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CNN This Morning

Houthis Say They Attacked "Sensitive" Sites In Saudi Capital; Moscow Hit By Major Drone Assault, Two People Killed; Ed Sheeran Holds First Show Since Macklemore Dropped From Tour; Lawsuit Accesses AI Giants Of Illegal Development Slowdown; Four Killed In U.S. Strike On Alleged Drug Boat In The Caribbean; U.S. Announces New Deal With Denmark Over Greenland; Gemini Hacked 3 Companies In First Known Breakout By Google's AI; CNN, MS NOW & Politico Denied White House Access After Trump's Ban. GOP Rep. Salazar Breaks with Trump in Ad; Tyler Perry Says He'll Never Get Married; Heavy Rain Brings Flood Threat to the Midwest, Northeast. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired September 20, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:01:05]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Welcome back to CNN This Morning. Here's what you need to know today, these growing concerns about the conflict in the Middle East as the Houthi claimed have attacked Saudi Arabia's capital. We're live in the Gulf region with more for you.

Ed Sheeran, he returned to the stage last night after a week of drama surrounding his tour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SHEERAN, POP SINGER: This has put me in the middle of an important, passionate argument about freedom of speech, the most complex political issue on the planet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Hear what else he had to say about the Israel-Hamas war and his uncertainty about what to expect from fans. Also, we're following a developing story out of Russia. Ukraine launched the largest drone attack of the war, and they struck an oil refinery. We have the latest on that coming up.

Plus, we're about six weeks away from Election Day, so why are some Republican candidates backing away from President Trump? All coming up this hour on CNN This Morning.

Brand new day, brand new week, Sunday, September 20th. I'm glad you're starting it with me. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Let's get started, and we're starting this hour with tensions escalating in the Middle East. The Iran-backed Houthis are claiming they attacked sensitive sites in Saudi Arabia's capital and elsewhere. You can see here the large black plume of smoke close to the Riyadh airport yesterday. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis says that it has intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis and stopped other attacks across the country.

Let's bring in now Paula Hancocks. Paula, what do we know?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, we heard from the Houthis that they carried out a number of missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia. They say a sensitive site in the capital. They also say an oil facility just along the Red Sea was targeted as well. They say that they believe that those strikes were successful.

Now, we haven't had an official acknowledgement from the kingdom as to what has been hit. We do see video, though, of a thick black plume of smoke that was rising just near the capital's main airport. It's unclear if the two are connected at this point.

But this is another escalation that we are seeing between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis as that Iran-backed, Iran-funded and equipped militia group is advancing in Yemen. They're managing to take more territory along the West Coast next to the key Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical waterway for commercial shipping and a waterway that Saudi Arabia was using to export its oil given the fact there are so many issues further north in the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, at the same time, we also heard a number of alerts from the U.S. State Department. U.S. embassies around the region, most of the Gulf nations, also Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, warned its citizens that they needed to have caution if they live in the Middle East, saying, "The security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation."

Now, they do from time to time update these alerts, and we have heard a number of them over the past six months, certainly. But this was the first time that they had mentioned the Houthis within this alert as well. So it really shows that this second front in the war on Iran is really taking precedent at this point. This appears to be the most significant development over this weekend that we have seen in the ongoing hostilities. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Paula Hancocks from Abu Dhabi, thanks so much.

In Russia, at least two people are dead after Moscow came under a massive drone attack. Russian officials say Ukraine launched more than 450 drones toward the capital. They say it was part of a much larger attack and managed to shoot down more than 1,600 drones. Some still got through. Authorities say drones reached a refinery and struck a residential building.

[07:05:21]

An emotional Ed Sheeran returned to the stage for the first time since rapper Macklemore was dropped from his tour over pro-Palestinian comments and all of Sheeran's opening acts quit in a show of support for Macklemore. Sheeran stood alone on stage in Philadelphia last night, and he apologized to his fans for his mistakes.

He also said that he never wanted to be an activist musician, but now he felt that he needed to speak out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEERAN: I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind, because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division. About humanity, not politics.

