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Concerns Mounting over Anthropic CEO's A.I. Slowdown; Center- Left Bloc Leads Swedish Parliament Elections as Counting of Votes Continue; German Alexander Zverev Claims U.S. Open Tennis Men's Singles Champion. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 14, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:32]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hi everybody, thank you so much for starting your week with me. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York, and ahead here on "CNN Newsroom."

The A.I. debate getting political. What Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. are saying about new concerns over the rapidly changing technology.

And a passenger train hit by a Russian drone shortly after another train carrying diplomats passed in Ukraine.

And a U.S. airman who was rescued behind enemy lines during the early stages of the war with Iran. Sharing his story publicly, but not his name, until you watch.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Let's begin with the growing debate here in the U.S. over artificial intelligence. Over the weekend, the CEO of Anthropic, one of the leading A.I. developers in the world, called for an industry- wide slowdown due to safety risks surrounding A.I.

Lawmakers are now weighing his words as they prepare to return to Capitol Hill for this week's session. And many Democrats have begun voicing their concerns on the potential dangers posed by the technology. Some are even pushing for an emergency session to regulate A.I.

But Republican leaders, including President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, are arguing that the concerns are overblown and they remain secondary to winning the A.I. race against China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES, (D-NY), U.S. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: We should take decisive action now so that we can slow down, as the CEOs have recently acknowledged, slow down the pace of development in order to protect the American people and ensure that A.I. is proceeding safely. REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The problem is they

all have a different prescription on what they say the regulation is supposed to be. The problem is they're all competitors. Each one of them wants to maintain an edge over the others.

And Congress is obviously less qualified than the people who are pushing this frontier to know all the ins and outs of it. If we overstep it, I'm telling you again, Jake, it could be a national security threat for every American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Now I want you to listen to U.S. President Donald Trump as he spoke to reporters on board Air Force One about the warnings made by A.I. leaders and how China's A.I. development impacts the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I've said it from the beginning, whoever wins A.I., and we're leading by a lot, whoever wins A.I. wins.

REPORTER: Have you ever used it yourself? How do you use A.I.?

TRUMP: But I would say, you know, for the most part, you can use A.I. for a lot of things. Why do I have to do it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And despite assurances from the Speaker of the House and the President himself, the consensus among A.I. developers is that guardrails are needed. Now let's begin our coverage with CNN's Clare Duffy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: It's been really fascinating to watch the industry sort of coalesce around this issue this weekend and really in agreement with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

These are leaders who are not necessarily all in agreement on a regular basis, but you've got X A.I. CEO Elon Musk saying Dario is right, OpenA.I. CEO Sam Altman saying, I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier, Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis saying Dario's essay points toward the right path forward.

So all of these leaders agreeing that there are really significant risks here, risks including the rogue A.I. hacks that we saw earlier this summer, the risk of A.I. being misused to create weapons or bioweapons, also a risk of A.I. that is increasingly improving itself. And there is a worry that these leaders could lose control of this technology if A.I. is able to continue this self-improvement.

However, I do think there is a question that we are seeing emerging, which is these guys are the leaders of Frontier A.I. and they could if they chose to start to slow things down themselves. There is this conversation about the need for industry agreement on this work with lawmakers, as you hear him talk about.

However, I do think there is this question of if there is such significant concern, if there really is existential risk here, why are we not seeing these leaders like Dario, like Sam Altman just deciding to slow down themselves? Of course, there are competitive considerations here.

They don't want to be the only one slowing down, they would like to see everybody in agreement. But obviously, especially with Washington divided on how to handle this, it does feel a bit far away from some sort of collective agreement on how to handle this issue.

And then there is a question of an international agreement. Can we get companies, countries, I should say, like China on board with slowing down the development of this technology? And I think there is a big question mark there. Dario Amodei talked about sort of working up towards those things.

[03:05:08]

So maybe first you have these evaluators in an agreement with Congress, then you work towards international agreement.

