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U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes; CNN Updates on Nepal-China Floods; Great Lake Name Change on Google Maps in U.S.; Trump Versus Free Press; 900+ Dead, 4,200+ Missing After Catastrophic Flooding; U.S., Iran Trade First Strikes In A Month, Escalating Conflict; Jury Deliberations In Lindsay Clancy's Murder Trial To Resume; NASA Launches Mission To Investigate Cosmic Mysteries. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 31, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead on "CNN Newsroom," trading strikes. The U.S. and Iran resume attacks for the first time in a month. We'll have a live report from the region. As the number of both dead and missing in Nepal and China rises sharply, we will speak with an aid group about the needs on the ground after the catastrophic flooding. And NASA's Nancy Grace Roman telescope is on its way to the dark universe. What it hopes to find on its long adventure.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church."

CHURCH: We appreciate you joining us. A series of new strikes between the U.S. and Iran is threatening to reignite the conflict in the region after weeks of calm. This is the first escalation there in a month after the U.S. said it will inflict economic pain on Iran instead.

Iran launched missile and drone strikes against two U.S. air bases in Jordan on Sunday. A spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says those strikes were in response to the U.S. attacks, according to state media. U.S officials are defending their initial attack. Central Command says the military took aim at Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island after observing Iranian forces preparing to fire rockets with mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

In a message carried by Iran's state broadcaster, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps called the U.S. actions -- quote -- "a strategic and deadly mistake."

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me now live from Abu Dhabi with more. Good to see you, Paula. So, what are you learning about this military escalation between the U.S. and Iran and what it could mean for the future of this six-month-old war? PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, for more than a month, there had been no kinetic activity in this region. But that has now changed. What we're hearing from Iranian state media is that there were residents reporting hearing explosions near Larak Island and also claiming that there have been casualties of both Iranian forces and civilians.

U.S. Central Command says that they did target rocket launchers as they believed that Iranian forces were about to try and fire rockets into the Strait of Hormuz carrying mines so that they could put more mines into that critical waterway. Central Command said just last week that they had cleared the water of all mines and it was now safe to cross. We heard from Central Command it was what they called a -- quote -- "limited precise action" as mine-laying forces posed an imminent threat.

Now, the retaliation was fairly swift from Iran. They say that they targeted two U.S. airbases in Jordan. We heard through Petra news agency in Jordan as well that there were eight missiles that were intercepted and destroyed, saying that they managed to neutralize the threat before it reached any property or any civilians.

So, once again, we are seeing an uptick in kinetic activity. Now, it's unclear at this point whether this is the end of it, whether that will now go back to this uneasy peace and stalemate that we have been seeing between the two sides.

The U.S. has admitted that there are no negotiations ongoing at this point with Iran, and the Trump administration had been saying that they were focusing more on economic measures, that they were going to carry out sanctions. It is what the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, called an economic D-Day as they were going to try and target other countries, other entities that were helping Iran fund its military programs.

So, that did appear to be the tack that the Trump administration was favoring at this point. Less the kinetic activity, more the economic sanctions.

[02:05:04]

We heard from Scott Bessent. He told Reuters that the first focus was going to be on banks. So, any banks that were facilitating Iran's financial dealings.

But, of course, there is concern that this could degenerate, that this could deteriorate further, that there could be more military action. As of now, we understand that the military action has ended. We will have to see what the coming hours bring. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Paula Hancocks joining us live from Abu Dhabi, many thanks.

The death toll is rising following the devastating flooding that swept across parts of Nepal and China last week. Nepal's disaster authority now says more than 900 people have been killed. The number of missing has also climbed as families are desperately searching for clues to find their missing loved ones. Officials in Nepal now say more than 4,000 people are still unaccounted for. The scale of the disaster is straining medical resources to preserve victims' remains for DNA testing.

India has deployed more than a dozen forensic scientists to Nepal to help speed up analysis, but officials in Southern Nepal have already been forced to bury 199 unidentified bodies. Urgent search and rescue operations are underway to reach hundreds of workers trapped in tunnels in Nepal. Specialist teams from China and India are joining roughly 10,000 Nepali troops to help there.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery has the latest.

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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Nepal's mud-filled tunnels, desperate rescues are unfolding. Helicopters lifting survivors to safety, some too weak to walk. These tunnels were built to harness Nepal's rivers and fuel its booming hydropower industry. But now, they're the focus of a frantic search. More than 900 are still missing, many of them workers trapped inside when the flood hit.