(APPLAUSE)

SHEERAN: But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel and in the Nova music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.

My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians' lives, of children's lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Jenn Sullivan has more on the controversy over free speech in Israel and Gaza that has engulfed his tour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENN SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): A clash between pop culture and politics, overshadowing Ed Sheeran's loop tour. Saturday, Sheeran taking the stage for the first time following the fallout from his show on September 5th in New Jersey where Rapper Macklemore opened the show with comments on stage showing support for Palestinians.

MACKLEMORE, RAPPER: I wanted to stand up here on stages and stadiums across America and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart -- free Palestine.

SULLIVAN: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft threatened to bar Sheeran's shows this weekend from a stadium he owns in Massachusetts if Macklemore wasn't removed from the lineup. Kraft releasing a statement earlier this week saying, quote, "Gillette Stadium has a long-standing commitment to providing a welcoming environment, not providing a platform for hate speech."

Saturday's performance in Philadelphia attracting protesters who supported Macklemore and Palestinians.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free, free Palestine!

CROWN: Free, free Palestine!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Macklemore is going to be silenced, if Macklemore won't be able to say free Palestine on stage, the city of Philadelphia is going to show up to advocate for the Palestinian people. SULLIVAN (voice-over): Sheeran has said he was not responsible for the decision. Yet ticket sales were down ahead of Saturday's show. The price tracking site TicketData notes while it is normal for many concert resale ticket prices to drop closer to the show date, resale for Saturday's Sheeran show falling by a notable amount.

KEITH PAGELLO, TICKETDATA FOUNDER: Over the past 24 hours, the gain price, which is the price of the cheapest tickets, which is kind of the best marker for demand for the event for this show, has gone down 50 percent since Monday.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Macklemore said he was donating $1 million to support Palestinian relief efforts. Kraft and Sheeran have each agreed to donate $2 million, but have not specified where the money will be directed.

I'm Jenn Sullivan reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, headlines for you now, several AI companies are facing a federal lawsuit that accuses them of working to slow down their own technology. The suit was filed by four people who pay for AI subscriptions on behalf of a proposed nationwide class.

Now, the suit targets Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and SpaceXAI. It claims that the companies violated antitrust laws by coordinating efforts to slow the pace of AI development in the name of safety.

Plaintiffs argue that reduced competition could limit the value customers get from paid subscriptions. The lawsuit points to public statements made earlier this month by executives at those four companies that support a proposal for industry wide cooperation on slowing down advances.

At least four people are dead after the U.S. military says it carried out a strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean. U.S. Southern Command says the boat was traveling along a known drug smuggling route and was targeted after intelligence linked it to narcotics trafficking. The military says its anti-drug campaign has destroyed at least 80 vessels and killed at least 234 people.

President Trump wanted Greenland. Now, months after talk of a takeover, there's a new deal involving U.S. troops. Ahead, we'll get into why some people there are relieved and questions are left unanswered.

[07:10:09]

Also, a fight over press freedom in the U.S. after several reporters and outlets are barred from the White House. How other news organizations are reacting?

Plus, one image, millions of views, and a growing controversy that forced a major brand to move into damage control. The ads so many people are talking about that's coming up after the break. And as we head to break, a live look at some salmon fishing here in Pulaski, New York. Good morning to the anglers there. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:24]

BLACKWELL: Well, President Trump alarmed NATO at the start of his administration by threatening to take over Greenland. Well, now the President says the U.S. has a new security deal that places more American troops on the island without compromising Denmark's sovereignty.

Melissa Bell has more on what we know about the agreement and how the locals are responding.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Greenland is once again in the global spotlight after President Donald Trump said the U.S. had reached a new security deal with Denmark and Greenland that involves the U.S. military presence on the strategic Arctic island. Details of the agreement are still unclear.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need Greenland --

BELL (voice-over): But it appears to fall short of Trump's aggressive threat to take over Greenland. But Denmark and Greenland say the deal won't compromise Greenland's sovereignty and some locals say they're relieved by that.

