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CNN This Morning

Russian State Media Shows Motorcade Preparing For Witkoff, Kushner Arrival; Judge Declares Mistrial In Lindsay Clancy Case After Jury Deadlocked Again; Rescuers Pull Nepali Woman Alive From Mud- Buried Home 10 Days After Flood; Hawaii Braces For Lowell As Hurricane Gathers Strength; Dem Senate Strategy In Stars Won By Trump: Back An Independent; Williams Sisters Fall In Thrilling Return To U.S. Open Doubles. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 05, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:33]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And welcome to a special Labor Day weekend edition of CNN This Morning. Here's what's new today. First up, U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are in Moscow. We're going to tell you what we know about why they're there as Ukraine's president says Kyiv came under new attack just as they were landing in Russia.

Plus, what comes next after a mistrial is declared in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, a retired Massachusetts judge is here to react to the jury deadlock, whether a new trial is likely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel there is something you would do differently with the second trial?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would I? I won the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: And more than a week after devastating flooding in Nepal, incredible news, several new rescues of survivors. We have remarkable images coming in just a moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

FREEMAN: Welcome on in. It is Saturday, September 5th. Thank you so much for joining us on this holiday weekend. Victor Blackwell is off. I'm Danny Freeman in New York.

We begin here with breaking news in Russia's war on Ukraine. We're getting our first look at US Special envoys Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner in Russia. They're being welcomed by the envoy to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now the two men flew to Russia's capital to try to negotiate an end to the full four and a half year war. A U.S. official said Trump's envoys will then head to Kyiv. That will mark their first visit there since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We have CNN Stefano Pozzebon standing by. Stefano, what are we expecting out of these back to back visits?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN ROME CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we expect is yet another attempt by U.S. diplomacy to try to bring an end to this war in Eastern Europe that frankly, Danny, has been going on for more than four years. We're now in the fifth year of the Russia, Ukraine conflict, the Russian attacks on Ukraine and still we're yet repeating frankly the same lines with Moscow pummeling with ballistic attacks and drone strikes even overnight against the Ukrainian capital and large swathes of the Ukrainian territory. And nobody that can bring a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

We saw images earlier today of the two American envoys, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, being received at Moscow's Vnukovo airport by Vladimir Putin's envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, in an image obtained by CNN. However, it's not clear when exactly the pair is going to meet with the Kremlin leader, with Vladimir Putin himself, who is at an event celebrating the anniversary of the foundation of Moscow, which is also taking place today.

What really is happening is happening in Kyiv where Kushner and Witkoff expected to land, perhaps tomorrow or in the coming days. That is in itself is a novelty, Danny, because it's the first time that the two will travel to Kyiv for the first time in person to oversee also the damage inflicted on the Ukrainian capital by this continuous campaign of ballistic missiles from Russia. And among the targeted the targets hit by the Russian offensive overnight has been two airports in the Ukrainian capital region.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the situation saying, and I quote, that he believes that these Russian strikes on airports are a reaction to discussions and preparations regarding the possibility of the American delegation using an aircraft to arrive in Ukraine.

Now, the way that Witkoff and Kushner will arrive in Ukraine also has a symbolic value because since the beginning of the war, what we have seen is that foreign leaders will travel to Kyiv via Poland and then taking a train to avoid the risk of being impacted by this continuous barrage of drones and ballistic missiles.

Whether Kushner and Witkoff could be able to land in Kyiv, especially with a U.S. State plane with a sky blue painting, of course, would have a huge symbolic significance for the Ukrainian causes. So that's perhaps why the Russians are trying to prevent it.

[08:05:02]

Try not to read too much into it. All of these meetings are heavily behind closed doors, but we'll bring it to you and to the audience as soon as we hear anything from the Russian capital. Danny.

FREEMAN: All eyes on Moscow today and then soon in Kyiv. Stefano Pozzebon thank you as always for your report. Appreciate it.

We have new details on our other breaking story this morning. The Iranian state media report about several explosions off Iran's Kharg Island. Iranian news agencies say the U.S. targeted a small tanker about six miles from the island. Four projectiles struck the vessel named Stark 1. No casualties were reported. And CNN has reached out to U.S. Central Command for comment.

