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Rescue Operation In Nepal; War With Iran; Pentagon Turmoil. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 04, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:31]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN BREAKING NEWS.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. I want to begin with those dramatic developments in Nepal.

This is more than a week after a Himalayan border region was devastated by a massive flood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

ABDELAZIZ: You're hearing rescuers there cheering as two men were pulled out of a tunnel after being trapped for nine days. Local officials said that voices were heard from inside one of the tunnels of a hydropower plant hit by floods. It is still unclear how many are inside that tunnel.

Prior to this, around 900 workers were believed to be missing at various hydropower projects in the area. Search efforts are continuing in the region following the successful rescue. Workers have been using heavy machinery alongside other tools to gain access to the rest of those tunnels.

I want to bring in now CNN's Gage Goulding, who is following this story for us from Seoul, South Korea. Gage, these images are just heart wrenching, right? You feel your skin almost crawling as they're pulling these people out alive from these tunnels. And it must give people a glimmer. What are you learning?

GAGE GOULDING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a devastating story. And this right here, this headline, the fact that two people have been rescued from nine days underground in the tunnel. I mean, that's incredible. You hear them erupt in cheers and applause.

And I want to go back to this video here because watch this video very closely. Look at the people in the video. You know, you'll see some of them outfitted in boots and proper gear, and then others you'll see barefoot, digging by hand into the dirt, into the rock, to try to rescue these people that they may or may not know. But that is what they've been doing for the past nine days and they are determined to continue to do it.

I think that right there in itself is an incredible part of this story, is because they're so determined. And you see this gentleman carrying somebody on his back. And the guy, by the way, that got pulled out in that video, you can see him kind of put his hand up and looks like, at least to me, saying thank you, waving to people, saying thank you as he's being carried off to go to the hospital.

I mean, it's just absolutely incredible. It's exactly what this, you know, this story needed was a little bit of hope for families, for people, for the rescue workers who are pouring every ounce of effort and energy they have into this. And, Salma, you said it. There's still roughly 940 people or so that are unaccounted for, possibly trapped, maybe alive in these tunnels underneath the ground there.

We just actually had a press conference a little bit ago where we're learning more about it. The tunnel that they rescued these two people from, the same tunnel, the Trishuli 3A, that is where they have believed roughly 42 people were unaccounted for and potentially trapped underground. But there is roughly a dozen or so tunnels that people may be trapped in.

So there's still a lot of work to do. And, I mean, if you would have asked me yesterday, I would probably would have said the clock has run out. But obviously these are very determined, very, you know, hardworking people that they found a way to survive underground. And they've been underground for so long, in these tunnels for so long that there was a video clip that just came out where the gentleman was asking, what day is it?

Because they didn't know what day it was. One Indian army colonel that really jumped out to me. He said, After 48 hours, you are hallucinating in a sense state like that, in an environment like that. So you can only imagine what these people have been going through, just holding out, holding out, holding out.

And you saw the environment there that they were. These cramped, dark, you know, debris-filled areas. So it's truly incredible. But the big thing here that we learned from the Nepali army just a few minutes ago is that the operation is continuing. They are trying to get to more and more people.

It was asked, are there more? And he said, I'm just not sure. So that is, we're hoping for more, right? That's kind of what were hoping, that this was the start of many more. But right now it looks like just these two workers were rescued so far, and that they are working feverishly to try to get further into these tunnels.

[04:05:02]

Not only was it difficult to get to the tunnels, but going through the tunnels to actually get all the mud, the debris. Anderson Cooper really defined it perfectly. It's like liquid cement. So, Salma, there's still a lot of work to be done to at least try to attempt to rescue those that are still trapped. ABDELAZIZ: And of course, those rescue efforts are ongoing, Gage, and as you mentioned, potentially dozens more people could still be trapped alive many days after this disaster. I read that one of the rescue workers when they started to hear those voices down in the tunnel, they said, don't panic, don't worry. We're trying to rescue you.

That must be extraordinary for the families to hear this, and for the families to witness this, and for the families to know that two people were found alive. What are you hearing about their reaction and their response to what seems like a miracle?

GOULDING: You know, it is a miracle. And I was actually sitting here wondering this myself. You know, these folks obviously know something happened. They were trapped underground, but they're probably wondering, is my family OK? Are my loved ones OK? And there's that side of it, too.

But, you know, there have been some phone calls that have taken place that we've been able to see that, you know, they're communicating with their loved ones, which I can only imagine is a huge relief. But remember, this is just two workers that were rescued from underground, right? There are so many more.

