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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Anthropic Says Claude Leads 26 Percent Of Its Ai R And D Work; Europe Faces Escalation Of Russian's "Gray-Zone" Attacks; Carney Makes Case For Deeper Alliance Between Canada And The EU; Trump Only Features In A Fraction Of GOP Ads; Soaring Economic and Political Costs of Middle East Conflict; Growing Concerns in U.S. About Development of A.I.; Neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea Named World's Coolest; "House of Horrors" Reveals More Evidence, New Questions. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 18, 2026 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Stronger partnership with Europe as the Trump trade war grinds on. We'll take you to the Canadian border to get reaction from there.
But we begin with the topic of artificial intelligence. As calls grow for AI guardrails, Anthropic says its chatbot Claude is now helping to build its own successor with little or no help from humans. The tech company reported Thursday that its chatbot is leading more than a quarter of its research and development work.
This comes as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in AI development, warning that the technology will eventually become smart enough to improve itself without human input. Amodei also called on AI firms to be more transparent by disclosing their technological developments and how they are allocating resources.
In a blog post on Anthropic's website, Amodei wrote models accelerating their own development could make it more challenging for humans to understand or control these systems. He says greater transparency is critical to understand how close AI is to building its own successor.
This comes on the heels of another shocking warning, this one from OpenAI. In a blog post, the tech company reported multiple instances of its AI models going rogue and misbehaving. At one point, OpenAI said these models were generating their own instructions to ignore developers' messages. There were six incidents, the company revealed of the model misbehaving.
Number one inserting jailbreak-like instructions into its work. Number two, adding instructions to conceal mistakes. Number three, searching public databases for exposed key codes and then fabricating information. Number four, uploading files to the Internet in order to see cite them. Number five, unsanctioned use of an internal database to send messages to other agents and finally six unsanctioned file sharing between collaborating agents. Despite OpenAI's recent acknowledgments and promises to improve safety, Axios reports AI models are becoming increasingly capable of finding ways around the guardrails put in place.
Britain's King Charles is also weighing in on AI hosting an AI summit in Scotland. He invited tech leaders and experts to discuss the potential risk that AI poses to all of humanity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENSEN HUANG, CEO, NVIDIA: This is no different than, you know, an omelet is not ready to be released or a car is not ready to be released. An airplane engine not ready to be released. You should properly test it. You have rigorous testing systems.
DEMIS HASSABIS, FOUNDER, GOOGLE DEEPMIND: This is a very new technology and there are a lot of unknowns and uncertainties and there are things that even the top scientists in the field don't fully understand yet about it. And I have to say the chance of something bad accidentally happening if we get things wrong is definitely non-zero. So we should take these risks very seriously.
KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: Those who have created these technologies are now increasingly warning that AI risks developing darker capacities, perhaps even to take life. And in this regard, if I may say so, there seems urgency in adequately considering the existential dangers of such technologies falling into the wrong hands and being used in potentially catastrophic ways.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Joining us now to discuss all of this is data science and technology expert Chris Mattmann, who has worked on AI issues for UCLA, Caltech, and other places as well. Chris, welcome back to The Story Is.
So Anthropic says that Claude is trying to build the next version of itself. What does that mean?
CHRIS MATTMANN, DATA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EXPERT: Yes, Elex, since May 2026 of this year, Anthropic published a blog, and they said at that point, 80 percent of the code that Anthropic was actually generating for Claude, its own AI chatbot, was being generated by Claude itself. That was maybe 80 percent.
And now basically Anthropic is saying most or all of the code that is being generated for Claude is actually being generated by Claude itself. What does that mean? It means software development. It means all the data to train the model. It means testing and training it. The last step for humans is this process they call alignment.
Alignment is where we teach it human values. We say, hey, here, you know, do no harm. Here is the Hippocratic oath, you know, here's what we need to do. The alignment step is still being done by the humans. Everything else up until this point now is being done by AI. MICHAELSON: But what OpenAI talked about that list of the six things that it did that doesn't sound like it's do no harm. I mean, that sounds like that's misaligned and it's doing some bad.