GORM DUPONT, NUUK RESIDENT: To be honest, I have never thought that they will take over Greenland. I think it's just a play, a political play they do to put some focus on Greenland.

JAKOB LUDVIGSEN, NUUK RESIDENT (through translation): It's been such a stupid thing that Trump wanted to take over Greenland. It's a crazy way of thinking for Greenlanders.

BELL (voice-over): Many Greenlanders say they felt on edge after months of strong rhetoric from Trump about buying or seizing their homeland, which is a semi-autonomous Danish territory. And even though there is a sense the agreement could cool some tensions, there are questions about how it differs from a 1951 pact that already allowed the U.S. to expand its military footprint in Greenland. Some residents say they're still wary of the U.S. but recognize the need for stronger defense.

MARIANNE HANSEN, NUUK RESIDENT (through translation): If I can say it like that, I don't mind that Denmark and the U.S. want to protect us and our enormous seas.

BELL (voice-over): In recent years, countries like Russia and China have rapidly deepened their presence in the Arctic. And according to Trump, under the agreement, no U.S. adversary will be allowed to have a base on Greenland without written U.S. approval. NATO says the deal is a major win for regional stability.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a lot of stuff going on there from the military point of view. We have the Arctic sentry activity, which is a huge commitment for NATO on that. I mean, just consider NATO has three flanks to be -- to take care of. It's the north flank, the east flank and also the south flank. So this is our 360 degrees. And the Arctic northern flank is part of our patrolling activities.

The agreement is expected to be signed by the U.S., Greenland and Denmark this week, with Denmark's foreign minister signaling there could be a good outcome ahead. Even on the streets of Copenhagen, there is optimism that more peaceful relations will prevail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be more quiet now. And I think that the United States is probably going to get what they could have had the whole time if they just asked nicely. So, in that sense, I think it's going to be nice.

BELL (voice-over): Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Also this morning, an escalating fight over the First Amendment and press freedom. CNN, MS NOW and Politico are all planning to take legal action after their journalists were barred from the White House because of a ban by President Trump. The President didn't say specifically why. He just complained about what he calls fake news, which is actually news he doesn't like. His description for unfavorable coverage. Experts say the move is unconstitutional.

So an AI force and AI czar are coming. President Trump says both are in the works. The new plan as the battle over the future of artificial intelligence moves forward. We have that story and so much more in this morning's roundup.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:23:44]

BLACKWELL: Well, we can now add Gemini to the list of AI programs that have carried out hacks on their own. Google's model hacked other companies during a test of its cybersecurity capabilities. This happened in May, and this is the first known instance of Gemini committing this autonomous hacking.

During testing, Gemini found public information online, guessed the login credentials to access three websites it thought were -- was within the scope of the test. In all three instances, the model then stopped the hacking on its own.

Let's start with this this morning. Joining me now for the morning roundup, Jason "Jah" Lee, senior editor at Bossip, Attorney Madeleine Simmons and Senior Editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's UATL, Ernie Suggs. Welcome, everybody.

ERNIE SUGGS, SENIOR EDITOR, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION'S UATL: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: All right. So, Jah, let me start with you on this, because the President now says that any concerns about AI are akin to the hoaxes of climate change. And his two impeachments, all of which were real. And he's creating this AI force, this AI czar. But he doesn't want AI to slow down at all. So what should we expect out of that?

JASON "JAH" LEE, SENIOR EDITOR, "BOSSIP": This story left me with a lot more questions if the AI, let's say it was autonomously curious about what its protocol is and how far it can go. After it's discovered that it hacked these systems and it's told not to do that anymore, how do we know that it won't become curious again and repeat the same steps?

