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Far-Right AfD Scores Historic Victory In German State Election; U.S. Envoys Hold Substantive Talks With Zelenskyy In Kyiv; Iran To Establish New Restricted Zone In Persian Gulf; 5 People Killed After Amazon Cargo Plane Overruns Runway; First Ever Midterm Republican Convention Set For This Week; Fetterman Blasts Former Staffers and "Smears" after WSJ Article; Hawaii Braces as Category 3 Storm Heads toward islands; Cuba's Abandoned Nuclear Ambitions; Driverless Cars Compete in F-1 Style Race in Italy. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 07, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:19]

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello wherever you are 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, Germany's far right AfD party nets a historic win in a state election. But its path to governing may still lie in forming a coalition with another party.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner say progress has been made towards ending Russia's war in Ukraine, but no major breakthrough has yet been announced.

And an Amazon cargo plane overruns a Runway in Miami. At least five people are dead. Now investigators are looking into why this happened.

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

HUNTE: Welcome. Politics watchers in Germany are wondering whether today's election results are a sign of things to come. Preliminary results show the Alternative for Germany or AfD party has won state level elections. AfD appear to have won 44 percent of the vote in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. That means they'd hold 39 of 83 seats in the state, just short of the 42 seats needed for an absolute majority.

AfD's surge in this election reflects the deep unpopularity of Germany's current ruling coalition run by Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The AfD's Ulrich Siegmund had this to say following his party's huge victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ULRICH SIEGMUND, GERMAN POLITICIAN (through translator): However, and this is the crucial point which I must emphasize this evening. This election victory is a vote of confidence from the people of this country and we will live up to that trust. We will not compromise our principles. We will not give up on ourselves. We will never become like those who have rightly been punished. This evening, we are Alternative for Germany.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Let's bring in Steven Erlanger, live from Berlin. He's the New York Times chief diplomatic correspondent. Good to see you, sir. How significant is this moment for Germany and for the German far right too?

STEVEN ERLANGER, CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, it's extraordinarily significant. Now Saxony-Anhalt is tiny. It's only got 2 million people. Only 1.33 million voted, a country of more than 80 million.

But it was a shockwave, partly because the AfD is a far right party many consider anti-constitutional, which wants to overthrow the current system. It was extremely popular with young people in this election and frankly anyone under 65. And it is a big blow to conventional parties, not just the ruling coalition. There was a lot of tactical voting.

I mean, there were a lot of people who wanted to make sure the AFD did not get an absolute majority. So people voted for other parties to make sure they made it above the 5 percent threshold required to get into the parliament, because had one of those parties failed, the AfD would have had an absolute majority.

So now there's a lot of questioning. First, there'll be a lot of response in the rest of Germany, particularly in the West. There'll be a lot of shock, horror. But it goes back to the big debate about can you isolate a party, can you keep a party this popular behind a firewall, keep it out of government?

And it is very, very possible that the AfD, only three seats short of a majority, will figure out a way to get others, at least three parliamentarians, to cooperate to put it into power. This is all left to be seen. It'll take several weeks, but as an earthquake, this is probably pretty good for Germany. It's pretty big earthquake.

HUNTE: If the AfD has fallen short of an outright majority, which it appears it has, what happens now and what should we be watching for next?

ERLANGER: Well, the parties will talk to one another. The heads of the parties also nationally, will talk to their state parties. Now, the problem is the Christian Democrats, which lead the government in Berlin, have vowed never to work with the AfD. The most likely partner with the AfD is a far left party called the BSW, which is the followers of a particular woman politician who was an old communist.

[01:05:08]

Now, they won enough seats to put the AfD into power. They vow they won't do that. But it could be -- they work out some sort of system where on key votes that matter, they would simply not vote or would vote with the AfD, or it could be that all the other parties put together combine to form a government of their own. But it would be a terrible ideological mishmash and I think would satisfy nobody.

HUNTE: This is set to be the biggest state election victory ever for the AfD. What do you think the voters were actually expressing with this result?

ERLANGER: Disgust. Alienation. It's partly economic. It's also partly about identity. Don't forget, this was part of the former East Germany. It was always much closer to Russia. The AfD is pretty much a pro-Russian party. It is very much against illegal immigration.

