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Democrats and GOP Lawmakers Split Over Calls to Regulate AI; AI Companies Have Discussed Creating Their Own Standards Body; Airman Shot Down in Iran Shares Harrowing Rescue Story; Rep. Tom Tiffany Recounts Terrifying Plane Crash in Lake. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 14, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: There's one. There goes Kate again, there it goes, and then boom!

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's what happens if you get between me and my coffee right before we go live.

BERMAN: All right, thank you very much. And Andy, it's great to see you.

We've got new video coming in from Connecticut, which saw some pretty major flooding. Look at that. The southern part of the state received up to six inches of rain in just a few hours.

That's the town of Westport, which is in Fairfield County. Fairfield was probably hardest hit.

A remarkable rescue on Isle Royale in Lake Superior. A 70-year-old hiker who had been missing for more than a week was located by backpackers and state police. He was injured and hypothermia. You can see him getting hoisted to safety there by a Coast Guard helicopter. He is now being treated for his injuries.

And this morning, Emu on the lam! About 25 miles north of New York City, an Emu escaped from a petting zoo. I don't know how it escaped because it doesn't seem to be very fast moving there.

Police used drones to track it. Thank God they had the drones, because you could never catch that Emu with the speed he's moving at right now. He was captured without incident and returned to the zoo, thankfully.

A brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BOLDUAN: All right, breaking overnight, a new statement from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on weighing in once again on guardrails and the future of AI. Warning, quote, we could lose control of the future.

And a plane carrying a city member of Congress, also a candidate for governor, crashes into a lake and forces him to swim to safety from the wreckage. He is speaking out this morning about what happened and how he is so grateful to be alive.

Plus, there's also new video showing intense moments that a suspect escapes from a moving police car by kicking out the window of the patrol car. What happens next?

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Lawmakers are back on Capitol Hill today facing warnings of AI doomsday scenarios. They are a growing call to rein in AI from some of the biggest names in tech. New overnight, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman writing that AI companies need to slow the pace of AI, not stop it.

But even if that impacts their bottom line.

He said, "When we talk about pacing, we do not mean stopping. Progress has been rapid and will continue to be, but it should be slower than it otherwise could be. Interventions like safety cases and monitoring have significant cost. Pacing will be well worth the cost. No amount of American competitive pressure should justify recklessness or let capabilities get ahead of alignment and monitoring. Where we will need the help of our government is for international coordination. But first, we should do what we can ourselves."

That comes after his rival, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, wrote an alarming essay arguing that AI must slow down to give safety measures time to catch up. President Trump and many Republicans have been resistant to calls to rein in AI, citing competition from China and Democrats seizing on the issue, framing AI as a defining fight heading into 2020.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Congress needs to act now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), 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 AI is proceeding safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Annie Grayer is live this morning on Capitol Hill. I mean, I guess the question is, is this something they're going to be able to get to quickly enough as this technology grows and grows and is faster and faster and faster?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Sara, as we all know, Congress does not typically do anything very quickly, but the fact that industry leaders and stakeholders who are so invested in this issue are speaking out, that really could create the momentum that some want to see to get Congress to really start moving. And Democrats, as you mentioned, are really seizing on this issue. They want to see immediate action. There was a group of House Democrats who wrote to Speaker Johnson last week calling him to bring Congress back into session and to keep lawmakers in town until meaningful reforms on AI was passed. Congress was not in session last week. The House returns this week, but Republican leaders canceled the remainder of session between now and the midterm elections to give lawmakers time to campaign.

Democrats are saying that shouldn't happen. They should remain in Washington. And Jeffries, as you mentioned, is wanting to make this a top issue.

[08:05:00]

He's the top Democrat in the House and in line to be Speaker if Democrats reclaim the majority in November. He wants to see meaningful legislative reforms here. And former President Barack Obama was hosting a campaign fundraiser last week where he talked about how this needs to be a top issue for Democrats running for president in 2028. This should be a central part of the platform. It cannot be an issue that Democrats walk away from.

