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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Concerns About Ideological Direction Of Democratic Party; Assessing Impact Of War With Iran On Midterm Elections; Trump-Picked Board To Put His Name Back On Kennedy Center; Jury Selected In Tupac Shakur Murder Trial In Las Vegas. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired August 14, 2026 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: And 50 days on board an aircraft carrier, making it now the longest deployment ever at sea. And lawmakers want to know why.
The Story Is in Ukraine, where President Zelenskyy says he wants to buy more Patriot missiles from the U.S. Hear what else he told CNN about fighting Russia just ahead.
And The Story Is in Las Vegas, where a jury is finally in place in a trial that could answer a 30-year-old mystery who killed Tupac Shakur. We'll speak to a reporter who is inside the courtroom.
We begin with growing concerns about conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier deployed in operations against Iran. A U.S. official tells CNN another carrier, USS George Washington, is now headed to the region to replace the Lincoln. The switch is described as previously planned, but it comes after military media reported multiple attempts by crew members to jump overboard from the ship.
Family members of the crew say there are food shortages and water contamination on the vessel. Last month, some crew members ascribed the conditions to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDALL STONE, CREWMEMBER, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: I would say morale's pretty low. And not just in the division like in the ship entirely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of like Groundhog Day. Reliving the same day over and over. So that thing is hard.
STONE: We were running pretty low on rations. I mean, at some point -- some points of the day, it would just be about noodles and tuna mixed in together. And that was it. Sometimes --
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: That's what you were eating. STONE: Sometimes you get a corn dog, sometimes you get a hot dog. But you know, those are some -- those are some rough days. I'm glad we made it past that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Democratic Congressman Mike Levin went further, quoting reports of moldy showers, broken toilets and no hot water for weeks. He says the ship's doctor reportedly warned that the vessel needs to reach port soon or people are going to start losing their minds.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after responding to those reports during a trip to Central America on Thursday. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Completely misrepresented. Listen, we make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment. Some deployments are longer than others and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Despite that, Democratic lawmakers still believe the White House has a lot of explaining to do. CNN's Ivan Rodriguez has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been more than 250 days since the USS Abraham Lincoln left its home port of San Diego last November with more than 5,000 sailors and Marines. Its mission was extended to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran. Lawmakers are now demanding answers over concerns about deteriorating living conditions and service member's mental health.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): I don't think President Trump is listening to these alarming examples of how sailors have been pushed to the very limits.
REP. GABE AMO (D-RI): We need to hear from senior administration officials. How are they going to resolve this as soon as possible and deal with the disruption in the mental health and the physical health in the well-being of people serving our nation?
RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): News outlet Stars and Stripes and the Navy Times reported there have been multiple attempts by crew members to jump overboard, citing interviews with sailors and families of those on board who described the impacts of the lengthy deployment. In a statement, the U.S. Navy says, "We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideations or attempts aboard the ship. We take every service member's well-being seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise."
CNN spoke to some of those aboard about a month before those reports. STONE: It's hard, you know, it's hard on your mental state. Being out to sea for eight months without being on dry land. It takes a toll on you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I miss my family and I'm ready to -- ready to go home.
RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): I'm Ivan Rodriguez.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: Donald Trump's name going back on the Kennedy Center. Sources say his handpicked board for the institution voted to inscribe the president's name below the Kennedy Center sign. So it will now say the iconic building was, quote, "Restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump." This move is testing the limits of the federal judge's order in May that block the president's attempt to name the building after himself. After that order, his name was removed, but as you can see, the facade is still covered by a massive tarp.
The board also voted to close the arts complex for a two-year renovation.
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Todd Blanche now delivered his first address to Justice Department employees since being sworn in as U.S. attorney general. He spoke to a workforce that has endured firings, backlash in court, and accusations of political dealing on behalf of President Trump. Blanche pledged to make the Justice Department more faithful to its highest ideals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD BLANCHE, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I promise you that I will lead this department with integrity. I promise you that I will focus on our core mission, which is to uphold the rule of law fairly and impartially.