Now let's get to the dramatic end in the case that has gripped so many of us. A Massachusetts judge has declared a mistrial in the case of Lindsay Clancy, the former nurse accused of murdering her three young children. After seven days of deliberations, the jury ultimately deadlocked. Clancy's attorneys revealed a single holdout juror prevented a unanimous verdict. CNN's Ivan Rodriguez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDGE WILLIAM SULLIVAN, MASSACHUSETTS SUPERIOR COURT: At this point, I'm going to declare that the jury is deadlocked and I'm going to declare a mistrial.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Following about 38 hours over seven days of deliberations, jurors remained deadlocked, unable to reach a verdict in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial.

SULLIVAN: I understood how hard everybody worked in this case. I understood that you all gave everything you could.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): Prosecutors argued Clancy acted, quote, intentionally, rationally and swiftly to kill her three children.

TIMOTHY CRUZ, PLYMOUTH COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Children were murdered and it's our job to seek justice.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): While her defense team said she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

ROSEMARY SCAPICCHIO, LINDSAY CLANCY'S CIVIL ATTORNEY: We need to make sure that when there is postpartum or maternal mental health that these doctors start listening to women, because that's not what they're doing right now.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): Jury notes indicated they were split 11 to 1, but any verdict must be unanimous. The judge denied a request from the defense to further question a juror who it said was the lone holdout.

KEVIN REDDINGTON, LINDSAY CLANCY'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They know that they were robbed by one man.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): While next steps in this case are unknown, Clancy's defense attorney said that if a retrial happens, he would request that the jury be sequestered, yet noted that finding unexposed jurors would be near impossible.

REDDINGTON: I don't know if we will ever be able to get jurors that aren't aware of this case anywhere. New York, Washington, Georgia, Japan, India, I don't know.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): Both the prosecution and defense will be back in court on September 29 for a status hearing on the case. In Plymouth, I'm Ivan Rodriguez reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: And joining us now is retired Massachusetts Judge Carol Erskine. She's also the author of the book "A Cruel Injustice." Judge, thank you so much for joining us after a really, really busy week in this case. Let's start with the big question that everyone is asking.

Do you think prosecutors will attempt to retry this case?

CAROL ERSKINE, RETIRED MASSACHUSETTS JUDGE: Well, I think it will be difficult for the prosecution to decide whether or not they're going to retry this case. They are very well aware of the fact that 11 people on that jury completely rejected their position and their theory in the case of premeditated murder. So I think knowing that, it will be difficult for them to determine whether or not they can reach 12 people who aren't divided over this case, which has drawn so much national attention.

FREEMAN: Were you surprised in the end that 12 jurors could not agree on this case or on an outcome?

ERSKINE: Well, I think the nation has been so divided about this case, and when you look at it this way, the truth of the matter is, aren't juries just a reflection of the public. And so when you look at the fact that the public itself is so divided on what the outcome of this case should be, it would be surprising to me that you could get 12 people to agree to this.

Although in this case, the fact that 11 people rejected the Commonwealth's position, what it tells me is that Kevin Reddington presented a very strong case.

FREEMAN: Yes, I mean, that is the flip side, right? That actually 11. It's amazing, perhaps, that 11 people did agree on one thing, especially, as you said, with such a divided case. I'm curious, though, Judge, what do you make of the defense attorney, Riddington, as you noted, spending so much time seemingly maligning one specific, it seems, male juror, presumably that one holdout. What did you make of that?

ERSKINE: Yes, I mean, I think when you consider how much -- not only how much effort he put into this, but he clearly has said that he's developed a very caring and compassionate relationship for Lindsay Clancy.

[08:10:04]

And so I think that was more of a reflection of emotion than anything. I think he knows that Lindsey Clancy has had to deal with the fact that this is now a mistrial and that she would be going through this again, that it was more of an emotional reaction than anything. I think it was also a reflection of the fact that he's aware of the fact that juror told the 11 people, according to the note, that he was not going to comply with the jury instructions.

So a lot of this I think just comes out in a very emotional ending to this case.

FREEMAN: Do you think the judge in this case made the right decision to keep that one juror in play and did not dismiss that juror because that was really you could tell somebody something that the defense wanted?

ERSKINE: Yes, I think that that's going to be one at least a basis for appeal. When the judge declared a mistrial, he has to make a finding that it was done so with manifest necessity, meaning that there was really no other choice. And once that decision is made, then it gives the prosecution the ability to retry it.

