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One World with Zain Asher

Nepal, China Floods Leave at Least 570+ Dead, 1,900+ Missing; American Survivors Speak Out After Deadly Nepal Disaster; Jury Resumes Deliberations in Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial; Trump Changes Lake Ontario to "Lake America" Amid Trade War; Trump to Give Artemis II Crew Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 28, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Live from Abu Dhabi, I'm Eleni Giokos. This is "One World". New details emerging after this week's catastrophic

floods on the Nepal-China border. Authorities in Nepal say more than 570 people have been killed, and another 1,900 remain unaccounted for.

Rescuers are facing immense challenges to get to remote communities. Nepal and China had to briefly delay rescue operations due to fears of secondary

disasters. The Red Cross estimates more than 90,000 people have been affected by the flash floods. And take a look at this.

This is new video which captures the moment when a large portion of a glacier broke off, plunging into the river below. The CNN weather team say

that more storms could potentially pop up over the weekend. Right now, 90 Americans are missing after that devastating landslide.

Will Ripley spoke with one Indian American couple who narrowly survived when disaster struck.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, just really difficult to describe this scene here. But there's a woman who just came

and looked at a list of people who are being treated, and also a list of people who are confirmed dead.

We don't know the specific details of what she saw, but you can see on her face just how anguished she is right now. And we've seen this type of scene

just repeated over and over and over again here in the capital of Nepal. This is the teachers' hospital. It's one of the busiest medical centers in

this city.

And let me show you this way. Let's just walk through the crowd here, John (ph), because there's a whole wall of people here, and the number of

pictures have kind of been increasing throughout the day. Photos of people who are missing, family members who are waiting here, hoping that their

loved ones are going to end up on this list here.

This is a handwritten list of names of people who are confirmed survivors who are being treated right now at this hospital. All day, people have been

hearing that there might be more survivors brought in, but as of the six hours so we've been out here, still only 31 names on this list.

But if you look at this table over here, the number of people who are now registered as missing has grown from 1,200 when we arrived here this

morning, to now more than 1,600 people. All these people who are here gathered at the table are adding the names of their loved ones to the list.

And about a five-minute walk from here, there's a morgue with a much larger wall of photos of dead bodies and a much larger crowd of people looking at

these photos of dead bodies, trying to see if they can identify their loved ones there, and I saw people, bodies of all ages.

There were men, there were women, there were children. There were also photographs of body parts. They actually were trying to photograph arms and

legs that might have had tattoos on them, hoping that family members might be able to help identify these remains.

Now, the worst of it is the video that you've seen now, undoubtedly, at the China-Nepal border crossing, that large concrete structure that looked to

be about seven stories tall, with that giant black wave crashing over it, and another angle that showed row after row of blue busses that were just

washed away like toys.

Within the last couple of hours, we have spoken with the only two known Americans who survived from that border crossing, they were sitting on one

of the busses. Their names are Pattabi (ph) and Anjana (ph). They're from Northern California, from the Bay Area. They said they were sitting on the

bus, just chatting with some other tourists from Italy.

And all of a sudden, they looked outside the bus and saw people running, and they knew that something was wrong. Then they looked up the hill, and

they saw a massive wall, a black cloud, as they described it. They didn't know if it was water, they didn't know if it was smoke, but they knew that

it was moving very quickly down the hill towards their bus and the other busses that were all parked in a row.

They had had breakfast at the hotel with members of tour groups that were inside that building, getting their visas processed to cross from Nepal

into China, into the Tibet region of China. Those people are have disappeared, presumed to be gone. Even people on their own bus, when they

saw this black wall approaching of water, they ran to the right, and passengers, other passengers, ran to the left, and they'd never seen them

since.

But they ran up a hill, and they were able, just sparing a matter of seconds, to be able to get to a vantage point where they could then turn

around and watch the horror that was unfolding beneath. Here's a portion of that interview that we just did. Please take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, the way it came is came just like a tsunami.

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It just came going all the way up, and just like a tsunami, the how it sweeps, going like a row. It just took the busses, the vans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Houses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Houses, people, everything. We saw people just getting sucked in the water. It was so traumatizing to see that people are

screaming, but of course, water doesn't hear anything. It just kind of sucked 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: They don't know exactly how they did it, but they crawled and climbed and ran their way up that hill along with a small group and a local

tour operator, who they say really saved their lives because he told them where to go higher and higher up the hill.