But again, I think you increasingly are hearing people who watch the industry say if these concerns are so significant, why not have these leaders take the first steps themselves rather than waiting on Congress, rather than waiting on the entire industry to follow them?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Clare Duffy, Thank you.

Joining us now from London to dive deeper into all of this is Elena Simperl. She's co-director of the King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence and also professor of informatics at King's College in London.

Professor, it's good to see you. Thank you for joining us.

ELENA SIMPERL, CO-DIRECTOR, KING'S INSTITUTE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND PROFESSOR OF INFORMATICS, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: Good morning to you.

So when senior researchers are sounding the alarm about slow alignments in A.I., can you tell our viewers just what that means and is the lack of that alignment or basically this misalignment one of the main factors that seems to be fueling concerns about A.I.?

SIMPERL: Indeed, I mean, there is a number of concerns, misalignment being one, say in plain English, misalignment is about the fact that an A.I. system would follow the instructions of its developer literally and by trying to achieve its goal would miss what you actually want it. You have to imagine it's like an eager helper who takes every order that you give it 100 percent literally without common sense. And that's what we have seen in the latest cyber incidents.

This is a hard problem, but it is a problem that has been studied reasonably well. And I have full confidence in Frontier A.I. labs that they can identify a comprehensive package of measures that they could put in place to reduce the risks of this misalignment from happening.

Now, the second problem they're talking about is much harder. It is the so-called recursive self-improvement. So this is something that experts in the industry disagree whether we have reached or not.

I would say probably not or not yet. But that refers to A.I. that is so powerful, so advanced that it can improve itself. And in doing so, it is improving at a much faster scale than its developers would be able to comprehend or catch up with.

These are serious warnings, but yes.

SANDOVAL: I'm sorry, Professor, I have to cut you off.

I actually just thought on that note, too, and what you mentioned, too, that this is this question when it comes to China, for example, of how the United States can, as you heard from Clare's report, perhaps even work alongside China to try to develop some of the measures that you laid out while at the same time competing against that nation on the sector.

Can you tell our viewers a little bit about that dilemma that A.I. developers are in right now, where they are warning that the industry needs to slow its pace, but at the same time not fall behind its main competitor?

SIMPERL: Yes, I think this is a very important point, but at the same time, it is a gap in the current analysis that we have seen. So the reports that have been released over the past three weeks talk specifically about U.S. Frontier A.I. labs and what has happened there.

At the same time, we know that this is a problem that occurs internationally. We know, for instance, that models from China like the Moonshot A.I. are plagued with the same concerns. What I think we're missing a little bit in the analysis is a question of how much of those issues that have been identified about bioweapons, about cyberattacks, can actually be achieved with existing open source models that everyone has access to.

These models may be six to nine months behind what we have right now with Entropic or OpenAI, but nevertheless can be quite damaging. So I think we really need to look across the market at even less powerful models that are one year behind and do a comprehensive risk assessment of what is already possible with existing technologies.

I think from a technical point of view, the international scientific community in A.I. already has a very good understanding of what's needed, and those measures could be put in place, especially as with the latest cyberattacks. Some of the issues were caused by a lack of very basic testing hygiene. SANDOVAL: Let's expand on that too, Professor. What are some of the

attainable safety mechanisms you think that A.I. companies should develop and deploy to reduce getting potential risk?

[03:10:05]

SIMPERL: See, there's a range of measures. None of them would work on its own, but it's an approach that is working in public health and aviation. It's a so-called defense in depth model.

And in fact, the international A.I. safety report that was released earlier this year discusses this at length. So you don't necessarily need governments to convene the industry together. Companies could come together and they could set testing requirements before release.

Independent, permanent third-party evaluation and auditing rather than self-reporting is really important. Mandatory standardized reporting of safety incidents like we have in other critical industries. And then, as I was saying, basic testing hygiene.

And the cyber attacks we've seen lately could have been prevented with just existing engineering practice. As I said, none of them would work alone, but companies and governments both need to understand what is possible with current models. And all of them need to understand that they need to invest in cyber defenses because we will see more of these attacks happening over time.

