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CNN This Morning

Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake Strikes Off Indonesia's Coast, Killing At Least 38; Hawaii Could See Its First Hurricane Landfall; Trump Downplays Concerns About Conditions On The USS Abraham Lincoln; Flash Flood Emergency Hits Midwestern States; Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty To Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO; Man Charged With Hate Crimes After Disrupting Service At Manhattan's Central Synagogue; Europe Battles Wave Of Wildfires Amid Intense Heat; 13-Year-Old Wins Iowa State Fair Rooster Calling Contest. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired August 15, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:30]

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, welcome to CNN This Morning. Here is what's new today. Breaking news. Indonesia rocked by a deadly 7.7 magnitude earthquake. We have a live report coming up on the scenes of destruction and rescue efforts happening right now.

Plus, we are tracking the storm system that could become the first hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii in decades. The latest on the storm's path and how people there are getting ready.

There is growing concern about the living conditions for sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln out at sea for months due to the war in Iran. We'll talk with a retired Navy chief and counselor and his wife who have made it their life's work to address mental health challenges in the military after the suicide of their son years ago.

New this morning, Virginia State University is on lockdown. What we know about a shooting involving multiple suspects and multiple people injured.

And later, meet the young winner of Iowa State Fair's rooster calling contest. Yes, that's the thing.

Well, it's Saturday, August 15th. Welcome in to CNN This Morning. Victor Blackwell is off. I'm Rene Marsh Live in Washington, DC.

Breaking news this morning. Dozens of people are dead after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian coastline. We have new drone footage of the damage. Here is the latest on that quake. At least 40 are dead, but assessments are still underway. That's according to officials with a disaster relief group.

The powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami warning. That alert has since been lifted. People were running, as you can see in that video there, for cover as buildings buckled. Officials say government offices, health care facilities, schools and more than 50 homes have been damaged.

A disaster relief group says 2,000 people were evacuated as a precaution in one region as rescuers race to find survivors. A woman describes the frightening moments immediately after the strong earthquake hit. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NONA, VILLAGER (through translator): The quake was massive. The shock was so strong we were resting at home with family. There were 13 of us inside the house and we all ran to save ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: Well, CNN's Gage Goulding joins us now with the latest gauge since the last time we spoke. I see the number of people who have died has now gone up.

GAGE GOULDING, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Every hour on the hour, it seems like we're getting more and more updates. And unfortunately you're right that number of those killed continues to climb. The number of those injured also continues to climb. We have 40 dead so far in this quake near Flores Island in Indonesia with another 50 injured. So a total of 90 casualties, what we're hearing now.

But we're also just into our newsroom here, understanding that there is another earthquake or an aftershock in the Indonesia area. If we have a map, I'd like to pull it up at this point. This is in the North Sumatra region of where on the Indonesia island chain there, if you will. This is about 1600 miles away. This is very preliminary information here. Sometimes these intensity ratings do get revised by the USGS. The initial reading coming in at 6.9, we understand it may be a 6.4 magnitude at this point.

Either way, the point is this is yet another strong rock for the region, if you will. According to the USGS of that magnitude, that only happens globally around 100 to 150 times per year in that category, the 6.0 to 6.9. So again, another shake for this region. This is just 13 hours after.

And you can see all the video that's been playing here on the screen. A devastating earthquake hitting this region. This is very mountainous, very rural, tall, steep, hilly, I guess would be the best way to describe this region. Many of the people in these villages live along the coastal areas.

There was landslides which prevented rescue crews reaching a lot of these folks here.

[08:05:03]

If we have this new interview sound bite that we got within the last hour or so, I'd like to play that now. There's people here that explain what they're going through and it sounds like we don't have that soundbite. But what they were saying is that they've lived through earthquake after earthquake after earthquake and this was one that lasted longer and it was stronger than the other earthquakes that they went through before.

