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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Widespread Damage at Nepal-China Border After Deadly Floods; Meta Reaches $18 Billion Settlement in Social Media Addiction Case; States, Rights Groups Fight Trump's Curbs on Mail-In Voting; 165 Killed, Hundreds Missing after Floods Hit Nepal Border; Fans at Dollywood Remember Dolly Parton. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 27, 2026 - 00:00   ET

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

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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson, live in Los Angeles. Welcome to THE STORY IS. Run a little later than normal. There was a technical issue. We are sorry for the interruption. Let's get going.

Coming up, THE STORY IS in Asia, where catastrophic flash flooding has torn through parts of China and Nepal. At this hour, rescuers are racing against time. We'll go live to that region.

THE STORY IS $18 billion. That's what Meta will pay to settle its child social addiction case. Will the required change is enough to change teenage behavior?

THE STORY IS in Tennessee. Fans gathering to remember Dolly Parton at her very own theme park. CNN takes you inside Dollywood.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.

MICHAELSON: Start with breaking news from the Nepal-China border, where a desperate search is underway after massive flash floods tore through that region. 162 people have been killed in Nepal, with hundreds more still missing. Hundreds of foreign nationals are unaccounted for, including at least 47 Americans. Across the border Chinese state media report at least three people have died and more than 550 others are still missing.

The United States is now rushing assistance to Nepal. The State Department says it is sending a disaster assistance response adviser to the region and providing $500,000 in emergency aid.

A warning that the videos you are about to see are certainly disturbing.

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This was a prominent border crossing between the two countries. You can see people running when this massive wall -- here it is -- water and mud hits the area, destroying everything in its path. The floods have swallowed homes, roads and bridges, leaving some communities buried in thick mud.

In the video, we're about to show you, you can see the sheer force of the flood waters slamming tour busses and buildings, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

So what's happening now? There is a frantic search for survivors that is underway. The prime minister's office says ground rescue teams in Nepal are working through the night. Helicopters are expected to airlift survivors in the morning, and authorities warn that the death toll is expected to rise.

CNN's Mike Valerio is live right now for us in Beijing.

Mike, let's start with the missing people in Tibet on the Chinese side. What's China doing in terms of response?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're sending scores of people, Elex, especially from here in Beijing. But you know what? Before we get into more details about China and Tibet, control room, how about we go to that video that is fresh out of Nepal?

This is vertical video, Elex, that's been shared by the Nepali army. If we take a look at what's happening, this is soldiers on a helicopter that you'll see in parts of the video rescuing people from the mud. So you're seeing that video of the mud rescues happening right now. And a couple seconds earlier in that video -- there we go. I'm on a four-second delay so sorry if I'm not talking in the right spot.

There you see these teams that are going into these very difficult areas to access, trying to rescue as many people as possible.

Going back to the Chinese side, it is notable, this new reporting coming from Sylvie Zhang, who's our China reporter, working the story out of Hong Kong, that the missing total in China and Tibet has more than doubled over the past 24 hours. And the main storyline, as we show you the latest video that's come out of state media, looking at the Chinese side is trying to reach that port, Gyirong Port, which is that seven-story building that we showed in the beginning of the hour that has that massive wall of water and landslide debris cascading and careening into it.

So getting to Gyirong Port, at Gyirong Port, excuse me, is the main mission objective of these rescue teams from Beijing and Sichuan Province. More than 100 people are headed to the area. About 260 people in terms of the total missing on the Chinese side are foreigners. So huge obstacles. The mud that is on the Tibetan side, according to state media, is about up to where I have my microphone clipped, just over our banner.

So if you imagine, we heard this from a state media reporter, he said that coming up to the beginning edge of the landslide, the depth of the mud was about 1.5 meters, which is just about five feet high. So it comes right up to just about here, where I have my little black microphone attached to my jacket. That is where -- that is the difficulty in terms of the obstacles that these rescuers are dealing with right now. On the Nepali side, more than 400 people missing.

