangling her three young children. Prosecutors argued she acted intentionally, while the defense said she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

CNN's Jean Casarez has been following every inch of this trial to this point, and is outside court for us. So, Jean, obviously, a big moment as we wait for jurors in court to get back going. What can we expect this morning?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We are waiting for the jury to arrive at the courthouse. They may already be here. It's an undisclosed location at the back of the courthouse where they come every morning. We're seeing the seal, live in the courtroom right now, which is an indication that we are close.

What will happen is the judge, as he does every morning, he will bring the jurors in. He will welcome them. Good morning. Make sure they haven't watched, heard or talked about the case at all. And then, if there is not any communication from the foreperson, which there could potentially be first thing this morning, they will then be sent back to continue deliberations.

Now, let's put this in perspective for a minute. It was one week ago today that this jury started deliberating. And here we are one week later.

JIMENEZ: Now, Jean, look, as we await, again, we were showing that seal a little bit earlier. I know you were watching that same feed. Is there anything the judge can do other than calling a mistrial if the jury stays in a deadlock here?

CASAREZ: Well, first of all, the jury asked to stay until 4 p.m. yesterday. That was their request to just keep deliberating. If they want to just keep deliberating today, then no one will stop them because, as Keith Reddington said yesterday, there might be a verdict. And we don't know what is going to happen.

Now, if another note is sent out that they cannot become unanimous on the counts in this case, then that is a very serious moment for this -- for this trial. And I suspect that all of a sudden people would be allowed to go into the courtroom.

[09:05:00]

Our producer, Nicki Brown, would be in the courtroom. The judge would take the stand. And we do know the courthouse -- courtroom is open now. Our producer has just been let into that courtroom. But if that point comes that the jury has another note, we will learn it together. It will be on camera. And then the judge will decide what he wants to do in this situation. As Keith Reddington says, he's the judge. He can do whatever he wants to do.

JIMENEZ: Well, we will see what happens again just in a few minutes here, as you just mentioned, court open now. We will see what plays out in the first few moments of court being open.

Jean Casarez, stick around for us because we might be coming back to you shortly, but I'm going to toss it to Sara for now.

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Omar.

We are watching and waiting for court to begin again. Joining me now, former prosecutor and trial attorney Margaret McLean, host of "The Margaret McLean Show" on YouTube.

It is good to have you on as you have been watching this case.

Look, as Jean is just talking about, the jury has now twice told the judge they just -- they can't come to a unanimous decision. They are deadlocked. They've been sent back again with that dynamite charge, as it is known. How much can the judge realistically do at this point to try to break an impasse? There's only one thing he can do, right, is to keep telling them to go back.

MARGARET MCLEAN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, under Massachusetts procedure, the judge can only issue that dynamite charge twice. And then the jury -- you know, and that's it. He's got to declare a mistrial, unless jurors consent to keep on going. Keep on deliberating.

Now, it is possible that deadlock can be broken because, remember, Judge Sullivan, who they admire, encouraged the panel to be open- minded, consider all perspectives, and encourage the jurors to examine their own and each other's views. So, he instructed them to strive to come to an agreement while maintaining their own convictions.

So, you know, honestly, in my opinion, I think those jurors are divided into two camps. One, you've got the guilty camp and they're demanding justice for the child victims who were brutally slain by their own mother. And Lindsay Clancy, she suffered from mental illness, but it was not so severe that she didn't know right from wrong. These jurors believed she was sane at the time the acts were committed and they also believe that she should spend the rest of her life in prison.

But then I think we have the not guilty by reason of insanity camp. And these jurors have sympathy for Lindsay Clancy, the loving mother in the wheelchair. They believe she didn't receive proper medical care, ended up in a severe psychotic state and cannot be held criminally responsible and she belongs in a mental hospital, not prison.

SIDNER: Look, I want to quickly go back to Jean, who has been sort of watching what has been unfolding inside and outside of court.

You've also heard from Clancy's defense attorney about her state at this point in time, and whether she could handle another trial if there realistically is one. Is there any sense that prosecutors are going to here go forward if there is a mistrial with this trial once again, retry the entire case?