But I do think on appeal they will argued that there was not manifest necessity because there was an alternative method to try to bring the jury to a verdict. And their position is that the judge should have interviewed separately, done a separate voir dire, a much more in depth voir dire discussion with that juror.

So I think that's going to be the basis of appeal because if they can get an appeal on appeal to say that there was no manifest necessity, then double jeopardy will attach.

FREEMAN: Well, thank you so much, Judge for joining us this morning to break down such a consequential case and week. Really do appreciate it.

ERSKINE: Thanks for having me.

FREEMAN: All right. Still ahead, renewed hope in Nepal after two really incredible rescues. We have the latest on efforts to find more survivors.

Plus, a flight to New Jersey takes let's call it a bizarre turn. Look at this. Ending with one passenger duct taped to a seat.

And also coming up, more than 50 million people under heat alerts this holiday weekend and that's fueling potentially powerful storms. Allison's coming up in a moment with your forecast.

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[08:17:14]

FREEMAN: This morning we're following incredible rescues out of Nepal. Rescuers in the region have found a woman alive 10 days after catastrophic floods swept through the area. Local officials say her family believes believed she had died and had even begun preparing for her funeral.

Meanwhile, the Nepali army also says a joint team of Nepali international rescuers pulled a Chinese national alive from a tunnel. CNN's Gage Goulding has more on these miraculous stories of survival.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GAGE GOULDING, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An absolutely incredible day. That's the best way to describe Nepal today because two more people have been rescued. One of them trapped in a hydropower tunnel, the other in a severely damaged, albeit destroyed, home. This is incredible. Let's show you the picture, starting with what we know out of this hydropower tunnel rescue.

A Chinese national rescued by a joint effort between the Nepali army and South Korean rescue crews. This man was trapped in the tunnel about 700 or so feet deep. That's what we're being told. According to the Nepal army, he's a Chinese national wearing a uniform of Power China, a state backed energy firm.

He was found there 10 days after this flood. Remember, this flood happened back on August 26th. His health currently being assessed and he was flown to a hospital in Nepal's capital. And again, this is just another sensational miracle that has occurred in Nepal.

And then just downstream, a woman in her 60s was rescued around 1:30 p.m. local time on Saturday. She was in this badly damaged, I mean, truthfully, it looks destroyed home. And this is really a montage of what looks like rescue workers, but also locals working to pull her out. 60-year-old woman who has survived 10 days, presumably maybe without any food or water. And she is now being rescued, also taken to a hospital in Kathmandu, the nation's capital.

But again, this is two new miracles, which is incredible because on Friday there was two other workers that were rescued from a separate hydropower tunnel. So let's wrap up and kind of talk about all of the rescues that we know of right now.

We know that on Friday two workers were rescued from the Trishuli 3A hydropower station. They were in that tunnel originally. Rescue crews heard voices and then brought those two workers out. And then fast forward to Saturday. You have another sensational rescue from 700 plus feet inside another tunnel, that tunnel belonging to the Upper Trishuli 1 Hydropower Station. And then downstream you have this rescue of a woman trapped inside a home for 10 days after this flood.

[08:20:00]

Again these are rescue crews. These are locals that are working with high tech equipment. But also some of them, we've seen video of them out there in their bare feet digging through rock and mud with their hands, using white water rafting wraps to crawling on their stomach. I mean, really, the textbook goes out the window here. And they are doing everything they can using every resource they have, any tool at their disposal to get to people in their community.

These people that are working in their community that were simply washed away as a result of this flood. But again, another sensational day of rescues in Nepal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Just incredible story right there. All right. Let's take a look at more of this morning's headlines. First up, the Grand Foyer section of the Kennedy Center is closed over the weekend after a chunk of the ceiling came crashing to the ground yesterday. The damage comes after days of heavy rains in Washington, DC.

The Kennedy Center Board, which is now chaired by President Trump, has been pushing to shut down the iconic landmark for two years, to renovate it. It approved the closures in two controversial votes this year.

And a federal judge has cleared the way for the Pentagon to fire three journalists at the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. The journalists sued after claiming they were being pushed out over comments they made about the paper's editorial independence. But the judge denied their request to stop the firing's ruling their removals do not appear to violate First Amendment protections. An attorney for the journalists say they're disappointed with the decision.