Meanwhile, Republicans want to see industry leaders really take the lead here and are worried that if Congress comes in and makes too many reforms too quickly that it could slow down the progress because what Republicans see as the main issue is the race between the U.S. and China. And right now the U.S., they see as being in the lead and any sort of moratorium or reforms could hinder that progress. They see that as the biggest issue. So take a listen to House Speaker Mike Johnson and how he frames this issue to Jake Tapper yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: If they want to slow that down, that's fine. But we also at the same time have to resist Congress jumping in and imposing some sort of emergency moratorium. It's got to be done right, safely, wisely.

But in order to solve that equation, you need a lot of bright minds around the table. We cannot put a moratorium on this because China will overlap us. And that's the challenge.

It's national security balanced with the immediate security of making sure the models are safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: And just to show you the strange alliances forming out of this issue, Senator Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon are on two complete ideological opposites of the spectrum here, are going to be part of an event about regulating AI in D.C. tomorrow. So there are a lot of different ideas here and a lot of people asking what role Congress has to play -- Sara.

SIDNER: Andy Grayer, thank you so much. Live there from Capitol Hill. We've got more on this -- John. BERMAN: All right, and we do have new CNN reporting this morning. Sources say Anthropic, Google, and Open AI have discussed creating an AI industry standards body to test advanced AI models before deployment. This new reporting comes from CNN AI correspondent Hadas Gold, who is with us now.

So what have you learned here?

HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so what we have learned is that over the past few months, some of these AI companies were already having discussions with each other about creating some sort of industry standards body. This is confirming reporting from the information that first reported this on Sunday, but there are no standards when it comes right now in AI for anything from the models or their testing. We have all those incidents of these AI agents escaping their test environments and hacking into other systems.

There's no regulator who says, OK, when you're going to have this experiment, you need to make sure that your sandbox is this strong. We need to have these systems in place to make sure that that cannot happen. Every other industry, even the amusement park industry, have their own industry standards body that helps set safety standards.

And so we are learning that despite the events of the last few weeks that have got everybody talking about this, that the companies were talking about setting up this standards body that was prompted in part by Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis. He wrote this big essay over the summer where he called for a sort of U.S.-led standards body that would set these sort of safety standards similar to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. So it would be a public-private partnership with the government.

They would oversee it, but it would be funded by the industry as a way to just at least do something. Now, it does go to show you that there have been discussions, and we did hear overnight from Sam Altman supporting this idea and saying that he will continue to have these conversations. But again, they are going to have to do this without, it seems, the U.S. government or Congress, because Congress is probably not going to work anytime soon or do anything anytime soon.

And we're hearing from the administration. I mean, you know, the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, telling our colleague Jake Tapper that he doesn't think Congress should be stepping in to do this anytime soon.

BERMAN: Yes, I will note that everyone could get involved here if they want. There's nothing to stop the industry from doing itself. There's nothing to stop Congress from getting involved.

I mean, it certainly is something that seems to be an issue today, not next week or the week after or several months from now.

GOLD: If these companies wanted to, they could get together today and say here are our industry-agreed-upon standards at the minimum for how we test these systems, let alone the models themselves and how advanced they are. They haven't done that yet, partly because they are all so competitive with one another. They don't want to share any of their secrets, and at least two of them are about to go on these gazillion-dollar IPOs pretty soon.

BERMAN: Look, if King Charles is out ahead in addressing the concerns of something you know maybe the rest of you are a little behind. Hadas Gold, thank you very much for being with us this morning. Appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Only JB in the hot take like that.

[08:10:00]

Coming up for us for the first time -- not wrong -- for the first time we are hearing from one of the U.S. airmen who was shot down over Iran, how he described his terrifying free fall from that F-15 and the moment that he saw Special Forces on the way to rescue him.