[07:25:15]

You know, I look at it like when you tell a child not to touch the hot stove or something like that, the first thing the child is going to do is go touch the stove. And AI only knows what we teach it. So if they've worked with these companies to prevent this from happening again, how do we know that the AI won't look at that and say, well, let me just see.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Especially when we heard from the Hugging Face hack where different elements were then conspiring against one another and sacrificing themselves for a collective goal. On the question of AI, Ernie, the President has a poll on social media now where he's asking people, because he thinks artificial intelligence is the wrong name for this --

SUGGS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- to come up with something more elegant. And his options are superior intelligence, extreme intelligence or supreme intelligence. This is cosmetic. What are we expecting from AI force if this is the interest?

SUGGS: It's the same thing we're expecting from Space Force. I think this is, you know, this is just kind of a distraction that Trump has come up with because he does not want to change the way it's going. And experts have been talking about this for years that, you know, AI is built on data. It's learning from data. It's learning from what it is.

And experts have been saying for years that this is going to happen. Now we're kind of off the rails and we're watching it in real time. So with this new force that he started, who knows what it's going to come up with. And giving it new names is not going to change the fact that what's going on.

BLACKWELL: Ernie, let me stay with you for this next one.

SUGGS: OK.

BLACKWELL: The President and his ban on CNN, MS NOW, Politico.

SUGGS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: The journalists were not able to get in on Saturday for the first time under this ban. They're going to take legal action starting this week. Here's what the President said about this ban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative shares. Now, if they want to write them, that's fine. But I don't have to let them into my -- into the people's house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Quick correction at the end of that.

SUGGS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: What is the political payoff for him here? Because he knows what happened with the Jim Acosta band. It didn't last but a few days.

SUGGS: And the AP ban?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SUGGS: He's talking to his base. And, you know, I go into the newsroom every day and I know -- I understand what an attack on the -- our business is. And this is an attack on our business. This is an attack on the First Amendment.

You know, and basically the whole concept of fake news is news that he does not like. You know, I come on here on CNN stage once a month or whenever you invite me. And it's just amazing how the President and the Trump administration has kind of defined what you're doing, what MS NOW is doing, what Politico is doing as fake news because it's news that he doesn't like.

And when you're attacking the news, when you're attacking newsrooms, when you're attacking reporters like Jim and whoever, you are attacking the First Amendment and you are not allowing the people to understand what you are doing. And that's just as important here at CNN or MS NOW or Politico as it is for someone who's covering the school board --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SUGGS: -- or covering City Hall. We need to know. We need to ask questions for the people. And he does not want us to do that.

BLACKWELL: Legality clear here?

MADELEINE SIMMONS, ATTORNEY: Oh, it's absolutely clear. Like you mentioned the case with Jim. There the court looked at his Fifth Amendment due process rights because it was specific to one individual reporter. Here it's just blanketed three news stations. And as we know that if you are inviting other news stations in to cover the news, you can't discriminate against the news stations that you don't like. Like you said, what they're saying about you, which is just reporting the real news. So this is a First Amendment violation. Slam dunk, period.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about the Republicans who seem to be creating some distance between themselves and the White House. President Trump says, pretend I'm on the ticket. This is about me. Released a three minute glossy video about the administration.

There wasn't a member of Congress in it. It was his White House, right? So we heard most high profile this week was from Maria Salazar, South Florida, who says that his immigration efforts have gone too far. Here's the response from the President on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And she's a nice person. I got her elected. Without me, she wouldn't have gotten elected. Maria won only because of me.

So she got a little bit softer on the border. I understand that. I understand that. But I just don't happen to be there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: I mean, that seems to be, considering what the President said about other Republicans, a bit of a light touch.

SUGGS: He's -- yes. Maybe this is a new Trump. Maybe this is a Trump. But basically, it's very difficult. It's going to be very difficult for the GOP, especially if you're running in a tight situation in a tight state to align yourself with an unpopular President who's a lame duck as well.

Gas prices are up. Diesel prices are up. Shipping is up. So it's going to be difficult for me to -- for me as a GOP, as a Republican to say, hey, I want to be in -- I don't want to say in bed, but I want to be next to this guy as I'm campaigning in a tough race.

