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1 Dead, 15 Missing in Grand Canyon Flashflood; U.S., Iran Trade Attacks for First Time in a Month; 900-Plus Dead, 4,700-Plus Missing in Nepal-China Floods. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 31, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news, flashfloods at the Grand Canyon tear through campsites, dozens and dozens of evacuations. This morning, the search for several people still missing.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: In a race against time to find survivors on the Nepal-China border, the number of people killed surging to more than 900, with now more than 4,700 people missing. We are live in Nepal with the very latest there.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And the first major strikes between the U.S. and Iran in more than a month, the president now threatening again to blow up Kharg Island. Does this mean the economic squeeze on Iran is being abandoned? We're standing by to see how oil markets are reacting.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news. A search and rescue operation this morning after a flash flood tore through the Grand Canyon. One person is dead. About 15 others may be missing. Now, dozens have been evacuated, many by helicopter, after they were stranded by the rushing waters. The flood also knocked out the pipeline that provides drinking water to tourists at the park. And the danger is not over. A flood watch remains in effect for the area through this evening.

I can give you a sense of one of the areas that was hit fairly hard here. This is the Grand Canyon here. It pushes in right here to Phantom Ranch. And you can see the Phantom Ranch here is in this river valley here, the river going right past it here, water right past it. You can imagine how vulnerable this low-lying area would be if that river were to rise.

And just one more thing we want to point out here. Look in. If you can push in at this water here, this is water that is just caked, not just with buildings, but with all kinds of debris. So, when this flow pushed through, it could be extremely destructive.

Let's get right to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who is live this morning on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Good morning, Ed. What are you seeing? ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John. Well, the first details we're hearing from people who were evacuated, witnesses who saw this intense stream of floodwaters racing through the Grand Canyon described it as a four-foot dark wall of debris and boulders barreling down. One couple, witness describing they had run across a bridge to escape the campground area where they were at, and then minutes later, those, that floodwater ripping that bridge that they had just crossed ripping that to shreds.

And the search efforts will continue into today. As you mentioned, John, 15 people believed to be missing at this point. One death has been confirmed. That was a 46-year-old man. There is a lot of area to have to cover here as search and rescue teams wait for the sun to come up here over the Grand Canyon on this Monday morning.

But, really, search efforts complicated once again because over -- actually, the storms here just let up about 15, 20 minutes ago. But for the last several hours, another round of really intense rainfall, lightning all through the area, obviously, those kinds of conditions make it much more treacherous and dangerous for search and rescue teams to operate there.

But many people so far that have been rescued by helicopter, pulled out of the depths of the Grand Canyon. These are really popular areas for not only day hikers, but people who are on more intense hikes inside the Grand Canyon grounds as well. But, you know, we wait for the sun to come up here and for those search and rescue operations to resume here and intensify now that the weather appears to have let up a little bit. We'll see if that holds so that those teams can do the work that they desperately need to do here this morning. John?

BERMAN: Yes, the weather needs to hold out for them. Helicopter one of the only ways to reach some of these areas.

Ed Lavandera at the Grand Canyon this morning monitoring the situation, Ed, thanks so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Breaking overnight, for the first time in a month the U.S. and Iran are trading new military strikes.

Iran firing missiles towards U.S. military targets in Jordan and the UAE in retaliation for a U.S. strike on Iranian rocket launchers that were trying to launch sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

[07:05:03]

CNN's Alayna Treene live from the White House for us this morning. It's six months into this war, talks between the U.S. and Iran not seeming to go anywhere. President Trump's been more focused recently on the economic pain on Iran. Where do things stand at this moment as we're seeing these new strikes happening?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no, this is obviously I think there's a lot of questions about whether or not these exchange of attacks overnight could lead to further military escalations. Because as you said, Sara, really, the focus from the Trump administration's point of view has shifted completely from a military war to an economic war.

But U.S. officials had said that the military struck these Iranian military targets to prevent the deployment of mines in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command said that U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Iran's Larak Island after IRG forces were observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the strait.