It is very much against the European Union. It's very much against the war in Ukraine. So, people who feel that their money, particularly in an economically depressed part of Germany, is going to foreign aid, is going to illegal migrants, is going to people other than what they would consider true Germans. This was a big part of this whole revolt against the conventional elite. And that's what it is, I mean, it's a very strong vote that says we want something different and we're disgusted with what we have.

HUNTE: OK. New York Times chief diplomatic correspondent Steven Erlanger in Berlin. Thank you so much for insights on this election.

ERLANGER: Thank you.

HUNTE: Let's turn now to the high stakes meetings in Kyiv amid a renewed effort to end the war in Ukraine. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son in law, as Jared Kushner said they had substantive discussions with President Zelenskyy and Kyiv officials on Sunday. This comes after the U.S. delegation also met with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday.

While no major breakthrough has been announced yet, Witkoff appeared optimistic following talks with both sides. Kushner also says the U.S. is pushing to resume trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine to allow all parties to communicate directly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED KUSHNER, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: But with President Putin, we went through a lot of the ideas that hadn't worked to date. And we really tried to think about, you know, what would the elements be that are needed for this durable peace that we've spoken about, and what are the things that Russia can gain from it, what are the things that Ukraine can gain from it, and what are the things that the world can gain from it?

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: Both sides have to come to a resolution here. And my job and Jared's job together is to bring the parties together, to narrow the issues between them, to create good communication channels. And hopefully we began that process constructively in the last 48 hours and we're confident that there'll be a good resolution. Here.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTE: Now to discuss live from Kyiv is Terrell Jermaine Starr. He's an independent journalist currently focused on Ukraine. He has been covering the war on social media and substack at Terrell J. Starr is so good to see you, sir.

So, Terrell, there is still no breakthrough yet even after these dedicated and very much hyped talks. How surprised are you that the war is continuing and what did you expect from the talks?

TERRELL JERMAIN STARR, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: All this could have been an email. The envoys went to Moscow, said, hey, Putin, what do you want? Putin said, we want Ukraine to capitulate everything. And they went -- they came here to Kyiv and said, hey, Putin wants you to capitulate everything.

And Zelenskyy and Ukraine, as they've said over the past year and a half, no, we're not going to do that and the war is going to continue. Could have been an email. This is nothing more than a show for cameras. The 24-hour deadline that Donald Trump had called for to end this war in February will be 24 months.

So let's just put that in context. 24 hours has turned into 24 months and eventually 24 months is going to turn into 48 months because this war is going to continue once Trump leaves office. No one here is particularly surprised that nothing took place because Donald Trump doesn't have a plan.

[01:10:05]

And so the envoys were not going to bring anything new because Trump's position has not changed because he just pretty much wants to -- he was really waiting for Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians to feel like they've given up and that they're tired. Like that's the biggest irony of this. Not only Trump, not only is Putin bombing Ukraine into submission, Trump is expecting that to happen and it has it and it won't.

HUNTE: Zelenskyy says he expects this war to continue into the winter. How concerned are you and other people in Ukraine as well about what the next few months could look like for you?

STARR: Well, we have experience with last year's winter critical infrastructure. The main thing that I think one of the things that they did talk about during this meeting was security for winter, which is which the primary ask is for Patriot missiles, Patriot interceptors. Many people know that there's a short supply because of the ongoing war in Iran, and that has depleted the Patriot systems in Europe is very stingy with, is with its own and rightfully so.

So there is a deficit of those. And so Ukraine has been waiting to get the license in order to produce them themselves. But as many people know, the reason why that license hasn't taken place, hasn't come to Ukraine, is because the defense industry fears that Ukraine will come up with cheaper alternatives for those interceptors.

So as far as how people are dealing with it here, I just got my comforter on my bed. I think people are smarter about using solar powered heaters now because we know that the heaters, the infrastructure will be hit. And that means that we can go 10 hours, 12 hours, 16 hours or more without heat.

And so people are depending on power, solar power sources, and just adjusting because we know that the cold is coming. But the difference now is that people know how to suffer with a little more comfort than they did before because we have the experience.

HUNTE: Iran plans to announce a new restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days. That is according to the country's top national security official and adviser to the Supreme Leader. The zone would also include areas in the Gulf, and any ship entering that zone would be added to a sanctions list. All of this as Tehran warns of retaliation in the wake of recent hostilities in the area.

CNN's Oren Liebermann has more from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: What we're seeing over the course of the past week is a return to some level of open conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Several rounds now of strikes and retaliations between the militaries. This isn't the same level, of course, as the beginning of the war in late February and early March, but it is the first sets of strikes we've seen between the U.S. and Iran in several weeks now.

