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Flash Flooding at Nepal-China Border; Nashville Remembers Dolly Parton; Singer Jennifer Nettles is Interviewed about Dolly Parton; Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) is Interviewed about Inflation. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired August 26, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: "The president's commitment to lowering the cost of everyday goods for the American people," and saying that this will, in their words, "help address the affordability of beef," you say what?

JOHN BOYD, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BLACK FARMERS ASSOCIATION: I say that that's a deal that he wants to do to help the poor major meatpackers in the United States. They're going to get a lower cost at, you know, 25 percent at the markets. But I doubt very seriously that the American consumer will see a 25 percent reduction in their local grocery stores.

So, the two people that are getting hurt -- the main people that are getting hurt are America's farmers, who are struggling. We're the ones taking the 70 -- the 25 percent reduction. And he's passing that income on to the meatpackers. And the American consumers I doubt very seriously will see any reduction in the supermarket. And I would happily come back on your show in a few months to see whether there's 25 percent reduction in the supermarkets.

So, again, this is another one of the president's deal to help out Argentina. And, you know, he gave them $40 billion to help them out before. And he could have invested that money in new and beginning farmers right here at home to put cattlemen out there and, you know, to help us.

BOLDUAN: Well, let's have you back on and talk about those beef prices at the grocery store in the coming months.

John Boyd Jr., thank you for coming on. I appreciate your time.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

Musician, icon, philanthropist, Dolly Parton is being mourned and remembered around the world as she leaves behind an eight decade legacy unlike any other. What we're learning about plans and how to honor her, coming up.

And catastrophic, truly catastrophic images. Just pause and look at this, this morning. This is out of Nepal, where the death toll, it's impossible to be able to wrap your mind around what it could be. We are told hundreds are missing. These flash floods that were triggered on the country's border with China just starting to get just horrific images out. And we're trying to get more detail about what is happening at this moment.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman here in New York. Sara Sidner, in Nashville. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the breaking news, these devastating flash floods in Nepal near the Chinese border. As of now, we are told at least 31 people are dead. But that number is certain to rise. Hundreds of people, we are told, are missing. Many likely tourists.

There is this horrifying, new video which illustrates why there is so much concern, why we can say with near certainty this death toll will go up. You just see this wall of water engulfing a town there. The power, the force of that water just carrying so many of the buildings away, sweeping them off their foundations. We saw other images of busses just being tossed around like toy cars. Truly, truly devastating.

We've been working to get new information. There are other images coming in as well.

Let's get right to CNN's Gage Goulding for the latest on what you are seeing and learning about this.

GAGE GOULDING, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think you kind of hit the nail right on the head there. That video just kind of grossly underestimates the number of fatalities that we're seeing right now. About 31 is the official count. And you look at this -- I mean just -- let's walk through this video. You see how tall that building is, and you see how small those people are. I mean that building has to be, you know, what, five, six stories tall. And the water flows over it like it's a small rock dam in a creek, if you will. I mean, it just -- it's hard to imagine.

You know, I was in the Texas hill country for the floods there the last year, and I remember looking up into these trees and seeing just, wow, the amount of water. This dwarfs that. And not to compare flood to flood, but it just -- the amount of water is hard to truly understand. And the numbers, again, they are going to change and, unfortunately, dramatically increase. But the number of people killed here, 31. There are hundreds missing, including around 400 people, that's according to the Nepal tourism board, from seven different nations, including the United States, the U.K., South Africa, India, Australia, Netherlands. This is a very touristy town. As you saw -- see those tour busses there being pushed away like toy cars.

But there's one video I really want to show, and I want you to listen to it because it truly encapsulates what happened in those moments. And I want you to notice that it's in this video, it's nice out. You can see it's sunny. It seems like a beautiful day. And then all of a sudden, this wall of water comes out of nowhere.

[09:05:03]

Please, watch this.

(VIDEO CLIP)

GOULDING: I mean, the shrieks in their voice. You can only imagine what was going through their mind there.

