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Nepal, China Floods Leave at Least 538 Dead, More Than 1,300 Missing; Jury Resumes Deliberations in Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial; Imran Khan's Family Taking Pakistani Government to Court; Israeli Strikes in Lebanon Test Fragile Ceasefire; Nepal Leads Rescue as Humanitarian Groups Coordinate Relief; Young Adults in U.S. Have Staked $5.4 Billion This Year on Kalshi; New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Delivering Key Speech in Wyoming; Trump to Award Artemis II Crew Congressional Space Medal of Honor; Aired 10a-11a ET

Aired August 28, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:48]

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And welcome to the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi

where the time is just after 6:00 in the evening.

Rescue efforts have resumed again on the Nepal-China border after fears of a new deluge of water forced emergency teams to pull back.

The Lindsay Clancy case is now in the jury's hands. Will they see murderer or a mother who was too mentally ill to be held criminally responsible?

Nepal faces a devastating human toll after catastrophic flash floods swept through the country. At least 538 people are now confirmed dead with more

than 1300 still unaccounted for since Wednesday's disaster. The search for survivors is being complicated by flood waters, mud and debris, which have

cut off some of the most remote communities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. YASHODA KHADKA, DOCTOR AT DEVASTATION SITE: Definitely we don't know what is inside there. We need to wait for the rescue and evacuation part,

and I cannot even imagine what the situation. I had been here yesterday, and the aftermath, as you can see here. So definitely there are many people

missing and some of them might be buried inside there. Some of -- we don't know. I cannot explain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, and as the doctor just described, the rescue effort is being complicated by the sheer scale of the devastation. These satellite

images give us a really good and stark understanding of the before and after showing just how dramatically the floods have transformed the

landscape there.

Well, international scientists say a glacier avalanche may have triggered what led to these deadly flashfloods. This video appears to show the moment

a massive chunk of glacier broke free on Wednesday, unleashing an avalanche and landslide down that mountainside.

Yet amid the devastation, there are also remarkable stories of survival. Two Americans, for example, told CNN's Will Ripley how they escaped the

raging flood waters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANJANA RAJA, SURVIVED FLOOD DISASTER: When we ran out, the other nationals who were there, they ran out with us. Except for one lady, the Italian. We

ran the right of the bus. She took the left of the bus and vanished, and then we started going up the cliff, which was right beside the bus. So the

only good thing that our driver did was he parked the bus a little on an incline. So the water didn't hit our bus first. It kind of went through the

road first.

So the way it came, it came just like a tsunami. It just came going all the way up. And just like a tsunami, the how it sweeps going like a roll. It

just took the buses, the vans.

PATTABIRAMAN VENTAKASSEN, SURVIVED FLOOD DISASTER: Houses.

RAJA: Houses, people, everything. We saw people just getting sucked in the water. It was so traumatizing to see that. People were screaming. But of

course water doesn't hear anything. It just kind of suck them in. I don't know if they were thrown away somewhere in the shore, but then this

happened. It was just a span of 30 minutes. In 30 minutes, everything was swept and gone. It was -- there was no water after that. There were there

was just mud everywhere. So the story, it took us like 10 -- it was like five minutes or something?

VENTAKASSEN: I think it was less than even 30 minutes for, for everything. And then it took us a while to get up.

RAJA: Yes, it took us -- so it took us a while to get up to the first base. So we got up to the first base, which happened to be, I think, the second

army base camp. There was one of the lower level which was swept away. So those people were all killed. And then it got up to the -- it didn't come

up to the second one. The second one was a little higher. There were a few -- so went up, I think like what, 500 feet up, 500 steps?

VENTAKASSEN: Three hundred, 400 feet.

RAJA: Yes, 300, 400 feet up where everybody kind of settled down, calmed down, and it was still -- we were still trying to figure out what exactly

happened because we really couldn't think at that point. We had no service. The moment we got service, we tried to at least reach our family to just

let them know where we are and what happened to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, let me get you to CNN's Hanako Montgomery. She is in Nuwakot district of Nepal at the very heart of the devastation. She filed

this report a short time ago.

[10:05:06]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nepali army barracks right now and we've just seen another helicopter, I mean, one of dozens that have arrived

over the past 30 minutes. And it looks as though people are getting off right now holding some kind of luggage. We can't tell if these people are

survivors or whether these are people of loved ones who are trying to find any remaining survivors.