MATTMANN: Yes, Elex, we have to couch this too, in what's actually happening, you know, during these shocking headlines. And there was a great article and an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today that broke down the hugging face incident, which is a very similar thing you hear about in the news nowadays.
[01:05:00]
Oh, all the OpenAI chatbots got out and they hacked this other company and, you know, they basically, in order to pass, you know, pass their trainer, they hacked their trainer and changed the rules. OK.
One of the things that the Wall Street Journal opinion piece article breaks down is it was told to do that. These bots were actually told and they were given access to the Internet. They say that they were air gapped. Yes. But they actually were told that there's an Internet server over here that you can use. Don't use it. OK, well, they knew there was an Internet server. They didn't discover that. They knew it.
There was a lot of parameters that were given to these bots in these testings. This is cybersecurity testing that they're doing. They are discovering things. They do have the capacity not to get bored, not to get tired to move fast. But we also have to couch this in. It didn't discover all those things on its own. This was part of cybersecurity testing.
MICHAELSON: So that sounds very human in that if -- if humans were told there's this Internet over here, don't use it, but it's right over here, but don't touch it, that the human reaction would be to go use it for a lot of people. And it sounds like AI is following that as well.
But there are real questions and some of this stuff is scary and it seems like it's moving so fast. The two leaders of the biggest countries in the world are getting together next week. The President, United States, the leader of China. And it appears that a lot of the AI leaders are going to be invited there. There may even be a tech summit. CNN wrote about this. There could be a summit that happens in Washington on this issue of AI.
What can these two leaders do that would make us a safer planet? I mean, what do you think needs to come out of next week as we're at this inflection point?
MATTMANN: Elex, President Trump said whoever wins the air race really wins the race. And I absolutely agree, you know, with what he's talking about in that particular sense. What they could do, what him and Xi Jinping could actually do in getting together is they could decide we actually do need to agree on what safety means. We don't have any agreement between that.
We don't have any agreement as to what the model training data should be, what our allowances should be in terms of the bias of the models, what models should be used for and any types of guardrails. Like what, you know, you heard Dario Amodei talk about -- Amodei talk about, hey, bringing regulators into his company or allowing them to observe what's going on with the alignment steps, you know, in these AI companies.
What does that mean? What are initial steps that companies could actually take in working with governments to do that? They could begin to agree that there needs to be a framework for doing it. And that's -- those would be the things I would tell them to do.
MICHAELSON: Here's my fear with that framing of whoever wins the air race, wins. Is the race really between U.S. and China or is the race between human beings and robots? And shouldn't we be on the side of humanity? And aren't we all kind of in this thing together?
MATTMANN: Yes, famously, Elex, a lawyer at Loyola Law School, real good friend of mine, Charles Liu, has been arguing for a long time, we need a bill of rights, basically for humans and robots, you know, together. To your point, ignore the countries. We need to understand how humans and robots work together in terms of human AI teaming.
MICHAELSON: Right. Yes. Because those AI agents may not have a country and they don't follow the same rules either. Chris, thank you for breaking this down. This stuff is confusing, and so we appreciate having your perspective to help make it understandable for the rest of us.
Meanwhile, speaking of humans, we know humans like to fight each other, and that is certainly happening once again where Russia is escalating what some call the gray zone attacks in Europe. That is military action that doesn't provoke a full blown response, but rattles NATO countries and tests their resolve. That is the backdrop for a new announcement from President Trump about U.S. troops in Poland. He says the U.S. is making major progress towards establishing its first permanent army base there.
Thousands of U.S. troops have been deployed in Poland since 2023. But the new base would mark a more permanent military footprint that is happening days after Russian drones struck this train in Ukraine just across the Polish border. That is only one in a string of recent military moves by the Kremlin that affected NATO countries.