BLACKWELL: But even as they start here with just a couple of weeks left, is it too late? I mean, if you want to create this distance now, we're almost through, you know, 18 months of this now.

JASON "JAH" LEE, SENIOR EDITOR, "BOSSIP": Yes. It seems like they are doing their best to kind of grasp it, whatever straws they feel like might be available to them to eke out a win. But I think it's come to a point now where they realize that the winning an election has to be prioritized over whatever the MAGA agenda is. And the only way to get that done is to try to make some daylight.

SUGGS: And maybe they're just finally realizing that.

BLACKWELL: Yes. MADELEINE SIMMONS, ATTORNEY: Well, I think that we saw that in the primaries. A lot of folks that won in the primaries were the ones that were already trying to distance themselves from the Trump administration, as far as on the GOP ticket, because this, you know, groceries being too high, gas being too high, inflation is not new. It's been going on since, you know, these folks declared that they were going to be running in these Republican primaries.

BLACKWELL: Everybody stay with us. We got a lot to talk about. Coming up, a sneaker ad that's drawing some big backlash online. Some people have called it racist. We'll show you that controversial Converse ad.

And if you're heading out, remember, you can stream our show from anywhere in the U.S., right from the CNN app. You can also go to cnn.com/watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:00]

BLACKWELL: Converse has removed now an ad campaign for its new Chuck 70 sneakers. After some say it evoked KKK imagery. The roundup panel is back with me now. All right. So, this is a Chuck 70 X, Jah, and the imagery reminded people of, of lynching. And so, here is that ad. What did you see, Jah?

LEE: Well, I got to be honest with you. I pride myself on having my corporate shenanigans meter turned up pretty high. When I first saw this, I didn't see it at all. I saw the outrage. I saw people angry about it and I had to actually look into the comments and the replies to see what it was that people were seeing. Then when I saw the, the lights kind of shaped in a pointy hood and the feed thing, I said, OK, but I didn't really see that -- it didn't jump out at me in the way that it's jumping out at a lot of people, but I'm also not one to shoot bail to a corporation.

We know that these things go through a significant vetting process. It touches a lot of hands and sees a lot of eyes before it goes live. So, this is a landmine that could have been avoided. If someone had just been able to say, hey, this maybe could be this. And we avoid this whole thing.

SUGGS: But one -- very quickly, I'm wondering how many eyes actually saw it.

LEE: That's true.

SUGGS: Because how many black eyes saw it? How many people of color saw it? Because as soon as I saw it, I know that, I don't know if my race racial media is higher, but as soon as I saw it, I thought about what that sanctuary, which is amazing exhibit about lynching postcards. And this is exactly what that looks like.

SIMMONS: And see, it, it popped right out to me as well. And what I thought was, um, you know, the eyes that are looking at this may be eyes that haven't been educated on this kind of content because there's not that obligation in public schools to teach on some of this historical, you know, background. So, I had a similar thought. It popped out right to me. And then I thought, well, if it's a -- you know, a room full of 18-year-old, 20-year-olds right out of school or whatever it might be, um, they may not even know the background and the historical significance.

BLACKWELL: That's the important thing. I'm glad you've said it. Because you don't have to be black to see it, right. Some people see it and let's put it back up for people don't know what we're talking about. The concern from people online was, is that the, the hand holding the shoes looks like legs dangling. And the way the light is cast on this white dress looks like a KKK hood right next to it.

Converse owned by Nike released a statement to CNN. They said, we're sorry. We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong. We removed it from our channels and we're working to remove it everywhere it appeared. This should not have happened and we will do better.

All right. We've got other topics to hit. I acknowledge that the transition from that story to any other is going to be cumbersome, but we're going to move on. So, let's talk now about, we heard from Tyler Perry, his promotional tour for his new Netflix movie. Why did I get married again? And he says he's not getting married at all. Here's what he told Jennifer Hudson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER PERRY, FILMMAKER AND ACTOR: It's not the marriage that bothers me. It's the divorce. Everybody that I know that did well and went broke. It was because of a divorce. So, I'm good. Just being free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Madeline, you're telling me this man is not going to protect his money in the case of getting married.

