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Anthropic CEO Calls For A.I. Slowdown Amid Safety Concerns; Iran Plans Meeting With Gulf States on Strait of Hormuz; Trump Says Irish Unification Would Be "Fantastic". Aired 5-6a ET

Aired September 13, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:43]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Let's go straight to our headlines. A stark warning from the CEO of Anthropic. He says we must immediately slow down the pace of developing artificial intelligence or risk losing control of it.

Iran is turning to some U.S. allies in the Gulf States in hopes of pressuring the U.S. to resolve that stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz.

And President Trump stirs a hornet's nest talking about Irish reunification during a very brief meeting with the Republic's Prime Minister.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Salma Abdelaziz.

ABDELAZIZ: Let's begin with that very stark warning about the risks posed to humanity by unrestrained development of A.I. from the CEO of one of the leading A.I. builders in the world. In an essay on Saturday, Anthropic's Dario Amodei wrote, "I have become convinced that fully addressing the risks requires even more prudence -- not just investing in risk prevention, but pacing the rate of capabilities advancement so that risk prevention has time to keep up.'

"We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of A.I. models. The measures I propose to advance the frontier at a safe pace will not be easy, but I believe we owe it to humanity to try."

This comes after an Anthropic researcher resigned over concerns that the people building A.I. are privately expressing fear that it could kill us all.

CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with Amodei about that warning and why it's important for A.I. companies to work together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Jacob Coxon, who recently resigned from Anthropic, made headlines last week saying, "The people building A.I. earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." There's a current employee, Evan Hubinger, an alignment science lead. He agreed, saying, "We really do earnestly believe A.I. could kill all humans. I personally think it is greater than 10 percent chance within the next decade."

Do you believe, earnestly believe, that A.I. could kill all humans? And what percent chance do you think it is?

DARIO AMODEI, ANTHROPIC CEO: So, you know, I -- you know, it's funny. I agree with Jacob much more than I disagree with him, you know, and it's, you know, it's an interesting resignation because when he left, he said, you know, I think Anthropic is the most responsible player, right? I think Anthropic is the most aware of these issues. He wasn't calling out us. He was calling out the dynamic of the industry as a whole moving too fast.

Now, I -- you know, I think I already said, you know, these sort of unconditional probabilities, you know, I -- you know, I used to kind of talk in that way because it's kind of an easy way to express I think there's some chance that things go wrong. But, you know, but -- you know, but -- but it's not, it's not all that high. But again, I think it's more illuminating to think in terms of, you know, how do you decompose those probabilities?

What are the paths in which things go well? And what are the paths in which things go poorly? And so instead of saying, you know, it's a 10 percent chance, that sounds like it's a roll of the dice. I think it's much more illuminating to say, well, that forks into different paths. And if we take the right paths, then the chance of something going wrong is very low. If we take the wrong path, then the chance of something going wrong could be -- could be even higher than that.

And so let's focus on our agency and our ability to take the right paths instead of the wrong paths. And I think that the way to take the right path is for the industry to work together. Again, you know, we'll talk about the proposal that I put out today. But at the end of the day, the industry has to work together and it's harder. But to some extent, the world has to work together. If we go too slow, I still believe that the wrong people will be in charge of the technology. And you know, that again will bring the probability of things going wrong very high.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:05:00]

ABDELAZIZ: Now, be sure to tune in to "Anderson Cooper 360" for much more of his exclusive interview with Dario Amodei. That's on Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time or 1 a.m. in London, right here on CNN.

For more on this warning, I want to go live now to Toby Walsh. He is a professor of A.I. at Australia's University of New South Wales in Sydney. Thank you so much for joining us on the program. These headlines are

so terrifying. They're dystopic. But we've seen these sort of dire predictions of worse care scenarios before. Why is it different this time? Why is it actually drawing a consensus from rival CEOs? What are these A.I. leaders seeing now that is triggering this call to action?