For what we do, it's a promise that we're going to uphold the law without fear or favor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Before becoming the nation's top law enforcement officer, Blanche served as President Trump's longtime personal attorney. The Senate approved his nomination by the narrowest of margins.
Meanwhile, Iranian media is mocking reports of President Trump's secret flight from Turkey. Iranian news agencies this past week shared memes about the clandestine plan. An Iranian news website said the moment launched a wave of jokes on the Internet. One official state run outlet described the plot as cowardly escape that had become a topic of discussion online. Even Tehran's embassy in South Africa posted a meme about it.
Reports emerged in recent days that last month the U.S. President secretly left the NATO summit in Turkey on an alternate military plane, which he boarded while hidden inside a catering truck. A source says the plan was prompted by an Iranian threat to Air Force One.
And now to the power struggle within the Democratic Party between progressives and moderates. The left has netted some prominent wins in recent primaries, but in Wisconsin, the establishment roared back this week with a moderate securing a Democratic nomination for governor. And since then, calls for unity within the party are growing louder. Stacey Abrams, the former Democratic nominee for Georgia governor, asked former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris about the ideological direction of the party and what voters are saying about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: You know, what is the future of the Democratic Party? Where is it headed? Because I think it's too early to tell based on just a collection of recent elections. But I will say that I think that what we are seeing is, again, there is a -- there is a -- almost a rebellion against status quo because it has not been working for a lot of people for a long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Jeff Mason is a White House correspondent for Bloomberg, and he is with us from Chicago.
And Jeff, there are just so many topics to dissect in the top politics space right now. Let's start with the midterms and the Democratic Party there, because here we are with a swing in one direction in Michigan, then a move back the other way in Wisconsin. And it comes at a time where there's also turmoil within the massive fundraising arm of the party with ActBlue and defections within that, we hear these calls for unity. Is the party more or less fractured than it was, say, 30, 60 days ago? And where does it go from here?
JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG: Well, I think it's hard to say if it's more or less. It certainly is fractured. They're basically in an identity crisis right now at a time when Democrats want to have unity, as you were saying, in reporting, and at a time when there are weaknesses on the other side. I mean, President Trump's approval ratings are so low right now that that is giving Democrats a real chance of taking over power in Washington, certainly in the House of Representatives and maybe even in the Senate.
But because of this identity crisis that the party is going through and the tug of war essentially between progressives and more moderates, that is a, you know, it's a big question whether they'll be able to take advantage of what is a tricky political situation for Republicans.
I don't know which side is stronger. I mean, you've listed a couple of different races. In some cases it's gone towards the moderates, like in Wisconsin, and in other cases it's gone towards the Democratic socialists. We'll see in November which one is more electable.
ABEL: Well, and you might have hinted at it here with that previous answer, saying that Democrats have a chance, because another storyline that's impacting these midterms is, of course, the war with Iran and the duration of that war. Now there's these additional layers of the Air Force One swap giving fuel for Iran to mock the U.S. and President Trump, who has said their military capabilities have been destroyed, yet the Secret Service went to these lengths out of fear of a missile strike. And there's the impacts of the deployment length on sailors aboard an aircraft carrier in the region as well.
Jeff, help us understand how much this war is weighing on the midterms for voters.
MASON: Well, the first thing I would say is Americans vote by their pocketbooks. And so the economic impact of this war is certainly the one that I suspect will be at the top of their minds as they go to the polls. The impact on gasoline prices is well known. The fact that inflation is up after the president largely won election, among other things, but certainly in part on a promise to bring inflation down and to bring prices down.
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The issue of affordability is certainly one that Democrats are going to press going into November, and it's one that President Trump is vulnerable on, and he's sensitive to that. He's been dismissive sometimes of the -- even the use of the word affordability. So the Iran war plays into all of that because of the impact that it has had on the economy. But there's also the impact in terms of foreign policy and people worried about the war, people worried about the -- putting Americans at risk. And that story of the aircraft carrier is certainly one of those as well.
But I think broadly to your question, Brian, that it's the economic impact that will, will likely have the biggest influence on voters when they -- when they go to the polls in November.