SANDOVAL: Yes, the more experts we hear from, I'm getting a sense that it's about the pacing of development versus an all-out pause. Elena Simperl, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much for all this valuable insight in that context.

SIMPERL: Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: It's our pleasure.

SIMPERL: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Right on to that security scare now for former CIA Director David Petraeus and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday. Reports now indicating that a passenger train was struck by Russian drones. It happened near the country's border with Poland.

A Ukrainian railway company says that the train left the station earlier than expected. At that same station, it actually held trains that were occupied by Petraeus, Johnson, and various other officials. However, we have no reports of any injuries at this time.

Ukrainian railway saying that it is, quote, "quite likely that Russia may have deliberately targeted the trains carrying those diplomats." And with those reports, U.S. President Donald Trump also commented on Russia's war on Ukraine, the President calling on Ukraine to stop targeting Russian diesel supplies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: This is the last guess if you want. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. Let him go after targets but not diesel fuel because he's causing a shortage of diesel.

This isn't done by the Middle East. This is done by what's happening with Russia and Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: There's a major diplomatic push in the Gulf that is now on hold. Gulf diplomats and Iranian officials were supposed to meet on Monday in Oman without the U.S. at the table.

They were hoping to discuss a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But that meeting has now been postponed indefinitely, with Oman saying that more consensus is needed before proceeding. And this comes after months of private talks over a possible legal framework that could allow Iran and Oman to collect fees for vessels to pass through that critical waterway.

As for Iran's state media, it's now saying that an Iranian commercial vessel was struck in the Strait of Hormuz. We know of at least one death and several injuries. And the U.S. has not yet commented on the reported attack.

But it comes as Iran-backed Houthis are stepping up attacks near another key waterway, the Bab al-Mandab Strait. And that's leading to concerns that it could cause global oil prices to rise even further.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is following developments out of Abu Dhabi, joining me live. Paula, there's so many different moving parts in this.

You have the Iran-backed rebels that are, as we just mentioned, stepping up the attacks. There's the commercial vessel strike, and ultimately, all that pressure that is putting on oil markets.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Polo, if we start in the Strait of Hormuz, and this claim from Tehran that one of their commercial vessels was hit. Now, they say that this was near Qeshm Island, which is just off the port city of Bandar Abbas. It's a really key area for Tehran to be able to try and, as in their words, control the Strait of Hormuz.

So we understand from Iranian state media, one has been killed and four injured in this strike. U.S. Central Command has not commented on this at this point. But we have seen the U.S. Navy and the military targeting Iranian vessels over the past several months.

Now, this is part of their naval blockade, preventing any vessels from getting to Iranian ports, from being able to export Iranian oil. In fact, Central Command has said just in the past few days that some 100 vessels have been redirected.

[03:15:04] We saw just last week more than half a dozen vessels were struck. And one of them, in fact, sunk near the Strait of Hormuz. So this is an ongoing process and we can see exactly what it's doing to the price of oil.

If we bring those figures up for you, we can see Brent crude over $107 a barrel, WTI over $103 a barrel. Just last week, we had been seeing oil prices stabilizing somewhat.

But then given all the activity, we saw them head above $100 a barrel for the first time since July. They are well above that level now as concerns of exactly how the amount of oil needed for the global economy is going to get through the Strait of Hormuz.

And then, of course, you add to that further south into the Red Sea through the Suez Canal, really the gateway between Europe and Asia for these kind of commercial vessels. That is now looking more under threat from the Houthi rebels, who in the past few days have taken the port city of Mocha, Perim Island, which is a key area for Iran, who is obviously funding and arming the Houthi rebels to be able to take control of a second critical waterway. Polo.

SANDOVAL: CNN's Paula Hancocks joining us live from Abu Dhabi. As always, thank you so much for your reporting.

And coming up here on "CNN Newsroom," we'll be hearing from a survivor of Nepal's devastating glacier collapse. He spent nine days trapped in a tunnel before his dramatic rescue. Stay with us.

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[03:20:00]

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SANDOVAL: In Sweden's parliamentary elections, the country's center- left opposition bloc currently holding a narrow lead with ballot counting still underway.

