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Nepal-China Flood; War With Iran; Euro Referendum. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 29, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:31]

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everywhere in the world. You are now in the CNN NEWSROOM with me, Ben Hunte, in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you with me. Coming up on the show.

Heartbreaking scenes of devastation in Nepal as more rain threatens already flooded areas. The death toll climbs to more than 600 and many more remain unaccounted for.

The War of Iran reaches its six month mark with no end in sight. We'll look at whether the United States has achieved any of its strategic objectives and what an off ramp to the conflict could look like.

Plus, no verdict yet in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial after more than three hours of jury deliberations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Ben Hunte.

HUNTE: Welcome. We begin with the catastrophic flooding along Nepal's border with China. Police in Nepal say the death toll has risen to more than 600 people. More than 2,500 people are still missing on both sides of the border, including hundreds of foreign nationals who were visiting the region. Authorities are closely monitoring two new lakes that were formed by Wednesday's disaster, adding to the growing concerns about further flooding and landslides, too.

But the remote locations in the Himalayas and the difficult conditions are complicating relief efforts in some of the hardest hit areas. Officials are also watching for another round of monsoon storms that could develop through the weekend. A CNN team heard helicopters flying from barracks in Nepal a short time ago as rescue operations resumed.

An army official says seven military and seven civilian helicopters rescued about 900 people on Friday. Massive landslides and flash floods have wreaked havoc across the region, destroying buildings, washing away bridges and burying towns under feet of mud and debris, too. The United Nations says tens of thousands of people are in urgent need of food, water and other aid.

The Red Cross says more than 90,000 people across the region have been affected by the flash flooding. Thousands of homes were destroyed in this disaster. Many survivors are now sheltering in schools and government buildings. Families and friends are desperately searching for loved ones and awaiting word from the flood zone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (through translation): We have even put up photos, but we don't know anything. Nothing is known over there. It has been three days. There has been no update about any of my family members. When will I be able to meet them?

No other family members are left in my family. I am the only one who's here now. I don't know where to go and I don't know what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: CNN's Mike Valerio is tracking developments for us and joins me now from Beijing. Good to see you, Mr. Valerio. Can you just break down for us what is happening now? There are so many twists and turns in this awful tragedy, what is the latest?

Mike Valerio: You know, Benny, I think we're going to focus on the Chinese side for the latest development. So last hour with Elex Michelson, we saw our amazing colleague, Hanako Montgomery, walk through a village in Nepal. Control room, let's go to the latest video that we have of Gyirong Port.

This is that Immigration and Customs seven story building that was on the Chinese side of the border that was hit by what looks like a tsunami. In that security video, this shows you the river around the area and just flat areas of mud. Any structure is gone. This is one of the areas probably the priority for Chinese search and rescue teams since in that video now that everybody's seen of that seven story building and people scrambling to get away, and then it's hit by that black curtain of debris and water.

You know, the hope from this side of the border all across this country was that there's some miracle that maybe there was some structure or a bus under like a thinner layer of sediment where people would be alive. But this is the first video that we're getting. It's actually the first time that we're showing this on TV, on CNN, of what this area is like. And so far we have quotes from Chinese rescuers who say nothing's there.

It's such a contrast from that big, huge new building that was constructed, and now just to see this. So the priority is getting a road from places that are able to access the geography into this zone that we're looking at right now. Because some of the video that you'll start to see, drones are beginning to rescue supply -- are beginning to lower supplies to rescuers.

[02:05:16]

Also searching every square meter is going to be the priority. Again, just in case there's some crevice with somebody who may, you know, be beating the odds and survived possibly, you know, in a crevice or under a car that's been buried by sediment that's not as deep as the rest of the terrain. One quote from a rescuer in Sichuan, he's a deputy commander who's come in from neighboring Sichuan Province, telling our affiliate CCTV.