BHAKTI RAM BOHARA, FLOOD SURVIVOR (voice-over): Me and my brother-in- law were working in the same tunnel. I lost him. His wife is my sister, and she is pregnant.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Amar Bista helped rescue these men. He and his team of volunteers trekked through dangerous terrain, carrying medical supplies. And with the help of the Nepali Army, they flew to the worst hit areas where they used picks and shovels to find signs of life. Sometimes, they found the dead instead. The rescued men we spoke to say the tunnels were filled with bodies. The flood stripped them of everything they had, including their clothes.

AMAR BISTA, TOUR GUIDE, VOLUNTEER: All the clothes. They lost all, whatever they have. Like, they lost their phones, they lost their -- everything, they lost, you know.

MONTGOMERY: What about -- what about these men? Have they lost family members?

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: They lost their nephew. They lost their uncles, brothers, cousins.

MONTGOMERY: Everyone lost someone.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Four days in the mountains have left Amar haunted by what he has seen.

BISTA: Like hundreds of people are there. No food. Everybody got a diarrhea. You know, like nothing. So, I didn't have a word for them because they're all out of my area. You know, like, I don't know. Nothing to tell because a lot of people here, they don't know the reality. When I entered there, like, the reality is different. We cannot tell. You know, the reality is way different.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): For survivors, now comes the reckoning with what they endured and the enormity of what they've lost.

Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Nepal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And for more on this, we want to bring in David Fisher, head of the delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross in Nepal. He joins us live from Kathmandu. Appreciate you talking with us at this very difficult time.

DAVID FISHER, HEAD OF DELEGATION, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Of course. So, an urgent search and rescue operation continues. Your organization and others, of course, are trying to reach survivors to provide much-needed humanitarian aid. How challenging has that effort been so far?

FISHER: It's very challenging. We are able to reach some of the people who have been affected in Nuwakot District, in Dhading District, and also to support the authorities with the recuperation of the dead bodies that have flowed all the way down to Chitwan in the southern part of the country.

[02:10:04]

And there are, especially in Nuwakot district, many people who are quite desperate, who have walked very far to come into town because they had no electricity, no food, no water, nothing. We spoke on Saturday to children, to older people who escaped only with the clothes on their back, lost their entire family, for children who were at school, apart from their parents at the time. The Red Cross has worked with authorities to provide some temporary shelter for them, providing food and water, just basic, basic supplies. But they are, of course, in great difficulty.

But our biggest concern is the people that we have not been able to access. There are so many areas in Nuwakot and in Rasuwa in the north, which was the heaviest hit by this flood, that are accessible only by helicopter up until yesterday. The authorities have been prioritizing life-saving rescue, which is the right thing to do. But many of those people are relying on just the amount of aid that they've been able to come in with some of the helicopters.

Only yesterday a road opened up. But it's a very difficult road. It can't take trucks. It takes 14 hours for something that would usually take two. But, at least, there's an opening and we can now start bringing in external staff to support the work of the local volunteers there.

CHURCH: Yes. I mean, you do paint such a grim story there. I mean, the tragedy of this disaster is unspeakable, with so many families desperately trying to find loved ones as the death toll and, of course, the number of missing climbs.

Your job is to help those who survive by providing this humanitarian aid. And, as you point out, it's very difficult to get to some of these remote and mountainous areas. Some locations, of course, almost impossible to reach. What is the greatest need on the ground there once you do get to those survivors?

FISHER: People need clean water, first and foremost. There's huge, huge possibility of significant illness from waterborne diseases after floods like this. They need food, and they need safe shelter. And we have shelter supplies that we can -- they can support. We need to coordinate and work with authorities to provide, to find, like we have done in Nuwakot, you know, sort of religious buildings, municipal buildings, arrange them, make sure that people are in a place where they can start to recover.

Another challenge is that there have been secondary floods, several that have come down since Wednesday's massive flood. They have not created any significant damage, but the fear of them and the warnings have sent people scrambling back up to higher ground, including our own teams which, of course, sort of pauses all the operations, but is an additional emotional impact on people who have just lost everything so suddenly.