And get a load of this. A flight from Texas to New Jersey ended with one passenger, as you can see, wrapped in duct tape. Witnesses say the man was agitated, yelling profanities and using racial and homophobic slurs. They say he then turned physical, allegedly hitting other passengers when people tried to restrain him. Witnesses say he bit one man and tried to bite another, forcing the crew and passengers to use zip ties and duct tape. The flight was diverted to Baltimore where the man was arrested.

Coming up in just a moment. Small potatoes. That's how President Trump is describing the war with Iran. We have details on the White House's latest attempts to try to minimize the deadly months long conflict coming up after a quick break.

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[08:26:37]

FREEMAN: Let's go now to our breaking news out of Russia. We're getting a first look at U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner being greeted by the envoy to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. A U.S. official said Kushner and Witkoff will then head to Kyiv.

For more on this, we have CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger with us. He's also White House and national security correspondent for the New York Times. David, thank you as always for getting up early to talk about some of the big things happening overseas. In particular, let's start with this latest news.

How should we be thinking about this visit to Moscow by these two envoys and how significant is it that this would potentially be Kushner and Witkoff's first trip afterwards to Ukraine?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, let's start with Russia, Danny. No, it was a little more than a year ago that President Trump met President Putin in Alaska for that big summit was the one time that they've talked face to face during the president's first second term.

They met A few times in the first, of course, and at the time that they left that summit, it seemed likely that there would then be an exchange of peace plans. And President Trump even talked about getting President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, President Putin, and perhaps President Trump himself into a room to try to figure out a way to end the war.

None of that happened. The Russians have dug in, even though it has come at a great cost to them as their own, losing more of their energy facilities. This is an effort to try to start this with some new ideas. We don't know exactly what it is the two men have arrived with, but President Trump said himself yesterday that they were coming with new thoughts about how to reach a peace plan.

Then going to Kyiv is a big deal. They have never been there before, the two of them. So this is an effort to sort of deal with this a little more equally.

FREEMAN: You know, it's remarkable just remembering that Alaska meeting with the literal red carpet. And you're right, it seemed like meetings were going to be imminent. And I appreciate you reminding our viewers that that, of course, did not happen, which is why this is so significant.

David, I want to turn though for a moment to another area of conflict in the world. What is your read on this news from overnight of explosions at Kharge Island? It seems like there's been some serious escalations this week with this war with Iran.

SANGER: We don't know a whole lot about the Kharg Island ones yet. You did see the president on Truth Social a little less than a week ago, put up a AI generated view sort of from what looked like a video game of a destruction of Kharge Island. In fact, I don't think he really wants to do that. First of all, if he did, he would have done it a while ago.

Second, the president's ultimate idea here is to get Iranian oil flowing again under the right circumstances and alleviate the shortages that have driven up prices, then destroying the main island from which Iranian oil is shipped in and out wouldn't do him a whole lot of good, particularly if he was successful at regime change and ultimately was able to get a different government to ship that oil.

[08:30:10]

At the same time, you're seeing the president, on the one hand, prosecute the war and on the other hand deny that it's a war at all. And we saw Vice President Vance particularly make the case in a briefing to reporters that this isn't really a war. Well, that's the kind of talk you go into, as you are just two and a half months from an election.

FREEMAN: Well, it's interesting, David, let's talk a little bit more about that, because not only did we hear JD Vance, like you said, not want to say that this was a war at all, but then you heard President Trump on Friday call the war small potatoes compared to other wars, despite, of course, this war costing the lives of American troops.

Is that really the strategy right here of minimizing this war, just purely about the midterms in your mind?

SANGER: Well, partly it's about the midterms, but I think there are other reasons he wants to do that. First of all, obviously, he has not achieved the objectives he laid out on February 28th when this started. Ending the nuclear program, limiting the missile program, encouraging the Iranian people to rise up against the government and take their country back. Those were all contained in his speech. Those haven't happened.

And so I think he wants to describe this now as kind of background noise. There's a second reason it has to do with Congress. You know, he is way past all of the deadlines that would be set in the War Powers Act. He began to lose some votes in Congress I on whether or not the War Powers Act had to be invoked.

So he wants to call this a sort of background skirmish so that Congress does not have leverage in. Now, of course, the other form of leverage Congress has is the fact that he's calling for so much -- so many bigger military budgets, including to make up for the equipment that's been used and ammunition that's been used in this conflict.