"After we arrived at the core area," which is right here on the screen, "our primary task is to search for buried and missing persons. We plan to conduct a rapid overall search of the affected zone, and carry out precise segment by segment searching." Meantime, there are those two lakes, Benny, in Nepal and China that formed by boulders and debris blocking rivers, clogging up valleys, and water beginning to -- begin to fill up like a bathtub.

There was the concern yesterday while we were reporting here in China during the daytime that one of those new lakes formed by debris could break, and put rescuers downstream in danger. Apparently water started to overflow from the top of one of those lakes and the danger subsided. Rescuers on both sides said that the danger was minimal, but they're still looking at one lake.

So rain is still in the forecast and they're still making sure that second lake is not going to have water that overtakes its banks because that could put rescuers downstream, of course, in harm's way when they have so much more work to do, Benny.

HUNTE: Yes, indeed. Absolutely awful times. But thank you so much to CNN's Mike Valerio in Beijing. Appreciate it.

VALERIO: Yes, thanks, sir.

HUNTE: Residents and visitors are learning the fate of their loved ones from lists and photos posted on the wall of a morgue. CNN's Hanako Montgomery reports on a rescue effort and the hope of finding more survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It looks as though people are getting off holding some kind of luggage. We can't tell if these people are survivors or whether these are people, of loved ones who are trying to find any remaining survivors. Look, another helicopter up in the sky there.

At this Nepali army barracks in Trishuli, helicopter after helicopter ferries people out of some of the hardest hit areas. This survivor walked off showing no obvious signs of injury. He told us he'd spent days trapped on the mountain, convinced he'd die of hunger, waiting desperately for help.

KAPUR SINGH TAMANG, LANDSLIDE SURVIVOR (through translation): There was no food or water with me. It was all swept away and there was nothing I could do. I thought that my life was over and that I would not be able to see my family again.

ROTUNNO: Across the disaster zone, there are other extraordinary tales of survival. Rescuers pulled over a hundred people from tunnels inside a hydroelectric power plant in the Rasuwa. Some emerged so completely caked in mud it looked like a second skin. But as the hours tick by, this rescue effort is now racing against time.

The critical 72 hour window for finding survivors will soon run out. And here, outside the army barracks, hope gives way to anguish. With power lines down and communications cut, many families still have no way of knowing whether their loved ones are alive. So they come here in search of answers.

These are all relatives of people still missing. And because they can't get in contact with them, they've come here to the army barracks to give their contact information, their names, trying to see if the people that the army are finding are the same people as their loved ones.

After scanning this list with hundreds of names, there's little left to do but wait and cling to the hope that their families will soon make it home. Hanako Montgomery.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: For more on the flooding in Nepal and China, let's bring in Mohan Bahadur Chand. He's an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Science Department at Kathmandu University and an expert on Himalayan glaciers and climate change, too. Thank you so much for being with me, sir.

To kick off, can you just explain to us what may have happened in the mountains and how it became such a devastating flood downstream?

MOHAN BAHADUR CHAND, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT-KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY: Yes, thank you. Yes. As you like talk about, these high mountains in this Himalayan regions are the highly fragile in nature, right, due to the fragile geologies that the continuous movement of the -- some of the tectonic plates in these regions, like making the tall mountains already, like, kind of vulnerable to the different kind of disaster.

[02:10:05]

And now on like the other places, the way they are changing due to the increasing temperatures changing and the pattern of the precipitations, and then that is making like this region is more unstable. And due to the actuating melting of the glaciers, and then the terrain around the glaciers and those snow and also the permafrost, the frozen ground, making that those grounds are more and more unstable.

And then also at the same time, the climate change and the increasing temperatures making those glaciers more and more vulnerable to collapse. Like that we saw, like we have seen -- have been like absorbing this huge catastrophic flood in particular case, right? Not only the like this glacier collapse, but there might be also the another trigger mechanisms like bursting of the large glaciers lake which are forming all around, like high mountain regions, including this some of the trans boundary.

