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Concerns Over Mental Health, Living Conditions Aboard USS Lincoln; Flash Flooding Underway in Indiana and Illinois as Storms Slam Midwest; Judge Dismisses Trump Administration Lawsuit Against Harvard; Alex Murdaugh Back in Court for Murder Retrial Hearing. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 14, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And to this now. A couple of, let's call them fair evading passengers, caused a bit of a stir on a Portland, Oregon bus. Cameras caught two pygmy goats trotting on board during rush hour, but the ride did not last long. The driver and a few other riders shooed them back off before the bus pulled away. We're not kidding.

By the time police arrived, the goats had wandered off. It turns out they belong to a local family and slipped out of an open gate that morning. Do not worry, they are back home now safe and sound. But still, without a transit pass, we're going to have to get an Uber, I guess.

All right, so this now, one Golden Girls superfan is paying big bucks to get a piece of TV history. Let's see this right here. This was the purse carried by actress Estelle Getty, aka Sophia, throughout the show. It sold for, get this, $192,000 at auction. The purse is now the most expensive Golden Girls prop the auction house has ever sold, according to one 2016 book about the series, Getty purchased the purse herself. at an LA thrift store. That's not a bad upgrade there.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Right now on Capitol Hill, demands for answers about the conditions on board the USS Abraham Lincoln after reports of sailors trying to jump overboard, food shortages and overall worsening conditions. The Pentagon pushing back playing down those concerns yet also sending in relief as we speak.

Plus, the unfolding flash flood emergency across the Midwest. Entire town submerged after a sixth straight day of storms are tracking that dangerous weather.

And Selena Gomez now being sued for fraud. Investors say they were misled by a startup. How the star is responding.

Sara, John, and Kate are off today. I'm Erica Hill, along with Danny Freeman. Buckle up, people. Here we go. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. FREEMAN: We begin this hour with that marathon deployment at sea for the USS Abraham Lincoln and growing concerns for the sailors on board as the war with Iran stretches on. Sources telling CNN a sailor jumped overboard earlier this month and was rescued after reports of similar attempts by multiple crew members. Now the Lincoln has been deployed for more than 250 days and hasn't made a port call in over 200 days.

One Democratic lawmaker calls that a modern day record. Well, now Democrats are demanding answers, citing concerns for the crew's mental health and reports of food shortages, contaminated water and plumbing issues on board. Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth, though he's pushing back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It got 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)

FREEMAN: The carrier USS George Washington is now headed to the Middle East to relieve the Lincoln. One U.S. official though tells CNN the rotation had been planned in advance. CNN's Brian Todd joins me now, Brian, tell me what more do we know about what's happening with the USS Lincoln?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very disturbing reports from CNN and other outlets. CNN has new reporting from our colleagues Pamela Brown and Ross Adkin. They cite three U.S. officials saying that a sailor on board the aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln actually did go overboard earlier this month. Two of the officials tell CNN the sailor was quickly rescued, was medically evaluated, treated, then transferred off the ship for follow-on care.

One official said the sailor went overboard wearing a life vest and was not injured. The official added that the Navy considered the incident a mental health episode. Now this incident, which has not been previously reported, adds to all the growing concerns about that crew aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

The news outlets Stars and Stripes and the Navy Times reported this week that there had been multiple attempts by crew members on the Lincoln to jump overboard. Those outlets cited interviews with sailors and families of those on board who described the impacts of a very lengthy deployment.

Now according to Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, the Lincoln has not made a port call in more than 200 days. That's about six and a half months. Just last month, Pamela Brown was reporting on board the Abraham Lincoln. She spoke with Airman Randall Stone about the low morale on the ship, which he says is pervasive. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AIRMAN RANDALL STONE, USS LINCOLN: Actually, I would say morale is pretty low, and not just in the division, like in the ship entirely, the food, I'm sure you heard the food was pretty bad for a couple of months. We were surviving on not a lot. And it takes a lot to push through, persevere, keep going, even when it gets hard.

[08:05:00]

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Statement to CNN, the US Navy said, quote, "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," end quote. One US official told CNN the Navy's internal tracking of reports of suicidal ideation on the Abraham Lincoln had actually gone down in recent months -- Danny.

FREEMAN: Either way, thinking of all those sailors and U.S. servicemen and women. Brian Todd, thank you very much for that report -- Erica.

HILL: Happening now. There is a flooding emergency unfolding across the Midwest. Flash flood warnings in parts of Indiana where days of rolling storms and heavy rain have forced hundreds of people from their home. Some areas of the state seeing once in 1,000 year rainfall, nearly a foot in some areas over 30 hours. That's led, of course, to rising rivers, water rescue, sunken cars, ruined homes, ruined towns.

The fire chief in Muncie Indiana, telling CNN in his nearly 30 years on the job, he has never seen flooding like this. The floodwaters in terms of the damage they're leaving behind. You can see this tree partially uprooted, leaning against that house. A number of homes left in shambles.

