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Urgent Search Underway To Find Workers Missing In Tunnels In Nepal Flood Disaster; Swiss Police: One Dead And Five Injured In Rave Shooting; Iceland Rejects Plan To Restart E.U. Membership Talks; U.S. Deports Migrants To Central African Republic. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired August 30, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:36]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us around the world and in the U.S. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Let's go straight to the headlines. The death toll is rising in Nepal. This is as rescuers race to find the thousands still missing in a deadly flood. We're live in Kathmandu with the latest for you.

The results in after Iceland's voters choose whether or not they want to restart talks on joining the European Union, what they decided and how Donald Trump loomed large over the referendum.

The Trump administration sends some deportees to one of the most dangerous countries in the world, as part of its immigration crackdown, CNN investigates.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Salma Abdelaziz.

ABDELAZIZ: Let's begin with those fears of further flooding along the Nepal-China border. Officials are warning that water levels have surged in a river near the area where flooding hit earlier this week. They sent a text message to residents asking them to be alert, but they did not ask them to evacuate.

Right now, a very urgent search is underway for workers who may be trapped in hydropower tunnels. Crews from India, China, and South Korea are now joining the response and bringing very critical expertise and resources to those very critical relief efforts. Nepal's army says that it has deployed more than 8,000 service members to help.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, some 3,000 people are still missing, but a sweeping rescue effort has saved the lives of nearly 3,000 more. Dramatic new video that you're seeing on your screen there shows one of those rescues. It's a young girl who was trapped under a collapsed building. Crews took her to a camp that evening, and she is now receiving treatment. Survivors are also waiting for aid to arrive, as the roads remain

impassable. But for a vast majority of them, there is no home left to return to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARASWATI GHALE, 43-YEAR-OLD VILLAGER (through translator): What am I feeling? Looking at everything, it's like there's no world. What is left? It's like I am dead. What to do now? I don't have anything. What is there that is worth living? Now, what will happen? Who knows? I am saved, but how things will pan out, who knows? That's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: I want to bring in now, live from Kathmandu, our Will Ripley. I understand, Will, that you are standing outside a morgue that is in Kathmandu. Can you explain to me what's happening around you, what you're seeing?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Salma. Yeah, the morgue is about five minutes from where I am, but we've come over here to the hospital because I want to show you this. It took my breath away how many pictures have been added to this wall of missing people here at the teachers hospital, which is where anybody who survives is being brought for treatment. That's still a relatively small number in terms of the survivors needing treatment here at the hospital.

But the number of missing people, I mean, as you just can see here, has just exploded. We've seen people just, you know, continuing to come up and put pictures on this wall.

I was in Bidur all day yesterday, one of the hardest hit areas, and I'm still sort of processing everything that we saw and experienced there. But I think the biggest takeaway for me is that we need to all mentally prepare ourselves for the reality of this situation, which is that the number of missing is likely significantly higher than the official number. And the reason why I say that is that there were entire families that were inside their home when this flood hit that were washed away. And a lot of those families have not yet been reported missing.

I spoke with a young woman yesterday who lost 17 family members in this flood. And I spoke with a young man who lost eight family members in this flood, including their siblings, their parents, their aunts and uncles, their grandparents. And they're not -- they're not on the list of missing officially, but yet they're obviously gone. And these -- these people that I spoke with are under the assumption that all of these family members have died. But as far as they know, they're not on the official list.

So, the magnitude of this, I believe, is going to take quite some time. But I would imagine that the final number here, if we can even ever get a final number, is going to be so mind-bogglingly awful.

[05:05:13] Another reason why I say that there's a lot that has yet to be reported, you know, when we were walking along the flood zone, you know, there's this this thick layer of what is essentially quicksand, you know, when the when the floodwaters were carrying all that debris, you know, the water is now settled. But you've got in some places a 20 foot or even deeper layer of quicksand. And the police that were on the scene there were telling me, they're definitely believe that there are bodies under there, but they have no idea how many. And they're not even sure how they're going to be able to get them out because there was no heavy equipment there.