KAPUR SINGH TAMANG, LANDSLIDE SURVIVOR (through translator): In our village, there are no people left. It's a very difficult situation. The

villagers were scared and ran to get to safety, but didn't know where to go. There's no food or drinkable water, all swept away by the landslide.

MONTGOMERY: These are all relatives of people still missing. And because they can't get in contact with them, they've come here to the army barracks

to give their contact information, their names, trying to see if the people that the army are finding are the same people as their loved ones.

GEN. RAJARAM BASNET, NEPALI ARMY: Yesterday only we rescued 900 persons from most affected areas. We are trying to intensify the search and rescue

operations. But due to some, you know, the heavy mud due to the flood and another, you know, the challenging factor here is the weather itself.

MONTGOMERY: The rain.

BASNET: Yes. Rain and weather.

MONTGOMERY: Have you seen anything like this? How are you feeling about this disaster?

BASNET: I haven't seen this kind of, you know, disaster in my life.

MONTGOMERY: So these people here, they're looking for the names of their family members on these pieces of paper here. And there are hundreds of

names.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, I want to bring in our meteorologist, Chris Warren, who's at the CNN Weather Center.

And Chris, as I understand it, these monsoon fueled storms are likely to continue to pop up across this disaster area through the weekend. So what

are you seeing as you look at your sources?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly that, Becky, and the rain and the weather will play a huge role in rescue and search efforts here, not just

to slow things down when it does rain and make it difficult for helicopters to fly if the visibility is down. But also it can be dangerous at times as

well with some of these heavy rain showers for those with the search and rescue efforts.

So this is over several hours. These are the clouds and the different colors show us where there's the taller clouds, which is usually the

heavier rain. So just think of the heavy rain with these red. You just look at the area here the search and rescue is going on right now. And what we

see is for several hours, there's no rain. That's what you hope for, but not too far away this is some very moist air here. And that means the rain

that falls can be very, very heavy.

And you look at the region here, and this is the river where the big impacts have been, all that devastation, and rain that falls it doesn't

have to be right where people are. Say it can fall up here and then it drains down. You get a heavy rain shower up here and it's dry down here.

That water eventually will make its way down there. So that can complicate things with areas where there might be temporary dams.

The river has been diverted and some of that water could be released. So there's a lot of wild cards in here. We just don't know exactly how it's

going to behave. Another thing, when you get the very heavy rain on steep terrain like this video is showing us, it can bring more of these rocks,

more of the sand down, and it could just make it that much more forceful if you get a heavy rain shower just in the wrong spot. So timing is a big

deal.

Now this looks like it's going to be super, super wet for several hours. But really what this is showing us, you can think of it this way, going

right through the weekend, is that at some point during the day or night, there could be some rain and at times it will be heavy. And the mountainous

region here also plays a role, not just when the rain falls, and funneling that water through the canyons, through the gorges, but also there's

enhancement because of the mountains.

So the air coming up from the Indian Ocean, which is super warm and super humid, comes up into the cooler environment here, gets lifted, gets kind of

forced upward by the mountains themselves. And that can make rain even heavier. But again, it is very hit and miss. The monsoon season is when you

get that seasonal change in air flow from the warm waters of the Indian Ocean inland.

And we're still about that peak. So it's going to be a while before it drops off considerably. And you can see, the temperatures aren't the big

story here. And this is, you know, looking at, you know, not too far away. The bottom line is most of this region will have essentially this forecast.

Doesn't mean there's any thunderstorms every day, doesn't mean there's going to be heavy rain every day and all day long. But each day there is

that chance.

And what you got to hope for is you just catch a break. You just got to hope that the showers and the thunderstorms are happening somewhere else

because when you look at this muddy, sloppy, sandy, silty debris in and around these homes, it's not like flood waters just come and then move on.

[10:10:07]

The mud itself can essentially be reactivated with more rain, or it's just that much slower to dry out. And you can see just mud covered. Now, you may

have heard that people talk about it's like wet concrete. And that's absolutely true. It's like that. That, you know, very sludgy, almost like

quicksand kind of feel to it.

However, Becky, the difference is with concrete it will set, it will harden. But in this case, it's sand and silt and muck and mud, and any rain

just keeps it from drying out. And really what needs to happen when it's muddy like this, Becky, is it needs to completely dry out and then settle

and compact. So some areas may be hard, firm ground, other areas it's still more like quicksand.