I'll tell you, Elex, I have a list of 12 countries that have people missing. Australia 34, Belgium three, Britain 33, Canada 24, India 133 people on a Hindu pilgrimage to a sacred site in Tibet, 90 Italians, two from Portugal, four from Russia, nine from South Korea, 53 people from Ukraine and 47 people from the United States. So a huge international storyline in terms of the number of people missing.

But it's just, you know, rescuers, journalists, nonprofits cannot get to these areas that are the hardest hit. So we're all holding our breaths in this region for more reporting to come down. Just I don't think that we have seen the biggest brunt in terms of the tragedy of this story yet, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Yes. Yes. I mean, that video is just unbelievable to see the power of water and the most powerful force on earth is water, which we have seen before in tsunamis. And we're seeing it here.

CNN's Mike Valerio, following the latest developments from Beijing. Mike, we will check back in with you soon.

Earlier, CNN spoke with Ben Ayers, a journalist with "Outside" magazine who has been based in Nepal for more than 20 years. He shared his insight on the region and what rescuers are now facing.

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BEN AYERS, JOURNALIST, OUTSIDE MAGAZINE: Getting around Nepal in the best of -- in the best of days is made more difficult during the monsoon season as roads wash out.

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But this river basically splits Nepal in half. So all of the main roadways, trade arteries, everything in this is destroyed. For rescue teams the only real way to access the areas will be by helicopter. And that's just not an efficient way to get a lot of people there. The police and the army are coordinating those events, but we're looking at a very, very long road ahead.

Nepal is subject to these kind of natural disasters all the time. Being in the Himalayas, issues with climate change, you know, with these natural disasters, it's seismically prone. It's something that we see over and over again there. Despite this, the only real resources in the country with any kind of scale would be the army and the police. Unfortunately, there are 83 security forces that were actually -- that are missing from the flood itself.

Nepal is a really resource constrained country. So getting people on the scene here, even being able to come up with an effective plan, is going to be incredibly difficult. And it's not just in the rescue phase, but we're moving into, you know, the end of the monsoon, the harvest season. The economic damage to this to the entire country is something that will be felt for years to come.

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MICHAELSON: Later this hour, we'll be joined live from Kathmandu by former CNN international correspondent who is now a member of parliament in Nepal. That's still to come here on THE STORY IS.

But we want to get to another big story. Meta says it will pay about $18 billion to settle a sweeping lawsuit over claims that its platforms endangered children. Court documents show that the social media giant has also agreed to make changes to its apps, like Facebook and Instagram, including time limits for teen users.

Meta did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The multi- state lawsuit alleged that Meta intentionally designed addictive platforms and misled the public about the risks to children.

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ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: But this is 51 states, the District of Columbia and territories all standing together, banding together, holding the line, bipartisan, holding Meta accountable and making unprecedented, historic, transformative changes which will echo and permeate throughout the industry.

It's just a matter of time, in my humble opinion, before TikTok and YouTube and Snap come on board. So I think this is that moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: California Attorney General Rob Bonta led that lawsuit.

Julie Frumin is a licensed marriage and family therapist who leads the Conejo Valley Chapter of Mothers Against Media Addiction. She joins us live here.

Julie, welcome to THE STORY IS for the first time. A big day. Your reaction?

JULIE FRUMIN, MOTHERS AGAINST MEDIA ADDICTION: It was a really big day. So I woke up to a text this morning seeing the settlement. And I was so excited. I think it's about high time that Meta pays for the design of their platforms, which has been harming children, harming teenagers. And this is a big, big win.

MICHAELSON: So not only are they paying for it, but they're also agreeing to changes to the platform itself. I want to put some of that up on the screen. So this includes, there are going to be daily time limits across the app for users 13 to 17. There will only parents can change those daily time limits. There's going to be a night mode which blocks access for teens from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.. There's a school mode that limits alerts during the school day. There's some other parental controls that are being added as well. Good thing, bad thing?