You know, all of the effort right now is on trying to send helicopters into even more remote areas, some of which have yet to be reached, to try to find people who might still be alive. And then at some point, when -- when they pivot from searching for survivors to trying to accumulate a number of how many people are killed, it's just really beyond comprehension. The scale of this disaster, Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: It's absolutely chilling to hear you say that Will, because we know as of now 3000 people are unaccounted for 3000 people are missing. And you are saying that that could be a gross underestimate. And when you're describing entire families swept away by this disaster with no one to even report them missing, you're absolutely right in how difficult it is to comprehend this.

I want to go back to the scene where you are, because this is such a sign of desperation just to put up a picture of your family member and hope that someone will listen, hope that someone will have some information. What is the process that families are going through right now to get that information?

RIPLEY: Yeah, I've never in in more than a decade at CNN, I've never covered a story where I've had so many people reach out to me personally, sending me photos of their missing loved ones asking for help, desperate for help and really unable to get any answers. These are people from all over the world that I'm hearing from, not just in the United States or other places, but all over the world people, Ukraine, people in Ukraine are reaching out. I mean, there were so many people that were in this area when the flood hit.

And -- and what people send us and we can just -- we can get in a little closer here. It's -- it's -- it's missing persons posters like this. And you just have so many different photos. Each of these people has a story. Sometimes it's multiple people, it's couples, it's families. There are pictures of children on here.

And part of the reason why we wanted to film here as opposed to filming over at the morgue, there's actually a larger wall with even more photos at the morgue. But all of those photos are of bodies from the flood zone, or body parts that have tattoos or recognizable markings on them that officials are hoping somebody might be able to identify.

So, I've actually had people reaching out to me asking, you know, if I could go look at the bodies and try to compare them with their people who are missing. It's just -- it's unspeakably terrible. What these families are going through families of people who died in

this flood. And that's why I just say that it really, you have to -- even if you're here, I don't think you can fully let it sink in what has happened. And even when I was speaking with people, you know, who have survived this, you know, these are people who are sleeping in shelters. One shelter was set up at a yoga center, another shelter was set up on the unfinished roof of a municipal building. And even in these shelters, people don't feel safe because they all thought that their homes that were washed away were in a safe spot that had never flooded before.

Now, they're in an even higher spot, but they don't trust that where they're sleeping where their shelter is, is actually safe. So, they don't know where they'll be able to rebuild their homes, certainly not in the location where they had lived in many cases where families had lived for generations.

I met families who whose homes were destroyed in the 2015 earthquake, who had rebuilt, and then that home was destroyed by this flood. The families that survived the earthquake and didn't have anybody die in the earthquake, but lost almost the entire family in this flood. So, they don't know where they will go back home to. And they don't even know if it's safe to sleep in the places where they are.

Almost every night, there are these rumors that keep spreading, often late at night, you know, text message chains start blowing up, that there's rumors that another big flood has happened. And so, everybody kind of wakes up in panic and runs up to a hill and huddles there and waits until they are convinced that it's safe to go back to the -- to the floor that they're sleeping on. And this has been happening for days and days and days.

I was told that at night, the sound that you hear when people are able to try to lay down and sleep is you just hear people sobbing and crying. And then you talk to these people during the day, and they're almost in a state of shock. Like they've cried so much that they can't cry anymore. But the tears come at night.

This is the reality of life that people are living here in Nepal, who have been -- who have been had everything turned upside down by this. There are really no words, Salma.

[05:10:12]

ABDELAZIZ: You're speaking of such terror, such fear, such anguish. When you're -- you're showing us those pictures of people behind you, Will, one has to wonder how many families will ever get answers because you were describing just how deep that mud is, how many bodies may simply have been lost to the floods, lost to the disaster zone, and people may never have that reconciliation, that answer. I know that this is an area where pilgrims were traveling to. What are people doing now to find some sense of meaning?