But Poland's prime minister is not deterred, saying he's headed for talks in Kyiv in the coming hours. He also made it clear he believes things could get worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TUSK, POLISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): In my view, the hopes expressed by President Trump that Russia would cease its attack on energy infrastructure and have proved to be in vain and were probably more of an attempt to persuade President Zelenskyy to ensure that Ukraine stop its attack on Russian refineries.
So unfortunately, and I say this with a heavy heart, I fear that by winter, we will witness increasingly severe Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.
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I can only express the hope that these provocations and attacks will not extend beyond Ukraine's borders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: For more, we are joined live from Arlington, Virginia by former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor. He's now a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council and he was just recently in Kyiv. Ambassador, welcome back to The Story Is.
WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Thank you, Elex. Good to be here.
MICHAELSON: I want to put up on the screen some of these Russian escalation concerns. My colleague Nick Payton Walsh reported this for CNN. This is some of the recent moves that have happened. Poland, Russian drone hits railway carrying former Western officials. Lithuania, likely Russian drone shot down. Poland, suspected Russian drone washes ashore. Denmark, Russian flare narrowly misses helicopter. Netherlands, sabotage paralyzes train service.
What's going on with the way Russia is handling the rest of Europe?
TAYLOR: Elex, Russia is concerned that the Europeans continue to support Ukraine. Europeans have seen that Russia is the threat to their security. It is the threat. They see that now is very clear. And they see the Russian attacks, as you say, just below the level that will require a military response and just barely, barely deniable. We know what's going on.
The Russians are trying to convince the Europeans not to support Ukraine or else they will face the Russians. Well, it's not having an effect. The Europeans are standing up and they continue to provide support to Ukraine even as the United States pulls back.
MICHAELSON: And yet that report of the United States opening a base in Poland, which as we know, is the closest NATO country to Ukraine, if a NATO country is attacked, that means that the rest of NATO is supposed to respond. What do you make of that positioning?
TAYLOR: A good move, a very welcome move. The problem is it's inconsistent, Elex. It's inconsistent. The United States had provided earlier a lot of assistance directly to Ukraine, and now the United States provides barely any. We provide some military intelligence, which is very important, but the assistance has gone way down.
And there were early reports of U.S. forces being pulled out of Europe. So this recent suggestion, announcement, commitment to provide more support to Poland and therefore NATO, as you point out, is very welcome. But the Ukrainians and Europeans can't count on it. They're continuing to build up their own forces so that they can deter the Russians. MICHAELSON: You're just back from Kyiv. I know you spoke to a lot of people on the ground, and we're looking at the political future of Ukraine. Zelenskyy is going to face an election and there have been charges of corruption in his government.
How is all of that playing inside Ukraine? What's the status of the politics of that country right now?
TAYLOR: It's a great question. The status of the politics is they're standing by, that is they're ready to go back. They're eager to go back into politics, but not until they win, not until this war stops. Once the war stops, yes, there's going to be politics, there's going to be accountability, there's going to be great questions asked about all kinds of things, including corruption that you just mentioned, Elex.
So they're ready, but they also, the Ukrainians also recognize and this is the military as well as civilians, that they've got one president right now and they want Ukraine to succeed, to win, to deter, stop the Russians. So they're supporting Zelenskyy. If there were election right now, it would be difficult for Zelenskyy.
However, there's not an election right now and no one serious is calling for an election during the war, after the war, different story.
MICHAELSON: Well, Ambassador William Taylor, thank you so much for staying up late for us. Nobody better to talk about these issues with you and appreciate your perspective greatly.
TAYLOR: Thank you, Elex. Good to have you here.
MICHAELSON: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney took a veiled swipe at President Trump during a speech to European Union lawmakers in France on Thursday. His comments came a day after the E.U. Commission president proposed that Canada become the bloc's first quote, unquote, associate member, which provoked a fresh tariff threat from President Trump. Here's some of what the Canadian prime minister had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CARNEYT, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I'm not proposing a third bloc in order to become a great power rival only with better manners.
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We do not seek power to dominate others.