The owner of this home, a father of six, described what it was like when the water started rushing in.

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TIMOTHY HICKS, HOME DAMAGED BY FLOODWATERS: Started grabbing the kids are still asleep and I just started grabbing them. Running them out to the car without even getting shoes, clothes or anything like that. I just -- they still had all their pajamas on. And it's just like a panic to get out of here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins me now. So this has been as we noted six days. Allison, are we seeing any relief in the forecast? ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately, no, we are going to continue to see more rainfall in these same areas, not just today, but even as we head into the weekend. So this is not over yet. You can see all of these flash flood warnings.

They extend basically right there from the Iowa Nebraska border all the way through portions of Ohio. So again, this is a very long line bringing extra heavy rain to some of these areas that just simply don't need to see it. This is a map showing all of the rain that we've picked up just since Monday.

Lots of oranges, lots of red color on the screen indicating at least six inches of rain. But it's the pink color here you see across portions of Indiana. That's where we've been talking at least a foot of rain has fallen over the last few days. Some of these locations getting two months worth of rain in just a couple of days.

And now we're going. going to be adding more on top of it. And that's what all of these green flood watches are for. Just in anticipation of adding more rain on top of these already saturated places. So here's a look.

It's going to be a couple of different waves. So starting Friday again you can see the first line moving through. Then the secondary line starts to slide through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio as we make our way through Saturday. So again, it's not just today. We also have tomorrow.

And I do want to note that a lot of it is the same exact places. So you take a look at the areas for today. Places like Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago, even over in Des Moines. Then you go flip over to Saturday and you've also got Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago and Des Moines once again. So a lot of the same places that have not only had it all week long but are also going to get it today and even as we head into Saturday.

Now some of those areas specifically say like Indianapolis and Cincinnati mostly are just going to pick up maybe an extra inch on top of what they've already had. But if you're talking about already having 8, 10, even 12 inches of rain. One extra inch does actually cause problems that exacerbates that ongoing flooding because it doesn't allow the water to recede.

The heaviest rain is actually going to be a little bit farther north to places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, stretching over through Toledo, Chicago, and then back into areas of Iowa. That's where we could be looking at another four, five or even 6 inches of rain as we go through Saturday.

HILL: Wow, last thing they need, I know. Allison really appreciate it. Thank you -- Danny.

FREEMAN: Coming up, Alex Murdaugh is due back in court today for a hearing ahead of his new murder trial in the deaths of his wife and son. We're going to tell you why his legal team wants this trial moved to a new location. Plus, we've new reporting on how quickly the U.S. military is losing

key drones used for surveillance and targeted strikes in the Iran war.

And a jogger fights off a man accused of attacking her and dragging her into the woods. How police were able to catch him minutes later, stay with us.

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HILL: New legal developments this morning after a federal judge dismissed the Trump administration's multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Harvard University, one of those suits. So this suit, which was filed in March, accused Harvard of failing to protect Jewish students from harassment. The judge in the ruling says the government's allegations were largely focused on just a handful of incidents amid protests over Israel's war in Gaza, noting that those incidents were too, in the words of the judge, too isolated and episodic to support a claim of ongoing civil rights violations by the school.

CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson joining me now to discuss this. Of course, as I noted, not the only lawsuit, right? But let's tackle this one first. So the judge basically saying to this non lawyer there is no pattern here that I see of these ongoing civil rights violations and actually dismissed it.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Erica, good morning to you. That was a big deal. Why is it a big deal?

So backing up a little bit, it was the Department of Justice who brought this lawsuit on behalf of the administration.

[08:15:00]

The argument was about what's called Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act of '64 which prohibits discrimination, particularly if you're getting funding. And the argument from the administration was that the school Harvard was not doing enough to protect its Jewish students, its Israeli students. And as a result of that and the lack of protection, they should be held accountable.

Now, the stakes could not be any bigger. Why? Because federal funding is to the tune of billions of dollars.

Harvard said, what are you talking about? The reality is that we are doing everything and anything within our control. And in addition to that, there's a First Amendment issue with respect to protests that make people uncomfortable.

You can't target people with threats. You can't go after people. But certainly, schools are about discourse.

And they're about different points of view, et cetera. The judge didn't address the First Amendment issue, but just addressed, as you noted, that these were isolated, sporadic instances. Last point as it relates to this first point.

And that is that there was a letter sent by the Department of Justice telling Harvard that we're displeased with you. And that's what the law requires. There was no evidence proffered by the government thereafter in 2025 indicating that things had not been corrected.

And the statute is a remedial statute. What does that mean in English? It focuses on correction, not punishment.

It's not designed to crawl back millions and billions of dollars.

HILL: So that was going to be my question for you. Tying this to funding, basically as you're just pointing out, the law isn't set up that way. This isn't, hey, you did the wrong thing, and now I'm going to pull all your academic funding.