Each of those rescuer, those people are so unaccounted for, excuse me, have family members that are wondering, oh, my gosh, is this mine? Could my loved one be next? So I could only imagine what they're going through.

But with this fact that two people somehow, miraculously, and I don't use that word lightly, miraculously survive nine days underground, I think it opens up the possibilities that there could be more survivors. The question, some of the burning question is will they be able to get to them quick enough?

ABDELAZIZ: CNN's Gage Goulding there, who is following the story for us from Seoul, South Korea, thank you so much for bringing us those details.

I want to bring in now Arnold Dix. He's a disaster tunnel expert, because I want to talk about the logistics behind this amazing rescue that we've seen play out. Thank you so much, first of all, for joining us on the program.

Arnold, just start by explaining to me, how does one carry out this rescue operation? What are the steps that need to take place to reach those men underground? And most importantly, how do you keep those men alive nine days after a disaster?

Arnold, if we have you there, I'm sorry. We're just making sure we have that connection with Arnold Dix. He is a tunnel expert, bringing him on, hopefully, to speak to us about the logistics of this extraordinary recovery.

Just checking if we do have him connected. I'm going to ask you that question again, Arnold, if I can. How is an extraordinary rescue like this carried out? Talk me through the steps of how rescue workers could reach those men underground. And most importantly, how they keep them alive for more than nine days?

ARNOLD DIX, DISASTER TUNNEL EXPERT: Yes. Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?

ABDELAZIZ: Yes, I do have you now. I do have you now. Go ahead.

DIX: You got me, right, OK. So this is not theoretical. This is what we've actually done. 3A, I'm part of that team, and for a week we've been working on this. So, one, we have to find the power station.

This power station was totally destroyed. There was no evidence, virtually no evidence of the power station on the surface. Two, we have to analyze all the engineering drawings of the power station and how we knew it to be to try and identify potential, I call them Goldilocks zones, that is locations where people might have survived.

Three, having identified them, now, how do we find them? And so the tunnel that you're looking at, the vision that you've got there, where we're looking down a hole and men are climbing up. Before this disaster, that tunnel was up a hill. The roof that you're looking at of that tunnel was in sunshine. That's the enormity of the event that's occurred.

So then what we've got to do is we've got to get into that tunnel because we've got no idea what the conditions are. In that case, it was full of water as well as rocks and mud. So we had to drain the tunnel. So that meant a huge earthworks operation to get the water out because we couldn't burrow into it with the water there. And the risk was with the water that we drown the people, if they were alive, that were up in the tunnel.

[04:10:00]

Having got the water out and got down to it and blown a hole in the roof, we then had to crawl, the army, and this is the army guys on the set. Like, this is the army guys actually converting this into action. Had to -- they're digging by hand, as you heard, with their fingers, little shovels on their bellies, just under what used to be the tunnel's roof that's now fully-filled up.

So the old tunnel roof now becomes like the concrete just on the rescuer's back, and they crawl along there, digging by hand. And then you have to get through the rocks and everything else that's there, which are, as you know, big rocks, like the size of a car, like, not little rocks. And then psychologically, for the rescuers, so this is for the teams that are doing the digging. We've got probably three issues.

First issue is up in front, we don't know what we're going to find. And it could be water. And if we dig into the water, whether it's by hand with a little shovel or something, the water can come back on top of you and drown you. And that's not good. And from behind, because you are so deep now in this tiny little tunnel inside the tunnel, if the water that's banked up in China comes down the river and floods, our tunnel that used to be up the mountain is now lower than the level of the river. So if the water floods, it'll come in that hole, go down into the roof of the tunnel and drown you from the back.

And then thirdly, the other issue you're having to contend with. Can you still hear me? You there?

ABDELAZIZ: Yes, I'm still listening. I'm still listening to all those details. I just want to ask you one more question, Arnold, while I still have you on. We are hearing everything that you are saying, and I know that you have been personally advising and assisting Nepali authorities.

And I can hear that in your voice as you're talking through this step by step. And we're looking at the images of what you are describing, of men, bare feet, bare hands, digging into those tunnels. One of the first steps you identified is finding the tunnels where people might be alive. And I believe there's a dozen tunnels.

But now that two people have been found alive, surely this gives hope for other rescue operations. Do you have any sense of how many more tunnels are viable and how many more people are potentially alive?

DIX: Well, we know we've lost around 900, and we know that the power stations themselves have got areas in them where people can survive. We don't know if people have got to them. These two people have been pulled out of a cable tunnel, which is actually a harsher environment than the powerhouse itself.