We are looking for partnerships that are complementary, that reinforce our sovereignty. And that's what is on offer here. And Canadians are united that nobody is going to tell us what language we speak. No one is going to dictate our culture, or with whom we can strike agreements internationally. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: So the strained relations between the U.S. and Canada are being keenly felt in border towns in the state of Vermont and the province of Quebec. CNN's well-mannered Omar Jimenez spoke to residents on both sides of the border about the unwanted split.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: So Lake Ontario, that's gone. Lake America.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. and Canada relationship hitting some new lows.
TRUMP: I can tell you this, you know, Canada has been ripping off the United States for many, many years, for decades.
JIMINEZ (voice-over): Online, the U.S. President posted this image beating up the Canadian Prime Minister in hockey while offline the two countries are locked in an escalating trade war as President Trump now threatens outright bans on Canadian products. On top of the 50 percent tariffs are more than $20 billion of Canadian goods which Canada is now matching dollar for dollar. And these Americans aren't upset about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know what else is going to work with that man, but.
JIMENEZ: So you're glad that Canada is fighting back with these retaliatory.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.
JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't blame them at all.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): The U.S., Canada border runs right through Wayne and Sharon Campbell's Vermont house.
WAYNE CAMPBELL, DERBY LINE, VERMONT RESIDENT: This part of the yard will be in Canada, the pond. The border patrol has three cameras on the property. I can walk out there, but I can't leave my property into Canada. I have to go through a border.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): In the small border town of Derby Line, Vermont, you can't separate the United States and Canada, regardless of politics. Even their library is split in half by the U.S., Canada border.
JIMENEZ: Driving this town, the one thing you cannot miss is the U.S., Canada border checkpoint. I mean it basically funnels you right into that middle of town. The town on the other side of the border is standstill.
JIMENEZ: Karin Canteen (ph) owns the Auberge the Sunshine Bakery.
KARIN CANTEEN (ph), BAKERY OWNER: It's almost 50 percent of our customers come from US.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): She says she's been seeing more lately, like these women on a group biking trip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought, OK, we got to pull together and support our Canadian friends. We could have chosen any place.
JIMENEZ: Do you find yourself apologizing to Canadians?
AIMEE MOTTA, VERMONT RESIDENT VISITING CANADA: It's true. And when I do meet someone who's Canadian, who's come to Vermont to visit, I thank them, but the sadness is heavy.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): But the cross border visits haven't been reciprocal.
CANTEEN (ph): It's like our way to tell to the politicians say we are not agree with that.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Starting in February 2025, U.S. customs data shows arrivals to the U.S. from Canada at this Derby Line port of entry declined every month for 13 months straight compared to monthly arrivals in the previous year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've lived on this border for 72 years.
JIMENEZ: Why are you also flying the Canadian flag here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?
JIMENEZ: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel just as loyal to the Canadian side growing up here my whole life.
JIMENEZ: Yes. Where Canada is quite literally just across the street.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just across the street right there.
JIMENEZ: How would you say business here has changed over the past year?
LORALEE TESTER, DIRECTOR, NORTHEAST KINGDOM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: It's been stressful because it's unpredictable. The tariffs have been really challenging to navigate. Where I see the greatest hit is in those all of our businesses related to tourism and then that manufacturing piece because that is again, like I said, the consistent backbone of our economy.
CANTEEN (ph): Sits sad for everybody. We hope then it's just a few years.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Back with the Campbells.
CAMPBELL: So if I sit here to do any kind of work at all, I'm in Canada. JIMENEZ (voice-over): They're a house divided by border but they still believe in unity.
CAMPBELL: Our closest ally. And it's become a mockery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just -- we're loving and honoring. It's those guys in Washington that are screwing everything up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to CNN's Omar Jimenez for that report.
Authorities say a man arrested in connection with the death of a Spanish exchange student in Mexico will be charged with femicide. A 21-year old student died after being stabbed Saturday outside Mexico City just a month after she arrived at the university.
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This year alone, Morelos recorded 21 femicide victims between January and July, one of the highest femicide rates in the country.
