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Police: 5 Missing Women Linked to Philly House of Horrors; Interview with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI): Harris to Campaign with Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan Next Week; NCAA Admits Replay Error in Michigan-Western Michigan Game; Flash Floods Kill Three People in New Mexico. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired September 17, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: ... laptops and in other digital images found there in the home also recovered. Investigators found a homemade laboratory in the basement as well as discovering five urns believed to contain human ashes. Again police say at least five missing women have been identified.

You see one of them there. Another one of the young women there, they're identified as Gabrielle Amarando and Maribel Fresses. Again no bodies have been found at the home and none of the missing women have been declared dead.

As for Horsch, he is now facing federal gun related charges at this point -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: So Jason, you mentioned these five urns with ashes in them. Do investigators believe that perhaps those are what remains of some of these missing women?

CARROLL: Well that's a good question. I mean again we have to point out that investigators at this point, Boris, are still searching for any DNA inside the home that could link them to any of these missing women. But again at this point no DNA has been recovered at this point and so we're just going to have to wait to see how exactly this investigation plays out.

SANCHEZ: Wow, Jason Carroll, thank you so much for that update.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is headed back to the campaign trail to a state that she lost. Is her appearance there going to help or hurt Democrats? We'll discuss next.

[14:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: She's thinking about it, running for president that is, and that's putting a lot of focus on whether Kamala Harris will join the field of 2028 candidates. For now, the former vice president is hitting the campaign trail for the midterm elections alongside candidates in key battleground states, including Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia. She'll be joining Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at an event in Michigan on Tuesday, a state that could be pivotal in Democrats' hopes of taking back control of the Senate.

Harris lost Michigan to Trump by more than 80,000 votes, more than Hillary Clinton lost it by in 2016, but Harris's poll with Black voters in that state could be key for El-Sayed, who's trying to appeal to more moderate members of his party and Black voters in particular. A new poll out today from the Washington Post and George Mason University Schar School shows no clear leader. El-Sayed, neck and neck with Republican Mike Rogers.

We're joined now by Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan. Congresswoman, thanks for being with us. Some of the voters that Harris performed poorly with -- they're the voters that actually El-Sayed is doing well with and vice versa.

How much can Harris help him with more moderate voters and Black voters in Michigan?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): I think she can be an enormous help. She had called and told me he had asked her to come, and I encouraged her to do so because I think that Abdul has got to really connect with the Black community, the African-American community, and also help define what's at stake in this election, which is healthcare, which is about hungry children and hungry seniors, how people are hurting. And a lot of people have been trying to make this race about a lot of other things, but that in the end is what this race is about.

And healthcare -- I should have said healthcare as well -- and she will be doing that when she comes in on Tuesday.

HARRIS: Yes, the joint event they're having is a round table on Black maternal healthcare, which is such a resonant issue in the Black voter community. How much concern do you have about turning out Black voters in Michigan for him?

DINGELL: Well, you know I'm not somebody that -- I tell it as I see it. I think Michigan is competitive right now. Now, at this point, I knew that Hillary was going to lose and everybody was mad at me, and I knew we were in trouble in the last election.

But this is a competitive race. There's been too much distraction and too much talking about personalities and not enough about what's at stake in November. I think when we're able to do that in the 48 days that are left, we will win, but I'm taking nothing for granted and there is a lot of hard work ahead of us between now and election day.

HARRIS: Vice President Vance told Republican lawmakers behind closed doors this week that if their Democratic opponents were quote, not that crazy, then they should quote, just talk about Abdul El-Sayed. What's your reaction to that?

DINGELL: Look, this name calling isn't going to get us anywhere. Abdul El-Sayed is a doctor who has been involved in public health for a very long time. Their big blank bill, which I won't tell you what I think of on national television, has ripped healthcare away from millions of Americans.

They're refusing to extend the Affordable Care Tax Credit has also done that. He is somebody who cares about kids that are hungry, seniors that are scared to death, about what's going to happen to them. That's what this election is about.

What has happened to the American people the last two years? Now, I mean, the gas prices hit $5 a gallon in places in Michigan today. That's what this election is about and that's what people need to be voting on.

They need somebody who is going to be, not be a rubber stamp, but stand up and say, I am a voice for working men and women in this country.

HARRIS: Left wing streamer Hasan Piker sat down with Axios' Alex Thompson for an interview and here's part of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, AXIOS: You once said that America is the top dog in terrorism.

HASAN PIKER, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND STREAMER: Yes.

[14:40:00]

THOMPSON: Do you think America then is worse than Al-Qaeda?