We're on the way to the powerhouse. We're about 150 meters away from it. The army guys, the authorities are doing just amazing work, but that's where we'd be hoping to find more people. And we've got no way of knowing.

What we do know is we've proven a concept for the first time ever in the history of these sorts of rescues in the world, we've proven a way to get people out alive. Those two people are the first two ever. So, you know, that gives us hope and that really helps us focus our

resources and our effort into rescuing more.

ABDELAZIZ: Tunnel disaster expert Arnold Dix, who is advising on these extraordinary rescues, joining us from Singapore right now and talking us through step by step, what you say is the first time a historic type of rescue. Thank you so much for that analysis.

Now we have so much more news coming here on CNN. US Vice President JD Vance spoke about the Iran war, but did not call it a war in his opinion. His comments about a timeline for an end to the conflict are coming up next.

Plus, fighting in Ukraine shows no signs of letting up, but there are signs of hope for those stalled peace talks.

[04:14:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back. Let's begin with the war in Iran. US Vice President JD Vance says he's not going to be able to provide a timeline for when the war might end, including whether or not it's going to come to an end before the midterm elections in November. He said this during a news conference on Thursday.

And Vance pushed back on even calling the conflict open war. This is despite three consecutive days this week when the US and Iran did exchange fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, US VICE PRESIDENT: The phrase an end to the war, I want to push back on that just a little bit because major combat operations are currently not ongoing and they haven't been ongoing in a very long time. I wouldn't call it a war. Right now there is no active shooting. I recognize there is -- there have been places where this is flared up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: The vice president also insisted that the US is the only country capable of ensuring control over the Strait of Hormuz. He said the US had recently taken steps to make it more difficult for Iran to target commercial ships in the region. And his comments come after President Trump had recently said that US strikes have gone beyond targeting Iranian radar systems in an effort to prevent Tehran from tracking ships moving through that very strategic waterway.

Now, during this White House briefing, Vice President Vance also said that American partners in the Gulf are privately doing more to help cut off Iran, and that they are letting on publicly. He pointed to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries in the region as working towards that economic goal. Vance also listed Turkey and Azerbaijan as two of Iran's trading partners as joining the effort to cut off Tehran.

[04:20:03]

I want to bring in now CNN's Paula Hancock. She's tracking all these developments for us from the region and joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. Good morning, first of all, to you, Paula.

Extraordinary comments I think there from the vice president insisting that this conflict is not even a war. What do you make of that and what does it tell us about America's position right now?

PAULA HANCOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Salma, I think there are plenty of people in the region that I'm in right now who would disagree with that. Certainly, considering what we have seen over the past week. We have seen one of the most significant escalations in strikes in tit-for-tat attacks in well over a month. When we saw Tuesday going into Wednesday, the US military striking targets along the Strait of Hormuz, saying that it was to prevent them, the Iranians, being able to target commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and also US troops in the region, saying they have some 50,000. And then you've had these Iranian attacks against, they say, US assets in Bahrain, in Kuwait, in the UAE.

So certainly I don't think there's many people here who would consider this not a war at this point. Now, certainly, we have been seeing these cycles of familiar patterns when it comes to an uptick in this, the violence. And then you have periods of calm, then you have periods of economic pressure from the US, and then potentially diplomacy.

So this does appear to be the new normal at this point but there would be many who disagree with those comments. He did, though, talk about the Strait of Hormuz, and this really does seem to be the main focus of the Trump administration at this point. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: The Iranians would like 0 million barrels to come out of the Strait of Hormuz. Last night, 15 million barrels came out of the Strait of Hormuz. That's because of the United States of America. And if we don't do it, nobody else would do it. And if nobody else did it, we would have a catastrophic world energy crisis.

And our message to the Iranians is simple. It's been the same from the very beginning is, you've got to stop shooting at commercial shipping. They've got to stop. It's that simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCK: So what we did see with the US strikes this week was the type of targets that Central CENTCOM said that they were looking at were these radar systems. They were also the mine laying capabilities, air defense systems. And the US military has been quite clear this week that they are escorting ships through, or they are helping to protect ships that have switched their AIS system off so you can't track where exactly they are in order to be able to facilitate getting oil out into the wider world. Salma?

ABDELAZIZ: CNN's Paula Hancock's there on some extraordinary comments from the vice president in details on how ships are getting through that waterway. Thank you so much.