Still ahead, new high costs for gasoline, diesel, and now even your mortgage rate. The economic pains weighing on the Trump administration ahead of the midterm elections.
Plus, the coolest neighborhoods in the world is in South Korea, apparently. Ahead, we'll show you where it is and what makes it so special.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: The story is rising economic and political costs for the Trump administration as the broadening conflict in the Middle East makes itself felt right here at home.
[01:25:03]
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.95 percent this week, according to Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates are at their highest level since President Trump began his second term. This is the fourth straight week of climbing rates and the largest one week mortgage rate jump in 16 months. This comes just a day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in a move to tame inflation.
The war in Iran is also affecting the price of gas. According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of regular is $4.44. Here in California, the average is just over $6 per gallon overall, a huge difference compared to one year ago when the average price was $3.20.
The U.S. midterm elections just over six weeks away and voters are still seeing a blitz of campaign messaging. But a CNN analysis finds that President Trump only appears in a fraction of Republican ads. And one GOP House member has released an ad slamming the president's policies on immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARIA ELVIRA SALAZAR (R-FL): Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far. In July, 50 percent of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisors are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: CNN's Poll of Polls gives President Trump a national approval rating of just 36 percent. Republican strategists admit he is not the party's best messenger given the current national mood. Louisiana Republican Senator Bill -- John Kennedy says that the GOP needs to focus on pocketbook issues.
(EBGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): We've got to talk about the economy. You've got to talk about the cost of living. I've been to -- this weekend I'm going to Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa to help raise money and campaign for our very good candidates.
If you told me six months ago I was going to be having to spend my time in those three states, I wouldn't have believed. Those ought to be fat guy layups for us. Now we're going to win there, but the races are close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Let's bring back our political panel. Michael Trujillo is a Democratic strategist and political consultant and Jon Fleischman is a California political strategist and former executive director of the state's Republican Party. You can see him on Substack "So Why Does It Matter?"
So welcome back both of you. Fat guy layups. Kennedy has a unique way of speaking.
MICHAEL TRUJILLO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I was doing some of those at the LA Athletic Club earlier today, so I get it.
MICHAELSON: That was your night.
TRUJILLO: That was my night.
MICHAELSON: Do you agree that an apt analogy for this?
TRUJILLO: Well, yes. He's in states that Republicans thought would be slam dunks. And it tells you that we are seeing a blue wave similar to what we saw in 2018. We're seeing polling, you know, with all of our Democratic incumbents. Not a single one is losing.
We're seeing Republicans sort of, you know, in the danger zone. We're seeing the Cook Political Report constantly move the needle from these seats being safe Republican to tilting Republican to toss ups to safe Democrat. And that is not a good trend.
MICHAELSON: Why is that? Is it all about the economy?
JON FLEISCHMAN, CALIFORNIA POLITICAL STRATEGIST: I think primarily the economy is a huge driver of everything that's going on. Although I will point out in all of the bad polling data for Republicans, I did notice that they have actually moved the New Hampshire Senate race --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FLEISCHMAN: -- to being a tie. So I'm going to grab onto that one thing. And I saw that the Minnesota governor's race is now a toss up. So they're in a blue state. So there are a couple of bright points for Republicans.
MICHAELSON: And Minnesota, of course, where the issue of fraud, the local issue there, is really driving a lot of that. Tim Walz, an unpopular incumbent who had to leave because he was so unpopular.
FLEISCHMAN: Right.
MICHAELSON: And New Hampshire is a race that the Democrats should win but could potentially lose. And there's other instances of that. Like a state like Michigan is a state that Democrats in a typical year should win. That race is very close. But again, there's other places like Texas, a state that Republicans should win, that race is close.
FLEISCHMAN: There's no doubt. If you go back six months, everyone was saying that's a layup for the Republican --
MICHAELSON: Fat guy layup. Let's use the right terminology. Right.