ANDERSON: Got it. Chris, good to have you. Thank you. And more of course as we get it from Nepal.

Well, jurors have reconvened at a court in Massachusetts to resume deliberations in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy. The 36-year-old is

accused of fatally strangling her three young children in 2023. Prosecutors say the murders were intentional. The defense maintains Clancy was

suffering from postpartum psychosis and should not be held criminally responsible.

Here is the judge explaining what that verdict would mean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE WILLIAM SULLIVAN, MASSACHUSETTS SUPERIOR COURT: If the defendant is found not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, the district

attorney or another appropriate authority may, and generally does, petition the court to commit the defendant to a mental health facility or to

Bridgewater State Hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Brynn Gingras back with us this hour.

And you've been monitoring what's been going on in court. And of course, you're waiting on this upcoming verdict. And we talked last hour about

whether there were any signals, any signs about how the jury actually might come down in this case. Is it clear at this point?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Becky, look, we have reporters inside the courtroom kind of waiting for anything to come out of the

deliberations. And we do understand that there is a note. I'm actually trying to check in with our -- with our reporters right now to see if we

have any more, you know, indication of what that note might be. I just know that the judge did come into the courtroom and brought the attorneys to a

sidebar, but nothing went on the record from their discussions.

So still waiting to see exactly what happened there. But everyone is sort of waiting to see what this verdict might be. They deliberated yesterday

for about four hours. That was after long closing arguments, very intense. An hour each on both sides of closing arguments.

Why don't you take a listen to some of the arguments that were made in court yesterday before jurors began their deliberations?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN REDDINGTON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: How does this turn into this? How? Because of the damn medicine and the lousy medical care.

JENNIFER SPRAGUE, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: She killed them and she left them there on the floor with the bands around their necks. She didn't bring

them up to their beds and put them with their favorite stuffed animal and cover them up gently and lovingly, leaving them peacefully there. No, she

left them discarded on the basement floor like broken toys because she was done playing the game. You know to a moral certainty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Now remember, the burden of proof is right there on the commonwealth. They need to prove to jurors that this was first-degree

murder. Now, the jurors could come back with some lesser -- lesser verdict. Basically, they can go to second-degree murder, according to the jury

instructions, even to manslaughter for a guilty verdict.

So, there is a lot to consider here, Becky. They also, of course, can do a not guilty verdict. And you just showed your viewers what that could mean.

Not guilty with a lack of criminal responsibility would mean that likely she would go to some sort of mental institution for a period of time. But

they also could just say not guilty on all counts, and she would be let go.

ANDERSON: Brynn is monitoring that court house alongside our colleagues who are inside. Thank you.

Well, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson.

Still to come, Imran Khan's family fighting the Pakistani government. I've been talking recently to his two sons, the sons of the jailed former prime

minister. Why they say they are very, very worried for their father.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:17:04]

ANDERSON: Well, concern for Imran Khan's health continues to grow a week after Pakistani authorities took the jailed former prime minister to a

hospital for a checkup. Khan's family and his political party have reacted angrily after that health check was carried out at a state-run hospital.

They are accusing the government of defying a court order to take him to a private hospital for treatment and give him access to his personal

physician.

Well, Imran Khan has been in prison for more than three years now after falling out with Pakistan's powerful military. He says the charges he faces

are politically motivated. His sons are worried. They haven't heard their father's voice in months. And when I spoke to them earlier this summer in

London, they said to me that they feel helpless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULAIMAN KHAN, IMRAN KHAN'S SON: The last time we spoke to him on the phone was in March, and we've had no updates because his family, doctors, lawyers

haven't been allowed to see him for seven months.

KASIM KHAN, IMRAN KHAN'S SON: We've been more in the dark recently than we've ever been, I would say, through his incarceration.

ANDERSON: He is supposed to be allowed to see his family and lawyers as I understand it.

K. KHAN: Yes, the court mandates, I think, a phone call every two weeks, minimum. We haven't spoken to him since March. The stint at which we're

able to speak to him stretches. So this has been a particularly long one, maybe the longest one. I've personally feel quite helpless. And now it's

just getting to the point where it's just kind of part of me is maybe waiting for the inevitable kind of more depressing news or something worse.

A phone call would be the bare minimum. I would love to speak to him. Yes.