Natures glacier lake are also there in the high mountain regions, and then also at the same time the nature of those glacial lakes as well as like these high peaked mountains with the steep slope and terrains like making more and more vulnerable.

HUNTE: We are hearing more about climate change and its potential impact, how much evidence is there that climate change is making mountains more unstable?

CHAND: Yes. We have been absorbing that. Like the rate of the temperatures that is increasing in these particular mountains looks a bit higher than the like lower regions of even in the Himalayan regions. Like it means like that the where those glaciers and other crustily (ph) components are exist, they are more sensitive to those accelerating temperatures. And then making them more and more vulnerable to melt, rapid melt, and then at the same times due to the rapid retreating and melting of those crustily (ph) components, making those grounds more and more unstable.

And then some of the glaciers, they already like kind of the hanging at the top of the cliffs of the mountains. And they are kind of ready to fall anytime that this is just one examples. But in the high mountains, including the like hole at Hindu Kush Himalayan regions. Like there are lots of such like high mountains with the steep terrains and such a hanging glaciers. Those are increasing in numbers in the recent days making and kind of direct connection with the climate change.

HUNTE: We are also hearing about new lakes. Can you just tell us some more about that and what risks exist there?

CHAND: OK. Sorry, can you repeat?

HUNTE: Yes. Can you just tell us a bit about the new lakes that are forming? What are some of the risks that exist there?

CHAND: Yes. So far in my opinion, like there is lots of kind of the rumors there will be another big outburst or the big parts in the downstream reasons. But the size of the lakes that point after these big floods like the upper one is quite small. Maybe if there will be the outburst release of the waters from the upper lakes might be the very minimal floods and it will have not a significant impacts and down which formed like in the rivers.

And this is already started to the overflow. And then also like we can assume that if it can start to overflow, maybe there would be the -- will be the very small flood that is already happened yesterday also. But we can expect some sort of the floods. But because everything is already like gone in terms of the physical or human casualty, but we need to be always keep an eye if there is like some sort of the floods.

But in my opinion the level of flood will be not as high as like we experienced in last few days.

HUNTE: OK. Thank you so much, Professor Mohan Bahadur Chand with Kathmandu University. We appreciate your time.

CHAND: Thank you.

HUNTE: There is much more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. The US approves a massive new oil deal with Venezuela. We'll have the latest details from President Trump next.

Plus, the US and Iran have officially effectively being at war for six months now. We'll have the latest and get perspective from an American diplomat who worked in the region. See you in a moment.

[02:14:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: The US military says it has destroyed a boat that it claims was being used as a flight floating refueling station for illegal drug boats in the Eastern Pacific. All crew members were removed from the boat before it was destroyed and were escorted to Ecuador. This marks a third strike just this week.

At least 227 people have been killed in such strikes and dozens of vessels destroyed. Washington has ramped up its campaign aimed at curbing the flow of drugs into the United States.

President Donald Trump says the US has reached what he calls a historic oil deal with Venezuela. The announcement comes as the US faces low emergency reserves while the Iran war disrupts one fifth of the world's oil supply. President Trump says the US will get majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's oil reserves.

That will increase oil supply and lower gas prices. He says the deal will also strengthen relations between the two countries. Venezuela's acting president, that's Delcy Rodriguez, is also praising this agreement. A White House official says Rodriguez granted a private company a 100 year concession to develop the oil fields.

This is a joint venture between a US government and a private operator in Venezuela.

It has been six months since the US and Israel launched the war with Iran. Despite initial descriptions of the conflict as an excursion that would only take a few weeks, President Trump's goals still remain largely unfulfilled. The US has burned through weapons stockpiles, forcing some inventory originally intended for Ukraine or South Korea to be redirected.

[02:20:17]

But Iran shows no indication that it will surrender or abandon its nuclear ambitions, nor does Tehran seem likely to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That means there's no relief for the global disruption to oil, gas and the fertilizer trade, along with the overall increase in consumer prices, I'm sure you're aware.