PIKER: Pound for pound as far as the number of deaths, yes, we have caused tremendous terror all around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Piker went on to say that the school strike in Iran, he said that was terror. He said it doesn't mean that all Americans are terrorists, but there needs to be an environment of accountability. Before that interview clip published, El-Sayed told our Manu Raju he would not campaign with Piker in the general election.

He did campaign with Piker in the primary. We've seen Piker continue to make provocative comments. Does El-Sayed need to do more to distance himself from Piker?

DINGELL: OK, I want to say this at this point. I'm so sick of talking about Hasan Piker and I want Hasan Piker to go away. I don't know why he had to do that interview.

Everything he said in that interview is deeply -- look the bombing of the school in Iran was horrific. We shouldn't be in the war in Iran. We continue to vote for it.

This election is about Abdul El-Sayed, not Hasan Piker. I want -- what he said, I think Israel has got a right to exist. Quite frankly, the things he has said about women are horrific. I don't understand. I keep telling people, someone explain to me why he has so many followers. But he is not -- if he wants to see Adol El- Sayed elected, stop going on television.

Abdul has got to make it clear that he does not agree with the things that he has said, but I wish everybody stopped talking about Hasan Piker and Hasan Piker would just go away so we could talk about the issues that are at stake in November, which is about making sure that if somebody's sick in this country, they can go to the doctor when they need to go to the doctor.

HARRIS: I sense your frustration with the situation. He did campaign with him in the primary, so it's certainly raising a lot of questions. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, thank you so much for being with us.

DINGELL: Thank you.

KEILAR: A fast-moving wildfire shutting down a California interstate -- you see the pictures here -- outside of Nevada County. We'll have that story next.

[14:45:00]

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SANCHEZ: A key NCAA committee now admits that replay officials got it wrong in Michigan's dramatic win over Western Michigan two weeks ago. Remember this, after it appeared that time had expired, officials put one second back on the game clock after the Wolverines' first Hail Mary pass felt incomplete, insisting that the clock TV that viewers saw on their screens wasn't the actual game clock that was being used by officials and that gave Michigan a second crack at the Hail Mary, which they completed and wound up winning the game 13 to 12. The NCAA committee says the proper replay procedures were not followed. If they had been, the outcome of the game would have been different.

So what happens now? According to the NCAA, nothing. It says its rules don't allow a final game result to be overturned.

The committee also doesn't have the authority to change the outcome. Let's talk about it with Austin Meek, the Michigan staff writer for The Athletic. Austin, thanks so much for joining us.

So if the NCAA oversight committee doesn't have the authority to overturn the result, who does? Does anyone?

AUSTIN MEEK, MICHIGAN STAFF WRITER, THE ATHLETIC: I don't think anybody does. And I think the Mid-American Conference understood that when they sent this letter to the NCAA asking for the result to be overturned. There's no rule, no procedure that allows a game result to be changed after it's gone final.

But in admitting this, the NCAA has essentially put it in writing publicly that the officials got it wrong and Western Michigan, according to the replay procedures, should have won this game. And I think that's significant. SANCHEZ: After the game, Michigan was ranked 19th. If they'd lost on the books, theoretically they might be unranked. How do you see that game impacting the rest of the season for both of these teams?

MEEK: Yes, in fact, Michigan did fall out of the rankings after that game. Even though Michigan was declared the winner, voters punished Michigan for what they saw on the field. Michigan didn't look like a top 25 team in that game.

And then the next week, Michigan turned around and beat number 11, Oklahoma, and came back into the rankings. I think going forward, voters are very much going to give Western Michigan credit for how they played in this game. If it comes down to a decision about Western Michigan potentially making the college football playoff, I think especially in light of this announcement from the NCAA, the selection committee is going to give Western Michigan a lot of credit for how that team played in that game.

SANCHEZ: It's a long shot, but it's not impossible, right? According to the U.S. Department of Education's Equity in Athletics website, Western Michigan's budget for its entire department is $8 million. Published reports estimate that just Michigan's quarterback, Bryce Underwood's NIL package alone, sits between 10 and a half and 12 and a half million dollars over four years.

So I wonder how you see the NIL reshaping college sports, especially when it comes to Michigan.

MEEK: We at The Athletic just this week published a big project where we compared NIL spending, roster spending for all of the Power Four football programs. You have programs like Michigan near the top that are spending between 35 and $40 million on their rosters. And then you have programs like Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference that might be spending 5 million on its roster if that.

So there are these huge disparities in terms of how much players are making on different rosters.

[14:50:00]

But as we've seen, it's still a very unpredictable game. And on a given day, you could have a team like Western Michigan that comes into Michigan Stadium and very nearly upsets Michigan, maybe should have upset Michigan if the officials had followed that procedure.