FRUMIN: A great thing. So this, I want to -- I want to put a caveat here that these are all amazing things. These are great steps in the right direction. I don't believe that we're at the end of the road at all. But I really, you know, again, seeing this news this morning and seeing what they've agreed to it just to me, it shows like they knew what they were doing. And we've seen this in the court documents. So it's a little bit a little too late, you know, coming from Meta and admitting that -- not admitting any wrongdoing.

MICHAELSON: Well, and they also did it before Mark Zuckerberg had to take the stand.

FRUMIN: Right.

MICHAELSON: Which is interesting timing on all of this as well.

FRUMIN: Absolutely.

MICHAELSON: Mothers Against Media Addiction. This is something that's all around the country.

FRUMIN: Absolutely.

MICHAELSON: And you all are working with Congress right now on legislation. And this is a bipartisan thing. What would this legislation do? This would be kind of what you'd want to see what's next.

FRUMIN: Absolutely. So this settlement is Meta. But, again, they're talking with other platforms to say, hey, we'll do this if you do that.

MICHAELSON: If YouTube and TikTok do this, then we'll agree to do more, but only if YouTube and TikTok agree to do this. Yes.

FRUMIN: Correct. Correct. And so this is the moment for our legislators to take action. We want the Kids Online Safety Act at the federal level, and we want the Senate version. I know this is kind of in the weeds here, but we want it to say that there's a duty of care, meaning that no matter what the platform is, if there's a new platform tomorrow or next week, that they have a duty to protect kids because we've decided that these platforms are products and any other product on a shelf has to be safe by design.

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Not something that a parent has to go in the back end and figure out, you know, will this thing hurt my child? But safe out of the box. So the legislation would hold all companies accountable that are interacting with kids.

MICHAELSON: Where are you at? Do you have the votes?

FRUMIN: Well, the Senate passed this last summer, 91 to three.

MICHAELSON: Wow.

FRUMIN: So that's pretty unheard of. This is a very bipartisan effort. Mothers Against Media Addiction chapter leaders flew to D.C. actually this summer and stood alongside survivor parents who lost their children to social media harms for the memorial on the Senate lawn. We walked the halls of the Senate. And it seems that, you know, we just need to get this thing through at the federal level. It's challenging to do.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

FRUMIN: So in the meantime, we need to really work state by state. And there's a lot of really good stuff going on at the state level, too.

MICHAELSON: I know you're involved with that here in California. You also say your why is that so many of your patients in your practice have these suffering from addiction that you see day after day. And that's part of why you're so passionate about this.

FRUMIN: Definitely.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

FRUMIN: Definitely.

MICHAELSON: Thank you so much for coming in, Julie. Really appreciate it.

FRUMIN: Thank you so much.

MICHAELSON: Mail-in voting in the midterm elections. How will it work? And can a new lawsuit keep the Trump administration from imposing new restrictions? Our political panel is next.

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MICHAELSON: This week, the U.S. Supreme Court gave President Trump another win, allowing him to proceed with his effort to regulate and restrict mail-in voting.

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But he's now facing a new challenge. Attorneys general from dozens of states run by Democrats have filed a new lawsuit, along with some voting rights groups. They want to block the U.S. Postal Service from creating lists of who is eligible to vote and prevent the agency from withholding ballots from voters the Trump administration deems ineligible.

A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for next week.

This legal wrangling is adding confusion to the whole voting system, with the midterm elections barely two months away.

Also, keep in mind that President Trump calls mail-in voting fraudulent and corrupt, even though he has repeatedly done it himself, including this year.

Let's put this to our panel. Fabian Nunez is the founder and managing partner of Actum, a global consulting firm; and Jennifer Horn is the host of "The Morning Answer" on 870-AM here in Los Angeles.

Jennifer, let's start with you. President Trump mail-in votes. Why shouldn't everybody else?