You're describing people sobbing in the middle of the night, afraid that it could happen again. Is that religious ceremonies? Is that community coming together? What is there as a network of support right now for those people behind you?

RIPLEY: What is remarkable is the close-knit sense of community and family that we -- that we certainly observed when we were meeting with people in Bidur and other areas impacted by this. These are families that often get together, and they're large families.

You know, when you have a holiday or a family event, or in one case, this young woman's mother had had surgery here in Kathmandu, and everybody in the family just days before the flood had gathered together to support her. She was washed away in the flood. Most of the family members who gathered to support her were washed away in the flood, but those who do remain are really clinging on and holding on to each other. I met a young woman who's just 20 years old, and she now told me that she has to be strong, and she's trying not to cry because she has to take on the mother role for her -- for her little brother who's just seven years old, and she now has to take the role of mother to help to raise him. And so she says that's what's keeping her strong, is to try to be strong for him.

And you hear this type of story repeated over and over again. I think you raise a really important point, though, that we may never actually know, and these families may never really have closure because it may be impossible, frankly, to recover a lot of the bodies of people who have died in this because of either the condition of bodies and what happened to them because of the violent force of the water, or the bodies might have just been washed away and taken and buried in places that are going to be unreachable for many years to come. And this could be a situation where remains will be discovered for generations from this -- from this disaster.

ABDELAZIZ: CNN's Will Ripley there in Kathmandu, thank you so much for bringing us the emotion, 3,000 people missing behind each one of those unaccounted for. And you said it could be many, many more. There is a family, there are loved ones, there are people grieving, there are people seeking answers they may never get. Thank you for your reporting.

Very far away from the tragedy in the Himalayas, Nepali communities around the world are praying for the dead and missing. In Sydney, Australia, more than 100 people gathered for a candlelight vigil. One man whose friend is missing says the losses have really hit hard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAGENDRA ADHIKARI, HUMANITARIAN WORKER: We are sad for his family. We're still hoping for the good news. Not only that, some of my cousins, some of my relatives, their beloved are also missing. It's a huge disaster, and we are facing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: And here in London, a worship ceremony for a Hindu festival took a very somber turn because of those devastating floods in Nepal. But it also doubled as a fundraiser, since many attendees have ties to the region. Organizers say that more than $8,000 for relief efforts have been collected, and they hope to collect more. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARENDRA KANDEL, CHAIR OF COMMITTEE AT SHREE PASHUPATINATH TEMPLE: This is the temple where we always come together in difficult times, and people talk. You know, they try to support each other and -- I mean, emotionally and at the same time financially as well. You know, people have been very generous, you know, to support Nepal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: For more information on how you can help the victims of this disaster, please visit cnn.com/impact.

I want to go back now to a story we've been following. In recent hours, police in Switzerland say that a 22-year-old woman is dead, and five others were injured in a shooting. This was at a dance parly -- party, rather, early on Sunday. Police say the woman died at the scene, while four men and one woman who range in age from 24 to 27 are being treated in the hospital for injuries ranging from minor to severe. A manhunt is still underway in Aarau.

This is the area where the incident unfolded at a horse racing track, where a rave was being held. This is according to local authorities who say that the shooter's motive and the exact circumstances remain unclear.

[05:15:02]

Of course, Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe, but violent shootings are rare, and gun control laws were tight in there years ago.

Now to Ukraine, where the president says that fires have now largely been put out at the site of a Russian strike on an ammunition warehouse near Kyiv. He posted a short time ago that the death toll had climbed to at least 38 people, and 20 others are wounded. Four remain missing. He says explosive ordnance units are still working at the site to eliminate the possibility of even more explosions.

Russian drones hit the warehouse on Saturday, likely setting off a chain of explosions of this ordnance-stored warehouse. Dozens of nearby homes were damaged, and now a criminal investigation has been launched to find out who stored ammunition so close to residential homes.