What you see in the beginning of the video is people just standing around, maybe hearing the water rushing down, but they weren't panicking in that moment yet. And then you saw the panic set in. You saw people running. You saw what I could only imagine in the front of that bus was somebody driving as fast as they could to get to higher ground. We don't know the outcome of that video. But we do know some details like this, including around 60 workers, including almost a dozen from South Korea, working on a hydropower plant there, a 20 megawatt plant that they were working on, they are still unaccounted for at this point. So, this is all up and down this river gorge here.

And you might be wondering, how does something like this happen? I mentioned that it seemed like a beautiful, sunshining day. And from that video, it truly does. It doesn't look like it was storming or anything like that. From what we have right now is it sounds like there was an earthquake registering about a 4.4 magnitude according to the USGS that triggered a landslide that lodged into a river, partially blocked it, and shoved what could only be described as a wall of water down the river into these villages. And as you can see there, it's pretty much a gorge. There's nowhere for this water to go except taking everything with it.

This is a situation that we are going to continue to follow as these numbers continue to come in. Current death toll, 31, with hundreds missing. But I imagine the next time we talk, we'll have some updated information, unfortunately, probably not some great information there.

BERMAN: No. And, Gage, you showed, while you were talking, we saw those busses being swept away there, that parking garage. This is an aerial shot right here. Just pointing out, you can see where the floods came in way overflowing the banks there. I don't know if there were other buildings there that simply got swept away, but you can see how many buildings the water just simply completely passed through as it swamped that village.

Obviously, the video of that school bus, those kids shrieking, is terrifying. They're -- the one hopeful thing there is that they seem to have made it through, right? I mean the video made it through and the water did not reach those kids. But it is horrifying to hear their shrieks there.

Gage, we're going to let you dig for more video and see if you can reach people on the ground there. Thank you so much for sharing your reporting on this.

Let's go back now to Sara in Nashville.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you so much, John. Good morning from Nashville, outside the Ryman, the most well-known

version of the Grand Ole Opry, where hearts are breaking open this morning because we lost a legend. She was a kind and talented force of nature like no one else. Tributes are pouring in for Dolly Parton, the country music icon. She moved here the day after she graduated from high school at 18 years old, and now at 80 years old she has died here in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer. From superstars like Taylor Swift and Beyonce and Barbra Streisand, to presidents, President Trump, Barack Obama, so many are sending condolences and celebrating her life now.

This is one of those celebrations of her life. The Empire State Building lit up in pink starting at 9:25. That's 9/25. Get it? A nod to her hit "9 to 5," that movie so many of us remember. And in Sevier County, Tennessee, where Parton grew up as one of 12, well, they've declared a day of mourning there. Parton's family says a small, private service will be held. That is what she wanted. They're asking, though, if you want to pay tribute, do so. Do it on social media or go to her website. They'd be happy to hear from you.

All right, CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is with us here in Nashville.

There are so many places in Nashville that you can go to honor her. Where are you?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: We're in an area of 12 South. This is an area that she knew well. This is actually where one of her longtime studios was about 30 years or so. This has been her compound. It's so large. There's a couple of homes here down the street here. Afe (ph), come, come this way.

Many of the flowers, people have been coming here this morning placing flowers. Some of them were placed here overnight. And we've been watching people stop.

So, this -- the runners out here, they've put up a sign out here, "12 South Runners Love Dolly." But I want to show you something. Even kids here. Afe (ph), lets show Sara here. There are signs here. You know, it's about the books. "Thank you for all the books, Miss Dolly."

[09:10:02]

Of course, that's for all the work that she did -- spent, you know, hundreds of million of dollars getting books to kids, free books. That certainly had an impact on her. You see there's an old album cover there, "Rainbow Dolly." And you're just seeing so many notes of thank you and love and appreciation and what she did for the world, what she did for people all across our country with her gifts, her gifts of financial help, and trying to really just make the world a better place. And that's what she did. And that's why you're seeing so much love for her certainly.

This was part of her community, and the people here have been wanting to come out and thank her for everything that she did for them.

Sara. SIDNER: Yes, with like 21 number one singles, it is hard not to be

humming her songs this morning, from "Jolene," to "9 to 5," to "I Will Always Love You." It just keeps going around in all of our heads.

Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much for your reporting there.

All right, joining us now is Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles. She's a songwriter and actress who portrayed Dolly Parton's mother in two hit TV movies.