Iran's president admits sanctions imposed on the country are having a huge impact. In a video that aired on Friday, Masoud Pezeshkian said exports and imports had fallen by up to 35 percent. Mr. Pezeshkian acknowledged the impact. Washington's economic pressure campaign is (inaudible).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): Exports and imports have fallen by 25 to 35 percent. That is, our exports have fallen more, but imports have also declined. Of course, exports have seen a bigger drop than imports. The meaning of this is clear to those who understand economics. I do not want to spell it out. I do not know what to say to those who claim that sanctions have no effect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Gary Grappo is a former Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia and former US Ambassador to Oman. He joins us now from Tempe, Arizona. It's good to see you, sir.

Six months into this war, has the United States actually achieved any strategic objectives in Iran?

GARY GRAPPO, FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION, US EMBASSY IN SAUDI ARABIA: In terms of achieving strategic objectives, no. It certainly has achieved some significant military successes, but the purpose of this war is to achieve some political or strategic objectives. And in that, so far, it has failed. And those pretty much boil down to some kind of an understanding with the Iranian government with respect to its nuclear weapons program and also the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

And as you mentioned at the opening of this segment, there is no indication that the Iranian government is prepared to negotiate on either score and is continuing to insist that the United States accept its terms. And this is presenting a very significant problem for the United States and specifically for President Donald Trump.

HUNTE: Iran has been badly weakened, but the regime has, of course, survived. What does that tell you about the limits of military force against Iran?

GRAPPO: Well, when you begin a war, you have to understand that the purpose of the war is achieving your strategic objective, whatever that is defined as being, and willing to commit the resources necessary to do that. And I don't think this administration had asked itself that question. How far is it willing to go in committing military resources?

It's clear that this administration, United States, government at large, was never going to commit ground troops to Iran. And without the use of ground troops, there really was no way to truly force this government to acquiesce to American demands. And therefore, I think the war was unnecessary.

And we should have looked at the, United States should have looked at other means. Mr. Trump actually now seems to have seized on a particular approach or a strategy that could, over the long term bear some successes. And that is stepping up sanctions, maintaining the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz. And one thing that he has failed to do, but had he reached out ahead of time and worked with American allies and partners around the world to have them step up sanctions as well.

And really, step up the pressure on the Iranian economy to force the government to come to the table and negotiate seriously to open the Strait of Hormuz and begin a serious conversation about the limitation of its nuclear weapons program.

HUNTE: Other nations are still heavily involved in trying to reopen diplomacy. Do you actually see a realistic path towards ending this war?

GRAPPO: Well, there is a realistic path, one of them being that as the sanctions and the blockade continue, at some point the Iranian government has to respond to the needs of the Iranian people. Those suffering the most are indeed the people of Iran, with, as was just reported, the decline in imports and in exports, the precipitous fall in the value of the Iranian real, the rise of inflation in the country, something like 80 percent, prices going up almost on a daily basis.

[02:25:06]

At some point, the government has to respond to the needs of the Iranian people or face even more intense pressure from its own public.

HUNTE: We are seeing discussions of a temporary shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz. How significant could that be and how difficult would it be to actually restore normal shipping?

GRAPPO: Well, obviously, if they reach some kind of an understanding and the Iranians agreed to back off on threats to vessels entering and leaving the strait, yes, shipping could probably be restored reasonably quick. But I think as we speak, nations in the Gulf and around the world are already beginning to adjust.

Oil producers around the world are stepping up their production. The Gulf countries are already beginning to invest in increasing or expanding the capacity of their pipelines to the south of the Arabian Peninsula or to the Red Sea to pass north through the Suez Canal. So I think that as time goes on, the pressure in terms of the cutoff in oil exports out of the Gulf will decline.