And that in and of itself is concerning, especially as neither Tehran nor Washington show any indication that they're about to make concessions to get back to the memorandum of understanding that was supposed to end this war or to get back to negotiations, even as some of the mediators have tried in the background, Oman, Qatar, to try to get some sort of diplomatic track going.

And that leaves the open question and a great risk of escalation that could spread what we're seeing to the rest of the region in this latest round. Over the weekend, Iran carried out attacks, missile attacks, against two U.S. navy warships operating in and around the Gulf of Oman, the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. retaliated by taking out three empty Iranian oil tankers. What's really at play here is who controls the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has insisted that any sort of negotiated agreement leave them in control of part of it or having some sort of authority over the Strait of Hormuz, which is something the U.S. has refused. Instead, the U.S. has, has tried to carry out and build up an operation to get oil flowing through the strait, and it has succeeded to some extent. It requires tankers very often to go at night with their transponders off and with a U.S. navy escort. And that appears to be that escort, what Iran was targeting here when they fired at U.S. Navy warships.

But the U.S. isn't going to allow this Iranian targeting of U.S. warships without a response. And that's what we see playing out here. Meanwhile, the rhetoric from both sides, from the U.S. government, from the regime in Tehran, clearly indicates at least a willingness to keep on going if the attacks and the strikes continue.

And that as there's a larger issue at play here of what authorities President Donald Trump is using to continue what many in his administration, including Vice President JD Vance, refused to acknowledge is a war. Vance was even asked how much longer could this go? And he wouldn't put a timeline on it, which certainly seems to open up the potential for a forever conflict, since many in the administration refuse to acknowledge it as a war.

[01:15:07]

But right now, with the ongoing strikes here and the exchanges of fire between the U.S. and Iran, we are back to that risk of a severe escalation in the region.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: At least five people are dead and five others are injured after an Amazon cargo plane overrun the Runway during a landing at Miami International Airport on Sunday. Have a look at this footage of the incident and I want to warn you, the video is disturbing.

The 32-year old Boeing 767 was landing on Runway 30 after flying from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Video shows the aircraft departed off the end of the Runway, crossed the perimeter road and crossed Northwest 67th Avenue before coming to a stop. The plane struck several vehicles and caught fire. Have a listen to this dispatch audio of a first responder.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, the plane's on fire. Plane's on fire. Put your game faces on. This aircraft overrun the Runway. It crossed 67th Avenue. It struck a truck. We do have a patient on the ground. We're looking at serving the area for more patients.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HUNTE: Data from Tracking Flightradar24 shows the plane was going nearly 130 miles per hour when it overshot the Runway. One witness describes what he heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD ARMAS, WITNESS: A loud thump and then kind of a lesser second thumb that heard a siren about 20, 30 seconds later and quick, was quick and peeked outside and this whole back area here was all dark smoke coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Delays continue for flights headed to Miami International Airport due to the disabled aircraft. CNN's Carolina Peguero has more from Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A cargo plane flying for Amazon crashed right after landing here at the Miami International Airport and that was coming from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Responders say it struck several vehicles causing fire and heavy flames and smoke. Five people have been confirmed dead and three are in critical condition, while the other two have been transported to local hospitals. The airport closed all runways and instituted a ground stop, according to an airport spokesperson.

While Amazon in a statement says we're working closely with local authorities and officials to understand exactly what happened. Now, the Miami Dade fire chief says that it would take several days for the FAA and local authorities to continue on to this investigation and know exactly the cause of the incident. Carolina Peguero, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Investigators from the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority arrived at that scene on Sunday evening. Earlier, I spoke to CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. She described what investigators will be looking for now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: They're going to be looking at the piling of the aircraft and it's very helpful that they have that video showing how the plane was coming in. They're going to be looking at the airfield. This airfield did not have what they call arrestor beds. In other words, safety overrun air areas at the end of the Runway and that stop the plane from moving forward.

They're going to be looking at the weather. A storm had moved through a pretty big one and there were some warnings that there could be crosswinds or tailwinds, including up to about 26 knots, 30 miles an hour. Granted, that was gusts, but if it was a tailwind rather than a crosswind, wind would push the plane further down the Runway. And finally, they'll look at the plane itself.