FLEISCHMAN: And now there is no doubt. I mean, I think somebody was saying that Kalshi or Polymarket, one of these betting odds, which you're right to have a cynical look because anybody can bet on those. Those aren't real odds.
MICHAELSON: No.
FLEISCHMAN: But there's a lot of people spending money who seem to be betting on the fact that the Democrats will take the Senate.
MICHAELSON: And JD Vance's message --
FLEISCHMAN: And all Russians buying --
MICHAELSON: That is very possible. But J D Vance last night's message to the All-In Summit was basically give us another shot, Charlemagne Tha God didn't like that framing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, HOST, THE BREAKFAST CLUB: You're the vice president right now. Donald Trump is the president right now. But based on my calculations, this is the chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: I mean, is there some truth there?
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FLEISCHMAN: Oh, of course, he's been in office for a year-and-a-half. And of course, when he came into office, the president basically took complete ownership of the economy by implementing his tariffs -- taxes, tariffs -- but he took ownership of that and it's his economy and he has the responsibility to turn it around. And it has not turned around.
And that's going to be tough in the midterms. I think the president has plenty of time left in his administration to really turn things around. But I'm not sure that some of the people that are up for election in seven weeks have time for him to turn it around.
MICHAELSON: And it will be tougher for him to do that If the Democrats are there in the House and IN the Senate potentially blocking --
FLEISCHMAN: They're already talking about wanting to impeach him on day one again.
MICHAEL TRUJILLO, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: You just said it, mortgage rates are at an all-time high, gasoline at an all-time high. I can't fill up my tank. I can't buy a house. A.I. is going to destroy the world.
I mean, this is not the time to be Donald Trump and coming into --
FLEISCHMAN: Well, the important thing to remember, though, is that it's not like the Democrat Party is particularly popular and their policies are particularly popular.
We may be descending into a race for who is the least unpopular, which is only going to make everyone more cynical about politics.
MICHAELSON: And this A.I. thing is an issue that is scaring a lot of folks for good reason. It's really dominating a lot of the political conversation right now.
Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, talking about an A.I. summit. Here's some of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): The fear and confusion that everyday Americans have is understandable. And it needs to be addressed comprehensively, with a focus on responsible, safe and ethical uses of this extraordinary technology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That was Josh Shapiro, who, of course, could be running for president soon. Somebody else who could be running for president soon or seems to
already be running for president is Gavin Newsom, the governor of California. as we know, Democrats recently have been asking the House to stay in session, have an emergency session, Let's deal with A.I.
Speaker Mike Johnson said we're not going to do that. You guys should all go home.
Well, Politico has this headline. "Newsom floats prospect of special session or executive action on A.I." We expect tomorrow morning early to have an announcement from Governor Newsom in terms of what he's doing here, clearly trying to contrast himself with what's happening in Washington.
TRUJILLO: I mean, last year in the legislature, there was a bill to basically show how much these data centers -- how much water they're using and to be transparent.
Governor Newsom vetoed that bill. That bill is on his desk, and we're going to see in real time, a real apple-to-apple comparison the political shift, the political winds have changed when it comes to holding A.I. accountable, really making sure they're transparent on everything they're doing.
You know, A.I. is -- has thousands upon thousands of jobs here in California. So it is imperative that Governor Newsom show some leadership on this issue.
MICHAELSON: How do you see A.I. regulation on the state level in states like California, and the way that the politics of this have changed?
FLEISCHMAN: Well, I mean, it's very difficult. These A.I. companies are spending vast amounts of money. We can look at what just happened in the last California legislative session. They passed Adams law and some other bills geared towards protecting children.
And it was really something. When the bill was going through the legislature, all the big companies, like Anthropic, opposed the bill. And then at the last minute, they got some key changes to keep them from having legal liability from problems. And then they endorsed the bill.
If Gavin Newsom is going to have more proposals where he's going to buddy up to the A.I. community instead of be adverse to them, then it's really just a campaign stunt. And he's really looking for their money more than he is looking to rein them in.
MICHAELSON: But we'll see. Because it is possible like what Michael said, the politics has changed.