Now, a partial count of Sweden's election districts has the bloc on course for a slim one-seat majority. And given the closeness of the vote, the overall winner may not be known for several days. In fact, the current Prime Minister and the head of the right-wing party governing bloc says that it remains an open question as to who will govern in the coming years.

At a rescue teams in Indonesia, they are racing to find dozens of people who are missing after a passenger ferry capsized in the Java Sea, killing at least six people. At least 108 people have been rescued so far, assisted by dozens of vessels, including four Navy ships, as well as two helicopters.

And the ferry set sail on Sunday with 243 people on board, 30 of them crew members. Authorities say that the captain had reported rough seas with waves of up to 10 feet before issuing a distress call. A rare survivor of Nepal's devastating glacier collapse last month,

mechanical foreman Sanjay Sah is finally returning home. You see him there being driven home.

Sah spent nine days trapped in a hydro tunnel before his dramatic rescue. After spending a week in a hospital, Sah has been reunited with his family in their home village, where he was able to reflect on his experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY SAH, NEPAL FLOOD SURVIVOR (through translator): In the tunnel, it was not just dark, but it was like a black hole. Even light would not have been able to pierce through. It was very dark.

It was not just darkness, but it was full of obstacles and hurdles, like sand, glass, snakes, animals, dead bodies washed in from outside. In that situation, my time in there was full of challenges.

I did not cry. There was no point in crying. I did not cry when I was inside, I stayed strong.

One should make the heart strong, motivate it and be positive. No matter what the situation, life is, after all, a struggle. We need to fight. We must never give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: It's great to see. There's still so much more ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," including another story of survival.

An American airman shot down behind enemy lines over Iran earlier this year. His harrowing tale of survival and rescue in a moment.

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[03:25:00]

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and these are today's top stories.

U.S. lawmakers divided along party lines over the use of the issue of keeping artificial intelligence safe. Warning from the CEO of industry giant Anthropic, he's calling for a slowdown on A.I. development to avoid the risk of a possible catastrophe brought on by the technology.

And the Ukrainian railways company says that a Ukrainian passenger train was hit by Russian drones over the weekend near the country's border with Poland. (inaudible) possible that the drones were aiming to hit other trains at the same station with former European officials and security personnel on board. However, no injuries have been reported so far.

Diplomacy to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has hit a setback, Oman says that a meeting between Iran and Gulf Arab states, it's been postponed, citing the need for consensus. The meeting was supposed to take place today, but without a critical player, the United States. Oman's foreign minister says that the country remains, quote, "committed to fostering dialogue that supports stability."

An American airman shot down in Iran is speaking publicly for the first time about his harrowing escape and rescue. In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," the weapons system officer identified only by his call sign, "Bravo," described the moment that his F-15 was hit in April. I want to show you a photo that was published by Iranian state media, which shows Bravo's damaged seat.

He says his parachute was damaged after the plane was hit and that the resulting fall broke his back, his arm, and his shoulder. He then evaded Iranian forces for about 50 hours, climbing a ridge despite his injuries before U.S. special operations forces got to him.

CBS's Nora O'Donnell asked U.S. military leaders about the extraordinary scale of this successful mission to bring him home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORAH O'DONNELL, "60 MINUTES" CORRESPONDENT: And how many special operators did that involve?

ADMIRAL BRAD COOPER, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: That second operation had about 92 people on the ground. This would be the first U.S. boots on the ground in 46 years.

O'DONNELL: In Iran?

COOPER: In Iran. We had about several hundred in the air, and there were probably 3000 to 5000 supporting overall. It was an operation inside an operation.

O'DONNELL: So in order to get out one, there were close to a hundred other service members involved in risking their lives on the ground.

GEN. DAN CAINE, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Norah, I think what you need to know is we would have sent more to go get the back seater.

"BRAVO", RESCUED WEAPONS SYSTEMS OFFICER: I don't know the specifics of what they sent, but I'm glad they sent it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And then there's this.