JACKSON: Well, that's absolutely right. Because what happens is that you want a statute to be remedial. When we say remedial, what do we mean?

It means to remedy the issue. If there's an ongoing problem, let's address it. Now, from the judge's perspective, the judge said that there was no specific evidence that cited an ongoing, persistent, and institutionalized problem.

Yes, you know, there were protests, things were not perfect at all. But the issue is that it's cited to 2023 and 2024, and those were just identifiable specific problems, not ongoing issues such that it would require this law to bear down upon it.

HILL: So two-part question in the limited time we have left. This is, of course, not the only lawsuit that Harvard was facing, also not the only school that is being targeted by this administration under similar claims at other institutions as well. Do you see this decision by the judge, this dismissal, impacting any of those other legal files?

JACKSON: So, Eric, I really do. Big picture, Harvard feels it's under attack and that its independence and its academic freedom is at issue. Harvard's position and all the other schools' positions that are being attacked are like, listen, we decide who we hire to be at this school to teach our students.

We should decide who the students are actually going to be. We should decide the programs and everything else, and you can't government limit speech and have us do your bidding on your behalf. Institutions of higher learning are places where there is discord.

We want to keep students safe. We want to keep them free from interference, but there's going to be disagreement. There's going to be discomfort.

As long as it doesn't violate the law and become persistent, institutionalized, and discriminatory, then that becomes problematic. But to your point, there are other, plenty of other, and alumni, as you know, who are concerned about what's happening. HILL: Absolutely, so watch this space.

JACKSON: Oh, yes.

HILL: More to come with Joey Jackson.

JACKSON: And there'll be an appeal. I do believe. We'll see what happens.

HILL: We'll watch for that as well.

JACKSON: Not the end of it.

HILL: Thank you, my friend.

JACKSON: Thanks, Erica.

HILL: Still ahead here, sources say Luigi Mangione could plead guilty to federal charges today in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. What we know about this last-minute hearing set to take place this morning.

Plus, a dangerous pursuit caught on camera. A suspected thief running across a busy highway to get away from police.

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FREEMAN: This morning, Alex Murdaugh is due back in a South Carolina courtroom as his defense team and prosecutors battle over where his murder retrial will take place. Today's hearing comes after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned Murdaugh's conviction for killing his wife and son, finding that a former court clerk improperly influenced the jury at his trial.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher joins us now from Lexington, South Carolina. Dianne, what are you expecting today?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Judge Debra McCaslin has this growing list of disputes she needs to solve about logistics and evidence and other issues, all of which are inevitably going to shape this new trial. Danny, they begin picking a jury in less than eight months for that. Now today, we're likely going to hear a lot about that change of venue argument.

Now, neither side disputes that it likely needs to be moved out of the 14th Circuit because of the Murdaugh family history, the original trial, and just his community connections there. But the question is where. The state is accusing the defense of adopting a Charleston or nowhere approach.

And prosecutors say that the Holy City is just too expensive in the spring because it's tourism season and also storm season. But the defense says that none of the alternatives that the state has proposed meet their criteria. I imagine we're going to hear a lot about that in court today because Judge McCaslin wanted them to have this worked out before they showed up for this hearing.

Now, we're likely also going to hear about several motions dealing with DNA and discovery, including that independent testing the defense wants on the DNA found under Maggie Murdaugh's fingernail. Now, something that we'll hear about, but I doubt we'll get a ruling on, is the state's request to use Alec Murdaugh's initial sort of infamous now testimony from the original murder trials in his new one.

[08:25:00]

The defense says they object because he only took the stand for that sworn testimony because of all the evidence and testimony about his financial crimes, which he's now serving 40 years behind bars for, and that they don't know if he's going to take the stand again. Well, in the Supreme Court's ruling overturning Alec Murdaugh's murder convictions, they said that too much time and discussion and evidence was spent on those financial crimes. That needs to change the next time around.

But all those parameters are up to Judge Deborah McCaslin, and she hasn't set those yet. Now, in question, something I do not think we're going to get any kind of ruling or decision on, is Murdaugh's team requesting to outright dismiss the original murder indictments over, quote, perjurious testimony from the lead state investigator to the grand jury in that original murder investigation. The state hasn't responded to it.

Danny, something we will see, Alec Murdaugh's going to be in street clothes and unshackled. The judge ruled he doesn't have to be in the orange jumpsuit or shackled during these pretrial hearings anymore.

FREEMAN: Just a remarkable amount of logistical hurdles for, again, such a serious case. Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much for that reporting. Really do appreciate it.

All right, still to come for us, singer and actress Selena Gomez and her mental health startup are being sued and accused of fraud. We have that story.

Plus, we're also now hearing about notes found on the cell phone of Lindsay Clancy, the mother on trial for killing her three young children.

We'll be right back.

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