Another US official that is under fire in this conflict is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He is getting a new vote of confidence, though. The defense secretary has been drawing criticism recently, and this is from some who have said he has fixated on the culture wars and prioritizing his own image of the American war fighter.

Republican Senator Tom Tills has urged President Trump to replace Hegseth, calling the Pentagon chief inept. And others are claiming that Hegseth is neglecting the well-being of military personnel. Crew members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln complained about living conditions and meals during its deployment to the Middle East. The ship pulled into the port in Thailand this week covered in rest from bow to stern.

Experts say that is to be expected after 286 days at sea. And Vice President JD Vance was quick to come to Hegseth's defense during this press briefing on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: I feel like the military is in a much better place than it was 18 months ago. Of course there's a lot of work still to do and, of course, some of that work is going to take years because, frankly, the rot got so deep under previous failed administrations.

ABDELAZIZ: Meanwhile, President Trump has named a new acting secretary of the Army. Adam Telle replaces Dan Driscoll, who resigned this week after clashing with Hegseth. Telle had been serving as the army's assistant secretary for civil works.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says US negotiations are expected in Kyiv in the coming days to try to put peace efforts back on track. In Russia, a general accused by Ukraine of ordering a strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv has reportedly been shot and wounded. Russian officials say they've opened an investigation into the attempted murder of a member of the military.

[04:25:12]

Now, Mr. Zelenskyy alluded to the incident, saying criminals cannot hide and will be found. The hospital strike left three people dead and dozens wounded. This was back in 2024. Meanwhile, President Trump says he will seek reimbursement for some of the military aid provided to Ukraine during the Biden administration.

He says Europe should repay the US for hundreds of billions of dollars in aid. This includes support given to NATO. For more on all of this, we're joined now live by Clare Sebastian. She comes to us from here in London. Good morning. First of all, to you, Clare.

So we're hearing now from President Zelenskyy that US negotiators might visit Ukraine and Russia in the coming days. What are you learning about these diplomatic efforts and what difference they could potentially make?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think it's important to note at this point that we've been here before, right? We've heard that there could be a potential visit by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to Kyiv, and it hasn't materialized. And so far, the White House hasn't commented on this. So that is one thing to note.

But I think, look, there's a difference here between movement in the diplomatic process and actual progress. We haven't seen actual progress, a real sign that Russia is preparing to compromise at all during the year-and-a-half that the Trump administration has been trying to do this, obviously with the hiatus because of the Iran war over the last six months. But the reason why this matters to President Zelenskyy, the idea that the negotiators could, for the first time, I should note, come to Kyiv. Steve Witkoff has, by contrast, been to Moscow eight times, is because before the Iran war, we really were seeing movement. You could even call it momentum.

There had been three rounds of trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States. There were signals from the US that they'd be willing to provide 15 years worth of post war security guarantees to Ukraine. So in terms of US engagement, there was momentum.

And so this is why it's critical to President Zelenskyy. Take a listen to how he talked about this in his nightly address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): We expect a meeting in the coming days. This is very important. It is important that America stays active in this. We are ready to meet them in Ukraine for substantive talks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So look, he says it's important the US stays active in this. He has maintained all along that there can be no meaningful peace effort without US involvement. So it's really critical to him that this happens. But look, Russia is signaling both in word and indeed that it sees no reason to back down from its stated course.

We've seen President Putin out several times in the past week talking about, you know, yes, perhaps there's a chance for peace, but he's also said that he doesn't negotiate with terrorists, which is what he accuses President Zelenskyy and the government in Kyiv of being. And of course, this is against the backdrop of a massive escalation, really, on both sides.

Kyiv has been under near constant bombardment over the last week. This is now day nine of air raid alerts throughout the day and night. Ukraine is meanwhile ramping up drone attacks, calling the airspace over Russia unsafe to civil aviation. And as you noted in your introduction, almost explicitly taking credit for the reported attempted assassination of a general in Russia on Thursday.

So they are ramping up on both sides. But perhaps, look, we saw the CIA director in Moscow last week. You could say on the one hand that if that had been effective, why would they need Kushner and Witkoff to come in? But on the other hand, it does seem that there's some movement. Salma?

ABDELAZIZ: Clare Sebastian on limited movement when it comes to hope for peace efforts in the Ukraine conflict. Thank you so much for bringing us those updates.

We're going to have more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, including the ray of hope after those deadly and destructive floods in Nepal. Ahead, we're going to tell you about the men who were rescued after spending more than a week trapped inside a tunnel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)