So again, this is where we're at right now. 40 people have died in this earthquake, another 50 injured, we're told, about 10 or so people still trapped in the rubble.

MARSH: Gage Goulding, thank you and thanks for tracking those developments for us here this morning.

Here in the U.S., Hawaii is bracing for what could be its first hurricane landfall in decades. Tropical Storm Lala is gathering strength as it approaches the Big Island. It's expected to slam the region with dangerous winds, heavy rainfall and life threatening flash flooding and mudslides.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green has declared a state of emergency as the storm intensifies. Residents are preparing for the worst with rains expected to last from this afternoon through Sunday. A hurricane warning for the Big Island is now in effect and tropical storm watches have been issued across several islands, including Maui.

Now CNN meteorologist Melissa Nord is joining us now with the latest details. Melissa, do know or have a sense of when this might make landfall in Hawaii?

MELISSA NORD, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, as we get into later on Saturday towards the evening, that's when it's going to be making its closest path to the south tip of the Big Island of Hawaii. And you can see right now the outermost rain bands approaching at the moment, the center of it.

We can see the eye on radar. And as I zoom in and put a tracker on this, that southern tip about 150 miles away from the eye of Lala. So we're watching that move west northwest about 13 miles an hour.

Big Island under a hurricane warning, tropical storm warnings for the other one becoming a Category 1 hurricane in the forecast here as it nears that southern tip later on today and then as we get towards tomorrow, passing south of the rest of the Hawaiian island chain. So, we haven't actually had a landfall in Hawaii in about three decades. But the Big Island has never seen a landfall.

Landfall or not, the impacts are really not going to be much different. We are expecting rainfall amounts on the west of the eastern side of the island, the windward side, that could be 10 to 20 inches. And then on top of that, the strong winds, the wind field on this particular system over 200 miles across for those tropical storm force winds which you can see in the yellow color right here, that'll be near landfall and then tropical storm force winds accompanying the other islands as we go into tomorrow.

So a lot of facets with the storm and as the sun comes up today, Rene, conditions will deteriorate.

MARSH: Melissa Nord, thank you.

Meantime, in the Midwest, the deadly storm system that battered the entire region all week is now circling back. Authorities are warning about flash flooding this weekend that could spread across several states including Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The Midwest has already seen at least six straight days of relentless rains and flash flooding that forced entire communities out of their homes and cut power for hundreds of thousands of people.

It's being called the 1 in 1000-year flood. At least three people have died including a four year old child. Right now, millions across the Midwest remain under flood watches because even modest rainfall could bring new problems.

David Beachler is joining us now with unique insight on extreme weather and what we need to know, what we need to be watching out for. He's a meteorologist in charge at NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Thank you so much for joining us on this busy morning.

I guess my first question for you, David, is what is your biggest concern over the next 24 to 48 hours and where should people be paying the closest attention?

DAVID BEACHLER, METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE, NOAA: Yes, absolutely. And I appreciate being able to share some of that information this morning. The biggest concern that we have is just the continued heavy rainfall that we are expecting into the central Indiana and really the Ohio Valley for the next 48 hours.

The situation we have right now is just a very tropical like atmosphere. And so what's happening is it's not moving any one location. So as we get these little ripples that move along that boundary, what's happening is you're just seeing these very efficient heavy rainfall events and it's falling over already saturated ground.

So that saturated ground is just quickly becoming flash flooding situations, especially for here in central Indiana and Indianapolis in particular is going to see that hit pretty hard.

[08:10:05]

MARSH: Yes, speaking of the flash floods, help us understand the timeline here. Are the biggest dangers coming from sudden flash flooding happening right now or from rivers that may continue rising long after this storm has moved out?

BEACHLER: It's actually both. So we have the flash flooding that is an immediate impact to those that are perhaps traveling or near a low lying area that they're going to have rapid flooding that's going to impact their home or residential area. But then it's also folks that live along the rivers and the streams.