CHURCH: Yes. And I wanted to talk to you about that because this is the thing. I mean, a lot of people who survived have lost family members. They've lost everything. You're providing shelter, humanitarian aid. What about this emotional support for a lot of people? Because they do need that as well. Who provides that?

FISHER: It's a very important point. I mean, not every wound is visible after an event like this. It's just an unimaginable, unimaginable sudden loss that these people at all ages have had. It was really striking when we were talking to these orphaned children. You can just -- it's so heavy on them, and they're going to need quite a lot of support.

We're fortunate that Nepal Red Cross's local volunteers are so well integrated in their community. I was so impressed to see them as they walked around these temporary shelters, touching everybody by hand as they go by, they know them all by name. But we're also -- Nepal Red Cross has some expertise and experience in a more professional approach to psychosocial support, and that's getting started up now as well.

CHURCH: David Fisher, head of the delegation at the IFRC in Nepal, thank you so much for joining us. And, of course, we salute the incredible work done by you and your team. Many thanks.

FISHER: Thank you so much.

CHURCH: Of course. And for more information on how you can help the victims of this disaster, you can visit cnn.com/impact.

Well, back here in the United States, at least one person has died and about 15 others may be missing after a flash flood hit Grand Canyon National Park.

[02:15:02]

The body of a 46-year-old man was recovered near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River. Park officials say the flooding also knocked out a water pipeline serving tourists in the area. The limited water resources will hurt tourism ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend. It also means less water available for firefighting along the canyon's south rim. Now, that area has a large concentration of hiking trails as well as lodging and visitor services. At least 62 people had to be evacuated due to the flooding this weekend.

You're watching "CNN Newsroom." Still ahead this hour, the name change of Lake Ontario ordered on Thursday by President Trump is already showing up on Google Maps in the United States. What Canada is saying about that. That's just ahead. Plus, Donald Trump's approval rating is lower than ever. Polls point to his foreign policy choices, including his ongoing war with Iran. We will hear what he has to say about it just ahead.

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CHURCH: Tennis star Novak Djokovic is out of the U.S. Open after a brutal five-set match against Mariano Navone. The first-round defeat marks the earliest grand slam tournament exit for Djokovic in 20 years. It was a grueling marathon play between the two, lasting four and a half hours. Djokovic made it to the end despite getting sick mid-match and receiving medical attention at other points. This all happened 21 years to the day of his U.S. Open debut.

Well, anyone here in the United States who searches for Lake Ontario on Google Maps won't find it. As of this weekend, users will now see the smallest of the Great Lakes labelled Lake America. President Trump issued an executive order on Thursday mandating the name change amid his trade war with Canada. Google says users in Canada, though, will continue to see Lake Ontario. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says that's what his country will call it forever.

On Sunday, Trump administration officials celebrated the change on social media. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung posted, "Its official! Lake America on Google Maps." Other online maps including Waze and Apple Maps still label the lake as Lake Ontario as of Sunday afternoon. MapQuest said in a Thursday social media post, "we're not changing it."

Well, President Trump is accusing Canada, one of the United States' top trading partners, of being -- quote -- "abuser" and "harming the U.S. auto industry." The U.S. president claims he -- quote -- "saved" American automakers with his tariffs, but those comments are not backed by facts. The U.S. has a trade surplus with Canada when it comes to American cars. Canada imported more than $30 billion worth of U.S. cars in the first half of this year alone. President Trump gave Fox News his view on the trade relationship with Canada.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: People allow me to be strong to help save our nation. As an example, Canada, we're putting very substantial tariffs. We lose 60 billion a year for many years with Canada. More than that they used to lose. But we lose all of this tremendous money. They think they're a state, but they're not a state. Why should we be subsidizing Canada? And I've said it for a long time. And I would have done it in the first term, but we were doing other things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Recent polls show that President Trump's popularity has plummeted to an all-time low. A joint Reuters-Ipsos poll finds that just 33 percent of respondents say they approve of Trump's performance in the White House. That's thanks in part to his ongoing war with Iran. He defended himself to Fox News about that, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're doing a great job. The blockade has been unbelievable. The financial -- the financial hits that we're giving them, we're hitting them very hard. Nobody has ever been hit like this. And they're a failing nation right now. And at the right point, we'll either win or they'll do something. But I don't mind winning, just winning. I don't need a signature on a piece of paper.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S. president is also taking aim at an NBC anchor for reporting news that he personally disagrees with. Donald Trump is calling for NBC host Kristen Welker to face rebuke or punishment by the Federal Communications Commission for making a fact-based observation about the primary elections.