JENNIFER HORN, HOST, 870-AM'S "THE MORNING ANSWER": Well, I think everybody can if they actually request the ballot.

People -- I don't think people have trouble, necessarily, with the idea of voting by mail, as long as there is actually someone who has requested that ballot.

You'll remember in California, you could vote by mail as long as you requested an absentee ballot.

Right now, universal mail-in ballots are all over the place, because the -- the voter rolls are so bloated here in California. You know, Elex, we do not clean up our voter rolls. They want to continually add people back, even when lawsuits have them removed.

In L.A. County, they put a million names back on the voter rolls. And this causes a lot of people, not just conservatives, to go, well, maybe I shouldn't be getting 18 ballots sent to my home. There's a question there.

MICHAELSON: Well, has anybody gotten 18 ballots sent to their home?

HORN: Believe me, some of the horror stories that I've heard on my radio show in Los Angeles is -- say just that. I mean, I've seen pictures of this.

So, look, I think we need to clean up the voter rolls. I think President Trump is asking for states to cooperate. And if they don't, he's saying that the Postal Service can't deliver those ballots. And he is in charge of the Postal Service.

Executive branch is in charge of the Postal Service. He has the rights to do this. And the state can figure out how to run the election without it, if -- if they choose to continue this process.

MICHAELSON: I mean, there -- there are a lot of ballots that are sent to people that didn't want them or didn't ask for them or have moved, or all the rest of it in this sort of system. That is part of what happens here, right?

FABIAN NUNEZ, FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER, ACTUM: Well, I think if you put it in context, I mean, it's something like 30 percent of voters around the country vote by mail.

And if you think about, you know, who has the right to run elections by act -- an act of Congress, the states actually are the ones who are authorized to do that. You can't -- the president can't just unilaterally change that; has to be an act of Congress.

So, if it goes back to Congress, and some of these valid points, I think, you know, could be raised and should be raised. But the fact of the matter is, the system itself work when over 1.3 percent of those ballots, you know, there's something wrong. Somebody is not the right correct signature or whatever, and they get thrown out.

And so, if we're solving towards a larger problem where we want to instill some sense of confidence in our voting system, then I think in the future, we should start thinking about what can we do to improve upon it?

But I'll tell you, the fundamental problem on the Democratic side is that, you know, women didn't get a right -- have a right to vote 'til the, what, 16th Amendment in 19 -- in the 1920s.

MICHAELSON: Nineteen -- 19th Amendment.

NUNEZ: The 19th Amendment, sorry, in 1920.

I was thinking about blacks. It was in the late 1800s.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

NUNEZ: But, really, there was a lot of voter repression throughout the history of this country. And it really wasn't until the Equal Rights Amendment [SIC], when the -- when we saw voting rights -- or the Voting Rights Amendment, we saw people's rights being protected.

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Because there was all kinds of shenanigans going on in this country to repress the vote of women and people of color. And so, there's a lot of distrust on both sides.

But I do think people need to come together and figure out, how do we instill confidence in our voter system? That's why you see in the polling, even young people now saying, well, what's wrong with having an I.D.? Right?

So, now, you have to take all these things into consideration but cannot do this in the context of, you know, a couple of months before an election with someone whose, really, livelihood is at stake in these elections.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And interesting. So, Caltech did a, like, a study looking at does universal mail-in ballots actually increase voter participation? Something I've wondered, like, because that's the whole point of this, right?

And let's put up the results of that study. We found a 3 to 4 percentage point increase in turnout due to the policy. The impact was larger for partisan voters, compared to non-party affiliate voters.

But among partisan voters, we found no evidence of Democrats getting an advantage, which has been a common narrative.

So, is it worth it, if this is getting more people to vote to increase turnout by making it easier, making it more convenient, to give people this choice, this option?

HORN: I'm going to surprise you. This is not about politics for me. This is about the security of our elections.

