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CNN Headlines: Deadly Flash-Flooding Rips Through the Grand Canyon, as Rescuers Search for Several Missing Hikers; Death Toll Up Overnight in the Devastation in Nepal; SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launches NASA Space Telescope. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired August 31, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
BRAD SMITH, ANCHOR, CNN HEADLINE EXPRRESS: Deadly flash-flooding ripped through the Grand Canyon, and now the search is on for several missing hikers. And it's a race against time to reach people trapped in a tunnel. The death toll went up overnight in the devastation in Nepal. Plus --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ignition and liftoff. Go, Falcon Heavy and go!
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SMITH: This mission could end up answering some of the biggest mysteries in the universe. We've got that full story for you coming up. Good morning, everyone, I'm Brad Smith, this is CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. Glad that you're with us this morning. Let's get this started.
We begin with new strikes near the Strait of Hormuz. The first escalation in the region in more than a month. And the White House is saying that there are no ongoing negotiations between the two countries. U.S. Central Command says the military struck Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island.
That was early Sunday, after reportedly observing Iranian forces preparing to fire rockets with mines into the Strait of Hormuz. So, Iran responded with its own strikes against two U.S. air bases in Jordan. A spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says the U.S. actions are, quote, "a strategic and deadly mistake" according to state media. CNN's Julia Benbrook has more for us.
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JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Over the weekend, U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. A U.S. official tells CNN that this took place after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.
This all taking place just days after President Donald Trump said that there was a zero-tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect. And after U.S. Central Command said that it had finished clearing the sea mines out of that critical waterway.
An official tells our team, quote, "U.S. forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free-flow of commerce through this essential waterway." The Strait of Hormuz has been a key area of focus during this now more-than-six-month long conflict, and there have been conflicting messages when it comes to who has control of the Strait.
Trump has been adamant that the United States has full control, and that they are watching, quote, "every inch of it." These are the first strikes of this conflict in over a month. Julia Benbrook, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Thank you, Julia. Now we go to this developing story. Park officials at the Grand Canyon say that one person has died, and about 15 people may be missing after flash flooding. The heavy flooding occurred along the park's most popular hiking trail, Bright Angel Canyon, as well as the Phantom Ranch area.
Dozens of people have been evacuated, and a water pipeline that serves tourists has been knocked out, leaving the national park with limited water resources. CNN's Reid Binion has more.
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REID BINION, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Officials say at least one person has died, and about 15 people may be missing after flash floods tore through parts of Grand Canyon National Park Saturday.
ASHER FUREDY, AMERICAN RED CROSS: It was a very intense experience for some people escaping the flood waters.
BINION: The rushing water destroyed footbridges, eliminating hiker access across a creek and trapping numerous people.
FUREDY: One of the couples that I talked to, they could see that the bridges that they had crossed, just like 15 minutes earlier, had been washed away.
BINION: Authorities brought in helicopters to take people to safety. The park said as of Sunday afternoon, at least 62 people had been evacuated and tragically, a 46-year-old man's body was recovered.
According to the National Park Service, the flooding caused significant damage, knocking out a water pipeline that services tourists and supports fire suppression. When the downpour started, one woman abandoned her hike, turned back to her camp-site and began recording video as she hunkered down in her tent, using her foot to keep it from blowing away as water poured in.
Officials planned additional evacuations for Sunday. Crews conducted helicopter searches, but no missing individuals were found. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of the most difficult terrains in the
United States, really, to conduct search and rescue operations.
BINION: I'm Reid Binion, reporting.
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[05:05:00]
SMITH: And new video this morning underscores the total devastation in Nepal. The death toll from last week's catastrophic flooding has risen to more than 900 on both sides of the Nepali-Chinese border, a sharp increase in the number of missing people too.
As there are nearly 4,800 at last check. Officials say that some hard- hit areas remain inaccessible, with roads slowly opening one-by-one. Specialist teams from China and India are joining in the roughly 10,000 Nepali troops who are already looking for survivors trapped in hydropower tunnels. CNN's Hanako Montgomery is in Nepal with more.