MCLEAN: Yes. So, I --

CASAREZ: I think we need to listen for that in open court also, because if the judge would order a mistrial, then the prosecution can stand up and they will say, your honor, our intent is to retry this case. And they'll want to say that because they want to keep her in custody. They don't want a situation where she is released. And they will also reiterate no bail.

I want to tell everybody that what we've just learned in that courtroom is that Lindsay Clancy is in that courtroom. She is sitting there with her defense attorney. Her defense attorney, Keith Reddington, is actually talking with her two nurses that always occupy the front row on the defense side. They are there to aid and assist her at any moment for any reason. And during the course of the trial, when they were talking about, and it was the medical examiner talking about how she took those exercise bands and wrapped them around their neck so tight, Cora's with four pounds of force against her little throat, the defendant cried out in court that she could not take it anymore. And the nurses went up to her wheelchair. They were right there. There was a sudden break in the court. We now understand the judge has entered the courtroom also.

SIDNER: Yes, Jean, we're going to just take one second -- for the both of you, stay with us, but we want to listen in to court to see what the judge does here.

Let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before the court we have the matter of Commonwealth versus Lindsay Clancy. Miss Clancy is present. She is represented by attorney Kevin Reddington. The Commonwealth is represented by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague and Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham.

JUDGE WILLIAM SULLIVAN: Well, good morning, everyone. Good morning, counsel.

KEVIN REDDINGTON, LINDSAY CLANCY'S ATTORNEY: Good morning.

SULLIVAN: Good morning, Miss Clancy.

LINDSAY CLANCY: Good morning, Your Honor.

SULLIVAN: All right, so we're ready to bring the jury in?

[09:09:58]

OK. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Court, all rise. The jury is entering.

Here ye, here ye, here ye, all persons having anything to do before the Honorable William Sullivan, justice of the superior court, sitting in Plymouth, within and for the commonwealth, draw near and give your attendance and you shall be heard. God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This court is now in session. Please be seated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning, Your Honor. May I proceed?

SULLIVAN: Yes, please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your Honor, present people of the court, we have 12 deliberating jurors and six alternates are present in the matter of Commonwealth versus Lindsay Clancy. Miss Clancy is present. She is represented by attorney Kevin Reddington. And the Commonwealth is represented by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague and Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham.

SULLIVAN: Thank you, Madam Clerk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

SULLIVAN: Hi. Good morning, everyone.

JURY: (INAUDIBLE).

SULLIVAN: All right, I'm just going to ask you those questions and ask you to return to your deliberations. So, first question, as you all know, is any member of the jury read, seen, heard or heard -- or overheard anything from any source that would affect your ability to be fair and impartial juror?

JURY: No.

SULLIVAN: Lastly, is there any other serious matter or concern bearing on your service as a juror in this case that would -- that anybody needs to bring to my attention?

All right, so with that, again, thank you, as always, for following those instructions.

I'm going to ask you to resume your deliberations. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The court, all rise. (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: Tell me -- tell me her name again. All right.

All right, we just heard a very quick moment in court where they brought the jury back in. The judge told them, look, has there been any change in what you have experienced? Have you heard from sources? Is there anything that would stop you from being able to deliberate? They said, no. And he says, OK, I want you to begin. Resume deliberations. This is now day six.

Margaret, in listening to this, clearly the judge is really hoping for the jury to be able to come to some decision. What did you hear in all of this? And ultimately, if they cannot come to this decision, how quickly might it be that the judge says, hey, all right, if you really can't agree, we've got a mistrial here.

MCLEAN: Well, I was talking about the two camps, the guilty camp and the not guilty camp. And I believe that's how they're divided. However, we don't know the numbers for each camp. So, if one of the camps has only two members in it, it's possible the majority can persuade them to change their minds.

So, when I served on that deadlocked jury in Massachusetts, there were only two holdouts. And the majority ultimately convinced the minority, the holdouts, to change their views. Thus, we were able to return a unanimous verdict.