They didn't have a cell signal, so they had no idea what was happening until at one point they did briefly have a cell signal, and at this point

they still didn't know if the flood was over, if there was going to be another event. But what they did when they had a brief cell signal is they

picked up the phone, and they called their daughter.

And in that 60 second phone call, while they had a cell phone signal, they gave their daughter all of their passwords for their accounts because they

thought that they might not survive, and they wanted her to have all the information that she needed so that she could do what needed to be done if

they didn't make it home.

And they told her they love her and to please take care of their younger son, her brother, who's in the Boy Scouts, and then the call got cut off,

but they've now survived, and we have much more of this interview with them. We had a long conversation with them, and we'll be sharing that with

you throughout the day here.

But it was just extraordinary and harrowing to hear the details of how they survived.

GIOKOS: A big thanks there to Will Ripley for his reporting from Nepal. For more information about how you can help Nepal flood victims, you can go to

cnn.com/impact. Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh isn't giving investors any clues about his plans for interest rates, but he did say a short time

ago that inflation figures are quote, concerning.

Warsh just addressed economic policy makers from around the world at the Jackson Hole Economic Conference, laying out his vision for the fed's

guidance to investors. Warsh said he doesn't think the fed should hint at its plans for interest rates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN WARSH, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: We should not indulge a regime in which market participants are looking primarily to the fed for their

next trade. A quieter fed, a more purposeful fed in its communications, is better able to meet its objectives, and we can be held accountable for

delivering on our remit, the only true test of our credibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. So, a lot there in that speech, a significant speech. Markets are digesting some of the key messaging. You can see the Dow Jones

up four tenths of a percent. NASDAQ looking much stronger, up half a percent, S&P up half a percent as well.

And markets were battling to find their feet ahead of the speech because Kevin Warsh has been very explicit in saying he wants to do away with

forward guidance, but a lot of information regarding where inflation is going, the speed at which it's moving, and importantly, what's happening on

the economic front.

To break this down, we've got Matt Egan live in New York with us. Matt, really good to have you with us. Look, there was a lot in the speech. I

mean, there was a lot of stuff about AI. He wants to do away with legacy forward-looking statements. But importantly, everyone's sort of really

focusing on that line about inflation and the fact that it's not moving to target quick enough,

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Eleni, that's right. Kevin Warsh, he kind of doubled down on his less is more communication strategy. I think

investors were hoping for some more clarity from him, but instead, you know, he really just kind of explained why it is that he thinks the fed

should talk less.

Right, he says he wants investors to draw their own conclusions. He doesn't want them to just be gaming out each jobs report, inflation report, for

what it means for fed policy. And he warns that if the fed speaks too much, it risks confusing the public and investors, and even creating what he

described as a hall of mirrors problem.

Take a listen to his explanation and for why it really matters to real people out there?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARSH: 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 flyers.

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

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EGAN: However, Warsh was a bit more forthcoming when it comes to his views on the economy, in particular the job market, even though there was a

surprise loss of jobs in July, Warsh sounded a bit more upbeat than he did a few weeks ago. He described the economy as quote, at full employment.

That suggests that the rate cuts that President Trump has been demanding are probably not necessary, at least when it comes to the job market. Now,

on inflation, Warsh sounded a bit more worried, right? He said that when it comes to the price stability side of the fed's mandate, the numbers are

quote, more concerning.

He said inflation is running above 2 percent and that the fed's focus right now should be on prices. And he noted that Fed officials they have to be

confident that inflation is moving back to that 2 percent goal, clearly and with sufficient speed. And he said if not, the fed has quote, work to do.

And notably, interest rate hike odds in the market for the next meeting in the coming weeks. They went up significantly after Kevin Warsh was done

speaking. So, bottom line here, Eleni, Warsh is not backing down from his communication strategy despite some of the criticism there.

But he's also very much keeping the door open to an interest rate hike in the coming months if inflation doesn't come down soon. Back to you.

GIOKOS: Yeah, really good point. You know, even though he didn't want to give a forward-looking statement, we know that traders are currently

starting to look at whether we should be bracing ourselves for another interest rate hike down the line. So Matt Egan, good to have you with us.

Thank you.

EGAN: Thanks.

GIOKOS: I want to turn now to a high-stakes court case in the states of Massachusetts, where day two of deliberations is underway in Lindsay

Clancy's murder trial. A jury must decide whether the 36-year-old is criminally responsible for strangling her three children in 2023.