CNN's Brian Stelter walks us through the president's latest attack on the free press.

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BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST, AUTHOR, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT FOR VANITY FAIR: Hey, there. Yes, it seems like President Trump is treating the FCC like his own personal enforcement squad. The FCC is the main media regulator in the U.S. Historically, it has been independently administered. But Trump has taken an action at the FCC in the same way he has across the executive branch, trying to take control and install people who will carry out his wishes with the FCC, the agency that licenses the public airwaves for local T.V. and radio stations.

We have seen several aggressive actions against media companies. So, that's the backdrop for Trump's posts on Sunday. He wrote on Truth Social that NBC's moderator of "Meet the Press," Kristen Welker, would be -- quote -- "reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment." He also separately complained in all caps about fake polls and said something must be done about it, adding FCC to the rescue. I reached out to Trump's FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, about those posts, and I didn't hear back.

But I did hear from Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat left of the commission. She said this about Trump's posts about Welker. She said the FCC has no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn't like, these threats to press freedom are dangerous, they undermine the foundation of our democracy, and they have no place in it.

[02:25:01]

Historically, the notion of punishment for Welker would be a total nonstarter. The FCC has limited power. It has no power over what a journalist reports on the air. And its own website says the agency cannot prevent the broadcast of any particular point of view.

But in the past 18 months or so, Carr has been quick to respond to some of Trump's other requests or his other posts about news organizations. This also includes the broader entertainment companies that are owners of these news organizations.

For example, in April, one day after Trump complained about ABC comic Jimmy Kimmel and demanded that ABC fire Kimmel, Carr took an unusual action against ABC, calling up all of its local stations for early license renewals. Earlier this month, ABC's parent company, Disney, filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the FCC, charging the government with violating its free speech rights. So, because Carr has taken aggressive action in the past, there's curiosity now about whether he will follow up on Trump's demand to punish Welker in some way.

So, what made Trump mad on Sunday? Well, he said he was watching or, apparently, he was watching NBC's local station when Welker made a comment about his endorsement record. Welker said that Trump has had mixed results with his endorsements. Trump says his record is at a hundred percent for the U.S. Senate and 98 percent for the U.S. House. But that overlooks the fact that several of his chosen candidates, especially for governor, recently lost their primaries.

As CNN's "Inside Politics" recently said, Trump has had a mixed endorsement record this primary season. So, Welker was right. But, much more importantly, there is no history, no precedent for the idea of an American president saying he's going to report a journalist to the FCC over a T.V. segment he didn't like. There's just nothing like that in the past.

And if you go on the FCC website, FCC.gov, you can see there is not even a way to lodge a complaint like that. You can complain about indecency, you can complain about the ads, but not about the journalism that's being broadcast. So, there is no action the FCC could take against an individual, never mind what an ethical and legal travesty that would be.

But the FCC does have some power against the parent companies. In ABC's case, that's Disney. In NBC's case, it's Comcast, and Carr does have an open investigation into Comcast over its diversity practices. So, that's what to watch out for next. Back to you. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Iceland has voted against reopening talks to join the European Union. Voters sided with opponents who warned E.U. membership could put Iceland's fishing waters at risk. The referendum was held under the shadow of President Trump's threats to acquire neighboring Greenland. Following the vote, Iceland's prime minister said the country will instead focus on strengthening its existing ties with the E.U. through the European Economic Area Agreement. The issue has divided the island of 400,000 people for more than a decade.

Venezuela's ousted president, Nicolas Maduro, has released new photos from the New York jail he is being held in since January. Maduro shared them on X with a message to his family and supporters saying he's -- quote -- "standing firm." The images are from June 25th, a day after earthquakes in Venezuela killed more than 6,000 people. Maduro is facing narcoterrorism, drug trafficking, weapons charges, and will go on trial next June.

Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom" after the break, we will have the latest on the deadly rave shooting in Switzerland as the search for the shooter extends into a second day. And jury deliberations will pick up in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial in the coming hours. We will have more on that trial just ahead.