ABEL: Well, Jeff, you mentioned that the president is sensitive to the affordability conversation. But as this war is waging on back here in D.C. there's a renewed focus on legacy. The Kennedy Center board voting to put President Trump's name back on the building as President Trump really continues to make changes to the nation's capital. The gilded statues near the Lincoln Memorial, the reflecting pool, all the changes to the White House grounds. I know that you wrote about this recently, and in fact, we did a tally of how many times he talks about EC renovations. Compared to some other topics, he's actually talking about it more than the economy.
So what do you make of all of this and how despite losing in court, there's now this workaround at the, for now, shutter Kennedy Center.
MASON: Sure. Well, let's take that second part first. It was the board of the Kennedy Center that made that decision today, the board that President Trump installed when he essentially took over the Kennedy Center at the beginning of his second term, putting in people on the board who were supporters of his, and they made a controversial decision earlier this year to add his name, or actually it was last year to add his name to the Center. That only accelerated the problems that the Center was having in terms of bringing clients in, bringing people in, bringing viewers in. And then the board also decided to close the Center for two years for maintenance. All of that got upended by a judge's ruling.
And today the board voted again essentially to do all of those things. And including to your question of legacy, of getting his name back on the building. We'll see what happens when that goes before the judge. But it is certainly a sign of the things that the president cares about and I think to sort of step back, which you referenced in your question as well.
This is all part of what President Trump has made clear is his larger priority as the president, which is that legacy piece and tearing down the east -- the east -- the East Wing and building the ballroom is one example of that. The takeover of the Kennedy Center and the other things in Washington are all part of it.
And I will say, politically, it's not helping Republicans. And I think if you sat down with some Republican lawmakers, they would say we'd rather hear him talk about affordability than talking about these pet projects. But it's the pet projects that he's really spent a lot of time focused on.
ABEL: All right. Jeff Mason, former White House Correspondents Association president and current White House correspondent for Bloomberg, really appreciate your time and expertise, sir. Thank you.
MASON: My pleasure.
ABEL: Last month, U.S. immigration agents took more than 46,000 people into custody, setting a new high under the second Trump administration according to internal data reviewed by CNN. The White House has a goal of 2,000 arrests per day. But ICE's methods have certainly drawn criticism and scrutiny. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz takes a look at some of ICE's controversial tactics. And a warning, his report does contain disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): In July, during a car stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, ICE vehicles pulled over a white SUV that they say was driven by an undocumented immigrant. You can see an ICE vehicle pull in front to block the SUV while agents approach the man from behind. An agent breaks the driver's window and then the car takes off, hitting an ICE vehicle in a parked car. That same agent shoots at the car as it drives away, opening fire on a residential street. The driver in that car was never apprehended.
KENNETH COREY, FORMER NYPD CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT AND TRAINING: This is not the right way to conduct a car stop.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): That incident occurred the same month as two fatal ICE encounters in Biddeford, Maine and Houston, Texas, also involving car stops. In Maine, during a traffic stop, ICE shot and killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastian Guerrero, who was not the target of the immigration operation. With Guerrero shot behind the wheel, the vehicle circled uncontrollably for about a minute.
COREY: Shooting the driver now turns that car into essentially an unguided missile. You've probably created a situation of even greater danger because there's nobody left in control of that car.
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PROKUPECZ (voice-over): That same week, officers fatally shot a Mexican immigrant, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, during a vehicle stop in Houston. The local district attorney's office is conducting an investigation into the shooting. At least seven people have been killed and 12 have been injured in shootings by federal agents during immigration enforcement since Trump's second administration began. ICE appears to use some of the same aggressive tactics in the latest incident in Virginia where an agent pointed a gun at a woman during a stop.
In many of these instances, the Department of Homeland Security has issued statements defending ICE officers, saying the drivers are trying to use their vehicles as weapons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: Shimon Prokupecz reporting there. In response to that video of an ICE officer pointing their gun at a U.S. citizen in Virginia, the Fairfax County attorney's office says, quote, "We have heard from community members who are concerned about this situation. We are aware of the incident and are reviewing it." Our thanks to Shimon for that reporting.