And -- and certainly, whether it gives an advantage to Democrats or Republicans, that's not what we should be thinking about right now. We should be talking about securing our elections.

And having a valid I.D. is supported by 70 percent of the country, maybe even more than that. They want to make sure that these ballots are safe and secure. And that one vote, one person.

I don't think that suppresses the vote. I'm very confident that women and people of color can find an I.D.

I believe that when you have bloated voter rolls -- and look, when the voter rolls are contained -- and some states do a great job keeping their voter rolls maintained. When that happens, there's not a problem with mail-in ballots.

But you have states like the one that we're in tonight, California, that doesn't do a great job maintaining the voter rolls, and that causes the problem.

It shouldn't be about who wins or what party benefits from this. This should be about the safety and security of our elections.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And then the question is, how do you balance, you know, either real fraud, the appearance of fraud, the long process to count the ballots, and the integrity of the election, getting more people to vote.

And it's important to have a nuanced conversation about that, and not just the talking points where people are talking past each other. But real quickly.

NUNEZ: No, but yes, I was just going to -- I was just going to say, you know, you should have a -- we should have an open conversation about having open elections that -- that are consistent with the rules, but not politically, not politically motivated at the same time.

Because I think sometimes, what happens is when politicians get in the way of, you know, trying to steer the electorate in one way or another, and they come up with ideas on, you know, how to restrict voting, then obviously, you know, that -- that -- that quote that you had up on the -- on the -- on the screen there shows increased participation.

That is not the objective --

MICHAELSON: Right.

NUNEZ: -- of some of these efforts. The objective of some of these efforts is to actually suppress, do the opposite of that.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

NUNEZ: To get people not to vote. And that's what we need to do, is figure out how to protect the integrity of our voting system --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

NUNEZ: -- and make sure that that right to vote, which is, you know, one of the most integral parts --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

NUNEZ: -- of an open democracy, of a real democracy is your right to vote.

MICHAELSON: And you wonder if, like, the secretary of state should be a nonpartisan appointed position.

HORN: Yes, please.

MICHAELSON: And not an elected position, too.

NUNEZ: I would agree with that.

MICHAELSON: Jennifer Horn and Fabian Nunez. Thank you. You'll be back with us in our next hour.

HORN: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: Look forward to that.

We will be back with more here on THE STORY IS right after this. Including a report on what's happening --

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MICHAELSON: [Back now to our top story. And a warning that this contains some distressing video.

Many people caught off-guard when a landslide unleashed a wall of water and mud that swept through towns along the border between China and Nepal.

This devastation, which we see right here, has been captured in videos and satellite images from across the region.

Former CNN international correspondent Sumnima Udas joins us now from Kathmandu. She is a current member of parliament in Nepal's House of Representatives.

Thanks so much for being with us. I am so sorry that your country is going through this. What are you seeing on the ground?

SUMNIMA UDAS, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, NEPAL'S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Thanks very much for having me, Elex.

First, I'd like to express my heartfelt condolences to the victims and families of those who have been affected by this devastating flash flood. The government is very much on search and rescue mode at the moment.

More than 2,000 personnel, security forces have been deployed. relief trucks have been deployed carrying tents, water, food, portable generators for the survivors who have managed to climb uphill. as you mentioned so far, about 162 to 65 bodies have been recovered downstream. And unfortunately, that number is expected to rise.

Now, this is one of the deadliest disasters I would say that Nepal has seen in years. And we're still trying to wrap our heads around just the magnitude of the devastation.

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On a normal day, it takes about 6 or 7 hours to get to this border area. Now, almost all the major roads, all the major bridges have been destroyed. So, the search-and-rescue teams are having a difficult time.

But more than that, we're really having a difficult time fully understanding the scope of the damage and the loss of life.

What we do know is that entire small towns and hamlets have been swept away. Buildings have been, as you can see in the video, have been covered with mud sludges.

Dozens of tourist busses carrying pilgrims to Mount Kailash, which is one of Hinduism's most sacred sites, washed away by the wave of the water and mud.