S. KHAN: Yes. I would just say concern is the main thing that I feel because he was already -- he sounded, like Kasim said, the most frustrated

he'd sounded in any of our calls when we last spoke to him in March. And his eyes are in terrible condition. So I just would love to hear any sort

of update. Even if it wasn't from a call, just someone who'd gone to visit him, just that he's at least healthy and, you know, he's OK.

K. KHAN: Their attempts to kind of throttle our ambition of getting him out or getting him fair -- a fair trial or even fair treatment, you know, are

effective. I mean, our hopes have been pretty effectively quelled and diminished, but that's what I'm saying, you know, just to hear what he, you

know, his voice and how he is, is just something now that I would say is the number one priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: We reached out to the Pakistan government when I conducted that interview. Islamabad responding to a number of the allegations made by

Kasim and Sulaiman Khan to CNN, saying, quote, "The government of Pakistan categorically rejects the claim that Mr. Imran Khan Niazi has been kept

under a seven-month communications blackout or denied access to his family, lawyers and doctors.

[10:20:15]

"That allegation is contradicted by the documented prison record and seeks to manufacture an international controversy, where the evidence shows

repeated substantial access."

Well, I'm joined now by Zulfi Bukhari. He's an adviser to Imran Khan on international relations and international media, and was a minister in

Khan's government.

Zulfi, it's good to have you. Thank you very much.

ZULFI BUKHARI, ADVISER TO IMRAN KHAN ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL MEDIA: Thank you, Becky.

ANDERSON: Just to be quite clear, I conducted that interview with Imran Khan's kids, grown kids, back in August when I was in London. That feeling

of hopelessness and helplessness Kasim and Sulaiman shared with me, just gutting to hear. Can I first just ask, before we dive into this court case,

just your very latest understanding of how Imran Khan is doing and your greatest concerns for his health at this point?

BUKHARI: Well, thanks to all the international pressure by media that's been built up in the last week ever since the controversy of taking him to

the wrong hospital, his one sister, Noreen, has managed to -- was allowed to see him on this previous Tuesday. Again, a confidential meeting because

we don't want to be in contempt of court of what was said in that meeting, but that was a short meeting was held with his sister.

That was after seven months so whatever the government has said, if his sisters or his sons haven't met him or spoke to him, then I don't know

which other family member they're implying has. And if his lawyers haven't met him who are counseling for about 100 odd cases, then I don't know what

they're implying who has. So they've got these imaginary invisible people apparently meeting him, but none of his three sisters or his two sons had

prior to this Tuesday seen or spoken to him for seven months.

ANDERSON: So break down for us what went wrong on August the 18th, when he was sent to a public hospital. Certainly the order by a judge was in August

the 18th. What went wrong? Because you've filed a contempt of court petition.

BUKHARI: Yes. I mean, it was categoric in the court's order to take him to a particular hospital called Shifa International. That was apparently

changed last minute. And the government and the regime decided to take him to PIMS Hospital, where we've just seen this tragic -- this devastating

tragedy of 15 infants dying in this I think an air conditioning explosion. That was the hospital they ended up taking him to, whereas the court order

was categoric on Shifa International.

ANDERSON: Why were you so categoric about that? What was that -- why was that what you wanted?

BUKHARI: Well, A, it was the court order. B, independent doctors on private -- in a private hospital. Usually when you're in a government hospital in

Pakistan, you're put on basis of a payroll from the government. You are selected by the government to be your ED, the manager of the hospital, the

health minister, everybody is someone who's aligned with the hospital and he will put his people.

So anything that needs to be hidden, anything that you don't need to be transparent about can all be controlled being in this hospital. And the

condition of the hospital is poor, as is evident since last 48 hours of the tragedy that has taken place. So first of all, there's a contempt of court

of not taking him to the hospital -- the supreme court's order. So we asked for it. The supreme three member bench gave it, and they didn't take him

there.

And also that they should produce all his records and medical records with complete transparency to the supreme court. Now, they've created this

further controversy by not taking him to the hospital, by not producing all the correct records and not getting even the checkups that the doctors had

advised. And third thing is that the supreme court advised a panel, a medical board, which included his own doctor, Dr. Faisal, who runs his

cancer hospital.

His doctor was put into a different motor grade to different protocol taking him to Shifa International. And they deceived him and took him to

PIMS. I mean, so you can see the games that are being played, adding further questions and adding more controversy.