SIMMONS: That's what I said. When I heard this, I said, come on anybody that is, you know, at his wealth level and his friends that I imagine are at his socioeconomic level are going to have a good attorney, maybe like myself, that's what I put down, with a very tight prenup. So, when there is, you know, unfortunately a divorce, they already know where the chips are going to fall. It is very clear. So, I thought it was interesting that he said that was the reason that he would like to stay free.

BLACKWELL: Well, we'll see. All right. So, let's talk about something that had us all talking to the commercial break.

[07:40:00]

If you're into the pumpkin spice latte boy Titan casket says pumpkin spice latte season does not have to end when you do they are now offering this, the pumpkin spice casket. It doesn't smell like pumpkin spice, but it is in the classic orange color. $15.99. Free shipping. LEE: I'm not going to hold you. I very much miss -- when I saw this in the lineup, I very much misread what this was about. I thought that it was like putting pumpkin spice to death, finally. I thought that was what was going on. And when I looked at, I said, oh, OK, it's like a -- it's almost like a Trump orange kind of color.

BLACKWELL: OK.

SIMMONS: These were the questions I had. If I'm going to be that basic girl that is into a PSL --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SIMMONS: -- and I'm going to do my getting ready with me for my PSL casket, does it come with the basic girl essentials? Do I get an ugg boot?

BLACKWELL: OK.

SIMMONS: Do I get a Gap jean jacket? Is there a 40-ounce Stanley tumbler?

BLACKWELL: Yes. You're thinking ahead.

SIMMONS: Because if I'm going to be that basic PSL girl, I need my essential.

BLACKWELL: You need the full package.

SIMMONS: I need the full package.

BLACKWELL: Yes. All right. So, here's something else. This is a bit of a surprise. You all didn't know it was coming. Anybody into candy corn?

SUGGS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: OK. Good.

SUGGS: I bought three bags yesterday.

BLACKWELL: Three bags. Well, you're about to have one more because Broch's makes roughly 7 billion of the candy kernels every year. And for the first year, they are making this. They sent this to us. This is the -- let's open up, the ode to candy corn. It is a new candy corn fragrance that you can smell like candy corn, tagline here, because fall should smell as good as it tastes.

So, let's open these up. This is on sale $22 starting on Tuesday at candycornseason.com. It's a limited-edition ode to parfum swirls together notes of creamy vanilla spun sugar and honey to capture the coziness of fall. This is very candy corn.

SUGGS: Can I try it?

BLACKWELL: Yes, go ahead and try it. SUGGS: Let's see. Oh, my goodness.

LEE: That is interesting. You know, the --

BLACKWELL: What a reaction.

LEE: Have you seen the viral guy who like sprays the cologne and --

BLACKWELL: Oh, then grabs by it the air.

LEE: And I feel like that's all you're supposed to do it instead.

BLACKWELL: I feel like that's all you're suppose to put on.

LEE: That's all you're supposed to put on.

BLACKWELL: Just grab a little bit and toss it on.

LEE: Just grab a little bit.

SIMMONS: I feel like this may be better suited to like plug into the wall.

BLACKWELL: Oh, yes, instead of wearing of it.

SIMMONS: Yes. You want to scent in your house. Maybe --

BLACKWELL: Well, I'm going to open my candy corn here. But yes, so this is the first year that they're doing this. They've been making candy corn since the 1920s.

LEE: I'm looking in the box and see if it comes with insulin or any type of --

BLACKWELL: No, no, no. Just the candy corn and the fragrance. But now that you've smelled it, candy corn fans, are you going to be wearing it or sharing it?

LEE: I think I'll share this.

BLACKWELL: OK.

LEE: This is a great thing to put in front of the house for someone to enjoy.

BLACKWELL: What? Tape?

LEE: Yes.

SIMMONS: Well, I will say that like the, you know, group of girls that are probably third, fourth grade to sixth grade are probably going to love this, right? They love all of those sweet scents. They sell them, you know, when you check out at Sephora. So, maybe Brach's needs to get with Sephora.