TOBY WALSH, PROFESSOR OF A.I.. AUSTRALIA'S UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES SYDNEY: Well, what we're seeing now is that when swarms of these A.I. agents work together, they can actually have quite a lot of quite serious, quite risky capability. I mean, it's the same with humans. When humans work together, they can do a lot more than they can do individually. And we're starting to see that.

I think it's a bit fantastical, the idea that humanity as a whole is at risk. But certainly they can do some worrying things, the potential risk for cyber or bioweapons.

A report that didn't get as much attention this week from Anthropic showed that they identified a number of users in Iran who are trying to undertake bioweapon research. And a number of Russian hackers who are developing software to control swarms of kamikaze drones. Those are the sorts of things that I think we should be worried about.

And we should be certainly worried about the fact that the tech companies are in a big race here. They're marking their own homework and they're calling out for regulation. They need independent oversight, independent auditing, independent regulation of what they're doing.

ABDELAZIZ: So, I think you're highlighting two different concerns here. One of just A.I., humans losing control of A.I. essentially, and then of rogue actors. You mentioned Iran and others hacking and using A.I. If I may begin with that first one, which is A.I. going rogue, us losing control of it, this open A.I. hugging face incident, which, again, as you mentioned, was a swarm of A.I. agents essentially acting as a devoted collective and conducting their own cybersecurity attacks that they were not asked to do. Could you break down for me what that means and what that tells us about our ability to lose control potentially of A.I. in this worst-case scenario?

WALSH: Well, I mean, just to reassure your listeners, at any point, the open A.I. could have turned their computers off and it would all stop at that point. So, the A.I. had lost control in any sense of the A.I. And we're a long way still from being in a situation where we might have lost control. They are not going to be able to break into very secure systems. They were breaking into rather insecure systems.

I mean, we should be worried that actually open A.I. was incredibly incompetent in dealing with it. They uncovered the fact that the A.I. agents had broken out of the sandbox and were using a message board and they deleted the message board. And then they let it happen again for several more days before they actually turned everything off.

So, you know, I think we should be thinking these companies need to -- to up their game and they need to be greater oversight. We give other companies that do dangerous things, whether drug companies or aviation companies.

There's a lot more regulatory oversight, independent oversight of what they're doing. I think we've come to the point where we realize these A.I. companies are doing stuff that the consequences could be significant and they need to be -- need to be looked at more carefully.

ABDELAZIZ: So, let's talk about that oversight then. What could governments do to play a role in this? And what does sensible regulation look like?

WALSH: Well, given that they're calling out for regulation, I think it's obvious that the government should be stepping in and regulating. And the challenge that we face here, of course, is that we're also in a competition, a race here between the United States and China, for example. So, there's going to have to be some international coordination.

But, you know, Trump and the Chinese president are meeting together in November to be discussing these sorts of issues. I think it's in everyone's interest for us actually to come to some agreements to for there to be both national and international regulation in this space. The company is calling out for it. They don't want to race to the bottom. So, let's -- let's start doing things in this space.

ABDELAZIZ: So, you say, of course, that some sort of international consensus is needed here, because if some governments act responsibly and others don't, then what is the point? But how can we really get consensus? Is that something that is possible when A.I. is seen essentially as a national security issue by all states?

WALSH: It is, but let's look at history here. We've been in similar situations, very similar situation with -- with nuclear weapons. It was in every nation's interest to come to some sort of agreements.

[05:10:01]

Of course, there's things that we can do independently. Not selling the latest A.I. chips to China would be a good idea to tighten the export controls so that China can't get a hold of the very latest A.I. chips. So, I think there's a lot of things that we could do and there's a lot we could learn to export controls so that China can't get a hold of the very latest AI chips. So, I think there's a lot of things that we could do and there's a lot we could learn from history.

ABDELAZIZ: A lot we could learn from history as we move towards a future in A.I. where leaders are now demanding, asking, calling for regulation and a slowdown in advancement. Thank you for explaining that to us.