ANDERSON: You've got a hearing scheduled on September the 16th. How do you expect the Pakistani government to respond, and what are the next steps?

BUKHARI: Well, they're going to come and they're going to do a hatchet job of taking out bits and bobs saying, oh, he's totally fit. Not complying

about anything, which the supreme court has said to do more interaction with the outside world, reading material, check up in the Shifa

International hospital. So -- you know, but this is -- I just don't see any room legally how they can get away with it because the order is very, very

categoric.

It's a shame that it's on the 16th and it's still so far. You know, we had -- his sisters had gone in for a quick expedited hearing. But, you know, it

is what it is.

[10:25:09]

ANDERSON: Sulaiman and Kasim have been speaking to me and others in the media now for some time. They see, you know, a platform as basically their

only sort of opportunity to help their dad. Sky Sports broadcasts an interview with Kasim and Sulaiman during the lunch break of the first day's

play at Lord's just this week, prompting the Pakistan Cricket Board to formally lodge a complaint reportedly.

But we've seen the biggest names in cricket really rally behind him and demand he get proper medical care. Do you see the growing public attention

on this case giving you hope for meaningful change? I mean, clearly his sons have a real concern about whether he's going to make it out alive from

this prison.

BUKHARI: Yes. I mean, look, first of all, the cricketing community, especially the greats and the captains, I mean, thank you. I think every

Pakistani is so appreciative of what they've done, from Greg Chappell and especially Michael Atherton for airing the boys and taking their interview,

which is obviously caused ripples, you know, down the government and the regime's spine. But, you know, the fact of the matter is, is that when

Imran Khan met his sister, he, Imran Khan, the reason that captains are rallying behind him because they all know his leadership skills, his

bravery, his courage.

And when he has turned around to his sister on the day when he was taken to that hospital, his sister was with him, he clearly said that they're going

to kill me slowly. And that's what they're planning to do. So, you know, they test the waters to see how much public is going to come out if this

happens, and then they go back again, and then they test it a bit more. And then they slowly but surely keep hurting him.

And then, like I said, this controversy of not taking him to an independent hospital, only further, you know, solidifies what his two sons are saying,

that there's a massive question mark of what are you trying to hide? And what are you doing to him? And if you're doing nothing, you would let

doctors fly in from abroad. You would let them come in, you let them check them. You would go out of your way to prove that he's absolutely healthy.

ANDERSON: We've got a press release from PIMS Hospital. It doesn't actually add much to the conversation we're having. I've got it in front of me, but

I will publish it on my X -- as an X post because I think it's important. We ask for a statement and therefore we must provide that for those who are

interested.

For the time being, I just want to say thank you very much indeed for coming in.

BUKHARI: Thank you, Becky.

ANDERSON: To the smoldering tension in the Middle East now. Israel striking areas across south Lebanon on Thursday, demonstrating how fragile the

ceasefire is. A CNN crew witnessed several of these airstrikes. The Israeli military says those strikes were a response to a pair of explosive

Hezbollah drones launched at Israeli soldiers.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us from Beirut.

Good to have you there, Jeremy. You were embedded with the Lebanese armed forces in southern Lebanon. So tell us more about what you saw there.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right. We spent yesterday with the Lebanese army in the South Litani Sector, which is

southern Lebanon, closest to the Israeli border, but also right now closest to the Israeli yellow zone, as it's known here, the area of control that

the Israeli military is currently occupying in southern Lebanon. And we saw the conditions under which Lebanese soldiers are operating in very

difficult conditions and very close proximity to the Israeli military's occupation of southern Lebanon.

And while we were there, actually, we witnessed several strikes. We heard Israeli air strikes, and we also saw artillery strikes in the Lebanese

village of Mansuri. I want to show you that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: How often are you seeing Israeli military strikes like this?

COL. RAJA AMER, LEBANESE ARMY SOUTH LITANI SECTOR: It's continuous in all the area of operation. As I told you, since the 27th of June framework

agreement, we had until now more than 5,000 attacks. So it's continuous and it's everywhere in all the sectors of the responsibility.

DIAMOND: This is what ceasefire looks like.