Hundreds of engineers and employees of the many hydroelectric power stations that were along that river. Many banks, customs offices -- officers are all now unaccounted for.

Just to give you a little bit of a context, this border crossing between China and Nepal was really a lifeline in terms of trade for Nepal. It was the only operational border crossing with a customs office.

And those dramatic CCTV images that we see is that of the customs office on the China side.

As per the Nepali Foreign Ministry, about 40 to 50,000 people are expected to have been impacted. But this is still early information, I would say, and it will take a few days to assess the full extent of the damage.

And of course, all of this with the overarching fear that we are at risk of further flooding, as well.

MICHAELSON: So, what is happening right now in terms of the rescue, because it is so hard to get there? Is it only basically by helicopter, or what's the process ahead?

And what is the greatest need and sort of the way that the rest of us from around the world that are watching this can potentially help right now? UDAS: All the army helicopters have been deployed. They've also

reached out to all the private helicopter companies, as well. All of those have been deployed, as well.

And some of the access routes further up, up on the hills are accessible. So that's how they're taking, I was just speaking to the brigadier general here, and he was telling me that they're accessing a lot of -- or taking a lot of the relief supplies through that sort of upper -- through those upper smaller roads.

But because those are much smaller roads, they can only take smaller trucks along those roads. So, they're really having a difficult time.

In terms of the need, I mean, this is, like I mentioned, this is a major border crossing for Nepal and China. So, in some of the images, you see all of those cars and trucks and buses -- not buses, but like SUVs being sort of swept away. And those were all sort of -- you know, they were coming across the border. Electric cars and vehicles that were sort of coming across the border.

This is also -- Trishuli River is one of Nepal's major river corridors, as well.

So, right now, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure has estimated that there's losses of at least $1.2 billion, with about 45 kilometers of roads wiped out; dozens of very large bridges, as I mentioned earlier; nine hydroelectric power stations; impacted houses, schools, hospitals, and of course, people's homes.

And again, it's -- it's still very difficult to get a sense of the magnitude and just how many --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

UDAS: -- how many people have been impacted by this.

MICHAELSON: Sumnima Udas, who has covered so many disasters for this network as a reporter, now responding to this disaster as a member of Parliament in Nepal.

Know that the whole world is -- is praying for your people, thinking about you, wanting to help. Those pictures are just harrowing. And best of luck to you in the very tough days ahead.

UDAS: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: Still ahead this hour, Dolly Parton's fans or community are remembering the late queen of country music. We have details on the tributes and the projects in the works to honor her.

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[00:54:14]

MICHAELSON: Welcome back. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories. A desperate and difficult search is underway after catastrophic flash

floods swept through villages along the Nepal-China border. Hundreds of people are missing after a landslide triggered the torrent of water and mud.

More than 300 foreign nationals are among those unaccounted for, including at least 47 Americans.

At least 165 people have been killed. The death toll is expected to rise.

Prosecutors have rested their case in the Tupac Shakur murder trial, leaning heavily on defendant Duane "Keffe D." Davis's own words.

Jurors heard nearly eight hours of recordings and read passages from his memoir, where Davis repeatedly placed himself in the car alongside Tupac the night of the shooting in 1996.

The defense now begins its case, arguing those statements cannot be trusted.

People here in Southern California will have a front-row seat for Thursday night's partial lunar eclipse. The main stage will begin at 7:34 Pacific Time, when the moon will fall under the core of Earth's shadow.

It will gradually turn a reddish copper color but is not considered a true blood moon because it is only a partial eclipse.

Nearly a billion people in America will be able to see the entire event. The main part of the event will happen around 9:12 Pacific Time, right in the middle of our show.

We will have special coverage from here in Southern California and around the world at this time tomorrow, right here on THE STORY IS.

More now on Dolly Parton. Of course, she may no longer be with us, but her creative projects and philanthropic efforts will live on.