Toby Walsh, live from Sydney, Australia. Thank you so much for joining us.

Rescuers are now searching for 140 people from a passenger ship that was earlier reported missing in the Java Sea. Officials say that Virgo Transport 8 set sail from East Java, going north to the island of Brunei, carrying at least 243 passengers and crew. A search and rescue agency says 103 people were evacuated, though one person later died.

It is still not clear what happened to the ship with 17,000 islands. Indonesia, of course, relies very heavily on ferries, but safety standards are not always enforced there.

And we're getting new reports of a strike in the Strait of Hormuz, just ahead of expected talks on the future of that critical waterway.

The "Reuters" news agency is quoting a regional governor as saying that an Iranian commercial vessel was hit in recent hours. He said that one person was killed and three others were injured.

Meanwhile, Iran's allies, the Houthis, say they struck a military base inside Saudi Arabia, but without saying when.

That's happening after Iran said it expects to hold talks with Arab Gulf states on the future of the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. The meeting is set to be held in Oman, but an official from Bahrain says his country will not be in attendance unless Iran stops its strikes on that waterway.

Larry Madowo is keeping an eye on those developments for us, and he joins us now live.

Good morning to you, Larry. Let's start with this news of an Iranian commercial ship that was struck in the Strait of Hormuz. What are you learning about this attack?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know a whole lot beyond what has been reported by Iranian state media, and they say this vessel was struck early this morning. One person was killed and three people injured. And they're blaming the U.S., the terrorist entity, they say, for this. And that report follows a separate one from the U.K. Maritime Trade Organization that said a vessel had been hit in the Strait of Hormuz, and the crew and basically the passenger cargo were safe. We're still waiting to get more information. And it's not clear if these are two separate vessels or it's the same vessel.

But that is a backdrop for this Bahraini position, that they will not be involved in these talks in Oman. On Monday, convened by Iran, involving Iraq and the other top diplomats from the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Bahrainis say this is a photo op that they refuse to be a part of. It is not a gesture of peace, the way the Iranians would like to put it.

And they say that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is a right, it's not a privilege, and it should not be controlled by anybody. And so, they say unless this attack stops in the Strait of Hormuz, unless there is responsibility taken, unless the harm is named, they will not be a part of that. So, that complicates these talks expected on Monday.

But at the same time, Saudi Arabia dealing with attacks. This morning, the Houthis, a spokesperson, claiming responsibility for an attack in the Sharjah region of Saudi Arabia. It's not clear when this happened, but they claim to have used a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones to target weapons depots and command and control centers in this military base in Saudi Arabia.

That is after, on Saturday, a Houthi spokesperson said that the Saudis had launched 129 drone strikes against Houthi-held regions of Yemen, and that follows this attack of the East-West pipeline, which essentially forced that East-West pipeline to shut down. That was the route that about 5 million barrels of Saudi oil was going to the Red Sea. President Trump, traveling in the island, was asked about this. He initially said that everything would work out fine, said that's two separate occasions. And then this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Is Iran responsible for the attack on the East-West pipeline? And what do you think Saudi Arabia is going to get --

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, I think they are. Probably they are. They're on the balls of their feet right now, but I think they are. They've been in charge of that for a while. We've had discussions. Houthis called us, and they don't want to fight with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: President Trump there saying that the Iranians are probably responsible for that attack on the Saudi oil pipeline, and also appearing to confirm that he had spoken to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. It's not clear if this is the same conversation that CNN has previously reported, citing a source that on Thursday, Mohammed bin Salman called President Trump at least twice, trying to get him to strike the Houthis, and at the time, he said no. And that appears to what President Trump is saying here, that they don't want to fight with us.

[05:15:21]

Salma?

ABDELAZIZ: Larry Madowo there on the crisscrossing attacks and the escalating tensions in the region, just ahead on the eve of talks over the Strait of Hormuz. Thank you so much for that reporting.

Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany says that he suffered minor injuries when his plane made an emergency landing on a lake in his state. In a post on social media, the Republican candidate for governor said his plane lost power as it approached the Wausau Downtown Airport, so the pilot put the aircraft down on Lake Wausau. But when it began to sink, Tiffany and the pilot swam to a shallow area and waited for help. They were later treated at a hospital. Tiffany thanked the pilot and first responders for getting him to safety.

Now, we have so much more news for you here on "CNN Newsroom." President Trump's Ireland trip takes an unexpected turn. What he said, that sparking debate on both sides.

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[05:20:15] ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back. Later today, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to attend the final round of the Irish Open at his gulf resort. And it comes as he faces backlash over very controversial remarks he made during this visit. The president said that Irish unification would be, quote, "fantastic, and he believes that it's going to happen eventually."

Now, these comments, of course, quickly drew criticism from the British government and unionists. It is a divisive issue, to say the least, that U.S. presidents usually avoid even talking about.

In the meeting with Ireland's prime minister, President Trump praised the close relationship between the two countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We've had some discussions on trade and various other things. We have a big relationship with Ireland, and that will continue stronger than ever. But it's doing very well. The two countries do very well together. Very long, but I would say it's never been as good as it is right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: And in Dublin on Saturday, thousands rallied to protest the visit, carrying signs calling him a warmonger and referring to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Protests were also held at Shannon Airport and in Doonbeg. This is home to Trump's gulf resort.

To break all of this down with me now, joining me from Dublin is Pat Leahy, Political Editor for "The Irish Times."

Thank you so much for being on with us today. I want to start with those comments that are, of course, the headline of the day, the impromptu press conference yesterday where Trump said he would love to see Ireland unified. May we just play that sound, first of all?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, I don't want to cause any problems, but I will tell you, I'd love to see it unified. I have friends on both sides, great people. They're Irish people. How can they be bad, right? I'd love to see it unified. I think it would be a great feather in everybody's cap if that happened.

Now, the U.K. will have something to say about it, obviously, but I think it would be a great thing. I mean, how could it be bad?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, this is a president who is, of course, known for his off-the-cuff remarks. Is this simply an ill-conceived comment, or do you think we should take it seriously as a policy position?

PAT LEAHY, POLITICAL EDITOR, "THE IRISH TIMES": Good morning. And I think it's more than just an off-the-cuff comment. There's some reporting in Dublin this morning that President Trump raised this issue in his private meetings, first with the president of Ireland, Catherine Connolly, and then with Taoiseach, the Prime Minister, Micheal Martin.

And you played a clip there of the press conference in which Trump first made his remarks, but at another event about an hour or so later in which he addressed a reception at the U.S. ambassador's residence here in Dublin, he returned to the theme, and he seemed to be half- jokingly acknowledging that his remarks were going to create something of a stir.

So, I think it's something that the president did quite deliberately rather than off-the-cuff in response to a question. I mean, as to the reasoning behind that, one can only speculate. Has he got one eye on the Irish-American vote in the run-in to the midterm elections in the United States? Does he want to put a shot across the bows of the British government with whom he has pretty strained relations at the moment? Or did he just think he was kind of ingratiating himself with his hosts? Hard to say, but it certainly put the cat among the pigeons here in Dublin, in Belfast, up the road, and in London.

ABDELAZIZ: I can only imagine that the headline stirred quite the controversy. And I remember just reading all of the local press right before President Trump's visit, and the goal was a frictionless visit, was to generate no headlines. Has that now gone out the window, given this comment yesterday?

LEAHY: I mean, President Trump is not a man, I suppose, to avoid the creation of headlines. I suppose from the point of view of the Irish government, you're right, what it wants is a friction-free visit. I think any foreign leader who is meeting President Trump, whether on an overseas trip or in his lair in Washington, wants to avoid a disaster. That's especially true, I suppose, of an Irish government, because the economic ties between the country are such that the Republic is very dependent, I suppose, on that economic relationship.