32 years old. It had been in foreign ownership, including Russian ownership in its past. And they want to know if all the equipment was working on it. In that video, you don't see, and it's difficult to see because it's a shot far away of the landing, but you don't see the thrust reversers, the spoilers.

And you see a landing where they land on one wheel in the back and then the front wheel. But you're supposed to land on the two back wheels and let the speed, the air speed and the airflow over the wings dissipate and then the nose drop. So it does not look like a controlled landing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: OK. There is much more to come here on CNN Newsroom, including Republican plans to spotlight President Trump ahead of the midterm elections and possibly some other party members up for election as well.

Plus, Senate Democrat John Fetterman sounds off about an article slamming his dedication to his job. What he exclusively told CNN just ahead. See you in a moment.

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[01:24:16]

HUNTE: Welcome back. A special midterm edition of the Republican National Convention is set to happen this week in Texas. Speakers will include President Trump and other top party leadership, as well as elected officials and others hopeful of winning a seat in Congress. The president has touted the convention as just what the party needs to reenergize voters ahead of the midterms.

They'll need full party support to keep their majority in Congress and continue pursuing the president's agenda. Organizers are being very blunt that the event is all about the president and putting him front and center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE GRUTERS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION CHAIRMAN: It's going to be a Trumpapalooza. It's going to be an amazing opportunity for us to basically go out there and tell the American people all the great things this president has done and all the great things that we're going to continue to do over the final two years of his administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:25:11]

HUNTE: But not everyone in the party thinks Trumpapalooza is a good idea. Some fear it may promote the president more than the candidates actually on ballots across the country. Other critics have noted the extravagant budget as well as other major events happening at the same time, such as the start of the NFL season and September 11th commemorations.

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is giving his first response to a Wall Street Journal report about his performance in office. The article's headline is "Behind Closed Doors." John Fetterman shows little interest in the work of a Senator. It features reports and text messages from former staffers and that paint the senator as a disengaged and disinterested lawmaker. Fetterman responded to three text messages he says were, quote, stripped of any context and circumstances.

One reportedly was a question from the senator to staff as to why he had to keep having meetings with officials from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Others included details about skipping a funeral for police officers killed last year.

Fetterman provided CNN with this exclusive statement saying, quote, per usual lies, half-truths, innuendos, smears and anonymous no matter how many smears or stories I'm proud to continue to deliver for Pennsylvania.

The Trump administration has filed a new emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court to speed up approval of a controversial mail-in ballot rule. The rule would require state and local election officials to upload lists on mail-in voters to an online portal.

It would also require new envelopes with a barcode to track those ballots. The administration argues the changes are needed to guarantee a safe and secure election. But with less than 60 days until the midterms, at least one state has already started mailing out ballots. A U.S. District judge has temporarily blocked the rule from going forward.

Let's talk politics with Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst and opinion columnist at Bloomberg. Good to see you, sir.

Voting in the midterms is effectively starting, but at the same time, the Trump administration is fighting voting at the Supreme Court. So how significant is this moment we're in right now?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Oh, this is, this is a hugely consequential fight that is, that is underway. You know, about one third of Americans, I believe, vote by mail, and it has been used more often by Democrats than Republicans in the last few years.

Historically, that wasn't true. Republicans were at least as likely to vote by mail as Democrats. But since Trump is questioned, it has had a partisan lien. Lower courts have been very clear that neither the Postal Service nor the president has the authority to try to, in essence, control how states use mail balloting. But this Supreme Court majority, these six Republican appointees have been deferential to him more often than not.

And this is a hugely consequential decision not only for the administration of this election, I think, but for the balance between the federal government and the states going forward.

HUNTE: We are now just two months from election Day. How concerned should voters be about potentially changing all of these rules around mail in ballots so close to this election?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it could be total -- if the Supreme Court allows the Postal Service to do this, particularly after the whistleblower report on how kind of half-baked this is and how chaotic it is. There is no outcome other than chaos. Think in many states, I mean, you have, you have multiple states, including California, Colorado, Washington, I think Oregon, that mail ballots to every voter, you know, and that's how voters expect to vote.

You receive a ballot at your home. And that would all be put in danger if those states are unwilling to share their voting list with the administration, by the way, which they have failed in multiple, multiple lawsuits to be able to coerce states to do it. Now they are trying to use this new point of leverage by in essence, weaponizing the Postal Service against blue states.

So, I mean, this is a kind of turning point moment for American democracy. You know, there have been so far lower federal courts by and large have repelled the most serious efforts by the Trump administration to impinge on the ability of states to run elections and to maintain fair and free elections.