Parton's manager says new projects and exhibits celebrating the life of the late country music legend are in the works. Her Imagination Library will continue its literacy programing, mailing books to children free of charge.

And a state senator in Parton's home state of Tennessee is proposing legislation to designate September 25 as "9 to 5 Day" in honor of one of Parton's biggest hits.

Tributes have poured in from all over the world since Parton died on Tuesday at the age of 80. Even the King's Guard in Britain honored the queen of country music outside Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC: "9 TO 5")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry music hall will dedicate Saturday night's performance to Parton. Of course, country music royalty herself.

CNN's Jason Carroll traveled today to Dolly's theme park, Dollywood, to talk to fans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOLLY PARTON, SINGER/SONGWRITER/PHILANTHROPIST: -- 'til the day I die, and hopefully, that ain't going to be any time soon.

Hey, there.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those who knew Dolly Parton say she would agree with the old adage, the show must go on.

And here in Dollywood, the theme park that she created, nestled in Sevier County where she grew up, it does go on. It was open today and filled with fans to share how she had touched their lives, even in the smallest of ways.

ALI GRAHAM, DOLLY PARTON FAN: My grandpa swears Dolly Parton winked at him when they saw her back in, like, the '70s. And my grandma will deny it to this day, but she'll behind his back say she really did wink at him.

CARROLL (voice-over): It's well-known Parton was a prolific songwriter and singer, but here in these parts, she is just as well known for how she gave back to her community.

Not uncommon to hear from adults who remember getting free books as children, thanks to Parton's literacy program, Imagination Library, which she started in 1995.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got her books growing up as a child, so --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- promotion of education.

CARROLL: Oh wait, all of you got --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Imagination Library. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CARROLL: All of you got the books?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We'd get one every month. Yes.

CARROLL: A book every month?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I still read them. CARROLL (voice-over): Millions of children receive books, all because

Parton's father could not read or write. And Parton, who grew up very poor, wanted to make sure children learn to love reading, regardless of income.

Her philanthropic efforts didn't end there. In 1991, she created a buddy program in Sevier County to improve school dropout rates.

DAVID WEAR, PIGEON FORGE CITY MANAGER: You get a buddy. You pick your buddy. And if you and your buddy make it through high school, she gives you $500 each.

CARROLL (voice-over): David Wear was one of those recipients. He later became mayor and now city manager of Pigeon Forge, the small town next to Parton's hometown, Sevierville.

WEAR: And years later, here I am getting to work with her on the government.

CARROLL: Can you tell me what it was like working with her?

WEAR: She was -- so, everybody knows Dolly on stage. Everybody knows Dolly in the interviews. She's so wonderful. She's so charismatic, witty, gritty, resourceful, funny. She's larger than life.

CARROLL (voice-over): Folks around here say just about everyone has a Dolly story.

CHIEF RICHARD CATLETT, PIGEON FORGE POLICE: Once that -- that I came in, she accepted me, just like I'd been around her my whole career.

CARROLL (voice-over): The Pigeon Forge police chief used to help with Parton's security team. He says she was genuine, down-to-earth, and had a good sense of humor.

CATLETT: Tried to make the best working conditions over there that she could.

CARROLL: I'm wondering how you think she might be remembered.

CATLETT: I told her one time that she's larger than Elvis.

CARROLL: You told her that she was larger than Elvis.

CATLETT: And she -- yes, she just kind of laughed that off, said there's no way.

CARROLL (voice-over): Humor, grace, generosity.

In honor of her life, flowers and cards left at a makeshift memorial at her statue in her hometown, all to honor a woman embraced by the world, but someone who never lost touch with the place that shaped who she was.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Jason Carroll for that report.

And thanks to you for watching the first hour of THE STORY IS. The next hour starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.

MICHAELSON: We're live in Los Angeles. And coming up here on THE STORY IS, rescue efforts underway in Nepal.