Multiple sources familiar with the matter are telling CNN that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as political appointees, that they pushed for both Bravo and the pilot to take part in an interview, despite reservations within the military. The pilot ultimately declined, and the Pentagon has denied our reporting, saying that participation was each airman's decision.

[03:30:06] With me now is CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, it's always good to see you.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's good to be with you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: It was an incredible account of what was truly a successful mission, but it was fascinating to hear, Colonel, this firsthand account of how this all went down. In your view, did listening directly from this service member help answer any questions that you have had the last several months since this happened?

LEIGHTON: It was great to see Dude 44, "Bravo," as his call sign is known as, talk about his experiences. It was kind of a textbook case of how to conduct a rescue. Of course, we're looking at it from the perspective of the air crew member who's being rescued.

That in and of itself is instructive, because most of the time, we don't get to hear that in public. So I think this part was really worthwhile, the fact that he talked as freely as he felt he could about the events. He clearly had to overcome a significant amount of obstacles, both physical injuries, having broken his back and his arm and a few other bones.

That, of course, has to be something that you live with significant pain, and then scaling a 7000-foot ridge with that, that's over 2100 meters. That is something that is, I think, really an incredible story.

Then it also shows how much the U.S. military values getting its people back. That, I think, was also a good news story from that particular angle.

SANDOVAL: The weapons systems officer, he did speak on camera. He showed his face, which was interesting, but his name was excluded.

You mentioned his callsign, the name excluded from the report, CBS citing security threats from Iran. Would you read into that, Colonel? What type of threats do you think the service member faces, especially now that he has now essentially sat in front of the camera and the whole world knows what he looks like?

LEIGHTON: That's the thing that was most surprising to me when it came to the actual interview, because I didn't expect to see him in full face. That, I think, was significant.

Now, as far as the threats go that he may be facing, the Iranians have been pretty good at singling individual people out. They go after journalists, they go after certain other members of not just the media, but people who are in the public sphere and who talk about the Iran war. So there is a risk that he could be exposed to those kinds of things.

SANDOVAL: This is so rare to hear directly from somebody who was directly involved, to be authorized to speak publicly about all this. The chief Pentagon spokesperson did tell CNN that the decision to participate in the interview was each pilot's alone. Presumably, he did it on his own will.

But are there any pros, perhaps, for the Pentagon in allowing these service members to publicly share this account, you think, especially in a conflict that is deeply unpopular right now?

LEIGHTON: Yes, I think one of the things that the Pentagon probably considered, Polo, was the idea that we needed to see somebody who had achieved a degree of mission success, and that was under very adverse conditions. In this particular case, you had a situation where you had an air crew member, the weapons systems officer, go out and really tell the story of how the professionals in the combat search and rescue community actually come together now.

This is a very different situation than what we had back in 1980 during what was known as Operation Eagle Claw, which was the attempt, the abortive attempt, to rescue the hostages who had been taken by the Iranian students at the Tehran U.S. Embassy. So this is a completely different story and certainly a success as compared to the failure that happened there, because there we lost service members.

SANDOVAL: It was remarkable and certainly a success. Retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, it's always a pleasure. Thank you so much for your time.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Polo. Thanks so much for having me.

And there is still much more ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," including concerns about rising oil and gasoline prices following President Trump on his trip to Ireland. What he's saying about when prices may come down. Just ahead.

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[03:35:00]

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and here are your business headlines.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says that President Trump will be needing approval of Congress to make good on a $5,000 payout to Americans, but he's not promising it'll happen. President Trump promised money to Americans if Republicans can maintain control of Congress after the midterms. But Johnson tells CNN, quote, "we'd have to figure all that out."

President Trump says that he'll be lifting all tariffs on Irish whiskey, he made that announcement on Sunday at the end of his visit to Ireland while picking the trophy at Golf's Irish Open. Irish whiskey had been facing a 10 percent tariff. The president removed similar tariffs on British whiskey after meeting with King Charles and Queen Camilla back in April.