Indiana is bracing for more severe weather only a day after catastrophic flooding hit the state. Video, you'll see it here from Yorktown, it shows the scale of the devastation as water rages over bridges, submerging homes and cars. The storm that caused this deluge is being labeled as a once in a thousand year rainfall event. Indiana's Governor Mike Braun declaring a statewide disaster emergency on Thursday and he mobilized the state's National Guard to help with rescues and cleanup.
Meanwhile, other parts of the Midwest are bracing for severe weather as well. With at least 17 million people under flood watches from Iowa to West Virginia. The region is expected to get a break from the rain this weekend.
A critical deadline passes as rescue teams in Colombia search for earthquake victims. And just ahead, we'll update you on the devastation and the emergency operations. Plus, we'll hear from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about his plans for when the war with Russia ends. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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ABEL: Emergency rescue teams in Colombia are still searching for survivors of Monday's earthquake. At least 281 people have died. The president says 379 people remain missing. Aid agencies warn the chances of finding survivors drop sharply after 72 hours. The government is only accepting help from just a few countries that have certifications, and that includes the U.S. El Salvador, Ecuador and Israel.
A group of rescuers from Mexico is ready to go help, but they haven't been approved yet. However, Mexico did send more than 19 tons of aid to Colombia.
For information on how you can help the earthquake victims there, go to CNN.com/impact. And Impact Your World will add vetted organizations as they begin operations on the ground.
A train derailment in southern England has injured 18 people, two of them seriously. The accident happened 45 miles south of London. Look at this. About 150 people were on board when the last three carriages of this train left the tracks and tumbled onto their sides. Emergency services say 10 fire engines and rescue units responded to the scene.
It's not immediately clear what caused the accident, but inspectors are there on site. Several train services were canceled or running at slower speeds because of heat reaching 95 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 35 degrees Celsius in the U.K.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country could stop all Russian ballistic missiles if it had only 10 percent of Patriot interceptors from U.S. stocks. Now we brought you part one of his interview with CNN on Wednesday. Now in part two, he's opening up about his private life and his plans for after the war. Here's CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: We heard an impassioned plea from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine for urgent, not only more interceptor missiles for the Patriot systems, the only thing really that can take down Russian ballistic missile attacks that have been causing devastation in Ukraine cities over the last weeks, but also too for the license to be able to manufacture those devices here in Ukraine. That plea direct to the White House who responded a White House official essentially saying their priority was U.S. stocks and those are partners and allies, but also said they had to protect the future security of U.S. technology and that nothing in terms of co-production had been decided or guaranteed for Ukraine.
Really not what they want to hear in Kyiv, a city where months ago people would walk calmly through air raid sirens. But now because of the chronic lack, possible absence of those interceptors, they rush for subways or shelter. But still, after our interview with President Zelenskyy, I had a moment to talk to him about his emotions, his desires for that moment, distant as it seems, when the war indeed ends. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATON WALSH: Thanks so much. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: No, I had too many meetings today with the soldiers and we'll have after interview the second military cabinet.
PATON WALSH: So you have said in the past that when this war is over you just want to sit on the beach --
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
PATON WALSH: -- and drink beer.
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
PATON WALSH: Is that still --
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
PATON WALSH: s-- your abiding feeling or do you know that there'll be more work to do afterwards?
ZELENSKYY: No, I won't. I won't really. I need some time. I need some time with my family and with the sea.
[00:25:07]
PATON WALSH: I mean that's a key question because this must be for you physically incredibly exhausting to deal with the loss, the pressure. You say every morning phone calls about Patriot interceptors --
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
PATON WALSH: -- that lives depend upon. How you handle that particular stress? And do you get to talk to your kids every day?
ZELENSKYY: Every day. But sometimes by phone. Of course, not every day I can see them, but I mean this -- I'm very happy to --
PATON WALSH: What you say to them.
ZELENSKYY: To them? Morning, how are you? How are things? Yes. And they tell me what the dreams they had.