And the Strait of Hormuz is closed -- essentially closed, I guess we'll say -- and now a major pipeline in Saudi Arabia -- connecting Saudi Arabia, is shut down. So why is President Trump right now blaming Ukraine's President Zelenskyy for the high price of diesel?

Plus, a high school coach arrested after students made a disturbing discovery. Cameras inside a locker room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: We're learning new details this morning about the harrowing Special Forces rescue operation to save the tow U.S. airmen who were shot down over Iran back in April. One of those men sat down with CBS 60 Minutes to speak out for the very first time. The first public accounting of this.

[08:15:00]

The Air Force colonel, identified only by his mission call sign, Bravo, spoke about the horrifying moment that he realized his parachute had not deployed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"BRAVO", U.S. AIRMAN: My parachute was damaged in the initial attack at one point when I looked up and saw no parachute. That was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. So I paused right then and I prayed, Lord, you will be done, but if I'm getting through this, I need help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Yes. Because then he free fell to the ground, leaving him with serious injuries, a broken back, a broken arm, a broken shoulder, and still then made this wild climb to a ridge line in order to get ready for that rescue. Unbelievable stuff.

CNN's Zach Cohen has much more on all this. Zach, talk about more of what he said. ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Kate, really a remarkable tale of both perseverance and teamwork, and we heard it directly from one of these airmen, identified only by his call sign, Bravo. He went on to describe what is a harrowing 50-hour experience on the ground trying to evade capture from Iranian forces while U.S. military and intelligence forces tried to scramble to come to his rescue. And look, you mentioned in the lead-in, he went on to talk about how he made a climb, a 7,000-foot climb up a ridge despite sustaining serious injuries in that fall, a broken back, a broken shoulder, a broken arm, and ultimately waited it out in a crevice radioing in to let the U.S. military know that he was alive. But I think what comes to mind is how, despite all of those injuries, did he manage to make this climb? And he touched on that a little bit in the interview. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAVO: I had injuries, but we all train to adapt and overcome the things that we're faced with. I moved as quickly as I could, despite the injuries, away from the place that I landed. Never let a lack of motivation put you on Iranian TV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were thinking that.

BRAVO: Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So the airman was also very adamant that this story was not about him, that this was about the remarkable teamwork of the U.S. military and the U.S. intelligence community. Really, over 90 Special Forces involved in this operation to come to his rescue. He thanked them, using this opportunity to thank those who came to his aid, but really also felt it was important to tell his story in his own words.

And if this story was going to be told, he wanted to be on camera telling it himself -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And you and your team also have some more reporting of the conversations that went on behind the scenes in order for this big moment, this big interview to come about. What are you hearing?

COHEN: Yes, Kate, there's no doubt that this was a highly sought after interview. CNN and other outlets spent months trying to secure an interview with one of the two airmen. But we're also told at the same time that once the Pentagon decided to grant it to 60 Minutes, that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, was uniquely and oddly involved in the planning and production process leading up to its airing last night.

And Hegseth, obviously a former Fox News anchor himself, TV personality himself, was personally in touch with both CBS producers, but also personally pushed for both the airmen, both Bravo and his fellow pilot, codenamed Alpha, to participate. Obviously, Bravo opting to take part in this on-camera interview, Alpha declining. But again, this is sort of a push by Hegseth in part to provide a retelling of the narrative around the Iran war, we're told by multiple sources.

BOLDUAN: Still an amazing story of this man and what he persevered through and that rescue mission to get him out. It's good to see you. Thanks so much, Zach, for your reporting -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, Kate.

Still ahead for us, a congressman's terrifying ordeal, how he survived when the plane he was on suddenly lost power and crash-landed into a lake.

Plus, we are tracking a deadly measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, where state officials say a third person has now died, and this time it's a 40-year-old woman. Those stories and more ahead.