FREEMAN: Yes, I mean, it seems like, again, those two narratives continue to smash into each other, the desire to have that larger military budget while also continuing to downplay this and not even say that it is a war.

David, I wanted to get your perspective on something else, though. Some new reporting from your colleagues at the New York Times about the Pentagon subjecting 50 members of the Joint Staff to polygraph tests to try to, it seems, flush out leakers. Again, I know this wasn't your byline on it, but just from your perspective here between stories like that turnover and leadership like we saw the Secretary of the army resigning this week.

I mean is this inspiring confidence in a well-run Pentagon right now?

SANGER: Well, clearly the Pentagon is in significant chaos right now. You saw that with the resignation of Dan Driscoll who left as Secretary of the Army. The head of the Joint Chiefs for the army, the Army Chief of Staff was fired. You may recall Secretary Hegseth has reached deep down into the officer ranks to stop officers from getting promoted.

This has created a level of dismay and crisis in the Pentagon that I can't recall seeing in my many years covering national security in Washington. That to the story that my colleagues ran, really remarkable story, taking the members, 50 members of the Joint Staff, these are the staff around the Joint Chiefs and putting them in polygraphs to try to find who leaked what in part were public numbers about the kind of ammunition that has been fired off the absence of interceptors and so forth. This was pretty remarkable. It's an administration that first said

that wasn't a story, then said if there's a shortage of ammunition it's because of Joe Biden and what he gave to Ukraine, which was not true. And then the third thing they said was whoever leaked this, we're going to find them. Again, it doesn't seem to quite match up, does it?

FREEMAN: No, it certainly doesn't. David Sanger, as always, thank you so much for chatting through a number of different very, very important topics this morning. Appreciate you.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

FREEMAN: All right. To this now stunning new video this morning from inside Hurricane Lowell, now a Category 4 storm. NOAA Hurricane hunters near Hawaii flew into the storm. You can see that on your screen right there. Satellites of course can monitor hurricanes from above, but scientists say nothing replaces the raw data gathered inside a storm itself.

[08:35:05]

Meantime, Hawaii is under a state of emergency as it braces for Lowell. It's gathering strength as it approaches the island and it's Hawaii's third major storm threat in just three weeks. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins me now with more on the weather across the country as we begin the holiday weekend.

Allison, storms in Hawaii and I'm seeing heat across much of the central part of the country today.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, it's kind of the last official weekend of some of the people want to get outside, they want to do things. But it is going to be very hot in some of these areas, dangerously hot in some locations. So you've got over 50 million people under some type of alert. That could be the orange, which is the heat advisory or you've got an extreme heat warning in some areas. That's the pink color here.

You'll notice you're talking more than a dozen states that are looking at those temperatures and we're not just talking 3, 4 or 5 degrees above average. Some of these areas it's 10 to 15 degrees above average. You've got Dallas looking at a high of 99 today. Keep in mind the feels like temperature will be well into the triple digits. 101 in Oklahoma City, 97 in Atlanta, 98 in Nashville. Much cooler in the Northeast. It's actually going to be a very enjoyable weekend for many up there.

Boston, Providence, New York, it's the heat is really going to be focused across the center portion of the country as well as across the Deep South. Now a lot of these -- the heat is really also starting to fuel a lot of showers and thunderstorms. You've got this cluster right through here that's been making its way through Ohio now spreading into West Virginia and Kentucky. More showers and thunderstorms are expected as we go through the day today. That first cluster will slide into areas of the Carolinas and Virginia late this afternoon but also notice by about five, six o'clock you're going to start to have a lot of those typical summertime pop up showers and thunderstorms. So if you have some plans heading out to say the beach today, just be aware that towards the latter end of the day you may end up getting some pop up showers and even some stronger thunderstorms.

You've also got some more showers and thunderstorms out to the west. By tonight we're actually going to keep a close eye on places like Las Vegas, Southern California as well as the Central Plains, where we could see some additional showers and thunderstorms develop.

FREEMAN: Well, listen, Allison, I want it to cool off for you guys down there for sure, but after a lot of heat up here in the northeast, I'll take the cool weather up here.

CHINCHAR: Enjoy it.

FREEMAN: Allison, thanks so much. All right, coming up in just a moment, there is an international push to change the map we all learned growing up. We're going to tell you about the change and why the United States is pushing back. Stay with us.