PATON WALSH: You miss them?
ZELENSKYY: Miss? Of course. Of course, miss. And of course, I always say how I love them. And it's like, you know, you physically need to hug them. You know, so we understand, it's like big support, big energy support.
PATON WALSH: Thank you, Mr. President. I have one last question.
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
PATON WALSH: What is that?
ZELENSKYY: That's elephant. PATON WALSH: The elephant with the cold, what is it?
ZELENSKYY: You know, this is very historic building, you know.
PATON WALSH: Sure. Sure.
ZELENSKYY: Thank you very much.
PATON WALSH: Thank you, sir, very much for your time.
ZELENSKYY: You gave me a moment to relax.
PATON WALSH: Please have it removed. Get time on the beach at some point somewhere, you know.
ZELENSKYY: After the war.
PATON WALSH: After the war.
You worry you might get trapped in, like, the political world of Ukraine after the war?
ZELENSKYY: Nobody can take my seat, right? I will fight for this. I need it.
PATON WALSH: Thank you. Take care of. Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PATON WALSH: The idea of it all being over, as I say, still distant, but that emotion of what people would like to get back to, I think something every Ukrainian can indeed identify. But at the same time, Zelenskyy's directly to the United States, born here, of an absolute crisis for Ukrainians nightly. We're hearing rumors that potentially there could be ballistic attacks this night, the following nights. And Ukrainians will be racing to shelters when that happens. This is born of a global lack of Patriot interceptor missiles, essentially spun -- spawned from the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran and what happened in the Gulf States around and their use of them afterwards.
Acute crisis felt worse here and counted in lost lives.
ABEL: Thanks to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh for that report.
Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur's death, a murder trial is set to begin in Las Vegas. After the break, what to expect as prosecutors make their case against Duane "Keefe D" Davis. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:32:25]
ABEL: A jury has been seated in the trial of Duane "Keefe D" Davis, who is accused of orchestrating the death of hip hop legend Tupac Shakur back in 1996. Six men, 10 women are in the jury pool, which includes four alternates. Davis has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first degree murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote further or assist a criminal gang. He's the only person who's ever been prosecuted in the killing of the iconic rapper.
Opening arguments are set to get underway on Monday in Las Vegas. So to talk about all of this, joining me now from Las Vegas, Kathy Kenzora, the writer and host of "The History of the 90s" podcast.
And Kathy, we now have a jury and we just listed the makeup of that jury. And I found it interesting that some jurors had loose connections or knowledge to the people in the case. One juror who was born nearly a decade after the murder said they listened to Tupac's music. Another said they met Sean Diddy Combs on multiple occasions. Did he been on a list of potential witnesses? Should any of those have been disqualifying?
Was there anything in this process that surprised you?
KATHY KENZORA, WRITER AND HOST, "HISTORY OF THE 90S" PODCAST: I think it's pretty obvious that people are going to know who Tupac is, know his music, know even what happened to him. And a lot of the conspiracy theories, that sort of thing, you can't escape that, especially to knowing Sean Combs or Suge Knight. That shouldn't come as a surprise either. I guess what's important though, and the lawyers stressed it, is can you put aside everything you know about them and just listen to the evidence that's presented in court when you're, you know, have to make a decision about guilt or innocence, can you put aside all the things you've heard and -- especially when it comes to like the documentaries and all of the conspiracy theories about what happened the night that Tupac was killed.
It was kind of funny though how much Sean Combs came up during the -- when they were interviewing the potential jurors because, you know, he's a potential witness because he's on the witness list. But really he's probably not going to be called. Any he -- and really this is trial isn't about Sean Combs. But he just kept coming up. And like you said, there was a young woman who said that she had been at a party at Sean Combs' L.A. house and she left cause she said the vibe was weird.
And there was another young man who said he worked at a strip club in Las Vegas and he met Sean Combs on several occasions in that capacity. But that wasn't a problem. They weren't disqualified for that reason. In fact, I think one of those two people made it to the final round and are on the jury, but one of them was disqualified for other reasons.