President Trump believes that building or reopening more U.S. refineries could help bring down the cost of gasoline prices. He recently pressed oil executives at the White House to make that push, but experts say that won't offer relief anytime soon. New refineries take years and billions of dollars' worth of investments to build, and it would take a long time to produce the gasoline and diesel that's needed to alleviate current prices.

CNN's Jen Sullivan has more on the rising gasoline prices in the United States and what President Trump had to say about it this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): President Donald Trump wrapping up his two-day visit to Ireland Sunday. The purpose of his trip was to attend the Irish Open, which was hosted at one of his properties.

While it wasn't an official state visit, he did meet with the Irish officials, including the President of Ireland and the Taoiseach. Trump also answered questions from reporters Sunday where he was asked about the war with Iran.

TRUMP: It could end before the midterms, but it will end after the midterms.

Iran wants to make a deal so bad. They are calling constantly. They want to make a deal.

[03:40:01]

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Trump's visit attracted thousands of protesters across Ireland opposing the war and supporting Palestinian rights, among other issues.

As the war with Iran stretches past six months, oil prices across the globe are sky high. But Trump dismissed concerns about rising prices.

TRUMP: Gasoline is going to drop like a rock.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): In the last week, regular gas has jumped $0.16. As of Sunday, gas cost an average of $4.31 a gallon, according to AAA.

SEN. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): Right now, the American public is hurting. Food is expensive, gas is expensive, buying a piece of property is expensive, cars are expensive.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Even more concerning is the price of diesel at $6.20 a gallon. When it costs companies more to transport goods, the difference often falls on consumers.

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AND ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: You've probably already seen those higher gas prices. That in turn means that inflation is very likely to be again higher next month.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Some experts worry oil prices could top $120 per barrel by the year if fighting in the Middle East continues. I'm Jen Sullivan reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: For our international viewers, "World Sport" is next, and for those of you watching here in North America, I'll be right back with you and more of your headlines on "CNN Newsroom."

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[03:45:00]

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SANDOVAL: The first hint of fall is spreading across parts of the Midwest and the Mideast as well this week. A blast of cool, dry air has sent temperatures dropping into the 50s and 40s overnight, specifically in Chicago, Detroit and other parts of the Midwest.

And by Monday evening, those cold temperatures are expected to make their way here to New York City as well as Boston and Providence. Daytime temperatures are expected to largely stay in the mid-70s through Wednesday.

Unfortunately, not ideal weather in other parts of the country though. Heavy rain left streets flooded and cars submerged in Westport, Connecticut on Sunday. Emergency crews say that they responded to a series of calls involving stranded drivers as roads became impassable, flash flood warnings were declared in the southern portions of Connecticut as well as Rhode Island and in Massachusetts.

And the Atlantic hurricane season is breaking records, but not for the reasons you may think. CNN meteorologist Melissa Nord breaks down what's preventing tropical systems from achieving hurricane status.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA NORD, CNN METEOROLOGIST: September 10th is the peak of hurricane season. We usually see a lot of activity in the Atlantic here in mid-September, but this year we have not and are not seeing much activity either.

We've had five named storms, most of those short-lived tropical storms on the northern Gulf Coast, but yet to see any of those reach hurricane criteria. So this is now the latest ever that we've seen a hurricane form in the Atlantic Ocean Basin since the start of the satellite era back in the 1960s.

The main culprit and reason why is this El Nino, which continues to intensify. That's the difference from normal of how warm those ocean temperatures are near the equator in the Pacific. And you think, why does the Pacific Ocean have to do with Atlantic hurricane season?

Well, we end up seeing more wind shear when we have an El Nino present. So more wind shear disrupts circulations of those tropical systems trying to get going, so we see less of them form in the first place, less of them intensifying into hurricanes with it disrupting their circulation.

So the map, no tropical activity expected the next week, and we will likely see that continuing for longer with the presence of wind shear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Melissa.

And extreme weather due to the El Nino weather pattern is hitting a South Korean soft coral habitat. Many corals are slumping over and eventually dying. CNN's Gage Goulding takes us beneath the waves for more.