We have much more to come here on "CNN Newsroom." Voters in Iceland are weighing whether or not they want the country to restart E.U. membership talks. We're going to tell you their decision just ahead.

Plus, Nepali communities in the U.S. await news of missing relatives, friends, and neighbors after the flooding in Nepal and China.

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[05:20:10] ABDELAZIZ: Voters in Iceland have rejected a nationwide referendum to resume talks to join the European Union. We are still waiting on the final results from just one constituency. The Icelandic National Broadcaster there reports it would not affect the opponent's majority lead. They argue the measure would threaten Iceland's sovereignty and fishing rights, while those in favor say that E.U. membership could offer more security, especially against President Donald Trump's threats to take over nearby Greenland.

I want to bring in now Eirikur Bergmann. He is a professor of politics. He joins us live.

Thank you so much for joining us. We're just, of course, getting these results in now that it seems the answer is no. But this was a very close vote, almost evenly divided. What does such a close result tell us about Iceland's relationship with Europe and the divisions inside your country?

EIRIKUR BERGMANN, PROFESSOR OF POLITICS, BIFROST UNIVERSITY: Well, Icelanders have remained undecided on E.U. membership for more than three decades now, even ever since we joined the European Economic Area Agreement, which brings Iceland into three quarters of whatever the European Union does. And this referendum debate was very sort of existential. It sort of boils down to a profound understanding on Iceland's place.

Iceland fought for independence for 130 years, emphasizing a very strong sort of feeling of self-autonomy. But there is also another side to it, which is that Iceland needs to be a modern functioning country like anywhere else. And it was kind of these two sides of that national political identity that was sort of fighting this out. And then those sides were just more skillful in appealing to people's sense of nationhood, I would say.

ABDELAZIZ: I love that you describe this as an existential question for the country, because it gives us a sense of just how important it was. The two issues that I think you lay out there come down to, of course, Arctic security in the face of President Donald Trump's attempts to take over Greenland in the face of Russian expansion. But then you also talk about sovereignty.

And one of those symbols of sovereignty and an economic lifeline for the country is fishing. Could you talk to me about that debate and how it played out specifically this idea of Arctic security versus fishing rights?

BERGMANN: Yes. First of all, for international audience, it's important to understand that the international upheaval, the geopolitical shift, they never really filtered properly into the debate. It was fought on a highly domestic grounds. The calling of the referendum dates prior to the second term of Donald Trump. So, even though those issues had impact, they were not the drivers of this policy.

So, that was not what determined this vote. And it was much rather that the yes side was appealing to a lot more practical issues for people here like the euro, interest rates, things like that, rather than the security architecture around us. And quite frankly, the yes side kind of neglected to articulate a clear vision for Iceland's actual purpose and mission within the E.U. in this changing geopolitical landscape.

Instead, their appeal was for an application on a very sort of bureaucratic grounds to simply see what agreement could be on the table and rather than articulating Iceland's mission within the E.U.

ABDELAZIZ: Very interesting that you say that the yes side took a bureaucratic approach, one around taxes and the use of the euro and these other issues that you brought up. What did the no side bring to the table that convinced voters that that was the right vote?

BERGMANN: They talked directly to people's sense of nationhood here, the sense of serenity that Iceland should never surrender any authority to a foreign entity. And they brought in fisheries as not solely an economic topic for practical negotiations, but as a symbol of Iceland's serenity that the controlling of fishing waters became like the ground on which Iceland's independence and serenity stood. And so, that was weaved into the economic argument much more skillfully than the yes side offered.

[05:25:30]

ABDELAZIZ: Eirikur Bergmann there, breaking down a very interesting referendum in Iceland where the result is no, where we're waiting on one constituency, but the final result should be no to restarting talks to join the European Union? As you said, an existential question in Iceland. Great to have you with us. Thank you for your time.