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[08:42:00]

FREEMAN: It's a key race for Democrats and one they may need to win if they want to take back the Senate. Except there's one problem. There isn't a Democrat on the ballot. The candidate trying to unseat a Republican in Nebraska who has held statewide office for over a decade is an independent. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With great pleasure that I introduce Dan Osborne.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's not a Republican and he's not a Democrat, but Dan Osborn is a wild card to watch in the fight for control of the Senate.

DAN OSBORN (I) U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE IN NEBRASKA: I want to prove to the entire country, and it's going to start right here in Nebraska. This is how you win elections.

ZELENY (voice-over): He's running as an independent, a prairie populist in Nebraska, trying to unseat Republican Senator Pete Ricketts. Yet he's not running against both parties. Democrats are no longer fielding their own contender. A blunt admission of their weaknesses here on the Great Plains.

OSBORN: We have to stop looking left and right and pointing fingers, and we have to start looking up.

We ran one of the closest Senate races in the country. ZELENY (voice-over): After losing a senate race in 2024 by fewer than seven points, Osborn is trying again, and this time he's not alone. Democrats are also backing independents in South Dakota and Idaho. In Montana, some party leaders are supporting Seth Bodnar, an independent former university president, after a long shot Democrat declined to drop out.

ZELENY: What is the state of the Democratic brand in rural America and rural Nebraska?

JANE KLEEB, CHAIR, NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: You know, our brand still needs a lot of help.

ZELENY: Jane Kleeb, who leads the Nebraska Democratic Party and is vice chair of the DNC, urges voters to back Osborn.

KLEEB: I think it's pragmatic, but I also think that it shows people that we are willing to cross party lines and not let our ego of partisanship be in the way of what's best for Nebraska.

ZELENY (voice-over): Osborn, a mechanic and union president at a now closed Omaha cereal plant, makes clear he has little use and no loyalty for either party.

OSBORN: People are definitely jaded right now. They're politically exhausted.

ZELENY (voice-over): Osborn is a Navy veteran. He believes fallout from the Iran war, starting with the cost of gas and groceries, has awakened frustrated voters who are hungry for change.

OSBORN: We were promised no new wars, no new foreign wars as a campaign promise, but yet here we are.

ZELENY: I noticed that you don't hammer Trump too much or dwell on him too much at all.

OSBORN: No, because I'm not running against Donald Trump. I'm running against Pete Ricketts.

ZELENY (voice-over): Ricketts is trying to brand Osborn as out of step with Nebraska, which Trump won by more than 20 points two years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dan Osborne, fake independence, real liberal.

ZELENY: To the suggestion that you're somehow a closeted Democrat, you say what?

OSBORN: I'd say if I was running against a Democrat, they'd call me a closeted Republican. I just happen to be running against Republicans.

ZELENY (voice-over): Stephanie Nenkis is a proud Democrat, yet she knows how her party is viewed.

[08:45:02]

ZELENY: How are Democrats as a party thought of here?

STEPHANIE NANTKES, NEBRASKA DEMOCRATIC VOTER: Not well. Not well at all.

ZELENY (voice-over): She believes an independent like Osborn stands a better shot than many might think.

NANTKES: People are more outraged by Washington D.C., now than they were then. And two years ago he almost pulled it off. So what do you think might happen this time?

ZELENY (voice-over): Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Seward, Nebraska.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Thank you, Jeff for that reporting. All right, coming up, a U.S. Open comeback years in the making. We're going to show you how Serena and Venus fared in their long awaited return. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:04]

FREEMAN: Let's check in on some top stories this morning. First up, a six-week old infant has died of measles in Pennsylvania. The coroner confirms the child was born with a rare genetic condition that can cause respiratory infections. The state is struggling with an outbreak that has sickened at least 577 people and hospitalized 98.

And to this, a new contractor has been hired to clean and maintain the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The interior department will pay $2.7 million to the American Ag Energy Company over the next 12 months. The Trump administration has now spent more than $14 million on the restoration project, which was originally budgeted by the president for about 2 to $3 million.

And the U.N. General Assembly has voted to adopt a new world map that reflects the true size of every country. African nations urged the U.N. to do it to end quote, symbolic minimization. The map resolution passed overwhelmingly. However, one country voted against it, the United States. 164 member states voted in favor and six abstained.