But if this Republican appointed court majority allows us to go forward, I think we are entering a very chaotic and unpredictable and frankly, dangerous period.

HUNTE: Republicans are about to hold a midterm convention with President Trump front and center. So why hold this convention now? What do you think they're trying to achieve here?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I think this is more about Trump than it is about the druthers of Republican candidates. I mean, he wants himself to be in the center of this election and look for Republican candidates.

[01:30:05]

It really is that old saying, can't live with him, can't live without him. You know, without him, you risk -- if you distance yourself from Trump, you risk alienating his base and not getting sufficient turnout from his core voters.

Plus, he's sitting on this giant pile of money that Republicans hope will come to their rescue in the last two months.

But, you know, over the last 30 years or so, the relationship in midterm elections really has been unequivocal. The voter attitudes toward the incumbent president are clearly the most important factor in U.S. midterm elections since the 1990s. Roughly 85 percent or more of people who disapprove of a president tend to vote against his party's candidates in both House and Senate races since the 90s.

And for Trump, that relationship is at the high end of that -- of that scale, roughly 90 percent of people who disapproved of Trump voted Democratic in both House and Senate elections during his first term.

And that's obviously a threat for Republicans, given that his disapproval rating is somewhere close to ten points higher than it was in 2018 or, for that matter, higher than Barack Obama's was in 2010, George W. Bush in 2006, and Bill Clinton in '94, when their parties all suffered serious losses in the midterm.

HUNTE: Senator John Fetterman has now responded to allegations that he's been skipping meetings and showing little interest in parts of his job, allegedly. How damaging is this becoming for him now?

BROWNSTEIN: Look, his denials really are just, you know, beyond paper- thin. I mean, this is eminently well-sourced and on, you know, multiple different kinds of ways in which he is shirking his duty.

One thing you can say for sure, John Fetterman will not be the Democratic nominee for Senate again in Pennsylvania ever again in 2028. There's virtually no chance that Democrats will nominate him.

The two questions are will he choose to run as an Independent in 2028, or will he switch parties to the GOP before then? And by the way, even if he switches parties, he might not get nominated by the -- by the GOP.

I mean, you know, Republicans like him while he's a Democrat, kind of, you know, lambasting other Democrats. But as a Republican, he would not really be as conservative as they want.

I this -- I mean, this is kind of an extraordinary story that we are watching someone who is alienated from his party, from his staff, really from his state.

But if we end up with a 51-49 Democratic Senate, which would be a (INAUDIBLE) net seat gain in November, he would have the capacity to switch parties and tilt the majority back to the GOP for the last two years of Trump's term.

HUNTE: Ok, Ron Brownstein, thank you as always, for your insight and expertise. Speak again soon.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

HUNTE: There is much more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. We are tracking the latest developments from Hawaii, where a powerful hurricane is moving closer to its western island. Stay with us here on CNN.

[01:32:58]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: Welcome back.

Hawaii is now bracing for powerful Hurricane Lowell. A state of emergency is in effect as the storm, currently a Category 3, takes aim at Hawaii's western islands. Right now, tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches are in effect for the islands of Kauai and Niihau.

Lowell is expected to fall to a Category 2 storm when it makes its closest approach to the islands. It will stay offshore, but is forecast to slam the islands with heavy rains and possible flash flooding.

This is the third storm in just over three weeks to target Hawaii, as El Nino supercharges the Pacific hurricane season.

In the last hour, I spoke to retired meteorologist Tom Skilling, who is a part-time Hawaii resident. He talked about how this storm's path bears a resemblance to a hurricane from 1992. It remains the state's worst on record.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM SKILING, RETIRED METEOROLOGIST: The fact is, Hawaii is only two landfalling hurricanes since 1950, and one of them occurred about 34 years ago -- Iniki. And what's kind of frightening about Lowell to many folks is this storm was traveling west, as Iniki did south of the islands, and did a 90-degree turn.

It's now heading slightly east of due north, about 500 miles south of Kauai, which is one of the westernmost of the eight primary Hawaiian islands expected to roar in there with tropical storm, if not hurricane strength winds later in the day Monday and Monday night.

And that along with that 16- to 18-foot seas and Kauai with seas building to 18 to 22 feet. Those are the waves that come into the island.