BERGMANN: Thank you.

ABDELAZIZ: There is more ahead on "CNN Newsroom." Urgent efforts are underway to find any more survivors of the flash flooding at the Nepal-China border. We bring you some of the breathtaking rescues so far.

Plus, I'm going to speak to the manager of a hiking tour operator in Kathmandu, who's still looking for his missing uncle.

Stay with us.

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ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Ukraine is conducting a criminal investigation that is after a Russian strike that left at least 37 people dead. The attack hit an ammunition warehouse near Kyiv on Saturday and apparently it ignited ordinances that were inside. It triggered multiple explosions that damaged dozens of nearby buildings. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he wants the people who stored that ammunition there to be held accountable.

[05:30:08] And police in Switzerland say one person is dead and five others are injured in a shooting at a dance party early on Sunday. A manhunt is still underway in Aarau. This is a scenic town in northern Switzerland. Police say the incident unfolded at a horse racing track where a rave was being held. Authorities add that the shooter's motive and the exact circumstances remain unclear.

752 people are now confirmed dead by the catastrophic flooding along the China-Nepal border. More than 3,000 people are still missing. The vast majority of them are in Nepal. Hundreds of those missing in the disaster are foreigners and rescue workers are searching for any remaining survivors.

Rescuers in Nepal are risking their own lives in brutal conditions to find those that are still missing. Searches are underway right now for almost 900 missing workers. They could still be trapped in hydropower projects. More than 350 workers have been so far rescued. Rescuers are pumping air into one of those tunnels and they plan to drill a manhole hoping to send teams inside to find any more survivors.

And the families of U.S. citizens missing in Nepal and China are waiting very desperately for news of their loved ones. Rafael Romo has this update for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: According to the U.S. State Department, there are about 90 Americans missing after the devastating flood that hit Nepal's border with China on Wednesday. One of those missing Americans is Anil Goel from Virginia. According to his family, Goel, an avid hiker, had planned a multi-day trip to hike Mount Kailash near Nepal's border with China as part of a tour group.

But his son, Anurag Goel, told CNN this morning that the family hasn't heard from his father or the group since the day before the disaster. Anurag Goel says the last communication from the group happened less than an hour before the flooding happened in that area around the border.

ANURAG GOEL, FATHER ANIL DURAG MISSING IN NEPAL WITH TOUR GROUP: They were known to last be at the Nepal side of the Nepal and Tibet border that's called Gyirong Crossing, and that was -- They were last known to have a, a received their departure stamp on their passports around 8:35 A.M. to depart Nepal, enter Tibet.

And there were also some messages through WhatsApp exchanged around that time. So, that was roughly 45 minutes before the flooding took place in that area.

ROMO: Goel also told CNN that, quote, there's been a large lag in communication from the affected region that has made it even more difficult for families, like his, who are desperate for any news about their loved ones.

Last night in Hicksville, New York, people came together for a solemn vigil. Leaders from the Long Island Nepalese Society organized the vigil to gather in solidarity, prayer and hope as CNN affiliate News 12 Long Island reported. A man who worked as a teacher in Nepal and now lives in the United States told News 12 he lost several people he knew, including former students and neighbors.

DIAWAKAR PANDE, NEPALI COMMUNITY LEADER: I was the teacher in there. I lost my three student in there. One my neighbor people I lost in there. A lot of the people I lost in this time, in this incident.

MYAM JIRI, LONG ISLAND NEPALESE SOCIETY: It's very heartbreaking to all of us to see our fellow country people losing their lives and houses in a matter of a few minutes.

ROMO: A State Department spokesperson told CNN the United States government is sending aid to Nepal, including food, and that the first trucks carrying assistance are on the way. The United Kingdom has pledged nearly $6.8 million in assistance, and the European Union said it would provide $2.3 million in aid.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: My next guest is among those who are searching for answers. His uncle is among the thousands that are still missing. Kapil Nepal is joining me live now from Kathmandu. He manages Hiking Himalayas Trek and Expedition, a tour guide company.