We had a couple points yesterday that had record crests in Anderson and Noblesville, Indiana that are along the White River. And we see that rolling through downstream locations today, hitting some portions of the suburbs of Indianapolis. So those locations are being impacted from that crest. That's working through.

If we have additional rainfall in the upper portions of the streams, that's just going to further exacerbate the flooding conditions or the major flooding levels that we have right now and delay the receding waterways.

MARSH: So the note is even once this system gets out of there, there is still this threat of flooding. When you look at these weather trends from the data, I mean, how unusual is this stretch of extreme rainfall for the Midwest? And really the other question is why is it all happening right now?

BEACHLER: Well, it's pretty common to see some of these events happen in different sections of the United States in the summer months. And it's not uncommon to have a boundary that kind of sits over one location for a couple of days. What we've got right now is a little more unusual. And what we'll do is we'll go back and analyze this event and kind of pick it apart, dissect it so that we can learn from it better and anticipate things into the future.

That's what we do in the weather service is we always look at these events, find ways that we can improve and enhance our services to meet the mission.

So as far as an unusual thing, yes, it is unusual to have something that is just this prolonged. But these events can happen and sometimes will happen. It's just a matter of what location in the United States they will happen in.

MARSH: And I guess, you know, is this the new norm? I mean, I covered climate for a bit here at CNN and this idea of intense rainfall, a lot of rain falling in just a short period of time is something that we -- while we call it a 1 in 1000 year flood due to this sort of rainfall, we are seeing it more and more? I mean, is this becoming the new norm? And are there certain states and communities more prone to this new reality?

BEACHLER: No, really, it's just a matter of we're recognizing things a little bit more. And so when we see different observations, we're a little more sensitive to those things and paying attention to the event that's unfolding or the rain that we see and observe and what we're measuring. But those things can really happen at any point in time and have happened for many years. Just a matter of the locations that maybe are being impacted a little differently than maybe they were before.

MARSH: David Beachler, thank you so much for your insights.

BEACHLER: Have a good day.

MARSH: Thanks. Well, here are the other big headlines we're following this morning. Virginia State University is now on lockdown this morning after an overnight shooting. According to the school, multiple people were shot and injured. None of the injuries are considered life threatened.

Classes at the HBCU are scheduled to begin on Monday. Stay with CNN for continuing coverage on this developing story.

And a former University of Cambridge professor was found dead just days after resigning over plagiarism allegations. Police say they found the body of 41-year-old Jason Arday in South London on Friday. Arday was a sociologist who earned accolades as the youngest ever black professor at Cambridge. He left the school last month. Amid accusations of plagiarism and questions about his athletic and fundraising accomplishments.

President Trump is asking the Supreme Court to let him finish a ballroom on the White House grounds. The emergency request follows lower court rulings that he needs approval from Congress before moving forward with the $400 million project. The administration argues that halting the project puts the security of the president, his family and all visitors at the White House at risk.

[08:15:00]

Well, still to come, Luigi Mangione has pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges in the UnitedHealthcare CEO's killing. But this case is far from over. We'll tell you what his lawyers are now pushing for.

Plus, President Trump says he'll never apologize for striking Iran, even though it's resulted in Americans paying more at the pump.

And wildfires are tearing through Europe. Ahead, more on what firefighters are doing to battle the quickly spreading blaze.

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[08:20:11]

MARSH: Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty yesterday to federal stalking charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Sentencing is set for December 18, but his New York state murder trial is still set to begin that same month. His attorneys are asking a judge to throw out the state murder and weapons charges. They are arguing the case violates protections against Double Jeopardy. CNN's Kara Scannell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Luigi Mangione was seated at the defense table when he explained to the judge what he did and why he did it. His voice was very calm. There was no sign of remorse. And he stated it rather matter of factly. He said that he had endured back a broken back and had not been served well by the health care industry. So he said he identified UnitedHealthcare and the CEO attending the investor conference.