The Queens of the court were back on the court in Queens last night. Serena and Venus Williams turning back the clock at the U.S. Open. Carolyn Manno joins me now. Hey Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Good morning. Venus and Serena made this nostalgic electric return to the double stage. A packed crowd hanging on every single point for three hours last night and after dropping the first set, the pair rallied to win a really tied second set tiebreaker against the 14 seeded team of Maya Joint and Hao-ching Chan. The crowd was firmly behind them.

Venus and Serena fighting back from this 4-1 deficit in the third after they won the second set and they even jumped out to a dominant 5 nothing lead in a decisive 10-point match tie break before ultimately falling short and giving that away. Still, the match marking Venus and Serena's first time playing a Grand slam doubles tournament together since 2022. And we saw flashes of their vintage dominance throughout a really entertaining night in Queens. It was fun to watch.

The 2026 FIBA World Cup is underway in Berlin. That is the biggest international women's basketball tournament between now and the 2028 Olympics in LA. And this year's U.S. roster features a cast of superstar rookies. The Americans opened up their campaign Friday with a dominant 94-61 win over China. Caitlin Clark shining off the bench ending the night with 14 points and 11 assists, the most assists by a U.S. player in the tournament since Don Staley back in 1998.

And after a double digit first quarter lead, China actually trimmed the deficit, but Clark, Paige Bueckers, Andrew Reese fueling the 17 to five run to close out the third and they put the game out of reach from there. So next up for the Americans, Italy on Sunday afternoon as they seek a fifth consecutive world title.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has announced that she will retire from her role with the league at the end of this year, bringing a seven plus year tenure as the league's first commissioner to a close. She says the decision to leave was entirely her own, aligning with her retirement goals. She noted she originally intended to stay for only three and a half years, but that beyond that she stayed to guide the league through a massive financial and operational transformation.

More recently, Engelbert has faced heavy scrutiny on a number of polarizing league issues, along with strained relationships with players. She's going to stay in her position through the end of the year as the search for her successor begins.

College Football Featuring a full slate this weekend, LSU made the decision to leave former NFL players Dae'Quan Wright and Xavier Harris off at final 103 man roster for today's season opener against Clemson despite a court injunction that legally cleared them both to play. Both are former undrafted NFL signees who played under Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss last season. They're looking to return to college under a legal challenge regarding the NCAA's new five-year eligibility rules.

A state judge issued a temporary injunction allowing them to play, overriding NCAA and SEC blocks, but whether they should be able to play at the college level has drawn a lot of debate. It's worth noting that LLSU did leave two spots open on its 105-player limit, signaling that while they blink to avoid immediate penalties and legal chaos for the opener here.

Danny, they could be added later on in the season, but a full slate this weekend and starting college football off with a bang, of course. Back to you.

FREEMAN: Yeah, no doubt at all. Carolyn Manno, thanks so much for that report. Appreciate it.

All right, to this now. Every summer, a temporary city rises in the shadow of Montana's Bighorn Mountains with some 1500 teepees drawing Native Americans and visitors from around the world. It's Crow Fair, known as the Teepee Capital of the World. And there's a special invitation to experience it for yourself on your next big trip. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good that you came. This is the time where the Crow Fair celebration is happening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For over 100 years a temporary city pops up every summer in the shadow of the Bighorn Mountains.

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This is Crow Fair, known as the teepee capital of the world with 1,500 canvases raised on the Crow reservation outside of Billings, Montana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been using teepees as far back as probably like 1600s, 1700s. You feel alive, you know, you feel like you're like a real Indian.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, this is one of the largest gatherings of Native Americans in North America. Indigenous communities and tourists come from around the world to experience it. The day starts with a parade in Crow regalia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the biggest topics in Indian country today is the loss of culture. With Crow Fair being as big as it is, it kind of aids us in the way that we're able to keep our teachings and our traditions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of those traditions is the adrenaline filled Indian Relay. It's a race where riders jump off a bareback horse onto another.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now this is an outstanding team.

VANEESA AFRAID OF BEAR, MISS CROW NATION: One common misconception is people believe that they need to be invited, but really the invitation is open ended. I just think that the best way to support us is just being here. This is my invitation. This is me inviting you.

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FREEMAN: Man, I love that. Beautiful. Beautiful. All right. A new hour of CNN This Morning Weekend starts after a quick break.

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