AMER: This is what's happening. This is what the ceasefire from their side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And so that was a colonel of the Lebanese military who was with us yesterday, describing the kind of daily Israeli military violations of the

ceasefire that he and his soldiers have been witnessing in southern Lebanon. In addition to that, we saw the dangers that some of these strikes

have posed to Lebanese soldiers. We spoke with one Lebanese soldier who was wounded in an Israeli strike not far from where we were speaking to them

there.

[10:30:05]

One other Lebanese soldier had been killed in that attack as well. But we also had an opportunity to visit was one of these pilot zones that is part

of the broader negotiations between the Israeli government and the Lebanese government mediated by the United States. We saw how the Lebanese military

is patrolling one of these pilot zones, facilitating the ability for Lebanese civilians to return to their damaged and sometimes destroyed

homes.

And we also saw the Israeli soldiers on the hill opposite of that village, where they are continuing to operate, and where we have heard -- we heard

several Israeli air strikes. One of those Israeli strikes targeted a village of Arab Salim, not far from where we were. Six people were injured.

One person was killed. That individual who was killed was a woman who, just 48 hours earlier, was celebrating her wedding. 48 hours later, she was

killed in that Israeli strike.

The Israeli military claimed it was targeting, quote-unquote, "terrorist infrastructure" in southern Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah launching

two drones towards its forces in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Jeremy, good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. Jeremy on the ground there in southern Lebanon reporting today back at the bureau

there in Beirut. Thank you.

Still to come, an update on rescue efforts and the challenges those rescue teams are facing in Nepal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. These are your headlines this hour.

Well, the death toll from catastrophic flash floods in Nepal has risen to at least 538, according to the country's disaster authority. More than 1300

people remain unaccounted for, with remote areas still inaccessible to rescue crews.

Jurors are deliberating in a court in Massachusetts in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy. The defense and prosecutors agree Clancy fatally strangled

her children in 2023, but Clancy's attorneys maintain she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and should not be held criminally responsible. If

found guilty Clancy could spend life in prison.

Well, Iran has sent a list of demands for the U.S. that it says could pave the way towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran says, quote, "The

war must end in Gaza." It also wants an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon and Syria. This comes after the Qatari prime minister visited Iran on

Thursday, where he discussed the emerging Hormuz agreement between Oman and Iran.

[10:35:09]

Well, Nepal's prime minister says rescue teams are operating at full capacity two days after massive flooding killed more than 500 people, with

more than 1300 officially still missing. Well, he says, more than 13,000 security personnel have been deployed to the disaster area, and 573 people

have been rescued in 69 flight operations so far.

These are the latest numbers for you. Emergency health centers and free medical treatment are being provided, along with generators and tents with

machinery. The search for survivors, though, complicated by flood waters, by mud and debris, which has cut off a lot of the remote communities.

Well, for more on the relief efforts taking place in the region, I want to bring in Senthil Kumar. He is the executive director at Catholic Relief

Services India.

Sir, what are your teams seeing on the ground right now and what are the most urgent needs to your mind at this point?

SENTHIL KUMAR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES INDIA: Well, we are actually seeing that the devastation has been across these two river

systems of Bhote Koshi and Trishuli, which has actually affected thousands of people. Hundreds have died and thousands are still missing. And the

rescue efforts are still ongoing.

We are also seeing that people need urgent support with food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities. They are looking for safe shelter since

they've actually sort of had their homes and villages wiped out.

ANDERSON: How concerned are you that there are communities, particularly those remote communities, that may remain without assistance for days or

even longer because of the access challenges?

KUMAR: Well, certainly the access challenge is there. And we are actually trying our best to see how we can actually overcome the access challenge.

So we are actually trying to find alternative routes. We are coordinating very closely with the government to see how we can actually get support to

the remote areas, those areas which are badly cut off. So trying to actually work with the government to help lift some of the relief goods.

And wherever it's going to be possible to reach by road, we are actually looking at alternative routes so that we are able to get the life-saving

support to communities who are in need.

ANDERSON: Right. I mean, you're on the ground. You've got teams on the ground. We're hearing from official sources that some 500, nearly 600

people have sadly lost their lives, 1300 officially remain missing at this point. Good news about stories of survivors being found and stories of

those who survived talking about just how chilling and desperate the situation was.

As you speak to those of your colleagues on the ground and to authorities, how concerned are you that the numbers who may have lost their lives will

actually increase in this disaster? Is that a real concern to you at this point?