[05:25:16]

Now, Irish governments always make the point that it's a two-way relationship, but really the tax revenues that American multinationals, particularly in the tech and pharma industries, the revenues that they pay here, are an enormously important part of our public finances.

So, an Irish government wants to avoid anything that would cause friction with the U.S. administration. Now, that was certainly achieved. Trump there, as you saw in one of your clips, stressing how important the relationship and how good the relationship is between Dublin and Washington.

But I suppose with Donald Trump, you know, there's always -- it's always wise to expect the unexpected. We certainly got that yesterday. I don't think it creates any difficulties between Dublin and Washington.

And I don't think either, you know, that Donald Trump -- you know, sometimes it's wise to take what Donald Trump says with a pinch of salt. I don't think he was signaling a pivot in U.S. government policy towards Ireland on the question of unification. But it certainly caught everyone on the hop.

ABDELAZIZ: And the other headline, of course, and one that could cause friction was those protests. We saw thousands of people marching through Dublin to show their opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Now, before the protest, he said he had no knowledge that these were taking place. What message did these demonstrators carry? And did it reach Donald Trump? Because there was -- there was a hope to protect him, to create a security cordon around him from these demonstrations.

LEAHY: Yeah, I mean, the demonstrations were well reported here. They took place in Dublin, also over on the West Coast in County Clare, where he's gone now to watch the golf. He was asked about this at this press conference from which you played the clip earlier on.

He said he didn't see any protests. We've been all over Ireland this morning, which is something of an exaggeration. He said we didn't see any protesters. They were kept well back from where he was in the Phoenix Park, which is a large city park, and all the perimeters of that were sealed. So, he wouldn't have come across protesters at all. Doubtless, he is, to some extent, aware of them.

But I think we've seen in other respects with President Trump, he does have a facility for ignoring those parts of reality which he finds uncongenial. And so, I'm sure as far as he was concerned, he was given a big Irish welcome and the protests were not something to which any attention should be paid.

ABDELAZIZ: And we will see, of course, President Donald Trump later today at the Irish Open. I think he is scheduled, expected to give out the winning tournament there, Pat Leahy in Dublin. Thank you so much for that breakdown.

Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," the CEO of artificial intelligence company Anthropic is sounding the alarm on A.I. safety. We're going to have more on why he's calling for an industry-wide slowdown right after this break.

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[05:31:44]

ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. Let's take a look at today's top stories:

A passenger ship is missing on the Java Sea. An Indonesian rescue agency says it is searching for a ship that set sail from East Java headed for the island of Borneo with at least 243 people on board. 103 people were evacuated onto other vessels due to the bad weather. Although one is said to have died, then the troubled ship, quote, "lost contact." The agency also said other vessels, more personnel, and a helicopter were deployed to the ship's last known position, but it is still unclear what happened.

President Donald Trump says he would love to see a unified Ireland. The remarks made during his visit drew the U.S. president into one of Ireland's most sensitive political debates. The British government and unionist groups were quick to push back. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said an eminent border pole in Northern Ireland is off the table.

The world of artificial intelligence is weighing a new warning from one of the top leaders in the industry. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is insisting that companies slow down the pace of advances in A.I. capability. He says, Anthropic will install third-party evaluators to monitor A.I. advances and he is urging other companies to do the same.

Amodei isn't alone in calling for guardrails to keep the technology safe. Elon Musk responded to the warning in a post on X, which simply reads, "Dario is right."

And OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, "Committing to independent evaluators is a great idea and that OpenAI will do the same."

CNN Contributor Jacob Ward also shared his reaction to the Anthropic CEO's remarks. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB WARD, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It is an amazing thing to live at a time when, you know, I've covered this industry for more than 20 years, and it used to be that, you know, industry leaders would just duck this kind of moment, you know, deny that there is the danger or insist that the good is always going to outweigh the bad. And the fact that this guy is speaking as frankly as he seems to be about this, I think is pretty admirable, not to mention terrifying. I will say it's important to look at the language that he's using.