[08:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Wisconsin Congressman and Republican candidate for Governor Tom Tiffany was in tears as he recounted how he managed to survive after his plane lost power and made an emergency landing on a lake Saturday night. Now, the congressman was aboard a Beechcraft K-35 when it approached the airport and suddenly plunged into the pitch black darkness of Lake Wausau. Now, Tiffany and the pilot escaped the sinking aircraft before being rescued from the waters by first responders.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RESPONDER 1: We have two victims in the water. We're just pulling them out now.

RESPONDER 2: When feasible, make sure they're all accounted for out of that plane.

RESPONDER 1: Boat heads back to landing with two victims. Both are alert and conscious.

RESPONDER 2: Are all victims accounted for?

RESPONDER 1: Yes, it's two on board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The congressman became emotional while recounting those harrowing moments during a press conference yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM TIFFANCY (R-WI): Gravity of this is probably just hitting me at this point. It's quite a night, quite a day, and I'm just grateful for the Lord for sparing us to see another day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: He escaped with just minor injuries. Same goes for the pilot. Joining me now is CNN Transportation Analyst Mary Schiavo.

Look, obviously the thing that went wrong is the plane goes down here, right, into the water, losing power. But what did you see that actually helped save these two people, the pilot and the congressman?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, you're absolutely right. They had a lot of things that went right.

[08:25:00]

For example, the pilot and good decisions and nobody panicked. The pilot put the wheels up before landing in water. That prevents the plane or helps keep the plane from cartwheeling. They had what's called a low-wing plane as opposed to a high-wing plane.

On a low-wing plane, which this bonanza is, it settles on the water with the passenger, the cabin, the cockpit above the water. On a high- wing plane, by the time they settled in, they'd have been underwater, which on a high-winger, you open the door before you make that final, you know, landing or crash landing into water. It wasn't freezing, although a cold front was moving in, so they didn't get hypothermia in the water.

The plane didn't sink right away. They had time to get out. There was no fire, which you can't have fire even on water.

And, you know, they swam to a sandbar, and because the water wasn't that cold yet, they didn't get hypothermia. So they did indeed have a lot to be thankful for.

SIDNER: I did not know about the idea that if the wheels are down, that it could cause the plane on a surface like that to cartwheel. And so the pilot, knowing exactly what he's supposed to do in a scenario, like this, is pretty incredible. Give us some sense of what happens next with this investigation, how they will go about the authorities looking into what actually caused this accident in the first place.

SCHIAVO: Right, well, overnight, they were starting to do the process of bringing the plane up for the investigation, and because, you know, the pilots are, you know, alive, the passenger's alive, and they were able to say what happened, they lost power, so they're going to be focused in on the engine. This is a 1959 plane. You know, the investigators will look to see if the engine has been replaced, which is really common on a plane of that age.

The engines time out if it had recent maintenance, but, you know, beyond the actual engine itself, they'll be looking at the fuel. They'll be looking at what's called the fuel selection. You can switch back and forth to the different fuels or tanks.

They'll be looking at so many things focused on the engine, but, you know, it could also be a problem with the propeller. There are many things that can cause your engine to stop or lose power, things as small as the size of a pack of gum all the way up to losing a piston, magnetos, et cetera, so they have a lot to work with, and most importantly, they have the pilot, and they have the full plane, and, you know, the other thing that they had was, you know, good sense. It was dark, dark and cold when they hit that water, but they kept their wits about it.

It was really interesting to listen to that interview. They just, you know, calmly, I mean, obviously inside terrified, but calmly walked through everything they had to do, and that probably saved them.

SIDNER: Certainly made a difference there. It's always good to have your expertise on. Thank you so much, Mary Schiavo.

I appreciate you coming on this morning -- John.

BERMAN: Brand new investigation this morning, how a Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin reportedly helped bankroll Donald Trump Jr.'s lavish and very exclusive wedding.

And that extreme heat could be coming for your booze. Wine production in some regions projected to be among the lowest in decades.

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