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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Nepal's mud-filled tunnels, desperate rescues are unfolding. Helicopters lifting survivors to safety. Some too weak to walk. These tunnels were built to harness Nepal's rivers and fuel its booming hydropower industry.
But now they're the focus of a frantic search. More than 900 are still missing, many of them workers trapped inside when the flood hit.
BHAKTI RAM BOHARA, NEPALI FLOOD SURVIVOR (through translator): Me and my brother-in-law were working in the same tunnel. I lost him. His wife is my sister and she is pregnant.
MONTGOMERY: Amar Bista helped rescue these men. He and his team of volunteers trekked through dangerous terrain carrying medical supplies, and with the help of the Nepali Army, they flew to the worst-hit areas, where they used picks and shovels to find signs of life.
Sometimes they found the dead instead. The rescued men we spoke to say the tunnels were filled with bodies. The flood stripped them of everything they had, including their clothes.
AMAR BISTA, NEPALI TOUR GUIDE: All their clothes, they lost all -- whatever they have, like they lost their phones, they lost like -- you know, everything they lost, you know.
MONTGOMERY (on camera): What about -- what about these men, have they lost family members?
BISTA: They lost their nephews, they lost their uncles, brothers, you know, like their cousins, you know.
MONTGOMERY: Everyone's lost -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --
MONTGOMERY: Someone --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The company wants you to --
MONTGOMERY: Four days in the mountains have left Amar haunted by what he's seen.
BISTA: Like hundreds of people are there, and no food. Everybody got an idea, and not like -- nothing. So, I didn't have --
(AMAR BISTA SOBBING)
BISTA: Because they're all out of primary area. You know, like, I don't know. Not little because a lot of people here, they don't know the reality. When I entered there, like the reality is different. You cannot tell, you know, the reality is way different.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): For survivors now comes the reckoning with what they endured and the enormity of what they've lost. Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Nepal.
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SMITH: Thank you, Hanako. The jury deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, they resumed today. The former Massachusetts nurse who tried to take her own life after killing her three children, pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder.
Her defense team says that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis. Clancy was prescribed about a dozen different medications; she was prescribed those in 2022 and 2023 to treat her mental illnesses and disorders. Now, the jury sent a note on Friday, they actually asked to see the prescription pill bottles and the knife that she used to hurt herself. Here's attorney Cody Randall speaking to CNN's Brian Abel about that request.
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CODY RANDALL, GEORGIA TRIAL ATTORNEY: What they're trying to do is they're trying to ascertain whether or not the defenses arguments are legitimate here. They're putting forth the argument, they're not saying that she wasn't involved, that she didn't do anything.
They're saying that she shouldn't be held responsible to the extent of the charge of murder, because she was under the influence of this prescription pills that may or may not have had different interactions. There are side effects that she may or may not have known about.
So, the jury wanting to see the actual bottles verified, that she was like, hold it in her own hands, like get the concept of, this is what she was taken. How was it labeled? Should she have known what she was taking could have had some kind of an interaction?
It's a real piece of evidence. And both sides mentioned, and so, she wants -- like the jury wants to see it.
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SMITH: The 12-person jury is scheduled to resume deliberations this morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. Now, to another trial that we're keeping a close eye on today as closing arguments are set to begin in the Tupac Shakur murder trial.
The high-profile case against Duane "Keffe D" Davis will wrap up after two weeks of testimony, focusing on the allegation that he orchestrated the killing of the rap icon. Country music legend and philanthropist Dolly Parton was laid to rest.
The funeral was attended only by immediate family. Nashville also said its own final farewell to the beloved star, with an emotional tribute at the Grand Ole Opry over the weekend.
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Parton died last week at the age of 80, after what her publicist described as a brief battle with cancer.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dolly, we love you.
(FEMALE SINGING)
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SMITH: Parton's connection to the Opry goes back to 1959, when she was 13 years old and took the stage for the first time. She was invited by Johnny Cash, earned three encores that night, and launched a career that would make her a country music icon. We've got lots more to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
Discovery mission. NASA launches a telescope that could provide answers to some of the biggest mysteries of space. Plus, ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro apparently posted photos from a New York jail. The story behind the pics straight ahead.