And the Iranians have to be aware of that. That as this drags on, the leverage that they hold over the Strait Hormuz will not be as strong as it is now or was weeks ago. But nevertheless, if the Iranians understand the need for outside investment to rebuild their economy, to rebuild the infrastructure that was destroyed during the war, there is only one way to get that. And that's to go through the United States.

If the United States were for -- were to, for example, release the sanctions on Iranian assets held in overseas banks, we're talking about $100 billion. A significant amount of money, about a third of Iran's GDP, and this could be a significant input to -- or beginning to rebuilding their economy and their infrastructure. These are things that Iran is going to desperately need.

And without access to the funding, which is controlled effectively by the United States, they can't really begin that process.

HUNTE: OK, we'll leave it there for now. Former Ambassador Gary Grappo in Tempe, Arizona, thank you so much. Potentially speak to Iran in six months time, thank you.

There is much more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. And a search continues for survivors of a deadly flood in the Nepal-China border. But a newly formed lake is fueling concerns of further flooding. See you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:19]

HUNTE: Welcome back. We're turning now to our top story in Nepal, where officials are monitoring a second newly-formed lake near the flood zone. Concerns are growing that the lake could burst its banks with more than 2500 people still missing.

Rescue operations resumed just a short time ago. Although Chinese state media report no signs of survivors at the border crossing engulfed by the flood waters.

More rain is expected this weekend, which can further complicate rescue operations. CNN teams on the ground have spoken to families who are desperately searching for any information on their missing relatives. The death toll continues to rise with police now reporting more than 600 dead.

The world Health Organization says residents of an entire village that was washed away are in dire need of support. The group says it's doing all it can to help, including distributing emergency kits with health supplies and tents.

Dr. Dhruv Amin's mother, mother-in-law and a family friend among the thousands of people unaccounted for after this flood. He is desperately seeking information about his loved ones and he spoke with CNN's John Berman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: When was the last time that you heard from your mother?

DHRUV AMIN, FAMILY MISSING IN NEPAL: Right before -- the night before. It's kind of amazing that their car actually broke down the night before. They would have crossed if their car had functioned. And they actually stayed an extra day in Nepal.

And the story is that because they were behind on their schedule for this pilgrimage, they went in early to try to cross to get out. Our problem is, is that from our end, all we know is that they may have crossed the border at 8:13 from that building and then we don't know anything else. We don't know if, like the other story before, they were in that car that got swept away by the water or did they get in the car?

And they drove and now they're on the Tibetan side, and we have no idea what's going on. In theory they should be out of that area, but we have no idea. We have not heard from them. That's the frustrating part is that, part of us are thinking that everything is great and then the answer is that we have not heard from them in all this time.

And we're just trying to reach out any way we can to hear something, maybe hear that great story that we heard from the previous survivors that we can relay back to you guys.

BERMAN: So nothing. Any assistance at all from officials in Nepal anywhere?

AMIN: I have not heard anything. I mean, the State Department has reached out. We have been reaching out in every sort of way that we can possibly do. Family, friends, anyone with any Nepalese connections, our tour guide -- their tour guide has been very helpful. His son in law is the -- is with them right now and he has every incentive to work, but we've not heard anything since then.

And the last vocation we have is on the Friendship Bridge which is jarring for us that like that is the last known position that we have at all of all them including -- from my mother-in-law's phone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: An American couple who survived the flooding says they are still coming to terms with what they witnessed. They spoke with CNN's Will Ripley about the traumatic experience. And a warning, his report does contain disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANJANA RAJA, AMERICAN SURVIVOR OF NEPAL FLOODS: Violent. It was aggressive, aggressive with anger. That's how I saw the water come. So I really asked him, I mean why is God so angry with us?

[02:35:04]

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anjana Raja and Pattabiraman Venkatesan came to Nepal from Northern California for a spiritual journey, but not one like this.