Now, Tasnim News Agency, which we know is affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that a drone conducted the strike and that two people have been killed and two others were injured. Iran then said that the U.S. -- that they had fired missiles toward U.S. military targets in both Jordan and the UAE in retaliation. We've heard from Jordan. They say that their air defense sys- systems intercepted and destroyed eight missiles that entered the country's airspace.

Now, again, this is a break with where we've really seen Washington's focus in recent weeks. Obviously, the president and his team, their goal at this point in the war is to end and really seize at this point any sort of negotiations on the broader nuclear deal and focus instead on inflicting as much economic pain on Iran as possible.

We have heard the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent come out and announce what they now are calling Operation Economic Outcast, really trying to isolate Iran from the rest of the world. But the key question, again, is whether or not this could lead to further escalation in military action.

I do want to read for you what we heard from U.S. Central Command. They issued a statement on this saying that U.S. forces took limited precise action against IRGC mine-laying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz. In essence, Iran created the threat, and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce.

Now, what I also think is notable about this, obviously this was about targeting any ability for Iran to try and lay mines in the strait. This comes just days after the president had declared that they had completely, the U.S. military, cleared the Strait of Hormuz from laying mines, so a shift here obviously as we're seeing. We know that the president had said last week that Iran had been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed. So, U.S. officials pointing to that for the reasoning behind some of these new strikes. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. I know you're watching it closely. Alayna Treene, thank you so much for your reporting there from the White House. Kate?

BOLDUAN: The death toll from the Nepal-China flood disaster is now jumping again in a big way. Over 900 people killed. The number of people missing nears 5,000, but there are moments of hope. CNN speaking exclusively with the father of a six-year-old who was rescued.

And we are standing by for a verdict in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. Very soon, the jury will return for deliberations after asking the judge a key question Friday.

And take a look at this. Two jets buzz a packed stadium just feet from the roof. How safe was this? Look at that.

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[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: It is grim news once again coming out of Nepal today. The death toll after those catastrophic flooding on the Nepal-China border has now surpassed 900. More than 4,700 people are still unaccounted for. In Nepal alone, the number of people missing nearly doubled overnight. Officials say the highest priority at the moment is now a search for hundreds of workers believed to be trapped inside Nepal's hydropower tunnels. But amidst all of this tragedy, there is some glimmers of hope.

CNN's Will Ripley is live this morning for us in Kathmandu. And, Will, what are you finding?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, just moments ago, I had the opportunity to speak with the parents of six- year-old Manisha (ph), the girl who was trapped in a collapsed building for 60 hours after the flood, and we've all seen this incredibly gripping and heart-wrenching video of this girl as she was delicately pulled out by emergency crews. She had bruises and cuts on her face. She was covered in dust, but incredibly, she was alive.

Her parents thought that she was dead. They were asking the Nepal Armed Police Force to search for her body, and that's what they thought they would be recovering. And so when they saw the video and they saw that their daughter was alive, it was a shock to them. They say it's a miracle. It's made them believe in God. It's made them believe that there's a purpose for being here greater than what they understood before the flood. She's being treated at a hospital here in Kathmandu.

I was allowed to go in to see her, to sit with her and her parents, and here is what her father told me about the moment when he saw that video and realized that his daughter had been rescued from the flood when they thought she was dead.

[07:15:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOK BAHADUR UCHAI MAGAR, FATHER OF GIRL RESCUED AFTER NEPAL FLOODS: Her face wasn't recognizable as there were multiple wounds. Her condition was serious, wounds and blood all over. After seeing the video of her, I could confirm it was my daughter. She was on oxygen in Dumche Medical. She was being kept like that on the day.

RIPLEY: What is it like, as a father, to look at a video like that and see your daughter in that condition?

MAGAR: Knowing that she's my child. That's it. That's all I have to say

I just can't speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: It was incredibly hard, particularly on her father, Lok, because he was home alone with his daughter, Manisha, when the flood hit. He said he was in the kitchen preparing a meal. His wife had already gone off to work, and he said in just a matter of a few seconds, the entire structure around them was blown apart by the force of the water.

He barely was able to escape with his own life. He had no idea what happened to his daughter. When he reunited later, several hours later with his wife, both of them collapsed. They lost consciousness because they thought that they had lost their six-year-old daughter, and yet they didn't want to be pulled out by rescue helicopter. They were asking searchers to at least find her body so that they could have closure.