Thank you, first of all, for joining us. What I know is a very difficult time. I understand your uncle Hari Chandra Nepal, who also works as a guide along with the foreign guests that he had on his tour group and potentially several other people from your village are all missing. Can you give me a sense of who you are looking for and what's the last you know to have happened to them?

KAPIL NEPAL, MISSING MOUNTAIN GUIDE'S NEPHEW: OK, thank you for having me here. So, I'm Kapal from Nepal. So, we had a group of 55 pilgrims who was heading towards the Kailash trekking.

[05:35:01]

And even in that group, we are coordinating with Leaf Holidays Treks & Expedition. But from Hiking Himalayas Trek and Expedition there were six Ukraine people, one Belarus and one my uncle who was leading the team. So, in 25th August, our group was staying in Timure, where they had the overnight stay before the trekking started. And on 26th, as we know, they were crossing the bridge. And we had a call at around 8:40 a.m. in the morning. And we had the last call that he tell we are in the line queue for the permit. So, after that permit, we will be entering the China.

And around 8:40, we missed the contact with him. Until now, our government authorities, government bodies, our rescuing team and everyone is under the operations. They are doing the heli operations. Nepal government is working with them. But 'til now, we are contactless with them and we are still missing our group. ABDELAZIZ: I'm so sorry to hear that you still have no information and that you still continue to search for them. I heard you say that there are helicopters that have looked in that area. Do you have any sense of what's happened to that part or to that region where they were? What does it look like? Was it wiped out in the flooding? Is it caked in mud? Do you have any sense of what it looks like right now? What information are you receiving as well? And who is giving it to you?

NEPAL: Yes. So, my father, the founder of Hiking Himalayas, Vishma Raj Nepal, and the Leaf Holiday Coordinator, Gopal Thapa, in the coordination with Nepal government, they were heading towards the Timure at the village where it's collapsed, the landslide and flood. And they were having the helicopter patrolling around the area.

And what we see is there were no village, no peoples, and nothing remains to see from the helicopter that we tried to go with the team for the rescue. But there is nothing that we can tell that the person can be seen, the village can be seen from the because everything is blown away in one second and there is nothing left 'til now.

But as the concern and the tourism government, they are telling us that we are still searching for the team and the peoples who are heading with us, the 55 members, we even haven't find a single information regarding them. And none of the persons are in contact with us. We are trying with different authorities for finding them. But 'til now, we are unknown about them, whether they are -- where they are and are they missing or whatever.

And we are going in the hospitals, everywhere area where they are evicted. And we search them there. Everything, the clue is not with us 'til now. And we are still searching for them. And we are hoping for the positive response from every department and we need the help as soon as possible.

ABDELAZIZ: It is absolutely terrifying to hear that that village, Timure village, I think where your uncle last called you from, you said when they looked by helicopter, it was completely wiped out. There were no homes, there were no people. Entire villages, again, wiped out in these devastating floods. We do hope for you that you get positive news soon.

Kapil Nepal in Kathmandu, thank you so much for sharing your uncle's story with us.

There is plenty more to come on "CNN Newsroom." Deported to one of the most dangerous countries in the world, CNN travels to the Central African Republic and speaks with several migrants who had never even heard of the country before being sent there by the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:42:09]

ABDELAZIZ: British far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has now been deported by the United States. The Department of Homeland Security says Yiannopoulos was sent back to the U.K. on Friday. This was a day after he was arrested by ICE at a Louisiana airport.

Now, DHS says he entered the U.S. legally back in 2019 but that he overstayed his visa and then failed to appear at an immigration hearing. Yiannopoulos rose to prominence as an editor for the far- right news organization "Breitbart" and was an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The Trump administration's immigration policy involves so-called third country deportations. This is when migrants are sent from the U.S. to countries other than their own. Just months ago, ICE and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent the first deportation flight to the Central African Republic, one of the most dangerous countries on earth. CNN's Isobel Yeung traveled there to investigate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASENA, TURKISH DEPORTEE: I was so scared. I was crying and I said, I'm not going out.

ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Asena thought she'd find safety in the U.S. She says she fled Turkey after facing death threats. But then she became one of thousands that the Trump administration has deported.

ASENA: First my hands and with my belly like this and my foot.

YEUNG: So, they handcuffed you and shackled you?

ASENA: Yes. Yes.

YEUNG: And you still didn't know where you were going?

ASENA: I don't know where I'm going to. I said, where we are going, tell me. And he said, I don't know, maybe Central Africa. And I was -- I was in shock.

YEUNG: Have you ever heard of Central African Republic before?

ASENA: No.

YEUNG: So, we are here in Bangui in the Central African Republic, trying to find out what happened with this ICE deportation flight that took place this summer, going from the U.S. to here.

We know that this flight happened in the shadows of secrecy. As far as we know, no one apart from U.N. agencies has managed to meet with these migrants. So, we're here trying to track them down.

YEUNG (voice-over): At 8:58 p.m. on June 11, 18 migrants from all over the world were brought to Alexandria Airport, Louisiana. They say they were handcuffed and shackled. Several claim they were severely beaten.

Two of the migrants say they were forced into a full body restraint, like the one seen here in a demo video. A U.S. official called the allegation a flat out lie and denied anyone was beaten.

The maker of one such restraint said it's a last resort tool intended to promote safety and prevent escalation.

Nearly 20 hours later, after a refueling stop, the plane touched down in Bangui, Central African Republic.

YEUNG: Maybe I can just start with where are you from originally?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Georgia.

YEUNG: You're from Georgia?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Egypt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Egypt.

[05:45:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Afghanistan.

YEUNG: Afghanistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraq.

YEUNG: Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jordan.

YEUNG: Jordan.

So, all different countries. How are you all doing here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doing here? Like hell.

YEUNG: Like hell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. No Internet, no electric, too much of mosquitoes. Everybody has malaria.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police detained us and then demanded money from us. Since that day, we have not left the building.

YEUNG: The U.S. State Department warns people do not travel here for risk of kidnapping and terrorism and advises those who must to leave behind a DNA sample so they can be identified by their family.

A lot of the migrants have told us that they are terrified to be here, and you can understand why. I mean, this is a country where there's been an ongoing civil war that's still taking place.

But even here in Bangui, there's very high rates of violence, very high rates of criminality, and very high rates of, you know, these armed groups operating here.

YEUNG (voice-over): I asked the police about the migrants, claims that they are part of the problem. YEUNG: Some of the migrants here that I've spoken to say that when they go outside, the police stop them and ask them for cash and threaten them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, those police officers are checking who those people are. I don't believe they asking them for money.

YEUNG (voice-over): Very little is known about what terms the CAR government agreed to with the U.S., but what we do know is that on May 18, just one month before the first deportation flight, State Department diplomats traveled here to meet with the President.

For the past decade, the U.S. has given just a few million dollars per year to the U.N. migration agency, IOM's operations in CAR. But this year that figure shot up to $85 million. An additional $50 million was committed to the CAR humanitarian fund.

We asked the IOM about the money they're receiving. They did not respond to our specific questions, but told us that IOM has a long- standing presence in the CAR and they're receiving funding from a range of donors.

But this is at a time when the Trump administration has been slashing billions of dollars in foreign assistance.

YEUNG: We have been trying to get hold of any U.S. officials to talk about what's been happening and why and how they've sent these migrants here because they are ultimately the ones responsible. I mean, the State Department have emailed back saying as a policy, we do not discuss diplomatic negotiations or funding mechanisms.

And the U.S. embassy staff have not been replying to us, but we're going to try and knock on the door just to see if they answer.