I want to play this moment from back in 2016, where Dolly talked about you being cast in the role.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOLLY PARTON: And Jennifer had sent in a tape, a video, and she darkened her hair. I didn't even realize it was her. And so, we were just looking -- I said, that's mama, that's mama. And they said to me, do you know who that is? And I said, it's mama. They said, that's Jennifer Nettles. I said, you've got to be kidding me. So, the rest is going to be history, because I thought Jennifer was so perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Her mom, Avie Lee, had 12 children. Dolly Parton, I think, was number four. Jennifer, you ended up playing her mom. And to hear her say that about you, that it really -- she was like, I really think I saw my mom --

JENNIFER NETTLES, "SUGARLAND" SINGER; SONGWRITER AND ACTRESS: Yes.

SIDNER: Give me some sense of what happened to you when you heard that Dolly Parton was gone.

NETTLES: I mean, I still feel tender this morning. Tears for sure. And it's hard to believe because she is an -- so iconic, you know. She's larger than life. And so, it's hard to, you know, to think about someone like that passing because their energy is always with us, and the legacy that she has left, you know, not only in her artistry and her music and her writing, but also in her philanthropy. Yes, she is larger than life and will always be a cultural icon for sure, for sure.

SIDNER: Can you give me some sense of meeting her, being around Dolly Parton, what she was like to you? Because all of us see her mostly from afar, but we always feel like we know her because she's so authentic.

NETTLES: She is so authentic. And in addition to, you know, the tears and the tenderness there, I've been going back and reliving memories and going back and looking at letters that she had written and sent, you know, whenever we had worked together and projects that we had done. You know, she is always and will always be just such an icon. She was always so gracious. She is so smart. She is so talented. She is so generous, generous in spirit And always did everything with a twinkle in her eye. You know, she was funny. A super smart businesswoman. And there's so much to learn from her. Every time I was around her, you know, she obviously lights up every room that she's ever been in. She is a star and, and is, you know, a treasure, a true national treasure to us.

SIDNER: Jennifer, when you took on the role of her mother, who she deeply adored and who really helped push her towards the music and the life that she ended up leading because she was a musical person herself, what kind -- what did you learn as you were researching the mother of the woman who has become an icon to the world?

NETTLES: Yes, and, forgive me, I'm getting tender, even as we talk about it. I mean, you know, to -- Dolly always talked so much and so freely about her family, about what it was like growing up in the poverty that she did in Tennessee, about how that motivated her, about her desires always to be on the stage and to write music and to become a star. And what she did with that, what she did with her success, you know, is a lesson for all of us, not just people in the entertainment industry, but for all of us. You know, when you have a lot, you can do a lot with it. And boy, did she do a lot with it.

You know, just getting to learn about her family, her super humble beginnings, which she wrote so many songs about and was so open about in her life and everything that she shared with the world.

[09:15:04]

It is a -- it is a big lesson for us, you know, just in how to share what you have and how to celebrate your gifts with the world and how to take care of the people, you know, that are around you, that you love. Obviously, she took care of her family so wonderfully.

But she also was, you know, a mother to so many, you know? We talk about that a lot too. You know, she didn't have, quote/unquote, children of her own, but we were all her children in so many ways.

SIDNER: That's such a good way to put it.

I am curious if you have a single memory that's really lasting, that you're going to really hold on to after being around Dolly Parton.

NETTLES: Well, a couple of things. Sure. I mean, you know, I, like I was saying, going over memories and looking at letters that she had sent, one of which I have framed in my house, just because, you know, how iconic to get -- to get such a, you know, a letter from Dolly.

But, I really remember the first time that I met her, when I did not know her. And the first time I met her, I was side stage at the CMA Festival in Nashville. She was performing. She comes off stage -- I was watching, you know, couldn't believe I was getting to watch -- this was our first time performing there. And we were getting ready to go on. She comes off stage with -- holding the microphone, and she's walking toward me and I'm just like, oh, my God, it's Dolly Parton, it's Dolly Parton. She's coming toward me. She's going to speak to me. And she walks right up to me, and she hands me the microphone and says, can you do something with this? And I -- who knows, she probably thought I was working there at the time. Like, who even knows? But I took the microphone and to me it was symbolic. Dolly Parton is passing me the mic, you know? And I was like, yes, ma'am, I can do something with this.