And they actually found her body, not in the wreckage of their house, but two other buildings that had been destroyed. So, somehow, while she was in her bedroom, she had been able to be moved in some sort of an air pocket that was safe during the flooding, and then she was there for 60 hours alive when rescuers found her.

We also spoke with her mother. We spent time with the family, and we're going to have much more of that later today here on CNN. But I just wanted to come up and share this incredible story with you, and there's a lot more of it to come. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Incredible doesn't even begin. I mean, what you just said, she wasn't even found in the wreckage of her home after this whole tragedy, in the wreckage of other buildings down the way. I mean, it is remarkable. Just six years old, and to see the -- her father become overcome with emotion is entirely understandable under these circumstances.

Will, thank you so much. I really look forward to hearing more of your reporting. Thank you. Will Ripley for us in Kathmandu. Sara?

SIDNER: That was just stunning, and so many families are hoping for that same kind of miracle. Thank you so much, Will, for your reporting. Thank you, Kate.

After that deadly cyclospora outbreak, is it safe now to finally eat lettuce again and feel good about it? Well, got to tell you, it's not quite done yet. More on that story ahead.

And a midair marriage. Why a couple ended up tying the knot 35,000 feet in the air. How this went down, ahead.

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[07:20:00] SIDNER: Very soon, the jury is set to resume deliberations in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mom accused of killing her three young children. The jurors, nine women, three men, they weighed the case all day Friday without reaching a verdict, and they sent their first question to the judge asking to see a couple of things, the prescription pill bottles and the knife that Clancy used in her suicide attempt.

CNN's Jean Casarez is outside the court in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She joins me now. What are you learning about what's happening with this jury as they go into now, really, it's day three. They deliberated for three hours one day, and then had a full day of deliberations, and now we're going into the third day.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it all, from all accounts, it appears they're working very hard. So they had the weekend to think about everything. And remember, the judge always tells them, do not watch anything, read anything, look at any news that has to do with this case, but it was everywhere this weekend.

You know, there was a motion to sequester the jury before this trial began, which would mean that they would've been in hotels in the area so they could not get a hold of any of those outside influences, but that was denied by the judge. And he always asks them, he'll ask them this morning, have they read anything, looked at anything, or focused on anything, and we'll hear their answers. But they're very diligent. They're very serious, very focused.

But let's look at, Sara, what you talked about. First of all, the pill bottles, they wanted the medication prescription pill bottles to look at conceivably with the pills still in them. I'm not sure on that. But we saw them in trial. They came out. They are in evidence, those pill bottles, as they were collected.

Now, between September and January, there were prescriptions by numerous providers. I asked Kevin Reddington, the defense attorney, on Friday, all right, they found prescription medications in the home, but what about the ones that Patrick Clancy testified to? Because in February, one month after this happened, he found a bag of prescription medications, and he actually took them to officials, and he said, they want those too. So, they want everything.

And in some of those medication pill bottles, there's two pills that were gone out of a 30-day supply, three pills out of a 30-day supply. They were not all taken, those pills, at all because Lindsay Clancy had her own mind, and she took them when she wanted to take them and how she wanted to take them, to all effects.

[07:25:04]

Now, the names are so confusing because you've got the generic name, you've got the brand name. And, remember, in trial, yes, the experts talked about what those pills were, what they were prescribed for, but the jurors can't take their notes home. So, they could not, over the weekend, study their notes to see exactly what those medications were for. Now, let's talk about the knife. There is no question in this case that she tried to take her life. Both sides say she did, and it was a very serious, serious attempt at that. And the knife wounds by the first responders, by the hospital officials, they all said they were superficial wounds. Why they would want to see the knife? We don't know. And it could be just one juror. We don't know why they wanted to see any of the two things they requested, but they're interested, they wanted it, that's evidence, and they looked at it.

SIDNER: Well, it certainly is evidence that they are going through this methodically in trying to render a verdict at some point. We will see what happens.

Jean Casarez, thank you so much for all your reporting on this. I appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right, we are standing by for an update on the search for people still missing after a flash flood tore through the Grand Canyon.

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