BLACKWELL: They might be doing that. All right. Candy -- SUGGS: It's not that bad.

BLACKWELL: It's just strong.

SUGGS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Candycornseason.com, 22 bucks. All right. Jah, Madeleine, Ernie, thank you.

LEE: Thank you.

SUGGS: Thank you.

SIMMONS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: The American Midwest not exactly famous for surfing, but in Wisconsin once it is given travelers reason to take a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW JAKUS, OWNER, EOS SURF SHOP: Surfing can be like whatever you want to be at that moment. You can have the moments of solitude. You can have the community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hundreds of miles from the ocean a small city on the edge of Wisconsin has built a surf culture that feels entirely at home in the Midwest. This is Sheboygan sometimes called the Malibu of the Midwest.

JAKUS: Sheboygan's kind of set up is this perfect little amphitheater for surf, right? We have our Harbor structure in the middle, right? That kind of jots out to the piers. Then you have almost two bays on the north and the south side, right? So, what that does is it creates little pockets to receive clean surf.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lake Michigan can go from glass to chop with little warning and locals make the most. Of the conditions even on smaller days for surfers that unpredictability is part of the appeal.

JAKUS: You're watching wind maps. You're watching pressure systems. You're watching all of these things creating a hypothesis of like, I believe that with these conditions if I go to this spot, I'm going to be able to surf well. I'm going to have a good surf and sometimes you totally score. Sometimes you're like, I'm glad I'm not a meteorologist by profession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As winter brings icy waters and biting winds, some here face the cold head-on as you keep going under more getting flush more.

[07:45:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You start to build like ice. It doesn't really stick to your face, but it like hangs off like my beard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Surf season runs September through March and well at crowded breaks around the world, a good wave is something to fight over. Here in Sheboygan, apparently there's room for everyone.

JAKUS: We're excited to see you, right? Normally, we wish there was more people with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BLACKWELL: Heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected across parts of the Midwest and the Northeast and there's a threat of flooding live pictures here of New York. Where the storms have already moved in.

[07:50:00]

CNN's Allison Chinchar is with me now. What are you watching?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: New York, Chicago, Cincinnati. Lots of places that could be looking at some very heavy showers at some point today. Again, you've already got some flood watches, warnings, even some flash flood warnings in effect for some of these areas. More are likely to join them as we go through the rest of the day, and these storms continue to spread off to the east.

So, here's where we have that line of showers right now. It's mostly light to moderate across areas of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but you've got some very heavy showers and thunderstorms across portions of West Virginia and then also this cluster that was making its way from Chicago over into Indiana and eventually into Ohio.

So, again, a lot of back-to-back showers with these areas. That's the concern. That's why you have the potential for flooding today. Some of these areas had rain yesterday. Now, we're adding more rain on top of it, and some of it is very heavy at times. You're going to get that ponding effect on roads and you're going to start to see it accumulating in some of these areas.

The greatest threat for flooding exists in this yellow region you see here across portions of the Midwest, the Ohio Valley. You do also have a portion in the northern plains where you could see some training storms that develop into some flooding, but this is just for today. When we fast forward into tomorrow, several of these areas get a little bit of a break from the heavy rain, but then we push forward into Tuesday and you'll notice areas of the Mid-Atlantic specifically getting back into another threat for some showers and thunderstorms. Again, some of which could be very heavy at times. So, here's a look through the remainder of the day today.

Again, you can see still some heavy showers across portions of the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest. That second round for areas of the northern plains begins to push in as we get into the latter half of the day today, especially through the evening hours. Again, here's a look at around 11:00 tonight. You've still got some showers across portions of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, even into Ohio. Then you go to Monday. Again, we get a little bit of a break. You don't really notice too much out there on the forecast, but then once we spread into Tuesday, then you start to see some more of it come back, especially D.C., Baltimore, areas like that that could see some additional flooding.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you, Allison. Revenge for Ole Miss after the coaching drama of last season carries into the first few weeks of the season. Carolyn Manno joins me now. They are fired up.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. They sure are. Week three of the college football season delivered plenty of chaos. Let's start with that high profile SEC clash between number eight Ole Miss and number seven LSU.