Mangione said he posed as an investor managing more than $50 billion in assets and asked the location of the conference. He said UnitedHealthcare executives got back to him right away, something he said never happened when he was dealing with insurance companies over his own injuries.

So he said he used a 3D printer to make part of a gun, added a silencer and came to New York to, he said, intentionally kill Brian Thompson. He said he shot him, he died. And he said he knew what he was doing was illegal. Notably, Mangione did not say he knew what he was doing was wrong or that he had any remorse for this.

And as he just explained in rather cold matter of fact language, members of the Brian Thompson's family were seated behind him just one row over and you could see the emotion overtaking them. His widow was wiping tears from her eyes. She was clutching the arm of the woman sitting next to her. Other family members were also wiping their eyes and holding on to each other at that, just that stark moment when he described what he did and why he did it.

Now after court, one of the prosecutors, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, he addressed what has become some of this culture around Mangione where there were a number of supporters that have come out for him throughout these proceedings, although there was not many here at all today actually.

But he had said that, that being an assassin is not being a celebrity, that this was not the way violence was not the way to make any political statement that you could protest over trying to send a message there saying that if anyone does this again, they will end up in jail. Mangione's lawyer has said that she is going to try to challenge the state case over double jeopardy. In New York law, that means that someone can be tried for the same crime twice.

She's already filed a motion to dismiss the state murder and weapons charges. And the Manhattan district attorney's office, which brought this case, which investigated crime, say that they are going to litigate that, they're going to fight that and they're going to continue to try to get justice for Brian Thompson's family.

And after court, Brian Thompson's family issued a written statement in which they said that this was an important step toward justice and they look forward to the judge ensuring the sentence reflects the severity of the crime. Mangione is expected to be sentenced on December 18. And prosecutor prosecutors suggested that members of the family were will address the judge at that time and urge her to issue a tough sentence. He faces a maximum of life in prison on both of those counts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: Well, Alex Murdaugh's double murder retrial will be moved out of the county where Murdaugh was first convicted. The disbarred South Carolina lawyer is accused of killing his wife and son in 2021. His original murder convictions were thrown out over jury related concerns. The judge has not yet picked the new location just yet. She said jurors may relevant parts of Murdaugh's testimony from his first trial, including statements about the killing of his wife and son. Murdaugh's retrial is set for April.

The USS Abraham Lincoln has been deployed for more than 250 days with growing concerns over the morale and mental health of the crew. Next we'll speak to a couple who has made it their mission to fight for access to mental health resources in the military after their son's tragic death.

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[08:28:41]

MARSH: There are new developments in the war with Iran. This morning, Iran's foreign minister says they have not yet decided whether to resume talks with the US. Abbas Araghchi says mediators Pakistan and Qatar have exchanged messages, but he said that communication does not constitute negotiations.

Also new this morning, a U.K. marine trade organization says a, quote, unknown projectile has hit the hull of a bulk carrier in the Strait of Hormuz. The crew is safe and there are no reports of damage nor environmental impact, according to the organization.

As the U.S. stalemate with Iran continues, President Trump is threatening more action in the Strait of Hormuz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And after we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. Essentially, that's what it is. We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:30:00]

MARSH: Well, Trump also acknowledged Americans are facing higher gas prices, but he remained defiant, insisting that the end goal is worth it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So for you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember you're doing it so that a very evil country cannot have a country, really. It's the number state sponsor of terror in the world. We don't want to have them have a nuclear weapon. So remember that when you have to pay a little bit more, you're at $4. It's OK. I mean, it's -- I'm not -- I'm not -- I'll never apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: Well, meanwhile, seven people have been killed in a series of Israeli strikes, according to Lebanon state media. Israel said it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure. The attack makes this the deadliest day there since the June cease fire.

Right now, the USS George Washington carrier group is on its way to the Middle East to relieve the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln. There are concern mental health of sailors on board the Lincoln.