Now, as to whether it's going to be tried again. So, District Attorney Tim Cruz is the Republican-elected D.A. in my county. So, he's served the county since 2001 and has a long history of advocating for victims of crime, and especially child victims. So, he's also the current president of the National District Attorneys Association. So Tim Cruz will not walk away if Judge Sullivan declares a mistrial.

This is a high-stakes case that -- it's captured international attention.

SIDNER: Sure.

MCLEAN: So, he'll try Lindsay Clancy again, in my opinion, on the exact same three counts of first degree murder. And he'll make the case even stronger.

JIMENEZ: And, Jean, look, we saw a little bit of what played out on camera there, but can you just give us a sense for what was going on inside the courtroom? I know we've got some teammates that are in there as well and for -- whether this was expected from the judge, this moment here.

CASAREZ: Well, let me tell you what we have learned. As a jury -- as the jury walked in, they all were looking down. Every single one of them, looking down at their feet as they walked in. One man was stroking his beard in pensive thought.

[09:15:01]

A female juror was rocking back and forth on her heels and toes as she sat there -- stood there before they sat down.

However, when the judge started to speak to them, as he does every morning, and he's very nice to them, they actually responded. When he said good morning, they responded with good morning back to him. So, that is the difference here because they have been like not responding at all, just so stoic. But they were focused, stoic. The same looks. But they have chosen to go back and deliberate. But that was their demeanor as they walked into the court minutes ago.

SIDNER: Margaret McLean, Jean Casarez, I know you'll be watching this, and listening to this, to see what happens with this jury on day six and if they come back once again, deadlocked, or, as you said, Margaret, if it's a couple of people, there may be a chance that somebody changes their ideas and changes their mind and we have a verdict. It's all going to be a wait and see at this point.

JIMENEZ: (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: Thank you both so much for joining us this morning. We do appreciate your time.

All right, coming up, two people are dead, others injured, including police officers after a shooting in downtown Minneapolis where you can hear the shots go off over and over again. We'll take you there.

And the NBA levies an historic punishment against the Los Angeles Clippers in a huge salary cap scandal for one of the league's stars. How the team's responding this morning.

Also breaking overnight, trailblazing women's rights activist, author and journalist Gloria Steinem has died. We take a look back at her life and her legacy.

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[09:20:50]

JIMENEZ: Iran is hitting back again after this week's strikes by the United States. Kuwait, a key U.S. ally in the gulf, says Iran targeted it overnight. And it comes as CNN learns new details about the major U.S. operation in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. So, I want to bring in Democratic Congressman Mark Pocan from Wisconsin. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs and Appropriations Committees.

And, Congressman, look, as I mentioned, you're on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And as our reporting indicates, the U.S. military escorted 40 commercial vessels carrying 18 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. That pre-war total, about 20 million barrels a day. But I just wonder, do you see U.S. military escorts as a viable way to restart operations here?

REP. MARK POCAN (D-WI): No. What we need to do is end an illegal war in Iran. It's up to Congress whether or not you go to war. Only if you have an imminent threat to the United States does the president have that authority. There was no imminent threat to the United States. And by the president essentially getting pulled into this by Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, we now have Americans paying more for gas, farmers paying more for fertilizer and everything else. This entire exercise has been a failure by pretty much every measurement.

So, the fact that we're just in this quagmire, we're all paying more for gas. Look, it's time for Congress to step up to the president and take our responsibility and decide whether or not this continues. But what's going on right now has gone way beyond anything that should be going on.

JIMENEZ: I don't know if you saw comments from Republican Congressman Don Bacon and Republican Senator Thom Tillis. They've been among those pushing for President Trump to remove Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. I'm not guessing you disagree with that sentiment, but what specifically are you most concerned with in terms of Secretary Hegseth?

POCAN: Well, that would be changing the band aid, and that would be good because Pete Hegseth has not been a very effective band aid on this. But the problem is, you still aren't addressing the wound. The problem is, Congress needs to take its responsibility. We've had multiple votes, and almost every single Republican has voted against Congress doing what the Constitution says, which, we're the ones who should be involved in this.