KUMAR: Well, that's certainly a concern because the rescue and the relief efforts are on. And we are actually sort of seeing an increase in number,

both in terms of deaths and people who are missing even as we are actually getting the good news of people being rescued. There have been reports from

local areas about people actually trying to find shelter wherever they could, living in small caves or highlands, wherever they can, even if it's

actually they don't have a roof on top of them.

So they're actually trying to do whatever they can to actually be safe. But at the same time, we are also hearing that a lot of people have actually

tried to find locations where they can actually stay for the time being. So we are actually hearing reports about a house housing about 30 people

there. And there are schools where hundreds of people are actually currently staying. So there are those various ways in which people are

trying to actually save themselves at this point in time.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, sir. I know these are busy, dangerous and desperate times for so many on the ground.

[10:40:00]

Like I say, you know, some of these stories of survival are remarkable and will provide a lot of hope for people as they continue with the search and

rescue. Thank you for joining us today.

Well, still to come, the eyes of the financial world are on the Fed chair's key speech today in Wyoming. What Kevin Warsh is saying and not saying

about the future direction of interest rates is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: The sums of money that young people are staking in online bets is booming in the United States, and it is all legal. A new CNN analysis

reveals people aged from 18 to 21 have placed wagers worth almost $5.5 billion on the Kalshi prediction market so far this year. But U.S. law

doesn't see it as gambling, which is illegal in most states before the age of 21. Online prediction sites are regulated as financial exchanges, a bit

like the stock market, and anyone over 18 can use them. That rule is backed by the Trump administration, but is currently being challenged in court.

Marshall Cohen is here with more.

You've done some legwork on the reporting on this. So tell us a little bit more about these prediction markets, the sums that youngsters are placing

on these markets and the backlash that these markets are facing at this point.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The headline here, Becky, is $5 billion. That is the estimate for how much money this 18 to 20-year-old

cohort has traded on Kalshi so far this year. That's the top line figure. And it's controversial for the exact reason that you just pointed out.

These markets are technically under federal law, considered financial exchanges like the stock market or commodity futures, oil futures, things

like that, which therefore are federally regulated and 18 plus.

But in the U.S., first of all gambling, sports gambling is not even legal in every state. Casinos are not legal in every state. And in almost all of

the states where it is legal, it's usually 21 plus. The critics say this is a loophole and that this is a problem in terms of creating real risks for

younger Americans who may be, you know, take risks that they shouldn't be taking with money that they may or may not have. That's why the system is

21 plus in most states.

Look, Kalshi, for its part, has been very clear. And they say they think it's important for younger Americans over 18 to have the freedom to use

these markets, and that even riskier derivatives markets are available to anyone over 18.

[10:45:02]

They say they've also put into place internal safeguards to protect younger users, like deposit limits, and warnings that you'll receive on the app if

you exhibit problematic trading procedures. But you just saw a map on your screen of the 50 U.S. states. So many of those states have banded together

to push back. All the states in yellow, that's 44 states, have actually been lobbying in favor of further regulations for these prediction markets.

They want it to be treated like casinos, like sportsbooks. They want that minimum age to go up from 18 to 21. But so far as you pointed out, the

Trump administration is having none of it. They are sticking on the side of the prediction markets, and they are enshrining into federal law that the

current system as it exists for most of those very popular sports bets can stay in place.

Becky, one last note. CNN has a partnership with Kalshi. We use its data to cover major events, but editorial employees like you and me are not allowed

to trade on any prediction markets -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. Marshall, thank you for that disclaimer at the back end of that. Good to have you. It's a really fascinating story. And look, I

am pretty sure those prediction markets will be awash with activity this hour because the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve is giving a closely

watched speech in Wyoming.

Kevin Warsh is delivering the keynote address at an annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole. This coming amid turmoil in the bond markets and

the U.S. Treasury secretary's recently announced bond buyback program, which was effectively put in place to calm spiking long-term yields.

Investors and analysts had hoped today's speech will offer clues about whether the Fed will raise interest rates. Warsh has said little about that

since becoming Fed chair about three months ago.

So Matt Egan joining me now. He's been listening in.

What are we getting from the new Fed chair so far?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, as you know, Kevin Warsh he has frustrated investors through his first 100 days by holding his cards

very, very close to his chest, right? He's sort of killed this tradition of Fed chairs who really spoon-feed investors with where they think interest

rates are going.