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[02:30:00]

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[02:32:12]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANNCHOR: Search efforts are expanding in Nepal after last week's catastrophic flooding. Nepal's disaster authority now reports that more than 4,000 people are still missing, and that the death toll has climbed to more than 900. Still, families of the missing are holding onto hope. Officials say emergency workers have been able to rescue more than 10,000 people so far, but many who survived are still trying to process just how much was destroyed by the flood waters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEENA GUPTA, RESIDENT: What will we do now? Nothing is left. We are living in the municipality building. We're sleeping there now. What we will do, what not to do. We are totally at a loss. We don't know what we'll do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More now on the top story we're following this hour, the new strikes launched between Iran and the United States. According to state media, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says they retaliated against American strikes on an island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday by launching missile and drone strikes against two U.S. air bases in Jordan. A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command confirmed U.S. forces did strike two Iranian launchers in the area after observing Iranian forces about to fire rockets with mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

Well, joining me now is Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar.

Good to have you with us.

MEHRAN KAMRAVA, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY IN QATAR: Thank you. Good to be here.

CHURCH: Good.

So, six months into this war, a tense calm has been shattered, with the U.S. and Iran now trading attacks yet again. What does this first escalation in a month signal to you about where this war might be going?

KAMRAVA: Well, what we're seeing is a stalemate that continues to be tense and very and a kind of a ceasefire agreement that is extremely fragile. There's, of course, no ceasefire formally, but there's been an understanding.

Now what? We have to wait and see within the next 24 to 48 hours is whether this is a one off or the beginning of another cycle of escalation. I think the Iranians have certainly shown a propensity to retaliate, and there's been a steady shift in Tehran in terms of Iran's military strategy from going from defensive strategy to an offensive one. So, we really have to wait and see what transpires over the next day or two to have a better picture of the direction of this war.

[02:35:04]

CHURCH: And I do want to pick up on that point you raised, because we learned from U.S. Central Command that the military hit Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island early Sunday, after reportedly observing Iranian forces preparing to fire rockets with mines into the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by firing on two U.S. bases in Jordan, but those missiles were intercepted.

What's your reading of the change in military strategy here? Perhaps on both sides?

KAMRAVA: Right. Well, you know, we often talk about how the Iranian Revolutionary Guards wants to continue the fight, but I think it's also important to remember that CENTCOM has also -- there are elements in CENTCOM that are also annoyed at the fact that Iran is still standing, despite the might of the American military. And so, they wouldn't mind teaching the Iranians a lesson.

At the same time, there's also a current of thought in Iran that restraint has not necessarily brought Iran reciprocal dividends from the United States. And that escalation is one of the ways in which the United States will give concessions to Iran. And so, on both sides, there are elements that would like to see the beginning of another escalatory cycle. And there are also figures on both sides who would like to see an end to the hostilities.

CHURCH: Right. And while the White House says there are no ongoing negotiations between the us and Iran at this time, discussions between Iran and Oman continue on a proposed plan to restore maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, backed by regional mediators, including Qatar. So how are those talks progressing, and will the us remain shut out of those talks? Do you think

KAMRAVA: Well, so far, the U.S. has not been party to those talks at least as long as far as we know. I think it's also important to remember that high ranking Pakistani officials have visited Tehran in recent weeks and in recent days, as has the prime minister of Qatar, as you just mentioned.

And so, there are high level negotiations going on inside the Middle East among Iran and its neighbors. The foreign minister of Oman was in Iran a couple of days ago. But whether those messages are being conveyed to Washington is something that, we don't quite know.

And I think what we're seeing is that the Iranians are trying to prepare the groundwork for, um, passage through the Strait of Hormuz after the conflict is over. And I think that's what we're seeing the Americans not necessarily be happy about.

CHURCH: Mehran Kamrava, professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.

KAMRAVA: Thank you.

CHURCH: All right. Well, moving on, at least eight people are dead and more than a dozen missing after a passenger ferry capsized off the northern coast of Cyprus while traveling to Turkey. Now, the ferry was carrying nearly 270 people when it capsized. The Turkish interior ministry says the vessel started taking on water just a few miles off the coast of Cyprus. Search and rescue operations are underway for the 18 people still missing.

Well, Swiss police are conducting a manhunt following a deadly shooting at a rave in the northern town of Aroor. A 22-year-old Italian woman was killed and five other people were wounded. Investigators say two different calibers of ammunition was found at the scene, and it's possible more than one shooter was involved. Police also say several motives are being investigated and they have not ruled out terrorism, despite Switzerland having one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe.