Iniki, when it hit, had 145 mile per hour winds with gusts over 200. So this storm is not an Iniki, but it is a damaging storm. And it's something that folks have to watch.

Late today, the National Hurricane Center upgraded the tropical storm warning for Kauai to a hurricane watch.

[01:39:45]

SKILLING: And they're expecting winds in the upper hurricane tropical storm range, which is between 39 and 73 miles an hour. But if you go above 74 miles per hour, you have what qualify as hurricane force winds.

So that plus driving rains with flooding possibilities and large seas and a 1- to 3-foot storm surge. And you have the makings for some real problems.

And then when you get to the west of the Hawaiian islands, moisture is coming up. And, you know, the Hawaiian islands feature varied terrain. And this terrain can take that moisture that floods in, lift it and produce areas of extremely heavy and flooding rains.

So there are flood watches out over the rest of the Hawaiian Islands, Ben, with this particular weather set up.

It's as you pointed out, it has been one heck of an active year in Hawaii and throughout the Pacific.

While we've not had a single hurricane in the Atlantic basin, which includes the Gulf, the Caribbean and the Atlantic, there have been 15 named storms in the Pacific, and six of them have been hurricanes.

HUNTE: Wow.

SKILLING: And as you point out, only three weeks ago, we had Hurricane Lila that went into the Big Island, did terrible damage in parts of the Big Island, and it was followed by a tropical storm that went a little south of the island, but brought some rain even so.

So Hawaiians are -- they started the spring with a couple of Kona lows, which drop heavy rains and wind that did $1 billion of damage in Oahu alone. Um, that's around Honolulu. And so here we are now in hurricane season. And we have these tropical

systems coming in. And it makes for some very busy, very preparation- conscious, folks out in Hawaii and they take these storms very, very seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: There is much more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, including the latest on search and rescue efforts at the site of a deadly building collapse in New Delhi. Be right back.

[01:41:68]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: Welcome back.

Egyptian state media reports a popular TV presenter is among 12 people sentenced to death for their alleged role in a drug trafficking ring. Cairo's criminal court sentenced Sara Khalifa and 11 other defendants to death by hanging.

Egyptian state media reports, they were accused of forming a criminal drug trafficking network and owning firearms without a license. CNN has reached out to Khalifa's attorney for comment.

An explosion at a church in central Mexico has killed at least ten people and injured more than 60 others. The blast happened in a church entrance as worshipers gathered for an evening mass.

Authorities say the cause of that explosion is now under investigation, but that fireworks were being prepared for a display there.

One survivor described this moment as the celebrations turned to panic

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ITZEL ALBARRAN, WITNESS (through translator): Everything exploded. We saw it. All the people saw it because it was right next to where the priest was giving mass. So we all got scared.

What we did was duck down because we felt like the tarp was coming down on top of us.

And then after we started to react, we started to leave. But people started pushing each other and there were many injured outside. Everyone was stepping on them. It was very, very awful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: At least three people are dead after a five-story building collapsed in New Delhi. Nine people have been rescued from the rubble so far and crews are continuing to search the debris for anyone who may still be trapped. Police say the 40- to 50-year-old building was being used as student accommodation and was undergoing repairs to the basement at the time of that collapse.

Delhi's chief minister said an investigation is underway and that those responsible will be held accountable.

Cubans have been forced to come up with new ways to adapt to an ever- worsening energy crisis, sparked by the U.S.-imposed oil blockade. But could any of this have been avoided?

CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez takes a look back at the collapse of Cuba's nuclear ambitions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Blackouts aren't new to Cuba. They've been a part of life since at least the 1980s. Although not at the scale of the current crisis triggered by the Trump administration's ban on the sale of oil to the Cuban government.

In 1982, Fidel Castro made a bold move. The nuclear plant at Juragua would be the first step of a plan to wean the island off oil with the help of the Soviet Union, which would build and finance the project.

Driving down the coast, we spot the concrete giant. Long abandoned, it was once expected to provide at least 15 percent of the island's electricity needs.

Now that was back at the end of the 80s, beginning of the 90s, it wasn't the best moment for this type of project so close to the United States, a project that took too long, cost too much, and at the end ended up just being what it is today. Just ruins.

That's because Havana bet everything on being in the Soviet Union's sphere of influence during the Cold War.

[01:49:45]

LOPEZ: And on Moscow's assistance for ambitious projects like the Juragua power plant, which sat under 200 miles from the Florida Keys and sent Washington into a tailspin over national security.