The hope was that we'd get some clarity today. I think investors are going to be mildly disappointed because instead of more clarity, Warsh, he

basically doubled down on his reasoning for why he thinks the Fed should talk less, right? He thinks investors, they have to draw their own

conclusions instead of trying to game out where they think Fed policy is going because of each jobs report or inflation report.

And he's worried that if the Fed says too much, it's just going to confuse the public, investors and businesses as well. Take a listen to Warsh

explaining his thinking here and also explaining why he believes all of this matters to viewers at home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN WARSH, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: The economic literature has long described the distorting effects, what it called the hall of mirrors

problem. If markets rely materially on the Fed's guidance and the Fed relies on market prices, we're more likely to be blinded to new

developments, more likely to be caught unprepared, and more likely to commit errors in policy-making.

If the Fed gets inflation wrong and judges the economy wrong, who gets the worst of it? Not the financial high fliers. Hard-working Americans are the

ones left to deal with inflation that's too high, or jobs that suddenly appear less secure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Now, Warsh was a bit more forthcoming when it comes to his views on the economy, in particular the job market. Despite the fact that there was

that surprise job loss in July, Kevin Warsh, he seemed to kind of upgrade his views on the labor market relative to what he said during the July

press conference. He said he believes the economy is at full employment. That suggests that the rate cuts that President Trump has been demanding

for years now are really not needed, at least when it comes to trying to help the job market.

Now, when it comes to inflation, Warsh, he sounded a little bit more worried. There was a key line in his speech where he says, when it comes to

price stability side of our mandate, the numbers are more concerning. Inflation is running above our 2 percent target. So the Fed's predominant

focus right now should be on prices. And he went on to say that despite the better than expected inflation reports in recent months, he said that does

not necessarily signal to him that there's been any progress when it comes to underlying inflation.

So, Becky, bottom line here Warsh, he's not backing down from his communication strategy. He's kind of doubling down. However, he's also

keeping the door open to interest rate hikes if inflation does not come down in the coming months. Back to you.

[10:50:09]

ANDERSON: Got it. Good to have you. Thank you.

EGAN: Thanks.

ANDERSON: Well, this is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. And coming up, President Trump is -- what's he doing on his second day at the Houston

center, this is the second day of his Houston trip center meeting with the crew of the Artemis II.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: President Donald Trump wrapping up his two-day trip to the Houston -- the Houston center today, where he will meet astronauts of

Artemis II. It's the Johnson Space Center there. He'll award the crew members of Artemis II the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. The crew of

four spent 10 days on a mission around the moon in April. You'll remember.

Well, CNN's Steve Contorno has more from Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Well, it's noisy there. What can you tell us about today's visit?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donald Trump is just moments from taking the stage where, as you said, he will honor the crew of

that Artemis II mission. This was a historic mission that took Americans and humans further into space than they had ever traveled before. And only

30 people have ever been awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. And this crew will join that group.

Trump is also expected to take a short trip over to mission control, where he will make a phone call to the International Space Station. This comes as

the president has made space exploration a continued priority for his administration. He just recently announced a new initiative aimed at making

this the, quote, "golden age of space transportation," hoping to increase the number of missions and rocket launches by a thousand within the coming

years.

And of course, that Artemis III mission that will take Americans back to the moon is approaching as well -- Becky.

ANDERSON: This visit isn't taking place in a vacuum of course. There is a Senate race taking place featuring a Trump ally who is in an unexpectedly

tough battle in a deeply conservative state. What can you tell us about that?

CONTORNO: Yes, and that ally is senator -- excuse me, Attorney General Ken Paxton. He is running for U.S. Senate against a local Democratic

representative named James Talarico. And this has been an unexpectedly competitive race. I mean, think about it. A year and a half ago, Donald

Trump won Texas by more than 14 points. And now here he is, days, months later, having to fight for a Senate seat and fight to get his ally over the

finish line here.

Yesterday, he was at a Republican National Party fundraiser, hoping to raise money for the party. A big chunk of that will be spent in the Lone

Star State. Just one of the examples of how this -- the politics in America have been shaken up so much since 2024, and how much Republicans are facing

a huge challenge in maintaining their majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House, and Trump doing everything he can, including going into

traditionally friendly turf to try to defend those majorities -- Becky.

[10:55:21]

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Well done for battling the speech behind you. Thank you, Steve.

And that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next. From the team working with me here, it's a very good evening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END