One word that the industry is trying to get into all of our brains and trying to make I think the standard way we talk about this is the word pacing, pacing the frontier. We need to pace ourselves. And what that suggests is not that the race is going to come to an end or that anyone's willing to walk away from that race, just that they all need to agree to run at a certain pace.

He, in fact, says in his essay, to be clear, I'm quoting him here, "pacing does not mean halting model training or technical progress, but ensuring companies take adequate time to align and safeguard their models." So, this is not a guy saying I'm willing to stop. What he's saying is I'm concerned enough about what's happening here that I need help.

And we saw even a couple of months ago, Omar, in July, a letter went out with more than 1,300 signatories on it, including Gerry Ahmadi and the top people in the industry, basically saying we can't slow ourselves down. The competitive pressure we feel is too great here for us to slow down. And so, this is a guy who clearly feels caught between, you know, going public in a few months as he's about to, and what he clearly seems to understand is a big, huge risk, not just to our jobs, but maybe to our lives. And he's trying to find his way through it here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:35:20]

ABDELAZIZ: Now to New Delhi, where the BRICS Summit has unanimously adopted a joint resolution calling for restraint in the war in the Middle East. Now, BRICS is a group of 11 emerging and developing economies, and it is seeking a greater role in global affairs. Member nations are trying to bridge divisions between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, who are on opposite sides of the current conflict in the Middle East.

CNN's Ivan Watson has the latest on the summit for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a difficult balancing act because you really do have an assortment of countries, 11 countries that are in the current form of BRICS. And the last time that the foreign ministries of these 11 member states got together in New Delhi, that was back in May, they weren't able to come to consensus to publish a joint statement, because of the dispute over the war in Iran. Iran is a member state. Its president is present and meeting and criticizing the U.S., perhaps understandably so.

But so are other member states, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They both host U.S. military bases, and they've both been under attack periodically from Iranian drones and missiles since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran back in February.

So, there are some deep divisions and different ways of looking at things from within the 11 member states of the BRICS group. That said, there are some fences that are being mended. This is the first time that the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, has visited India in more than six years.

After those two countries, their militaries came to blows in a deadly series of clashes in disputed border regions up in the Himalayas. That was back in 2020. And the relations sharply deteriorated.

Both leaders have been improving ties in recent years. They were even at the same Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Kyrgyzstan about a week and a half ago. Part of the purpose of this is for emerging economies, developing economies to get a better, bigger say in global trade and global affairs.

And there are some resentments about how affairs have been traditionally run in the past. President Putin of Russia, he was talking about how the world is changing and suggesting that these emerging economies are the future. Take a listen to what else he had to say.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Over the last five years, around 40 percent of the world's GDP has been produced by BRICS countries, whereas the contribution by the G7, the so-called G7, I don't know why they call it the group of seven, stands at only 29 percent.

WATSON: These BRICS countries and their affiliate members, they represent about half of the global population and about 26 percent of global trade. The Chinese leader has ambitions for BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to be a kind of voice of the global south.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Now to Kyiv, where Ukraine is reporting a new barrage of Russian missile and drone strikes. The Ukrainian president says 37 people were wounded when a residential building was hit. This was in the Odesa region. You're looking at video from the state emergency services showing how fires gutted parts of that high-rise building. Ukraine's air force says more than 450 drones, rather, targeted the country overnight, and at least two people have been reported killed in an overnight drone strike on a residential area in Zaporizhzhia. A woman was pulled alive from the rubble of her home, saying her sister was one of those killed.

A Nepali man is sharing how he survived nine days trapped in total darkness after catastrophic floods buried the hydropower station where he worked. Sanjay Sah was trapped during last month's deadly glacier collapse in the Himalayas. At least 1,300 people are known to have died, with that number steadily rising as recovery efforts continue.