PATTABIRAMAN VENKATESAN, AMERICAN SURVIVOR OF NEPAL FLOODS: Just seeing so many people die, I think that's going to last for a while. It's going to linger for a while. I don't know if we will get over it anytime soon.

RIPLEY: They were on a tour bus near the China-Nepal border about to cross into Tibet, when people outside started running and screaming.

RAJA: There was no time to think. Our reflexes needed to be so fast. I saw something coming really brown up there, going up like 60 to 70ft, something coming brown our way. At that point I didn't know whether it was water or whether it was dust. So the way it came is, came just like a tsunami. Just came, going all the way up. And just like a tsunami, how it sweeps going like a row.

It just took the buses, the houses, people, everything. We saw people just getting sucked in the water. It was so traumatizing to see that. People are screaming but, of course, water doesn't hear anything. It just kind of suck them in.

RIPLEY: They shared this photo showing what's left of their tour bus.

RAJA: It's very hard to express in words, a lot of turmoil inside. It was nerve wracking. Especially when you see death just five seconds away from you, I thought about everybody who lost their lives there because there were dead bodies within sight. Bodies where they were only half bodies, just hands, just legs, just face, just head. Bodies like that lying around.

VENTAKASSEN: He is a lifesaver. My brother.

RIPLEY: Their tour guide, Tashi Tumang, guided them up the mountain with just seconds to spare.

TASHI TUMANG, TOUR GUIDE: How can running, you know.

RIPLEY: Just running, just running.

TUMANG: Running. Ten seconds is finished.

RIPLEY: Ten seconds, everything's underwater.

TUMANG: Yes. Oh my God. Oh my God, man.

RIPLEY: After running to higher ground, they spent the night huddling in the woods with a small group of survivors.

VENKATESAN: There are about 70, 80 people in that little area. We got to put our bags, sit on the bag and that's about it. You know, we had like two inch wiggle room. We couldn't move more than 2 inches because it was so full. Water all night, little or no food. We had to share water, whoever had water.

RIPLEY: Finally, a helicopter came to rescue them.

And here you are now, and you have your temporary passport. You're going to go home and see your daughter and your son.

RAJA: I can't wait. I can't wait.

RIPLEY: What do you want to say to them? What are you going to do when you see them?

RAJA: I'm going to hug them and cry because I am an emotional mama. Yes, I am going to hug them and cry. And I'm just thankful to God that I'm alive and there for them. I'm going to tell them, take life seriously and be ready for whatever comes. This is a learning, things could happen to anyone. It could happen to us again so be ready. I'm going to tell them that.

RIPLEY: They're among the handful of lucky ones. At one of the largest hospitals in Kathmandu, we watch as the number of registered missing people grows from 1,200 to more than 1,600 in just a few hours.

People are signing up names of their loved ones who are missing. They're registering them, hoping that they'll be brought to this hospital. But as the day goes by, no new names are added to this handwritten list of 31 survivors. Junisha Thapa (ph) came here searching for her uncle.

JUNISHA THAPA (ph), FAMILY MISSING: His name is Razu Ali (ph). It is not included in this list.

RIPLEY: How often have you been checking?

THAPA (ph): Minute -- minute.

RIPLEY: Minute by minute.

She says he was at the tax office when the flood hit.

What happened to the tax office?

THAPA (ph): It swept away from flood.

RIPLEY: It was swept away by the water.

Photos of the missing fill this hospital wall. Just around the corner at the morgue, we find a very different photo wall.

It's pictures of bodies from the flood zone and there are men there, there are women. It looks like there are children. They even photograph body parts with tattoos, anything that can be identified. It's just a really horrible scene.

And with each passing hour, things here are only getting worse. Will Ripley, CNN, Kathmandu.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: British far right campaigner Milo Yiannopoulos is under arrest by US Immigration officials after he was picked up on Thursday at an airport in Louisiana. They say he entered the US legally seven years ago, but overstayed his permission to be in the US. A judge ordered his removal last month after he missed an immigration hearing, but he'll remain in custody until he's deployed.