[00:35:06]
ABEL: OK. So, you know, you've been here watching this process as somebody that has sat on a jury before. There's a soberness, if you will, that comes with being on a jury deciding some other person's fate, right? Did you get a sense --
KENZORA: Yes.
ABEL: -- of the seriousness that the jurors were feeling about this case? KENZORA: Yes, definitely. I was really impressed by the people that were coming in there, because you could tell they were nervous, which, of course, makes sense. You're sitting in a -- in a jury box, holding a microphone, talking in front of a whole bunch of people who are asking you sometimes pretty personal questions about your life. But it was more that, I think a lot of people seem to want to do the right thing. They wanted to do this properly.
They -- a couple of them even said, like, I'm sorry, I'm nervous. I just -- I'm trying really hard. I just want to do a good job. So I think people take it very seriously, and they know that someone's life is essentially in their hands. And you can tell they were all there, maybe not super willingly because, you know, it could be four or five weeks that they miss from work, but if they are going to be there, it seemed like they were going to take it very seriously.
ABEL: And Kathy, listening to your podcast, it actually gave me much more context around Tupac's murder. We're expecting to hear opening arguments here on Monday. How will a prosecution and defense try to contextualize all of this for jurors?
KENZORA: Yes, it's going to be hard because it can get pretty complicated. But I think how you can simplify it from the prosecution's point of view is that it was -- it seemed to be a retaliation for a fight that happened earlier that evening. If you want to just break it down, that simply was retaliation for a fight. You can go down the rabbit holes of other things that may have been involved, but really, that's sort of the core of it.
But more importantly, the prosecution will lean heavily on a book that was written, a memoir that was written by Duane Davis, who is the accused, called "Compton Street Legend," which is his memoir about when he was a shot-caller he calls himself of the South Side Crips in Compton. But in it, he details what he says happened the night that Tupac was murdered. And that he was there, he got the gun after his nephew was beaten up by Tupac and Death Row entourage and that then they got into a car and went looking for Tupac and found Tupac and Suge Knight. And someone in the car was handed the gun and shot Tupac.
So it's written right there. The words are in this book. So it'll be, now the defense has to say, why shouldn't we believe what he wrote? And that will be what the defense's job will be to do is to -- is to, you know, provide some answers when asked, you know, why would someone write something like this?
And previously, we've heard from Duane Davis that he says, you know, he didn't write the book. There was a ghost writer, and that he just put his name on it to make money for his family.
ABEL: All right, Kathy Kenzora, really appreciate you breaking down all this for us as we continue to watch this trial. Thank you.
KENZORA: My pleasure.
ABEL: And the trial continues for Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of killing her three children. Her defense says she's not criminally responsible because she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis when she fatally strangled her children in 2023. On Thursday, jurors saw images from inside the Clancy home hours after the killings. Prosecutors highlighted a large bloody knife on a bedside table and blood stains outside the home believed to be from wounds Clancy inflicted on her wrist and neck before jumping from a second story window. Entries from Clancy's phone were also shown to the jury, including this note that she wrote a couple of months before the killings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY CHIAPPINI, FORENSIC EXAMINER, MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE: I was feeling so depressed last evening when Cora and Dawson came home from school. I know it runs off on them, so we had a pretty rough evening. I want to feel love and connection with all my kids. I still don't want Cal to be our last, but I have a lot of figuring out to do before I have another. I'm on the fence about starting a new medication for anxiety/depression.
I just want to feel happy. I want to be able to relax and take care of my kids. And when they go to bed at night, I want to deeply relax. I'm terrified of something happening to my kids or doing something wrong to mess up their development. For the last five years, I've just filled my mind with all things parenting, and it's just unhealthy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABEL: Now Clancy has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder. She could face life in prison if convicted.
If jurors find she cannot be held criminally responsible, the court, we understand, would likely start the process of committing her to a psychiatric hospital.