Lane Kiffin's much anticipated return to Oxford and everybody was ready. Ole Miss jumped out to a dominant 17-nothing lead. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss carving up LSU's defense early, connecting with Deuce Alexander with just seven seconds left in the half to put the Rebels up 24-7 at the break. But the Tigers stormed back in the second half. They reeled off 17 unanswered points, eventually tying things up at 24 early in the fourth quarter.

And with 6-14 left to play in the game, Chambliss faking a handoff, keeping the ball in a 14-yard run, and Ole Miss converted a two-point try to make it 32-24 as Ole Miss barely hangs on for the emotional win in Oxford.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANE KIFFIN, LSU HEAD COACH: A lot of emotions of gratefulness for this place and for the six years went well beyond football. And, you know, kind of first time coming into this type of game without my dad, it was a lot and it was really emotional, but it was not emotions maybe that I thought I would have felt from all the, you know, name calling and everything, we got off the bus and everything. It was much more, just a lot of gratitude for this place and the people that changed my life way bigger than winning a football game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Couple of shocking upsets as well. Unranked Kentucky went on the road to Kyle Field and pushed around Texas A&M, who a lot of people have high expectations for. After a really tight first half, Kentucky took over after the break. They outscored the Aggies 21-0 in the third quarter alone. Wildcats quarterback, Kenny Minchey, opening the half with a 42-yard strike to Kenny Darby. That was followed by a pair of touchdown runs from CJ Baxter to stretch the lead. Defense also did their part to earn a massive 10-point win on the road. Critical turnovers helping them get the win in upset fashion.

And in one of the wildest finishes of the season, check this out from NC State. They suffered a stunning loss to Vanderbilt on this walk-off defensive touchdown. They were trailing late. NC State's CJ Bailey tried to burn the clock deep in his own territory, but Vanderbilt's Miles Capers stripping it loose. And then KD Daniels pouncing on the fumble in the end zone as time expired to steal a 35-31 win.

Victor, some other scores for you as well. Alabama beat FSU in primetime. Georgia cruising to an easy win against Arkansas. And in this penalty-heavy back-and-forth SEC opener, the Gators holding off Auburn as well. So, a lot of fun this weekend in college football as everybody now turns their attention, of course, on Sunday to the NFL. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: Certainly will. Carolyn Manno, thanks so much. Allison's back with me now. I have a gift for you.

CHINCHAR: Oh, I love gifts from you.

BLACKWELL: That is just for you.

CHINCHAR: Oh, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it is that new ode to candy corn. Take it out. Tell me what you think.

CHINCHAR: I do like the candy itself. So --

[07:55:00]

BLACKWELL: Yes. I know you are a fan of the candy.

CHINCHAR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Tell me what you think about the fragrance.

CHINCHAR: Spray myself in the face.

BLACKWELL: Yes, just grab it out of the air.

CHINCHAR: It's potent.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CHINCHAR: It's potent, yes.

BLACKWELL: Some candy corn --

CHINCHAR: But it does actually smell like the candy.

BLACKWELL: It does. It's the warm sugar. It's the honey. I'm going to eat these this morning. You want a few kernels? There you go. All right.

CHINCHAR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: But again, if folks want to get that, it's candycornseason.com, where you can certainly smell like candy corn. Madeleine said it's probably, you know, if you're eighth or ninth grade, maybe this is for you.

CHINCHAR: Yes, yes. BLACKWELL: So, you're not going to be wearing this in a studio, you're saying?

CHINCHAR: Sure. You and I both like candy corn. I feel like this could be a big hit.

BLACKWELL: OK. I'm going to ask you not to, just for me.

CHINCHAR: A little too strong for you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you so much. All right. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. Inside Politics Sunday is up next.

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