So, we just have some questions about the migrants that were brought here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All questions have to go through them. I'm not authorized to answer any questions.

YEUNG: Right. And is there -- is there anyone else we can contact at the U.S. embassy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Bangui PD at state.gov the email I gave you.

YEUNG: Who are just going to ignore us and pretend that email never came. All right, thank you.

Eventually, the State Department did get back to us. They did not reply to any of our detailed questions, but said the U.S. will use foreign assistance to support countries that help us achieve our immigration priorities. It's a tacit admission that the money is tied to the deportations.

The U.S. government does have a responsibility towards these migrants. Most of those we spoke to here have protection orders from American judges stopping the government from sending them to their home countries, where they're likely to face persecution, torture or death.

Fidele Gouandjika is a Special Adviser to the CAR's president. He also hosts a local radio show.

YEUNG: As you know, nothing happens in this country without a little sweetener. It's a little bit difficult to believe that zero money was given by the U.S. to the Central African Republic. I mean, this is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, as you know.

FIDELE GOUANDJIKA, SPECIAL ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT OF CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (through translation): I do not believe the government could be corrupt, I would not want to think for a single second that the Americans or Donald Trump are acting as corrupters.

YEUNG (voice-over): For Gouandjika, what's happened to these migrants is a sign of American cruelty.

YEUNG: When a powerful country like the U.S. comes knocking and asking for this help, is it difficult for a country like yours to refuse?

GOUANDJIKA: What saddens me about the United States, a superpower with as the resources could keep these migrants there and they send them here to us instead. The United States is a superpower, but it is a power without a good heart.

YEUNG (voice-over): Perhaps most concerning of all are those who have nowhere left to run to. Like this young pro-democracy activist from Iran, who says she faced possible execution for partaking in protests. Initially, she was overjoyed when she arrived in the U.S.

[05:50:08]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was too much happy. America, one of the best country in the world. And I say, it's OK. Now, I'm safe and I can make one new life here. I know if I -- I was in Iran, they going to kill me.

YEUNG (voice-over): Earlier this year, Trump himself encouraged Iranians to keep protesting, promising help is on the way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time I think they going to protect me, but America not protect me. When they send me here, really I lose my hope again.

YEUNG (voice-over): Isobel Yeung, CNN, Central African Republic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Stay with us on CNN. We'll be right back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABDELAZIZ: A plan backed by the Trump administration to give a small part of Yosemite National Park to developers is facing strong opposition. Elected officials and conservationists are pushing back against this idea. The National Park Service is considering a land exchange. This would happen between a private Nevada-based developer and the park. The developer's attorney says it would allow the firm to build a road in the park, which could allow access to an adjacent plot of land where owners want to build homes and retail space.

[05:55:15]

A spokesperson with the Department of Interior says that final decision has been made as of yet. A previous owner tried to do something similar, but it was blocked by a court in 2012.

NASA is about to get a new $4 billion window on the universe. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center just in about 90 minutes from now. It is the latest and greatest of the observatories that started with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MARK CLAMPIN, NASA DEPUTY ASSOCIATION ADMINISTRATOR: I always explain Hubble and Webb as what you would think of as a point-and- shoot, so it's kind of like taking a picture with your iPhone. Roman instead is a survey telescope, and it's actually NASA's first big flagship that's designed to conduct a survey. And so you can think of looking through your binoculars instead of looking through a straw. It allows you to cover a much larger piece of the sky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Homeowners in the American West are dealing with some wild guests, black bears. Authorities say more people are air-reporting encounters with black bears. States like Colorado have said that these encounters with the bears have more than doubled just in the last 50 years.

Just this year alone, there have been more than 7,000 sightings and five bear attacks in the state. Experts believe drought-driven food shortages are sending the bears to hunt in human communities in record numbers.

Thank you so much for watching. I'm Salma Abdelaziz. For those of you watching in the United States, "CNN This Morning" is next. For the rest of you, it will be the world, it's "Africa."

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