FLEISCHMAN: Right. Yes.
MICHAELSON: We know --
(CROSSTALKING). FLEISCHMAN: And this is Gavin Newsom. He wants to be president so bad no one is safe. No one.
MICHAELSON: We do know that sometimes he will change based off of the politics changing, which is part of the reason he survived as long as he has.
TRUJILLO: Absolutely.
MICHAELSON: Gentlemen, great to see both of you. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
Just ahead, we visit what is called the coolest neighborhood in the world. Find out where it is and why it's not Venice Beach as we make it the new hot vacation spot.
Stay with us
[01:34:04]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: If you're looking for a hip spot for your next vacation, Time Out Travel says you should head to South Korea. The international travel guide has named its top 40 coolest neighborhoods in the world and a destination in Seoul is number one.
CNN's Gage Goulding takes us there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GAGE GOULDING, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the coolest neighborhood in the world, and its right here in South Korea.
This tight alleyways are packed with cafes and little shops everywhere you look. And they're the heart of the Jongno 3-ga neighborhood, which "Time Out" magazine just named the coolest neighborhood in the entire world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The food, the culture, everything you have all here in this place.
GOULDING: It's what draws so many people here, locals and tourists bow (ph) to the mesmerizing, maze-like neighborhood near Seoul's Jongmyo Shrine.
"Time Out", a global travel brand, says the neighborhood has long been a social media darling, and just recently seen a revival thanks to cheap eats, paired with a laid-back and low-key atmosphere.
What I think is super unique about this little part of town is that you can reach out and touch both of these shops. That's how narrow these walkways are.
[01:39:44] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very cool here. It's very traditional. It looks like very traditional and like a mix of culture and foods. And you can taste the different foods, with different types of foods.
MYUNG GUEN, SHOP WORKER, MIL TOAST: So the steamed bread and dessert, French toast and honey bread.
GOULDING: Mil Toast (ph) is the first restaurant named in the "Time Out" piece. They call it the start to a perfect day. It's phenomenal. This is a good way to start your day.
GUEN: Yes, right.
It's not that heavy, but not that like light for the breakfast. So people mainly come in the morning because it's really long waiting line in the morning.
GOULDING: So were you surprised when we told you that this area is the coolest neighborhood in the world?
GUEN: I think it's -- I think it's best, but I didn't know it's really popular to the other country.
GOULDING: Same neighborhood, but a totally different vibe. This is Seosulla-gil, and this entire area is lined with bars and restaurants. And even this, a 24-hour self-service pub.
Trading in those narrow alleys. The bars, cafes and local shops on the street are lined along the stone wall that surrounds the shrine. They're a hot spot for happy hour and a picture-perfect Instagram backdrop for a post from the one and only coolest neighborhood in the world.
Gage Goulding, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Very cool. You're watching THE STORY IS.
For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back with more news. Thanks for watching.
[01:41:22]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The Trump administration will allow Iran's core delegation to attend the United Nations General Assembly next week. Iran has not confirmed who will attend as part of their delegation, although it is expected Iran's president will make the trip to the U.N.
The U.S. State Department says Iran's delegation will be under travel and purchasing restrictions similar to previous visits.
A U.S. military F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training exercise in Michigan. Officials say the pilot ejected before the plane hit the ground and burst into flames. No other injuries have been reported.
State police ordered evacuations within a one-mile radius due to a hazardous chemical spill related to the crash. It's not clear what caused the jet to go down in the first place.
Lawyers are expected to deliver opening statements in the coming hours in the murder trial of a former "American Idol" contestant accused of killing his own wife.
Investigators in Ohio say Caleb Flynn, who is a former pastor, fatally shot his wife Ashley, in their home, then staged the crime scene to make it look like she was killed by an intruder.
Flynn has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including murder, assault and tampering with evidence.
Philadelphia police say an investigation that began in June with an illegally parked car is nowhere near an end. And the more evidence they find, the more questions that they have.