More than 5,000 people are still missing in Nepal and China. And now that Sanjay Sah has been discharged from the hospital, he's sharing his story. And he described being alone with no food and surviving by drinking floodwater. He said thoughts of his family and faith kept him going as he waited for that rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY SAH, HYDROPOWER TUNNEL SURVIVOR (through translator): Initially, I had hoped that I would be rescued within 10, 20 or 30 days, even if I wasn't going to be rescued and needed to believe in myself. I thought about my family and how worried they probably were. I had to gather enough courage to survive there. Even if I had to die, I couldn't just give up so easily. I stayed there and chanted the Maha Mantra over and over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:40:28]

ABDELAZIZ: Now, many villages are still isolated in the aftermath of this catastrophe, cut off the steep mountain valleys that are so difficult to reach, even under the best circumstances. CNN's Isabel Rosales looked at the technology helping the Nepali Army deliver critical aid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than two weeks after the devastating flood in Nepal, the focus is turning to relief and recovery. With many roads and bridges destroyed, some villages are cut off from aid. So aid workers and army soldiers are turning to drones.

SANTOSH BUDHATHOKI, DRONE OPERATOR, NEPAL ARMY (through translator): There is no other way to send food, essentials, medicine and fuel except for drones, which are the best option to utilize, and we should prioritize them more.

ROSALES (voice-over): The fleet of 100 drones were part of an aid donation made by China. And Nepali Army officials say this is the first time they've used technology like this on such a large scale. The heavy-duty drones are capable of carrying up to 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds, and are being used for distances up to three or four kilometers, or three miles.

Orchestrating these drone paths take precise, detailed planning. So, the army pilots are working with a Nepali-based technology company to manage them.

MILAN PANDEY, CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, AIRLIFT TECHNOLOGY: So yes, it is quite hectic because we need to have this thing right now because Nepal needs a drone right now. Nepal has this geography, this terrain, where drone would be really faster, quicker and cheaper.

ROSALES (voice-over): The drones have also been used for search and rescue operations, and moving the bodies of flood victims in hard-to- reach areas. One drone pilot says the technology has already made a large impact on rural communities, and it could be used to do even more.

In addition to the drones, the government has also been reaching more people by starting to rebuild roads and bridges, like this one in Devighat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is not just about moving the people. This is also about hope. It has created a hope among people that the government is doing something. I feel like it has given us a hope.

ROSALES: Isabel Rosales, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Coming up next on "CNN Newsroom," can Sweden's far right take center stage? Voting is now underway. They're in an election that could herald major changes for the government.

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[05:46:07]

ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back. Voting is now underway in Sweden in an election that could bring the far right into the government. Sweden's prime minister, who currently leads a minority center-right coalition, is promising jobs to members of the hard-right Sweden Democrats if he secures a second term in office. But it's going to be a very tight race, as our Ben Hunte reports.

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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): A test for Sweden, NATO's newest member that shed some of its liberal image in recent years after imposing strict limits on crime and immigration. Sunday's vote is a razor-tight race. It pits Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's center- right coalition, which won a narrow victory four years ago by pledging to crack down on crime, against a center-left bloc led by the Social Democrats. That's Sweden's longtime dominant political party.

Kristersson says his time in office has been a success.

ULF KRISTERSSON, SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER: We have a decrease in, in, in criminal gang shootings by 75 percent. We had a surge in irregular migration to Sweden. Now we have seen a decrease also in, in those terms by 75 percent. The economy is recovering. We have won the fight over inflation.

HUNTE: But there is a catch. One of his coalition's biggest supporters is a party called the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party with roots in the neo-Nazi movement. They are currently not part of the government, but Kristersson says they will be if he gets a second term.

In recent years, the Sweden Democrats have tried to moderate their image and have apologized for past neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic views. But critics say their inclusion is a further shift to the right and a move away from Sweden's core values.

MAGDALENA ANDERSSON, SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADER: But, clearly, a government completely dominated by the Sweden Democrats and with a prime minister whose wings have been clipped would result in a very different Sweden from the one we have today, a country where we have built our strength precisely by rejoicing in each other's successes and standing together when times are tough.