Deadly shootings are extremely rare, making the attack all the more shocking for local residents.

Well, jury deliberations in Lindsay Clancy murder trial will resume in the coming hours. A panel of nine women and three men will decide if Clancy is criminally responsible in the killings of her three children. The jury ended deliberations Friday without reaching a verdict. CNN's Jean Casarez has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Judge William Sullivan Friday afternoon told the jury, you are excused for the weekend, but asked them to come back to this courthouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Monday morning at 9:00 a.m.

[02:40:02]

Our producer in the courtroom noted that several of the jurors were speaking to each other as they walked into the courtroom. As they walked out of the courtroom, but that is to be expected because they've gotten to know each other. They have sat listening to the testimony for several weeks now.

And as far as the evidence, the juror asked for two pieces of evidence on Friday. One, prescription pill bottles from Lindsay Clancy, the other being the knife. Prescription pill bottles were entered into evidence by the prosecution. Patrick Clancy was the first witness on the stand. He had a paper bag of pill bottles, and he wanted to take them. After the event to law enforcement and officials, the jury saw those pill bottles, and it was learned that only a few pills out of every prescription were actually out of the bottle.

The defense showed the jury during closing arguments, a drawer from the nightstand next to the bed with a plastic Ziploc bag filled with prescription bottles. And law enforcement had never collected that.

Secondly, the knife, the knife is truly and not an issue in regard to the suicide attempt, because both sides believe this was a very serious suicide attempt. But there was blood on the knife, blood in the bedroom. As we know, the jury did a jury view where they went into that bedroom now. And so, but they wanted to see the knife up close. We do not know why, but it is something that they wanted to see.

In other news, Dr. Avram Mack, who was a prosecution rebuttal witness CNN has confirmed that he has resigned from a children's hospital in Delaware. We do not know why he has resigned.

CNN has reached out to Dr. Mack, but he was a board-certified forensic psychiatrist that testified that he did not believe Lindsay Clancy had bipolar. Shortly before she killed her children. He thought it was an episode of depression and also anxiety. The reasons why he is no longer with that children's hospital remain unknown.

In Plymouth, Massachusetts, I'm Jean Casarez for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And there's much more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, including NASA's plans to uncover the most mysterious secrets of the universe with its newest space telescope. We'll have details about the mission after a short break.

Stay with us.

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[02:45:37]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Five, four, three, two, one, ignition and liftoff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: There she goes.

NASA's new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on its way to uncover the universes deepest mysteries. This includes how the universe has evolved and whether humans are alone. It features a 300-megapixel infrared camera that will gather data a thousand times faster than the Hubble telescope. NASA says the telescope will take the lead in exploring dark energy and dark matter, and help search for planets beyond our solar system.

Joining me now from Orlando, Florida, is Laurie Leshin, professor of space futures at Arizona State University and former director of NASA's jet propulsion laboratory.

Thank you so much for joining us.

LAURIE LESHIN, PROFESSOR OF SPACE FUTURES, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY: Nice to be here.

CHURCH: So what are some of the invisible secrets about the universe that could potentially be revealed over the next five years or so? During this historic million-mile journey of NASAs next generation telescope?

LESHIN: There will be great secrets revealed. The Roman telescope is going to tell us so much about things we don't understand about the universe, dark matter and dark energy. One of the reasons we call them dark is we really don't understand them very well.

And Roman was really built so that we can understand these things. And in addition to dark energy and dark matter, were going to learn about exoplanets. We're going to be discovering thousands more planets around other stars.

And for the first time, really being able to take family portraits of other solar systems and to analyze the light from these planets around other stars. It's going to reveal all kinds of new secrets of the universe.

CHURCH: Very exciting. Of course, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is NASA's most powerful telescope ever, capable of photographing a million galaxies simultaneously.

How does it do that, and when can we expect to see the first images come through? LESHIN: Yeah, well, I'll be really excited to see those first images. Well, it has a really, really big camera is the answer to your question. It's got a camera that can see -- the mirror on the telescope is the same size as Hubble, but the camera sees an area of the sky about 1,000 times larger than Hubble.