Clancy's defense argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she killed her children and is not criminally responsible. Prosecutors say

the former nurse acted intentionally and rationally when she killed her kids. CNN's Gin -- Brynn Gingras rather is with us right now.

Brynn, really good to have you with us. Look, the jury, as we say, is in deliberations right now. There are over five options on the verdict slip

with manslaughter that has been added. I want you to take me through those.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So there, like you said, five options. They can find Lindsay Clancy guilty on three of those

options, and they vary in different degrees with different types of punishments. So, the first one would be murder in the first degree.

That is a premeditation. That is what the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is arguing or has been arguing throughout this trial that she is guilty of.

That she premeditated. She thought about how she was going to kill her three children before trying to take her own life unsuccessfully.

The second, they can bring down that charge to a second-degree murder charge, first degree carrying a life in prison punishment, second degree

murder carrying up to 20 years in prison. And then even lesser degree of a charge is manslaughter. So, you know, legal advocates don't think

necessarily they'll go to a manslaughter charge, but again, the jurors have that option if they don't want to bring it up to those more extreme

charges.

Then, of course, they can find her not guilty, and there's two different columns there for Lindsay Clancy, not guilty by reason of criminal defect.

Basically, she wasn't responsible. She wasn't in her right mind. What the defense has been arguing when these killings happened, and so therefore she

would likely be committed to a mental hospital.

She's been in a mental hospital for the last three years since this happened. Or, of course, she could be not guilty on all charges, and it's

possible she could go home if that's what the jury decides. So, a lot to consider here, Eleni, listen, they have had I think it's 90 witnesses from

both the Commonwealth and the defense over the last 3.5 weeks or so.

There is just score of evidence. And we actually just got a note from the jurors really about a half an hour ago, and they're asking to see some of

that evidence more closely, and that is of the prescription bottles that were found within Lindsay's house. Now, there's a lot of those.

She was prescribed a dozen different medications over just a short four- month period, which the defense argues is part of the reason she went into this psychosis state and actually committed these crimes. So, they wanted

to see those, and they also wanted to see the knife.

The knife being what she used to cut both her wrists and her neck before trying to actually take her own life. So, these are a couple things that

were gleaning from their deliberations, but they've only been at it for a couple hours today.

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This will be their first full day of full deliberations. But it could take some time.

GIOKOS: Yeah, I mean, as you say, first full day of deliberations after closing arguments yesterday. What was interesting, if we look at the

closing arguments, we actually saw the judge interrupting both parties at one point. It doesn't happen often, but what was the overall response to

those interjections,

GINGRAS: Yeah. Look, it's you know the both of those sides. They're very intense. It's an intense case, right? So, both of those sides were fighting

for their lives in some ways, right, with their arguments and trying to prove to jurors their side. Actually, after the jurors went to deliberate

yesterday, the judge took the time to tell both sides, the Commonwealth and the defense, that he was actually very proud of both sides and how hard

this trial must be on them, and that they did a wonderful job.

So, there's really not much to glean. I mean, it is you know in some ways, it's how they argue. It's just their styles. Certainly, that was something

that was very, you know, pointed out a lot by Kevin Reddington is he had this sort of, you know, swagger and you know way about him to really kind

of go after his points.

A lot of his closing arguments was kind of attacking the prosecution, which he was -- the judge was kind of interject on that. But there was definitely

like a playfulness. I don't. I'm trying to find the right words to describe what those closing arguments were like, but there was definitely them kind

of going at each other, trying to prove their points, almost like a sport.

And it really will be interesting to see which way the jurors decide, because again, there was just so much to consider in this case with no

matter what, a tragic outcome, right -- depending on how you see it.

GIOKOS: Tragic, yeah. Absolutely, and definitely, no matter what the outcome is, a big focus on postnatal and postpartum mental health. So,

Brynn, thank you so much for staying on top of the story for us, Brynn Gingras.

GINGRAS: All right.

GIOKOS: All right, still ahead on "One World", U.S. President Donald Trump needless Canada again by changing the name of a lake that sits on the

border of both countries. What Canada is saying that's coming up next. Plus, more than four months after the Artemis II astronauts splashed down

off the coast of California.

The U.S. President is honoring the crew. We'll tell you about that a little later.