After U.S. officials said that two sailors went overboard in two separate incidents. They were quickly rescued. The crew on the ship have not set foot on dry land this year. But President Trump seems to be brushing aside concerns for their well-being.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Family members of U.S. service members are concerned about the conditions onboard the USS Lincoln. Has --

TRUMP: Well, no, that ship is going. We know they're not. That ship is moving right now. We're very shortly and it's being replaced with another very similar ship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has the deployment gone on too long? Are you worried about the mental health concerns?

TRUMP: No, no, not nearly long enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: Well, my next guest, Teri and Patrick Caserta, they founded the Brandon Caserta Foundation in honor of their son, a Navy sailor who died by suicide in 2018. They also got a law signed by President Biden called the Brandon Act, which requires the military to provide mental health services.

Patrick is also a 22-year retired Navy senior chief and naval counselor. He and Teri joins us live this morning. Thank you both for joining us this morning.

Patrick, I want to start with you. When you hear political leaders minimize the length of this deployment, I'm wondering what are your thoughts?

PATRICK CASERTA, RETIRED NAVY SENIOR CHIEF: I just -- thing is terrible. I can't believe they're now more concerned and that they act like this is no big deal. This is a huge deal. This is the number one asset that we have and we have to take care of our people at all times. And society dictates policy. Society has changed over the years, many times over. And the military needs to keep up with society whether they like it or not. They need to honor what society wants and how society says this is what the people want.

MARSH: And Patrick, I mean, you all have made this your life mission ending and wiping out suicide amongst members of the military. We know that the Department of Defense data shows that in 2023 there are 531 suicides among active military members and 471 in 2024.

I would love if you can just speak to the unique mental health stressors of being on a carrier for more than 200 days, more than 250 days.

CASERTA: Well, you're working 18 to 20-hour a day, you're standing watch in that time, you're cleaning. You got to take care of yourself. And it's -- you're in a life threatening situation and it changes by the second, literally. And you have to adjust to this at all times and there's nowhere to go. And then you look forward to going to ports. That's why they do it. And getting a break or just a little bit of rest and relaxation and then being able to do things that you did all your life that were normal, like maybe going to a restaurant or getting a hamburger or something of that nature somewhere else.

And it's a mindset that you have to keep going. And being out at sea that long is horrible. It's unnecessary. People are supposed to be planning to make sure that these people get everything they need at all times. There's nothing more important than that battle group. There's nothing literally at the moment in this world more important than that battle group and that aircraft carrier.

When an aircraft carrier enters an ocean, it changes the balance of power immediately. It's that powerful an object.

[08:35:00]

MARSH: And we should also note, many of these sailors on board these carriers, they're very young, they're in their 20s. CNN was just on board the USS Abraham Lincoln just last month, and we spoke to one sailor. I want you to take a listen and we'll talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you're how old?

BOATSWAIN'S MATE SEAMAN BRYAN CAMACHO: 20 years old.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 20 years old. And you're supervising driving of the ship?

CAMACHO: Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a big job.

CAMACHO: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does that feel like, to have that kind of responsibility at such a young age?

CAMACHO: Honestly, my parents always told me, put yourself in uncomfortable conditions and it'll help you learn and understand everything. Honestly, the only thing challenging is mental challenges, like trying to manage my sleep and stuff like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you most looking forward to when you get home?

CAMACHO: Seeing my family, my brother, my dad, my mom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: I mean, you heard him there. His big responsibilities. Teri, I mean, your foundation really spends time providing resources and guidance for mental health for these active members. But on top of, you know, this record long deployment, as Patrick just pointed out, these are really young sailors.

Do they have access during these missions to mental health and resources when they're actually there on the ship?

TERI CASERTA, CO-FOUNDER, BRANDON CASERTA FOUNDATION: They do. You know, it's obviously not like it would be if they were in, you know, the States, but they have chaplains, they have -- anybody who will listen to them should be able to, you know, they should be able to talk to them.