[00:40:02]
He's been banned from running in next month's elections. But a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin is not staying silent. His conversation with CNN just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ABEL: Welcome back. I'm Brian Abel in today for Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
[00:45:04]
U.S. officials tell CNN that a sailor went overboard earlier this month off the USS Abraham Lincoln. It happened amid reports of worsening mental health struggles for crew members during their extended Iran war deployment. The sailor was rescued and was not injured. A U.S. official says the USS George Washington carrier group is on its way to the Middle East to replace the Lincoln.
The Cyclospora outbreak here in the U.S. has now spread to 17 states. The Food and Drug Administration reporting new cases in Maine and Massachusetts. The outbreak, tied to iceberg lettuce, has killed two people and landed nearly 400 in the hospital.
Britain's populist Reform leader, Nigel Farage, is declaring victory in a local election, and it appears his main competition is a comedian running under the name Count Binface. Votes are still being counted and results are expected in the coming hours.
Farage had resigned from parliament after being accused of failing to declare a nearly $7 million donation. He called this by election to prove that he still has strong local support.
A former candidate in next month's Russian presidential election is speaking out after being disqualified from running. The Putin critic publicly opposes the war with Ukraine, and has been designated as a foreign agent by Moscow. Now exile in Paris, he spoke to CNN's Clare Sebastian about the mood in Russia as this conflict drags on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This has happened so suddenly for you. One minute you're running for parliament.
BORIS NADEZHDIN, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN: Yes.
SEBASTIAN: And now you're here.
NADEZHDIN: It's -- all my life is all my life. I have a lot of adventures.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Boris Nadezhdin, Soviet bureaucrat, Russian opposition figure and former presidential hopeful, can now add exile to his list. We meet in Paris a couple of weeks after he was forced to flee Russia amid a mounting pressure campaign to bar him from running in upcoming parliamentary elections.
NADEZHDIN: When I was announced that foreign agent in 10th of July, I declared for all of the world, I will not stop my campaign. On Monday I was arrested by police, taken police department, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): He was convicted of displaying extremist symbols and given a small fine. Then came the summons from Russia's powerful investigative committee.
NADEZHDIN: Normally after you go to this place, you will receive the criminal paper and go to the court and after court go to the jail (inaudible). When I have received this paper about criminal investigation, I have understood that it's a question of three days.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): I am alive and I am free, he announced on Telegram on arriving in France. Previous Russian opposition figures were not so lucky.
SEBASTIAN: I mean, there was Nemtsov, who you worked with Navalny, but you tried to do opposition within the system, then the system came for you. NADEZHDIN: I didn't cross the red lines. For 40 years of my political biography, the red line number one, is not to criticize Putin like a person. And cross line number two, to have no support from foreign governments. I never cross these lines. But these lines have changed.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Behind Putin's facade of stability, Russia is cracking down harder Nadezhdin says, because as the war drags on, dissent is rising.
In early 2024, his campaign to run for president on an anti-war platform exposed an undercurrent of despair in society. Long lines of his supporters formed across the country. A quiet legal protest. That undercurrent, he says, is now bubbling up.
Just this week, demonstrators gathered as Russia's highest court blocked Yabloko, the only remaining anti-war party from the parliamentary elections.
NADEZHDIN: The understanding of that everybody wants to stop the war, it's in the society. Is in the elite and in the nearest people around Putin. And of course the understanding of what this war is really means for Russian economy.
SEBASTIAN: Does Putin understand this?
NADEZHDIN: Yes, Putin and people around him. It's quite possible to freeze the mutual strikes and -- but the question of how to be in peace with west, be in peace with Ukraine is a question of next generations.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Nadezhdin himself is now in limbo. His family is still in Russia. On the day we met, he missed his daughter's wedding.
[00:50:03]
SEBASTIAN: They just got married.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): His political project, one of the last vestiges of Russian political opposition, for now, on hold.
SEBASTIAN: Do you worry that you've left Russia for good?