Yiannopoulos is known for a long list of inflammatory statements. He called on ICE to set up checkpoints in California supermarkets and to deport anyone who can't prove he's in the US legally. He spoke out against Muslims and transgender people, and one of his comments even appeared to condone pedophilia. That led to his resignation from the US conservative outlet Breitbart

News where he used to work. Far right influencer and informal Trump advisor Laura Loomer has fought with him. She says she reported him to the FBI and to ICE.

[02:40:14]

Day two of jury deliberations in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial ended on Friday without reaching a verdict. Clancy's defense attorney says the jury sent one note to the judge, asking to see prescription pill bottles and the knife to that Clancy used when attempting to take her own life. CNN's Jean Casarez has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Judge William Sullivan Friday afternoon told the jury you are excused for the weekend but asked them to come back to this courthouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Monday morning at 9:00am. Our producer in the courtroom noted that several of the jurors were speaking to each other as they walked into the courtroom, as they walked out of the courtroom, but that is to be expected because they've gotten to know each other.

They have sat listening to the testimony for several weeks now. And as far as the evidence, the juror asked for two pieces of evidence on Friday. One prescription pill bottles from Lindsay Clancy, the other being the knife. Prescription pill bottles were entered into evidence by the prosecution.

Patrick Clancy was the first witness on the stand. He had a paper bag of pill bottles, and he wanted to take them after the event to law enforcement and officials. The jury saw those pill bottles and it was learned that only a few pills out of every prescription were actually out of the bottle.

The defense showed the jury during closing arguments a drawer from the nightstand next to the bed with a plastic Ziploc bag filled with prescription bottles, and law enforcement had never collected that. Secondly, the knife. The knife is truly not an issue in regard to the suicide attempt because both sides believe this was a very serious suicide attempt.

But there was blood on the knife, blood in the bedroom. As we know, the jury did a jury view where they went into that bedroom now. And so -- but they wanted to see the knife up close. We do not know why, but it is something that they wanted to see.

In other news, Dr. Avram Mack, who was a prosecution rebuttal witness, CNN has confirmed that he has resigned from a children's hospital in Delaware. We do not know why he has resigned. CNN has reached out to Dr. Mack but he was a board certified forensic psychiatrist that testified that he did not believe Lindsay Clancy had bipolar shortly before she killed her children.

He thought it was an episode of depression and also anxiety. The reasons why he is no longer with that children's hospital remain unknown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: In another closely watched court case, the Tupac Shakur murder trial is heading into its final stretch with closing arguments set for Monday. The defense for the accused, that is Duane Davis, rested its case on Thursday. They argue there is no physical evidence tying him to the drive by shooting of Shakur in 1996.

But prosecutors say that while Davis did not pull the trigger, he orchestrated Shakur's murder. They are relying on Davis's past statements about the shooting to prove that.

There's much more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. The tiny Nordic nation of Iceland is facing a massive vote. Find out why fishing is one of the main issues dividing the country as voters prepare to cast their ballots in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:46:50]

HUNTE: Welcome back. Norway's prime minister says the entire nation is in mourning following the death of its longtime king. Harald V died on Friday at the age of 89. After 35 years on the throne, he was Europe's oldest reigning monarch.

A long line of people came to pay their respects at a makeshift memorial in the capital Oslo on Friday. King Harald is succeeded by his son who thanked the country for its support and compassion.

People in Iceland are set to vote in the coming hours on whether to restart talks to join the European Union. The main issues facing voters are sovereignty, security of the strategic Arctic North and fishing rights. CNN's Sebastian Shukla has a story for us.