So, that, for me, will be a quintessential Dolly memory that will -- I will never forget my whole life.

SIDNER: As the -- as the young people say, that was a mic drop moment. Maybe after.

NETTLES: Mic drop. There you go.

SIDNER: Jennifer Nettles, thank you so much for -- thank you for bringing us this incredible memories of your time portraying Dolly's mother and being around Dolly. I do appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: Thank you so much, Sara.

So, a brand-new report on inflation out just moments ago shows that it is still uncomfortably high. Americans pulling back on spending.

Republicans and cattle ranchers beefing with the president over, yes, beef. His plan to import meat causing something of a revolt.

And we are standing by for the final day of testimony in the trial for the mother who killed her three children. The jury gets the case as soon as tomorrow.

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[09:21:48]

BERMAN: All right, breaking just a short time ago, a new report shows no progress on inflation in July. Consumer prices up 3.7 percent annually. That's according to the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Nowhere near the two percent goal set by the Fed.

With us now, Congressman Pete Sessions, a Republican from Texas.

Congressman, good to see you.

What do you say to voters? The president ran on lowering prices. Not only are prices not lower, but inflation is up and stubborn.

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX): John, good morning.

By the way, thank you for all the coverage on Dolly Parton. I feel that -- I wish that the American public -- I'm older, I knew Dolly -- I hope it drives them to go and look at her talent and the things that she did.

OK, now to your question, John.

John, the president was in reference to where it was when we took office. When he took office a year and a half ago -- BERMAN: Lower -- lower than it is now.

SESSIONS: It is lower.

BERMAN: Lower than it -- Congressman, it -- no, no. No, it's not. Inflation was lower when he took office than it is now. It just is. Prices are -- you know, inflation is higher now than when he first took office has gone up.

SESSIONS: It was. It was coming down. It was.

So, let's go right to your point. Has the president done things economically that would lower the cost of doing business? And the answer was, we were until the war started. And once the war started, as you know, the gasoline prices have increased. And the increase in gasoline prices have had a large effect off, not only travel, but upon doing business. And that would be correct.

BERMAN: I will only note that the core PCE, which strips out food and energy, is also elevated at 3.3 percent. So, prices are high even without the fuel prices high, Congressman.

I want to shift gears, if I can, to a matter of local interest in Texas, which is that the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, has paused approvals for new data centers trying to connect to the state's power grid, while regulators, he say, audit their impact on power and water resources. Do you support the pause? Would you like it to be more permanent? How do you feel about data construction -- data center construction in your district?

SESSIONS: These are all relevant questions. Let me say this, the staggering number of people who have applied, I believe, are up to about 300 different places. And it came in like overwhelmingly. And we were overtaken since last October to the number of things that happened.

These were private contracts. They did not go through governmental approval. There is a lot that is unknown about them. And so, the governor, and through what's called ERCOT, which is our regulatory commission, became aware of this. And I seemingly, just like you, could have seen this coming.

[09:25:03]

I saw it coming. And we have been attempting to gather together data and information.

It came to one point, and that is, at ERCOT, with the governor, and they really recognized, there was a circumstance where there would be five times the availability of electricity that would be available if these data centers came online. So, they're going to now pause them, and then they are going to have to come back and figure out, how do we get the electricity without consumers being affected, without a brownout? This -- it's been a hot summer. We need -- I think the governor has done the right thing. I am surprised that it took them this long to figure this out. BERMAN: All right, Congressman Pete Sessions from Texas. We appreciate

you. We appreciate your thoughts on Dolly Parton this morning as well.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's get back to some of the breaking news that we are tracking this morning, just this. This -- so many feared dead right now. Hundreds are missing after this devastating flash flooding seen in Nepal. We are monitoring the latest developments on the ground, trying to get more information coming out. As one can understand, very hard to get any detail as they watch this unfold.

And we are also just minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street, where markets are taking in new inflation numbers. Take a look at where market futures stand right now.

We'll be right back.

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