NADEZHDIN: I think I could return to my country only when the political situation will change.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Clare Sebastian, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: Water levels at America's largest reservoir have hit a new record low. Just ahead, what it means for millions of people across the west who rely on Lake Mead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:55:19]
ABEL: You are looking at satellite photos here of a massive oil spill off the coast of Oman. Environmentalist at Greenpeace tell CNN it now covers 500 square miles. A potential ecological disaster in the making. The tanker was carrying around 800,000 barrels of oil when it reportedly came under attack. It's believed to be part of a Russian shadow fleet.
Meanwhile, the ever shrinking Lake Mead in Nevada hit a record low just this past week and the nation recorded its hottest ever month of July. CNN's Bill Weir visited the critical reservoir which has become one of the greatest symbols of drought and climate change in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the boaters who still love Lake Mead, reminders of the mega drought are all around. The bathtub ring, which shows the high water mark from the mid-80s is now almost 19 stories tall. Old sunken boats and worthless drinking water intakes get more exposed by the day.
WIER: They couldn't imagine when they built this the kind of mega drought that would drop Lake Mead by 70 percent. That used to be the water intake tower.
WEIR (voice-over): A satellite time lapse shows how much of the nation's biggest reservoir has disappeared in the last 25 years. Mead 27 percent full, while Lake Powell only 23 percent and dropping. Together they keep 40 million people alive in seven states which have never agreed on how to share.
While the dry lower basin states of California, Nevada and Arizona have volunteered to make cuts, Doug Burgum's Interior Department could force much steeper ones, especially to junior rights holder Arizona, where water is needed to make everything from copper to microchips to most of the nation's winter vegetables.
KATIE HOBBS, ARIZONA GOVERNOR: I would argue that all of those things are not just important to Arizona's economy, they're important to the national economy.
WEIR (voice-over): And Governor Katie Hobbs seems willing to fight for their share all the way to the Supreme Court.
HOBBS: We are very hopeful that it will align closely with the proposal that we put forward, the three lower basin state proposal, and nobody wants to end up in court. But this is a critical situation for Arizona and I'm going to use every tool available to me. We have set aside millions of dollars to fight in court. If that becomes necessary, I hope it doesn't, but we're not at that point yet.
WEIR (voice-over): Utah is among the upper basin states refusing to offer new cuts, even as St. George has some of the cheapest water and highest per capita use in The West. And that's not even counting this private surf ranch with wave and wakeboarding pools for 56 homes and another similar development under construction. WEIR: You can surf in the driest county in Utah. How can you justify that? Whether they're pulling it out of a brackish aquifer or it's private water --
ZACH RENSTROM, WASHINGTON COUNTY WATER CONSERVATORY DISTRICT: Yes.
WEIR: -- how is that a good look for Washington County?
RENSTROM: So, unfortunately, like other communities, certain things were approved years and years and years ago, and we're kind of dealing with those. Since then, we have completely changed all our rules, but not just a surf lake, but a data center or a golf course. We've implemented this very strict policy now of large water users.
WEIR (voice-over): Zach Renstrom is trying to get his very conservative county to copy Las Vegas, where nearly every drop of Sin City's wastewater is captured, cleaned, and put back into Lake Mead, thanks to the foresight of leaders like Pat Mulroy.
PATRICIA MULROY, FORMER CEO, SOUTHERN NEVADA WATER AUTHORITY: I mean, the minute you accepted climate change as a reality, you had to accept that this day was coming. And if you're in the water business, you hope for the best and plan for the worst.
WEIR (voice-over): She thinks Burgum should be using more carrots and sticks to get the states to agree and proposes desalination plants in California for irrigation so farmers could give their shares to thirsty cities and wildlife habitats.
MULROY: To put the states through the pain and anguish of having to go through another round of cut discussions, I would put that off. But where I would put my energy is I would put the states together and empower a body or a group in the lower basin and upper basin to look at ways to augment this river system. I mean, we have stayed away from desalination, and it blows my mind. You can't conserve your way out of this. You can't cut your way out of it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABEL: Our thanks to Bill Weir there.
The finalists for this year's Ocean Photographer of the Year have just been announced. Look at some of these incredible images. They are some of a few of thousands submitted by marine photographers who captured shots below and above the ocean surface. The competition is divided into categories including wildlife, fine art and conservation.