Even though the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant in Homestead, Florida had been operating 200 miles from Havana since 1972.

NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: We've had long standing concerns about the quality of the plant construction and about Cuba's ability to operate it safely.

LOPEZ: Fears of an accident stemmed largely from the world's worst nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in 1986. But the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported that same year to Congress that even though they had reservations about the project, Juragua resembled western nuclear plants and was not considered a threat.

In the end, when the Soviet Union collapsed, Havana came up dry. And this now eerie monolith was left unfinished. This is Ciudad Nuclear, built to house the plant's workers. Its where

I meet Luis Vargas, an electrician who was involved in the project.

What do you feel when you see the structure, I ask him. "I don't know," Luis says. "I feel a deep sorrow inside because many things were ruined. It's a shame that it ended up this way because unfortunately, millions were invested and we weren't able to finish it.

Francisco Perez, who also worked at the plant, remembers when Fidel Castro came to tell them it was over.

"He told us the truth," Francisco tells me. He explained the situation, the problem they faced, and that they had to shut the plant down.

Juragua was the first of three nuclear plants that would help Cuba overcome a monumental challenge the island faces to this day, a growing demand for electricity and a lack of capacity to produce it.

This fading sign in Russian and in Spanish reads, "May the atom be a worker and not a soldier."

In Juragua, it was neither.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: There is much more to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. See you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: In Bolivia, cars were banned for ten hours as the country celebrated its annual Pedestrian Day. Held on the first Sunday of September, the event turns roads traditionally jammed with cars into open space for people to enjoy on foot, on skates and bikes, too.

Bolivia's air quality monitors say air pollution typically drops up to 48 percent compared to a regular Sunday. Pedestrian Day is one of Bolivia's most popular traditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We're going to share this moment of recreation, of doing something for the planet, for our city, free of noise, with more oxygen, free of engines.

What we want with this exercise is to breathe cleaner air, recover, and have our city free of pollution for one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: The speed, the competition, the split-second turns. It looks a lot like Formula 1, but with one big difference. There are no drivers at the wheel.

Autonomous race cars are putting an eye to the test at speeds that leave very little room for error.

CNN's Ivana Scatola has more for us

[01:54:45]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVANA SCATOLA, CNN SUPERVISING PRODUCER: It's like Formula 1, but without human drivers. Instead, the cars are entirely driven by A.I.

I'm in Imola, Italy to watch the A2RL -- a motorsport competition where fully autonomous cars go head-to-head.

The cars have no cockpit or steering wheels, just supercomputers, GPS, radar and optical cameras.

MATTEO, ENGINEER, UNIMORE RACING: The actual weight, It's a fun fact, is quite similar to a human driver, so the weight of the car is quite similar to a real one. There's no driver, there's no seat, there's no steering wheel. But we control it as a human would do.

SCATOLA: Engineering teams say they've spent months writing custom code for the cars. And on race day they press go and hope for the best.

Each team races identical super formula cars. The only thing that sets them apart is the coding.

This is the third year of the competition, but the first time that the race has been held abroad outside of Abu Dhabi, the Imola Circuit, famous with Formula 1 fans, is known to be a challenging one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imola is an unforgiving track. Let's say you achieve very, very high speed and there are very, very little room for error.

So any time you take a wrong turn, you risk really of crashing completely your car.

SCATOLA: While the autonomous taxis that are common in American cities prioritize safety and predictability, these autonomous race cars are at the opposite end, optimized for speed and split-second maneuvers.

The cars are programed not to collide into each other, but the technology isn't perfect yet. The winning team this year was Kinetis, which started out as a rookie team and now has come first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's overwhelming. It's -- I am still processing that. All the emotions. This morning, like before the race start, I was telling myself, it's not how you start, but it's how you finish.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: In the Netherlands, the birthplace of Vincent Van Gogh celebrated a colorful tradition on Sunday with flowers taking center stage. Zundert hosted the 80th edition of its famed flower parade, the

largest of its kind. 20 hamlets competed, showcasing creations inspired by everything from pirates and nature to Medieval and Asian themes.

Each float was covered with about half a million dahlias, all attached by hand by volunteers.

And that is all I've got for you. Thank you so much for joining me and the team.

I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta.

Of course, there's so much more CNN NEWSROOM right after this. And I'll be back with you next weekend. Until then, thank you so much. See you next time.

[01:57:14]

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