HUNTE: The opposition has also toughened its stance on crime and immigration. Some voters say those issues are still top of their list.

WILHELM, SWEDISH VOTER: Criminality obviously has been a big topic in these past four years. It's important for me as well. So, just making sure that we're ending up at a solution that is, let's say, sustainable in the long-term.

HUNTE: But others say they're against bringing a far-right party into the government.

EHSAN BRIFKANY, RETIREE (through translator): The Sweden Democrats have changed Sweden for the worse. They claim to want to fight criminals, yet they fight against all immigrants.

HUNTE (voice-over): With both the center-right and center-left blocks similarly aligned on major campaign issues, like the economy and support for Ukraine, Sunday's outcome may depend on how far right Sweden is willing to lean. Ben Hunte, CNN.

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ABDELAZIZ: Still to come this hour, a new champion is crowned at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. We'll tell you how she did it, and we'll set you up for the men's final later today.

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[05:53:06]

ABDELAZIZ: Elena Rybakina has won her first U.S. Open women's singles title, defeating the two-time defending champ Aryna Sabalenka. CNN's World Sports Patrick Snell has the report on this very dramatic match.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: What an amazing last few days it's been for Elena Rybakina. She's going to be leaving the Big Apple not just as the new top-ranked player in the world, but also the new U.S. Open champion after sealing her third career major on Saturday at the expense of her great rival, Aryna Sabalenka.

This would be a thrilling contest as the top two players in the world lock on Saturday in the Big Apple. Sabalenka's frustration growing in the fifth game of the first set. The Belarusian serve is broken. Sabalenka receiving a code violation after hitting the ball away in frustration.

Rybakina in control early on as the first set goes her way. After losing the first set 6-4 though, Sabalenka hitting back in style to win the second set 7-5 to keep her dreams alive of a history-making third straight U.S. Open title.

A thrilling comeback was on the cards. Not the case though because what would happen in the third set to decide her going the way of Rybakina. It was dramatic, it was intense, but it would be the player from Kazakhstan who gets an early break of serve. Another break of serve would follow and from that moment on Sabalenka's fate was sealed.

Elena Rybakina, a Grand Slam champion again and also showing a rare display of emotion after sealing her third career Grand Slam title.

ELENA RYBAKINA, 2026 U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION: I honestly was coming here for last 10 years and it was never successful, nothing close to that and I mean it's just incredible and I'm falling in love in New York more and more and it's an amazing memories for me. Thank you guys.

[05:55:06]

SNELL: Rybakina is now three quarters of the way now after this U.S. Open victory to a remarkable career Grand Slam. That is quite an incredible achievement when you consider her first career major came in 2022 at Wimbledon. Amazing scenes for the player from Kazakhstan and with that I'll send it right back to you.

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ABDELAZIZ: And the action now shifts to the men's final later today as American Ben Shelton faces off against Germany's Alexander Zverev. The top seed Shelton is the first African-American man to reach a U.S. Open final since 1972. He is just one win away from becoming the first American man to claim a major singles title in 23 years.

An emotional Celine Dion is back doing what she loves and her fans could not be happier about it. The Canadian singer kicked off a series of 26 concerts near Paris on Saturday before a sold-out crowd. She promised not to cry but she shed tears anyways.

The superstar's comeback is six years in the making. One of the best- selling music artists of all time, Dion stopped touring after revealing her battle with a painful disorder that stiffened her body.

Dion's residency is now expected to rival the impact of Taylor Swift's heiress tour and she says it could generate a billion-euro windfall or more than 1.1 billion dollars in economic activity in France. An uptick in travelers from abroad and more hotel bookings than expected.

Thank you so much for watching. I'm Salma Abdelaziz.

For our viewers in North America, "CNN This Morning" is next. For the rest of the world it's going to be "Marketplace Asia."

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