P. CASERTA: There's some help. It's not as good as stateside, we're not going to deny that. But there is help if they need it. But after a while, I mean, there's 5,000 on a carrier, there's a handful of people that do this. There are people that have it as a collateral duty or something, but it's a lot of people to take care of. And problems are going to start rising more rapid when you're out at sea that long like that without breaks and everything. That's why it's important to get all the things they need and have all the basic necessities they need and ensure that they have more time. I mean, mail is a big deal. Being able to email receive emails, phone, all that is huge.

MARSH: Patrick and Teri Caserta, thank you so much for joining us. I'm sorry, we're out of time. Oh, Teri, did you want to say something?

T. CASERTA: No, that's fine.

MARSH: Thank you both for your work. I know that your mission is to wipe out suicide amongst sailors, amongst all military, and you're doing it all in the name of your son, which I'm sure he is very, very proud of both of you. Thank you.

T. CASERTA: Thank you.

P. CASERTA: Thank you. We appreciate it.

MARSH: And we want to make sure to share this important number with you. If you or a loved one are facing mental health struggles, call 988 to speak to a counselor or visit 988lifeline.org. There is help out there.

Well, a man has been charged with a hate crime after a disturbing scene inside of one of Manhattan best known synagogues. We'll have details ahead.

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[08:43:08]

MARSH: New this morning, very unsettling new video this morning of a man disrupting Shabbat services at a Manhattan synagogue yesterday. He's been identified as 46-year-old Larry Montes. Police say headbutted a security guard and even spat on one of them. One woman was wounded while he was escorted out of the building. Montes is now facing hate crime charges. Reports of antisemitic assault high last year New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on X, this despicable act has no place in our city.

Happening now, record breaking heat is suffocating Europe at the same time, firefighters across France and central England are struggling to contain multiple fires. CNN Stefano Pozzebon joins us live from Rome with the latest. Stefano, why is this summer so worrisome compared to the previous ones?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN ROME CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are two main reasons, Rene. The first one is just how widespread this issue has become. Normally in the past you would see each country dealing with wildfires perhaps at different time, and that allowed emergency responses to move from one country to another. You could have, for example, Spanish firefighters act in Portugal or vice versa.

Right now you have people that have been evacuated because of wildfires across the country have been evacuated in France, 300 in Croatia, and more than 2,000 people have been evacuated overnight in northwestern Germany. So that is really putting a strain on the resources of the firefighters at the continental level.

Spain and Italy have not been spared either. In Spain, for example, the firefighter had to tame the blazes in order to put a medieval monastery, Rene, to safety.

[08:45:07]

The second one is that regions that have been perhaps spared by this issue in the past are also being hit. In France, for example, one of the worst hit regions is Brittany, which is on the northwestern Atlantic coast. And you associate it normally more with rain and bad weather than with a drought or, of course, just like you said, the United Kingdom, where the Prime Minister Andy Burnham has described the situation as a tinderbox.

Just to give you an idea of how serious the situation is in England to this point, England and Wales have reported more wildfires in the year so far than in the entirety of 2025, with more wildfires expected to occur in the weeks and months to come. It's really a crisis without any precedent. Rene.

MARSH: Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much for that. Well, we are only one week into NFL preseason and we may already have a catch of the year. We'll let you be the judge next and tomorrow night on CNN sports and the 90s in that decade, scandals fueled the headlines. Athletes became superstars and new dynasties were built. Be sure to tune in a new episode of "Decades in Sports" air Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:50]

MARSH: While the Midwest struggles with historic flooding, 90 million people across the south are under heat alerts. CNN meteorologist Melissa Nord is back with us. Melissa, give us the breakdown here. I see a lot of red on that map.

NORD: A lot of red, Rene. A lot of places that are going to feel like the triple digits today. And you can see the heat alerts on the map all the way from the Central Plains down to Florida. We'll be dealing with that heat today and tomorrow under this area of high pressure.