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GAGE GOULDING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As divers explore along a South Korean island, they're alarmed at what they see below the water, slumping coral. A group of divers say many corals are collapsing as climate change pushes up water temperatures and contributes to intense weather events.

KO MYEONG-HYO, SOUTH KOREAN "HAENYEO" FREE-DIVER AND PARAN OCEAN CITIZEN SCIENCE CENTER ACTIVIST (through translator): Today, the outdoor air temperature is a bit high, and when I went underwater, even in the deep area, so many corals are lying collapsed.

GOULDING (voice-over): Off the coast of Jeju Island, the UNESCO listed habitat is made up of soft coral. Unlike hard corals, which have stony skeletons and form reefs, soft corals are bendable and flow with the currents.

They stay upright through fluid pressure, but if the environment changes, they can sag or collapse. This puts clusters of coral at risk of dying.

YOON SANGHOON, ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERT ADVISER AT PARAN OCEAN CITIZEN SCIENCE CENTER (through translator): If a super El Nino comes, it will naturally raise water temperatures in the seas around Jeju, and we're witnessing these high temperatures now having a nearly devastating impact on the ecosystem there.

GOULDING (voice-over): A record heat wave hit the Korean peninsula this summer. While the South suffered heavy rains, researchers say weather conditions such as these are potential triggers for soft coral slumping. The researchers say the dying coral has widespread effects.

YOON (through translator): If this foundational ecosystem collapses, there is a very high possibility that the entire marine ecosystem could collapse as well. The warmer waters have also caused fishers' catch to decline.

GOULDING (voice-over): A local fisher says the water has become too hot for species to spawn, and her typical five-hour workday has dwindled to just three hours, partially because there's less to catch.

KO (through translator): That place, the coral habitat in Jeju Sea, is so beautiful and has been a source of comfort in my life. Watching it collapse like that, turning white, I was so bewildered and felt afraid, wondering, is the sea now completely collapsing?

GOULDING (voice-over): Gage Goulding, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And joining me in the next hour, we'll have a conversation about these coral concerns with a researcher.

But first, television's biggest shows and performers, they will be vying for the industry's highest honors tonight at the Primetime Emmy Awards. CNN's entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister breaks down this year's top contenders and also the categories that could bring some surprising results.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: T.V.'s biggest night is being hosted by one of TV's biggest stars. Mariska Hargitay from "Law & Order" is the host for this year's Emmys.

Now, it's going to be a showdown between some of television's biggest series. "The Pit" leads all nominations with 25 nominations going into the night, "Hacks" not far behind with 24. But let's first talk about "The Pit," which is expected to dominate in the drama categories.

"The Pit" won for best drama last year, and it's expected to win in that category again, as well as its star, Noah Wiley, who, of course, Emmy voters have known and loved since his days on "E.R."

Now, in his next medical drama, "The Pit", he won for best actor in a drama last year, likely is going to win again. His co-star, Catherine Lanossa, who won last year in her category, is also expected to win on Monday night.

Now, when we go over to the comedy category, here's where we could get some more surprises. "Hacks" has the most comedy nominations with 24, and this is "Hacks"' fifth and final season. Typically, Emmy voters will award shows that are saying farewell with their final season. But this year, Apple's show, "Widow's Bay," has been a late-in-the-game hit, drawing a ton of fans both online, but also becoming a huge critical darling.

So, "Widow's Bay" could beat Hacks in the big comedy category, but Jean Smart is expected to take her fifth and final trophy for "Hacks" in her category. Now, fun fact, if Jean Smart wins, she will make Emmy history. She will become the only woman to ever win for every single season of the same show.

So, a lot to come. I will be on the red carpet, and I'll be backstage interviewing the winners all night, so make sure to stick along with us for all of our Emmys coverage. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: We'll be following your coverage.

Germany's Alexander Zverev winning the U.S. Open Men's Singles Championship, this caps his breakthrough year with a second Grand Slam title. The top seed defeated American Ben Shelton in four sets, regaining control after Shelton rallied to take the third. Zverev then dominated the fourth, denying Shelton a comeback in his first Grand Slam final appearance.