And where things stand with the U.S.-Canada tariff dispute and how it will affect you if an agreement is not met. Stay with us, you're watching CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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SMITH: As tensions heat up between the U.S. and Canada over a trade between the two countries, one Canadian leader is now calling for civility. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and President Trump have engaged in back-and-forth name-calling, but on Sunday, Ford said this on "ABC News".
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DOUG FORD, PREMIER, ONTARIO: If you work together, we're going to create more opportunities, more jobs. If I can say everyone's feeling bullied by President Trump, and this is the worst thing you could do for the American economy. It did not grow this way over decades and decades of being protectionists, it grew because of free trade and open and fair trade.
That's what we need to focus on. That's what's going to create more jobs in the U.S. and Canada. That's what we need to do. Not attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Ford warned that the tariff battle will pose a major threat to America's steel and auto industries. Meanwhile, another front has opened in the trade wars. Google Maps. Starting now, anyone in the United States who searches for Lake Ontario will instead find Lake America.
But it's not so in Canada, and the rest of the world. Both names will appear. Google says that this is how it handles disputed place names across the country and the world. This comes after President Trump signed an executive order last week that said he changed the name.
At last check, other map services are sticking with the Lake Ontario name in the U.S., most notably MapQuest, which went out of its way to say, quote, "we're not changing it."
Swiss police are conducting a manhunt. This is following a deadly shooting at a rave in the northern town of Arrow. A 22-year-old Italian woman was killed and five other people were wounded. Police say that several motives are being investigated and they have not ruled out terrorism.
Despite Switzerland having one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe, deadly shootings are extremely rare, making the attack all the more shocking for local residents. We'll continue to keep you updated on that manhunt.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, one of America's most iconic National Parks could fall into the hands of a private developer who wants to build a road through it. We've got that story. Plus, on top of the golf world, Scottie Scheffler wins another tour title and moves past Tiger Woods in another category. We've got the details still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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SMITH: In a new social media post, sharing pictures from June, former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says that he is standing firm. Maduro and his wife have been in custody in New York since January after being captured by U.S. forces, and they face gun and cocaine importation conspiracy charges to which they have pleaded not guilty. Here's more.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's social media account shared new photos of him after being held in custody for about eight months. He and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by U.S. forces and face gun and cocaine importation conspiracy charges, to which they have pleaded not guilty.
In the post, he called the photos a small gift to his supporters, saying they're standing firm with their hearts full of your love. The photos appear to have been taken in June, a day after twin deadly earthquakes killed thousands in northern Venezuela. The criminal trial for the Maduros are set to begin in June 2027.
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SMITH: Well, NASA launched a massive telescope that scientists say could answer questions about some of the biggest mysteries in the universe.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two, one, ignition and liftoff. Go Falcon Heavy and go --
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SMITH: On Sunday morning, the telescope is named for NASA's first Chief of Astronomy, Nancy Grace Roman. CNN's Fredricka Whitfield talked to Bill Nye, the Science Guy, about this launch.
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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, among the discoveries that it could potentially make, what is it that you're hoping for? What answers --
BILL NYE, SCIENCE COMMUNICATOR & TELEVISION PRESENTER: Well --
WHITFIELD: Are you hoping to be revealed here?
NYE: Well, I mean, I want to find evidence of life on another world. And so, people throw around the phrase biosignature, where you detect evidence of life on another world. That would be extraordinary. But it might give everybody a nudge.
That is to say, change the course of history. And everybody --
WHITFIELD: Yes --
NYE: Remember that, although this $4 billion or stuff spent over decades, and this is an application of our intellect and treasure, and you ask, what are you going to -- what am I most excited about?
[05:25:00] What discovery am I most excited about? The answer is, we don't know.
That's why -- that's why we're doing this sort of exploration.
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SMITH: Well, over the next five years, it will explore the cosmos, potentially revealing answers about dark matter, dark energy, and even allow astronomers to spot previously unseen galaxies. Really exciting stuff. Straight ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, more than a dozen hikers missing after flash floods ripped through the Grand Canyon.
We've got the latest for you coming up. And the jury will be back deliberating the fate of a mom on trial in the killings of her three children. That, and much more ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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