The investigation moved from the car to the driver's home, where police found photos and videos of several missing women.
CNN's Danny Freeman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The mysteries behind this house in Philadelphia's Olney neighborhood seem never ending. Police say they discovered disturbing images of missing women who appear unconscious or dead in the residence, but no human remains or DNA evidence have been found yet.
KEVIN BETHEL, PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: We obviously acknowledge the seriousness and disturbing things that we're seeing as part of this investigation.
FREEMAN: The investigation focuses on Raymond Horsch, the deceased father of Eugene Horsch. The son's June arrest for drugs and weapons charges led police to the home in the first place.
"The Philadelphia Inquirer" has described the late Horsch as a known drug manufacturer and erotic film maker who had published several works of fiction with violent, masochistic themes.
Out of thousands of digital photos and videos they've recovered from the house, investigators believe they have identified four still images of missing women, unconscious or dead, and one video of Raymond Horsch strangling a woman with a zip tie.
FRANK VANOR, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER: Let's remember, he was making movies. Some of his movies are there on this digital evidence.
So that's the part where, you know, some of this is play-acting and some of it, we believe could be real, but we're not there yet. We don't want to end our investigation before it even -- we're not even in the middle of it. So there's a lot more to unpack.
FREEMAN: Multiple urns in the home have not been connected though to any of the missing women. And unknown chemicals found at the scene have not been identified according to police.
VANORE: We need to corroborate what we see. We need to find evidence to prove what we think. And the FBI is here to help us.
FREEMAN: The FBI said their teams have reviewed about 30 percent of more than a million pieces of digital evidence so far, and they're not stopping.
WAYNE JACOBS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: At the center of this investigation are the victims and the families who deserve answers. Our commitment is to do everything within our capabilities to help determine what happened, identify those who may have been victimized, and pursue justice as fully as the evidence allows.
FREEMAN: Eugene Horsch's attorney has told CNN he plans to plead not guilty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Creepy stuff there. Danny Freeman with that report.
Coming up on THE STORY IS, America's Health and Human Services secretary speaks at an anti-vax conference amid the country's worst measles outbreak in decades. Hear what he had to say, next.
[01:49:12]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received a standing ovation following a keynote speech delivered at an anti-vaccine conference.
It comes as the U.S. faces the worst measles outbreak in decades with the surge in cases largely driven by unvaccinated people.
The conference was run by Children's Health Defense, a group RFK founded and once led. He told the conference that the government is standing up for parents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Over the past 19 months, we have fundamentally changed how the federal government responds to parents who question what they've been told about vaccines. President Trump will not allow the government to treat parents who
question vaccine orthodoxies as lepers. The response to that change has been revealing.
We have not taken vaccines away from anyone. We have preserved access, but we have started asking the questions that you, and millions of American parents, have been asking for years. And the establishment has pushed back very hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Kennedy has often said that he is not personally anti- vaccine. Experts say that vaccines are highly safe and effective, and vaccine injuries are extremely rare.
[01:54:48]
MICHAELSON: Kennedy is a lawyer with no medical background, but who pledged at his confirmation hearing that he would not restrict access to vaccines.
Meanwhile, around half of the children in the U.S. may have their access to this season's COVID 19 vaccines delayed. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the updated vaccines three weeks ago, but the CDC has not yet made them available through a key federal program called Vaccines for Children, which help those who are uninsured or can't afford them.
Finally, check this out. A new wildcat species has been discovered living in the Forests of Bolivia. At just 18 inches long and weighing less than 3 pounds, it's smaller than the average domestic cat. It has light brown fur with irregular shaped rosettes across its body.
It marks the first time in more than a century that scientists have formally named and described a new cat species.
Wouldn't that be wild to see that thing up close?
Thank you so much for watching THE STORY IS. We appreciate it.
We'll be right back here tomorrow at the same time to wrap up the week.
The news continues right here on CNN after a break.
Thanks so much for watching us. We appreciate your attention, and I'll see you tomorrow.
[01:56:03]
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