SANCHEZ: Austin Meek, great to hear from you. Thanks so much for joining us.

MEEK: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: So a golden retriever in San Diego has become a star on social media, all because of his, let's say, less than heroic actions when his human's home was broken into.

KEILAR: Nash is a very good boy, but unfortunately a very bad guard dog. Here's what happened. And a drama in five acts from our affiliates reporting.

It starts with an alert on the phone of a couple flying home to San Diego from Chicago. A ring camera catching this guy, an intruder, climbing over their fence, not really graceful by the way, before using a ladder to break into their home.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and entering the house, the intruder is confronted with that. Aw. Four-year-old Nash.

No doubt, Nash, a very good companion, exceptionally loving, of course, a golden retriever. However, he was less interested in scaring off the burglar than playing a game of fetch. The intruder sadly didn't care to play though.

You see that tail wagging, you'd think maybe, eh. Apparently, he just wanted to lie down on Nash's blanket and relax, help himself to, what is that, flaming hot Cheetos? Just get shirtless, walk around somebody else's house.

Totally normal. He didn't share any with Nash, sadly. Nash's disappointment clearly, as you see there under the table, etched in his face.

KEILAR: Yes, after the intruder leaves, Nash is left alone, bereft. No man is an island, but Nash is left alone with his toy and no one to play with him. Then at long last, Nash hears something.

Perhaps it's someone arriving to play with him. Alas, no, it was police who not only did not play with him but appeared to let him out the front door. Come on, guys.

Now, however, they did arrest the suspect on suspicion of first degree burglary.

SANCHEZ: We want to set the record straight here. Number one, you probably shouldn't just let a dog out like that without confirming that there's some kind of enclosure, no way that they're just going to run into the street. Nash, though, truly does deserve all the treats.

What a good boy. We're sure that under different circumstances, he would have been heroic. He would have stood up to that thief.

KEILAR: Yes, they did let him away from all the firearms. Fair.

SANCHEZ: Fair, yes.

KEILAR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: On that note, shout out to Nash. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

[14:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. The remains of the final missing Tennessee victim of Hurricane Helene have been found two years after the storm swept through the state. 76- year-old Nancy Tucker disappeared along with her husband after floodwaters took their home back in September of 2024.

A spokesperson for the family says they will finally be able to properly lay Nancy to rest as they continue to heal.

Also, a California interstate is shut down as crews try to contain a fast-moving wildfire. The Floriston Fire began yesterday morning near the Nevada border, and it's already burned more than 600 acres. At least one evacuation order is in place along with multiple warnings.

They say that age is just a number. this story is proof of that. This 90-year-old bodybuilder just won a major competition in Japan. Toshisuke Kanazawa retired from bodybuilding back in his 30s but decided, you know, just taking the sport back up again in his 50s.

When his wife became ill, his competitions apparently cheered her up. Since she has died, but he's kept going and he says his goal is to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger. So what's his secret to staying so strong?

Brown rice, he says. Kanazawa says he's a vegetarian. He hasn't eaten meat or fish in 40 years -- Boris

SANCHEZ: Looking good there. So the Southwest is dealing with the threat of flash flooding again today after storms north of Phoenix dropped more than a month's worth of rain in a matter of hours. Flash flooding in New Mexico was blamed for the deaths of three people who were swept away.

And CNN's Derek Van Dam joins us now with more. So, Derek, what is the latest in the forecast?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Boris, this is the monsoon season, the Southwest monsoon season that lasts typically from about July through September. And there's a couple of other factors at play here that are driving in very kind of humid air mass that's triggering off the showers and thunderstorms. A lot of this was actually tropical induced coming off of the Baja coast there.

There's a lot of rainfall that's returning around this dome of high pressure that's situated over the southeastern U.S. That's why places like Atlanta, Birmingham, all the way to the mid-Atlantic have been sweltering the past few days. But that also drives the general storm pattern across the U.S. when that sets up and firmly entrenches our weather patterns for the past several days. You can kind of see it on the satellite imagery just how the storms are rotating right around the periphery of that heat dome that bakes the southeast.

So going back in time, this is how much rain has fallen in your eyes really go towards the central parts of the U.S. We had flooding concerns earlier this week near Des Moines. We also had flooding concerns here across the greater Chicago suburbs earlier today. But it's this region here that's been so dry lately. Now we get the onslaught of the southwest monsoon, and that's what brought the flash flooding to portions of Arizona and New Mexico. So here's our Level 2 of 4 for the day across the Midwest and into the Four Corners region ...

END