Now on the outskirts of that, we have the ring of fire, the storm zone where the relentless rounds of heavy rain and flooding continue We're seeing that flooding ongoing this morning. Now moving back into Indiana again, each one of those red boxes on the map, a flash flood warning in effect, including on the right, White river right there in Hamilton county, in Noblesville, which has now reached a record flood stage, the highest it's ever sit on the northeast side of the Indianapolis area.

Three major flood stages in effect right now and through the next 24 hours. You can see today and tomorrow in the red color, the still a moderate risk of heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding. So we're watching that in the Heat for you this weekend, Rene.

MARSH: Melissa, thank you. And Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers squaring off last night in a matchup of two former first overall picks. CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes joins me now. And Andy, this one did not disappoint.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It did not, Rene. You know, it doesn't get much better than watching Clark and Bueckers go at it. They're going to be teammates on Team USA next month. But last night they were foes as the Fever and Wings squared off. And this one was a tight one. Third quarter, Clark and Bueckers, they were just trading buckets. Bueckers would finish the game with 29 points and her Wings. They had a three point lead entering the fourth.

But the final quarter, it belonged to Clark and the Fever. Clark here going to knock down a three as it gets it to bounce in. She also finished with 29 points to go along with 10 assist. Indiana, we went 98, 87 for their third win in a row.

All right, we had three NFL preseason games last night. Got to see the incredible catch from Dolphins. Caleb Douglas, the third round pick going up, he got a hand on the ball and then you just saw that he was able to somehow still haul it in the catch. That's certainly going to get you in the mood for football season, right? Dolphins though, they lost to the Commanders in that one by a final of 20 to 7.

All right. In baseball, the Astros and Mariners squaring off in a huge series. The Mariners came back in this one and actually took a two run lead in the 10th inning thanks to a triple from Victor Robles and then a sac fly. But the Astros were not done. They came back and tied the game up and then they had two on for Christian Walker in the bottom of the 10th and he says game a walk off home run over the train tracks. Astros win 107 in 10 innings. They now lead Seattle by six games in the AL West Division. The talk of the sports memorial world over the last couple of weeks

has centered around the Tops debut patch card of Cooper Flagg. The card contained a patch worn by Flagg in his very first game. Everyone in the sports card hobby wanted this card. Well, it was pulled in a break by Roddy Breakers in Rhode Island. A break is where collectors buy a spot in a live stream and then they get the cards from the packs that are open for the specific team that they were assigned.

The lucky collector who had the Mavs in that break, his name is Jason Williams from South Carolina. I got the chance to talk to him and I asked him what was that moment like when he saw that he was the new owner of the multimillion dollar Flagg card.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON WILLIAMS, SPORTS CARD COLLECTOR: When it happened, I mean, I went to the floor like a baby in the fetal position. I mean, it was just emotional because I knew -- I knew what had happened. It took me a few seconds for it to register in my mind, but it was just emotions took over me.

SCHOLES: There are multimillion dollar offers out there right now. Are you considering those offers? I mean, what, what are you, what are your plans for this card?

WILLIAMS: Right now I'm not even looking at the money. For me, I am looking forward to the experiences that I'm going to get out of this and the things that my family and my kids are going to get to experience that are memories for a lifetime.

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[08:55:00]

SCHOLES: Big congrats to Jason there, Rene. But I don't know, I would immediately be thinking about the millions of dollars in looking to sell that card.

MARSH: I know, I'm like, you don't need to play the lotto. Look at what you got. You stumbled into Andy Scholes. Thank you.

Finally this morning, we have a winner. All right. More than a dozen finalists squared off at the Iowa State Fair this week for the coveted youth rooster calling title. And for the second straight year, 13- year-old Bracen Grandstaff took home the blue ribbon. The fair also hosts turkey calling, chicken calling and husband calling contests.

Well, thanks for joining us this morning. I'll be back tomorrow starting at 6:00 am. Smerconish is up next.

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