So, it's going to, with every gorgeous image, see a much bigger piece of the sky, a piece of the sky, more like the size of the full moon, whereas Hubble's is much, much smaller. And that's how it's going to take just extraordinary images. And we expect the earliest released images will come out in a few months' time, probably early next year.

CHURCH: We look forward to that. And why is this space telescope so significant? And why should all of us here on earth care about this?

LESHIN: Well, revealing the secrets of the universe is a pretty big mission that NASA has. And I don't know about folks at home, but for me, it's one of those things that really makes us human, trying to understand our place in the universe, trying to understand how we got here, what is the future of our solar system, of our sun, of our galaxy, and understanding dark matter and dark energy will help us understand that.

And looking for other planets like Earth, this telescope won't quite allow us to see earth size planets, but it's a huge step on the path to getting there. We'll be seeing Jupiter-like and Neptune-like planets with a coronagraph we built at JPL when I was the director. And so, it's a thrill just to get to see something you've worked on actually go up into space.

CHURCH: And, Laurie, what could this mission potentially mean for the future of space exploration do you think?

LESHIN: It's really, one, it's going to do amazing science. Two, it's a great pathfinder for the next really humongous observatory that NASA wants to build, called the Habitable Worlds Observatory, the coronagraph that we built that will block the light of stars very, very well so that you can see the very faint planets next to them. That's a really hard technology.

[02:50:00]

And this mission is going to have a pathfinder for the coronagraph that will fly on Habitable Worlds Observatory that will hopefully discover other Earth-like planets out there and see whether or not those planets have life. Can you imagine a more exciting question to try and answer? Are we alone in the universe?

CHURCH: Yeah. Big question.

Laurie Leshin, professor of Space Futures at Arizona State University and former director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory -- thank you so much for joining us.

LESHIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: Fascinating, isn't it?

So, stay with us here on CNN NEWSROOM. Coming up, this year's PGA tour comes to an end in Atlanta, Georgia. Here from the professional golfer who took home the championship.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Scottie Scheffler is the new PGA tour champion. He claimed his second FedEx cup title at East Lake on Sunday.

CNN's Patrick Snell spoke to the new champ.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Scottie, many congratulations. You now join Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as the only multiple winners of the FedEx Cup.

[02:55:00]

What does this victory mean to you?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Yeah, I think it's been a long season, pretty hard fought. And to be able to win this tournament, everybody starting at the same score. You know, it feels really good.

I gave myself a lot of opportunities this year, and it was nice to be able to finish off the season with a couple wins.

SNELL: And that you did it in style. Earlier in the week, you described golf like a never ending puzzle that you're always trying to solve. So, my question to you is, how did you solve the puzzle of East Lake here en route to your third and biggest win of the year?

SCHEFFLER: Yeah, just trying to give myself as many looks for birdie as possible. It's a balancing act, I think, in this golf course between how aggressive you want to be with your irons. And I felt like I played fairly conservatively with my irons most of the week and felt like a few of the times I tried to attack. I almost made some mistakes, but overall, definitely proud of how we played this week and for really consistent days of work. And, yeah, that's why we're standing here., right?

SNELL: Roller coaster of emotions during this postseason. All right. First of all, you win big in Memphis. Last week, you almost have to withdraw due to illness. Now this famous win at East Lake. I could go on.

But what -- what does this mean in terms of just what you've achieved here? Just an incredible, incredible performance.

SCHEFFLER: Yeah. I'm very -- I'm very proud of the body of work of the whole season. And I think to be able to culminate that with the FedEx Cup win is, is really, really special. I felt like there's been some years where I've had good chances to win the FedEx Cup and haven't been able to get it done, but to be able to do it a second time is, is a really, really great way to end.

SNELL: Let me ask you about the family because it's been an incredible year. I remember ahead of your first FedEx Cup title, Baby Bennett is born that year, right? This year, Remy is born ahead of your second FedEx Cup title.

I wonder, though, how does the -- how does the joy of fatherhood define you as a person?

SCHEFFLER: Yeah. To be where were at right now with a young family and to be able to travel pretty much the country playing golf and getting to spend time with my family and really be a dad and a professional golfer is a dream come true. I'm very fortunate that my family can travel with me, and we have a lot of fun on the road, and I'm looking forward to getting home and relaxing a bit with them and getting some more time. But overall, it really is a blessing to be able to do what we do. And you know, we enjoy it a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Thanks for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church.

NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval is next.

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