And by letting Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth and whoever else be involved with this, this has been a dismal failure. There's nothing we can come out of here with a win. They keep changing what the reason was why we went in. And all I hear from constituents is, they're paying $1.20 more a gallon for gas right now, and my farmers are paying more for fertilizer and other things.

So, we're in a bad situation because of a bad decision, and Congress is not doing its job. This week we had resolutions denouncing socialism, and we already did one of those this session already, by the way.

Look, we need Congress to do its job. Mike Johnson and the Republicans aren't doing that. I'm glad a few Republicans are saying, change the band aid, but we need to actually address this in a much more substantial way.

JIMENEZ: Well, and even -- and I hear your point that, you know, if Congress -- if the vote goes through in Congress, obviously you'd be able to enact some of those powers. It hasn't happened to this point for many of the reasons you just laid out. And so, the war does continue.

And one of the things that Senator Tillis talked about was he specifically praised now outgoing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who submitted his resignation, as we've reported. But Tillis basically said Hegseth's actions were pushing out talented leaders, in his description, like, Secretary Driscoll. Do you share that concern, especially with -- I know the ideal was to not be in a war, but since it's continuing, do you share that concern that the U.S. is shedding folks that you believe are competent here?

POCAN: Well, there's no question. I mean, Pete Hegseth has been a joke since he's put in. Since when do we go to Fox News commentators to be secretaries of defense? I mean, right? This is, you know, our path to the movie ideocracy that we're all living through together.

But the fact that he's more worried about testosterone for troops than actually accomplishing goals where Americans are paying more for gas because of a poorly conceived war in Iran. There's no question, it's a mistake. But I don't want us to think that he and himself is the person who's made the mistake.

[09:25:01]

It's really been the president by going into this, by being gullible enough to take the bait and go into this, and now not having a real plan.

So, again, what I hear from people back home is they didn't think Iran ever was a threat because it wasn't. We already had an agreement in place to make sure they wouldn't have a nuke. The reality is, this was something that they completely miscalculated. Thought they could go in like Venezuela and go out in the same day. And now, over six months later, Americans are just putting out a lot of extra money on top of paying more for groceries and everyday goods because of the poor use of tariffs by this administration. So, you know, people have had it back home.

JIMENEZ: You know, you're also on the House Appropriations Committee. And kind of along those lines, we are at a time where we just had a record-breaking August in terms of gas prices and in a bad way amid this war.

POCAN: Correct.

JIMENEZ: Do you believe the U.S., one, should be spending less on executing this war? And if so, where would you redirect some of those funds in a way that you believe would help most Americans right now?

POCAN: Well, the real problem -- and, again, we haven't seen it become a reality yet, which is something Americans should be concerned about is, we spent about $1 trillion right now on our national defense. But really, much of that money goes to defense contractors, not to the people who actually serve in the military. If that was the case, a lot of us would have a far less problems.

But this is going to people who, again, you know, the most recent class of aircraft carrier, when they have clogged toilets because of a poor design, they have to flush $400,000 worth of acids down the toilets to clear them, literally flushing money down the toilet. So, I think what, you know, our responsibility, especially on appropriations, is, when the president says he wants to go from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion, we realize what people back home care about. They're losing their health care because of actions by this Republican Congress and this president. They're paying more for groceries and everyday goods and gas. And they just need the relief.

So, we need to put our resources into providing relief for the average family. And the economy would be much better if we did that. And I think that's where Democrats are focused. I wish more Republicans would speak out because, privately, a lot of them acknowledge it. But I need profiles in courage, which you're not seeing a lot of this session.

JIMENEZ: Well, Congressman Mark Pocan really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for being here.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Omar.

Coming up, a new report on the Pentagon's stunning move to cut classified information surrounding the military orders and plans amid the Iran War. How the Pentagon is responding this morning.

And an intense standoff between police and a man firing a gun at their drone. New video of the moment the SWAT team moves in. Those stories and more, ahead.

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