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SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN FIELD PRODUCER: A referendum to determine Iceland's future, a simple yes or no question that could restart talks of the tiny Nordic island joining the European Union. But the issue has sharply divided the country. Opponents say Iceland should keep its independence that it gained from Denmark in 1944, and they say Iceland already benefits from its state ties to Europe as a NATO member that participates in the EU single market and is part of the Schengen free travel zone.

Sovereignty, according to some voters, is a top concern.

OLAFUR BJORN SVERRISSON, ICELAND RESIDENT: I think it's most important whether we have something to say about our resources and how much power we are letting to go to the EU.

SHUKLA: Others argue it's a changing world and joining the EU would help protect the country in a world that's increasingly focused on the strategic Arctic North. And it could potentially lower interest rates and inflation if Iceland adopts the euro.

AGUSTA UNNUR GUNNARSDOTTIR, ICELAND RESIDENT: I think it's more steady for us. We are very small nation and most of the companies, the big companies, they use euros, so why not the public?

SHUKLA: But it could all boil down to fish. Fishing is a cornerstone of Iceland's culture and economy and for many, sharing its rich fishing grounds with Europe is a deal breaker.

HEIDRUN MARTEINSDOTTIR, FISHERIES ICELAND CEO: We have 100 percent of the profit in Iceland and we want to keep it that way. So that is our worries if we join the common fisheries policy, is that this value chain that has generated all this profit for the Icelandic population, that that will be torn apart.

SHUKLA: Fishing rights are fiercely protected in Iceland. From 1958 to 1976, the country clashed with Great Britain in the so-called Cod wars, which was a series of sea skirmishes involving boat rammings and net cutting. Iceland ultimately won out, gaining full control of its 320 kilometer fishing zone.

Security is also on people's minds. Iceland has a coast guard but no army, relying on NATO for defense, which is a growing concern in the country as Russia expands its presence in the Arctic and US President Donald Trump has threatened to acquire neighboring Greenland.

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GUNMAR TRYGGVASON, ICELAND RESIDENT: Trump and Greenland, and the response that frightens me. Secondly, the tariffs that is putting on Canada and is threatening to put on European countries as well, it might help us to be part of a bloc.

SHUKLA: Iceland has considered joining the EU before. In 2009, talks started and later stopped without gaining traction. If Iceland votes yes in this referendum, negotiations will begin to try to reach a formal agreement followed by a second referendum in Iceland, which will be the deciding vote on whether it will join the bloc or not. Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.

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HUNTE: There's still so much more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. See you in a moment.

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DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: Given the rapid growth of the Space Force, and the commercial space industry, and the expansion of our ambitions to the moon and far beyond the moon, it's clear that we will need to educate and train an entire generation of skilled servicemembers, engineers and civil operators, and everything else.

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HUNTE: President Trump has signed an executive order creating a new service academy to train future members of the US Space Force. Mr. Trump announced a move in Houston, Texas, while presenting the Artemis 2 crew with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. The President said the US Space Academy would train personnel for the Space Force and NASA while also supporting the civilian space industry.

Trump also called the International Space Station to tell them about the new academy. The station's commander, that's Jessica Meir, said the crew was thrilled by this announcement. It marked the first time a sitting US president had spoken directly with astronauts aboard the ISS from NASA's Mission Control Center.

Speaking of space, NASA's new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived earlier this week at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida just days before its scheduled launch. Scientists say the new telescope may answer questions about some of the biggest mysteries of our universe. NASA teams are preparing for the launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket this Sunday.

The Roman Space Telescope will be able to scan wide areas of the sky using infrared vision to study dark matter and planets beyond our solar system. Roman is set to launch this weekend on its five year mission.

After a little help getting back on their feet, six very adorable penguins are waddling back into the wild. Four Magelladic penguins and two Rockhoppers were released off of Argentina's coast this week after weeks of rehabilitation. Some had been tangled in fishing nets, others were rescued from an oil spill, but all were nursed back to health by a dedicated team of rescuers at the Marine World Foundation.

That's all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. I'll be back with more. CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. See you then.