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GIOKOS: Donald Trump is taking aim at a symbolic target amid America's trade war with Canada. On Thursday, the U.S. President signed an executive

order to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. It comes after the Canadian Prime Minister declined to capitulate in the trade war that

Trump launched and over the weekend vowed dollar for dollar tariffs on American goods entering Canada, that drew this angry response from the U.S.

President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I guess the purpose of this, more than anything else, is we're going to be changing the

name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately to Lake America. We can't let the whole Canadian thing has been going on for decades, and it has to come

to a stop.

So, the lake change, the Lake of America, was something I've been thinking about for a long time. The Canadian officials have treated us very badly.

They're nasty people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: So, it is not clear what the whole Canadian thing the president was referring to means, but in a social media post, Prime Minister Mark Carney

didn't leave any doubt over his position, saying Canada will refer to Lake Ontario by its original name now and always.

President Trump, meanwhile, is expected to wrap up a two-day trip to Texas in the next few hours. He is awarding Artemis II astronauts the

Congressional Space Medal of Honor in about 40 minutes. The ceremony will recognize the crew's 10-day mission in April.

And in about 90 minutes, the president will then call the International Space Station before heading back to Washington for the weekend. We've got

CNN's Steve Contorno joining us now live from the Johnson Space Center. Steve, really good to have you with us. What are we expecting on the

agenda?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, the president will speak in a little more than a half hour and award the Congressional Space Medal honor

to the crew of the Artemis II. That was the crew that went further into space, further from Earth than any humans in history, and a historic

mission, a precursor to the United States' efforts to get back to the moon in the coming years.

It also comes as Donald Trump continues to prioritize space as part of his return to Washington. He recently announced that an agenda that will lead

U.S. towards a quote, golden age of space transportation that includes 1,000 more rocket launches by the year 2030.

Those remarks he will deliver in just a few moments. It is a room full of astronauts, right behind me that he will be speaking in front of. It's a

cool setting, I have to say. There are tons of space toys here and simulators, and actually on property right now is a crew that has been

quarantined and working to prepare for a trip to Mars down the line.

So, a lot's happening in the space here in the Houston area. Of course, there's also a lot of politics as well at play.

GIOKOS: Yeah, exciting times. Steve Contorno, thank you so much for that. Right, star gazers had a rare treat last night when they saw the moon turn

a shade of red in a partial lunar eclipse visible from across the Americas, parts of Europe, as well as Africa, at its peak around midnight Eastern

Time, around 96 percent of the moon was in the Earth's shadow.

And unlike a solar eclipse, no special equipment was needed to view it. Stefano Pozzebon has more for us.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: This is a celestial spectacle of rare beauty. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth is passing between the sun

and the moon, and that means that our planet blocks the sunlight from reaching the satellite. But what makes it so special is that this is

happening at night time and during a full moon.

And this is why, even though it's early dawn here in Rome, there are several enthusiasts and astrophotographers here who have come to enjoy the

show. You feel about this spectacle -- It's beautiful, very emotional. Now the spectacle is often called a blood moon, and that is because of the

reddish autumnal tint that the surface of the moon takes when this happens.

This is, of course, just a trick, an optical trick from the atmosphere of the Earth. It happens because some light particles from the sun are

reaching the moon after passing through our atmosphere. The Earth's atmosphere absorbs the blue and white wavelength, and this is why, for

example, we see the sky as blue during daytime, but the red passes through.

Lunar eclipses are more common, and they last longer than a solar eclipse.

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However, to see an almost total lunar eclipse with this clarity, you will have to wait up until the very end of 2028. For CNN, this is Stefano

Pozzebon, Villa Borghese, Rome.

GIOKOS: So here in the UAE, the solar eclipse was visible at around 05:00 a.m. and I decided not to wake up to see it. But thanks to Stefano, who

caught a glimpse of it, and if you're not into the moon, here's a beautiful, colorful phenomenon we want to show you.

It is starting to take shape in the Atacama Desert of Chile. It's typically known as the driest place on Earth, but seasonal rainfall brings the famous

desert flowers to life. More than 200 species are starting to bloom in yellow, pink, purple, red, and white hues. According to Chile's National

Forest Corporation, the flowers could blanket nearly 15,000 square kilometers by peak bloom in October.

I'm Eleni Giokos. We'll have more "One World" for you in about 30 minutes. But first, CNN "Creators" is up next.

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(CNN CREATORS)

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