And Shelton's loss disappointed a home crowd here in New York who were hoping to see an American man win a Grand Slam title for the first time in 23 years. The victory also marks a full circle moment for Zverev, who let a two-set lead slip away during his first U.S. Open final six years ago.

CNN World Sport's Patrick Snell caught up with the winner courtside after the win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, many congratulations. You are holding a magnificent piece of silverware, but let's start with the moment you clinched it.

You appeared to not initially realize you'd won the title. What was going through your mind at that moment?

ALEX ZVEREV, 2026 U.S. OPEN MEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION: I thought it was 5-1.

I thought it was 5-1 instead of 6-2, so I thought I had one more game left, so I was quite focused. I was quite calm, but then I was luckily on the side of my team and they're all screaming that it's over, so I'm very happy that it was.

SNELL: They confirmed it for you.

ZVEREV: Yes, they confirmed it for me.

SNELL: What a moment that was. What a year it's been for you, Sascha.

You win the French Open, now the U.S. Open. At the start of the year, though, would you ever have dreamt it possible that you would go on to win not just one, but two Grand Slam singles titles?

ZVEREV: Yes, of course. That's what you work for, but definitely if you would have given me a paper at the beginning of the season for one Grand Slam title, I would have signed it. That's for sure, but standing here is absolutely amazing and I couldn't be happier.

SNELL: You've spoken before about the scar tissue over the years, the doubts that creep in. Would you ever win a Grand Slam singles title, a major? How do you reflect back on that now and how high is the bar moving forward?

ZVEREV: Yes, it's funny. The scar tissue started here six years ago. I definitely had tough moments, especially I think in Paris. I had a

lot of stress in me, but here I was just enjoying my time on the court because I won in Paris already, so it was much more enjoyable. I had a lot of fun on the court and I'm definitely happy with how I played.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And the ninth annual U.S. Open Adaptive Surfing Championships took place in California this weekend. Jenny Day reports on how some competitors were able to transition from wheelchairs to surfboards.

[03:55:03]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNKNOWN: There's people that are fully blind that are charging full sending on six-foot waves, eight-foot waves, and there's people that are fully paralyzed, partially paralyzed.

UNKNOWN: They belong in this community and they're competing and it's life-changing. It's transformational.

UNKNOWN: Surfing has brought them internal tranquility.

JENNY DAY, JOURNALIST (voice-over): Athletes from around the world competing for the top spot.

REDMOND RAMOS, 9/11 SURVIVOR AND SURFER: What's dad's favorite thing to do?

UNKNOWN: Surf.

RAMOS: Surf. What's your favorite thing to do?

UNKNOWN: Surf.

RAMOS: Yes.

DAY (voice-over): Redmond Ramos is a dad, surfer, and veteran who served post 9/11.

RAMOS: What happened to my leg?

UNKNOWN: You stepped on a bomb.

RAMOS: Yes, I stepped on a bomb. I used to be a corpsman or like a navy medic. I served with Marines for a little over five years.

DAY (voice-over): Even though he lost his leg, it hasn't stopped him or any of his fellow competitors.

RAMOS: When I'm in there, I feel happy, I feel fulfilled, and surfing is the biggest challenge I've ever had in my life.

DAY (voice-over): There are different divisions depending on disability, but all of these athletes say they've benefited from the sheer power of the ocean after their injury.

UNKNOWN: So when people are in deep depressions, we don't feel or think about a future, and that was a shift for them too.

DAY (voice-over): Adaptive surfing has become her life's work. Dr. Mo teaches occupational therapy at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in San Marcos. All of these volunteers are her students.

UNKNOWN: Our students are here learning how to do goniometry and strength testing, and then here they are working with the athletes going, oh my gosh, it's a classroom in the ocean.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Each one of them an inspiration.

Thank you so much for watching. I'm Polo Sandoval. I'll be right back with you with more "CNN Newsroom" after a short break.

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