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Safety Concerns Intensify U.S. Political Debate Over Artificial Intelligence; Indonesian Ferry Capsizes in Rough Seas; Talks on Reopening Strait of Hormuz on Hold; A.I. Infrastructure A Key Issue For Midterm Voters; Celine Dion Makes Emotional Return To The Stage; Zverev Defeats Shelton To Claim Men's Singles Title. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 14, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead on "CNN Newsroom," the debate over reigning in artificial intelligence. A partisan divide is opening up ahead of U.S. midterm elections. We will look at what each side is saying. We're also live in Beijing to see how China is reacting to the warnings from some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. And talks on opening the Strait of Hormuz now on hold. What led to the pause and whether Washington will accept a deal it doesn't broker.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church."

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. And we begin this hour with the growing debate here in the United States over artificial intelligence. Over the weekend, the CEO of Anthropic, one of the leading A.I. developers in the world, called for an industry-wide slowdown due to the safety risks surrounding A.I. Lawmakers are now weighing his words as they prepare to return to Capitol Hill for this week's session.

Growing public scrutiny is prompting some Democrats to push for an emergency session to regulate the technology. This comes after former president, Barack Obama, advised Democrats to make A.I. regulation a central part of their agenda ahead of the November midterms. But Republican leaders, including President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, argue the concerns are overblown and that they remain secondary to winning the A.I. race against China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

MIKE JOHNSON, SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: The problem is they all have a different prescription on what they say the regulation is supposed to be. The problem is they're all competitors. Each one of them wants to maintain an edge over the others. And Congress is obviously less qualified than the people who are pushing this frontier to know all the ins and outs of it. If we overstep it, I'm telling you again, Jake, it could be a national security threat for every American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: U.S. President Donald Trump, while in Ireland this weekend, dismissed concerns raised by A.I. leaders. CNN's Julia Benbrook has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump spent his weekend here in Ireland, but he is going to have a lot to deal with as he returns home. This was a two-day trip, and there was a mixture of official meetings as well as more personal endeavors like attending the Irish Open, which took place at one of his properties here.

But while he was on this trip, there have been growing concerns about artificial intelligence and the lack of regulations on it. A number of lawmakers, former A.I. employees, and even A.I. executives are raising concerns about the rapid growth of this industry. Some companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are even calling on Congress to put into place federal safety regulations to intentionally slow the pace of development. Trump was asked about all of this as he walked the golf course on

Sunday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're leading China in A.I. We're the most sophisticated country in the world. And, frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins. And we can quit guardrails. We can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of negative voices that are bringing it up that -- they shouldn't be bringing it up. And they're bringing up things that won't happen. But whoever wins with A.I. wins. You know, it's an expression that I came up with, and it's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So, some strong words from Trump on this. He is making it very clear where he stands. He said not once, but twice, whoever wins A.I. wins. He has said that he wants the United States to be a leader on this.

While speaking over the weekend to CNN, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that they need to be able to find a balance between national security and the immediate security of making models safe. He has said that he is open to a meeting with tech leaders in Washington to discuss this. He said one potential issue he sees is that they may want different things when looking for those regulations.

[02:04:58]

Johnson says he has spoken about this topic overall with Trump.

Reporting in Dublin, Ireland, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Let's bring in CNN senior China reporter Simone McCarthy for "The View" from Beijing. Good to see you, Simone. So, President Trump dismisses A.I. concerns raised by Anthropic CEO and other A.I. executives as well as the general public. He's more interested in beating China, not reigning in A.I. What's China's view on all of this?

SIMONE MCCARTHY, CNN SENIOR CHINA REPORTER: Well, Rosemary, it's interesting because, at the same time that all of this conversation is really kicking up in the United States, we've also seen an uptick in how these A.I. safety risks are being discussed here in China.

Now, obviously, as you well know, the media ecosystem here is very different than it is in the United States. And so, what we're seeing in China is that there are government officials who are speaking out with really some of the most direct comments that we've seen to date about some of these A.I. safety risks.

Now, let's take a look at what China's ministry of state -- minister of state security, who is basically the top intelligence chief in the country, had to say about this in an article that was published just at the top of this week. And he said, "We must properly balance development and security, accelerate the formulation and improvement of relevant laws and regulations, establish systems for technology monitoring, risk early warning and emergency response to strengthen the assessment and prevention of potential risks arising from the development of artificial intelligence."

Now, obviously, that's very bureaucratic language, but we can see that the concerns that are reflected there are not so dissimilar from the same ones that are being raised by tech CEOs in the United States. And it wasn't just Minister Chen. We also had a top cybersecurity official earlier this month talking about the risks of the extreme loss of control that could be possible among some of these frontier models.

So, China is very much thinking about this in terms of their own national security. That's very much baked into the language. They're thinking about the extent to which China and its own systems may be a target of frontier models. They're also thinking about the extent to which the rapid development of A.I. can impact the information infrastructure here, the ecosystem here, in which the movement of information is highly moderated. So, there's a lot of very national- specific concerns here, and China is working on bulking up its own regulations around A.I.

But Chinese leadership has also been talking for a long time about the need for A.I. global governance. Chinese Leader Xi Jinping has really spearheaded this effort just yesterday in New Delhi at a meeting of the BRICS emerging economies, a summit hosted in New Delhi. He talked about the need for this A.I. governance.

And from China's perspective, this is really about making sure that the benefits of A.I. are shared more globally, that there isn't a so- called tech hegemony in which the U.S. sets all the rules and its companies are the ones that are leading in that space. Now, that's, of course, reading between the lines of how Chinese officials would phrase that. But that said, they're also talking about safety and the need to create some guardrails and have a shared global understanding of that.

Now, the question is whether or not there can be, despite the common ground and shared interests, some kind of actual agreement on what that looks like between the U.S. and China. This was something that was raised by Jacob Coxon, the former Anthropic employee who really sparked this conversation last month as well and something that you alluded to as well, Rosemary.

So, what we're looking ahead to now is A.I. talks between the U.S. and China that we're expecting to see in coming days as well as Chinese Leader Xi Jinping's visit to the United States, in which we should see A.I. and these big existential questions really coming into play in that meeting between Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping.

Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Simone McCarthy, many thanks for your live report. Appreciate it. All right, so, here's a look at the financial markets in Asia in the wake of the warnings on the pace of A.I. development. You can see there Japan's Nikkei down 0.72 percent. Look at the KOSPI. It lost more than three percent there. Shanghai Composite also down, but Hang Seng is up 0.32 percent.

And here's a live look at U.S. futures ahead of the opening bell on Monday. All in negative territory there. You can see the Nasdaq futures down more than one percent. We'll see what happens in the coming hours.

Well, earlier, CNN spoke with Ryan Patel with the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. We asked him if companies are actually generating enough revenue to justify the massive amount of money being poured into A.I. right now, and here's his response.

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RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Here's the thing. I don't think this is necessarily an end of an A.I. rally. I think the markets are asking harder questions, and that includes investors and individuals as well. I mean, listen, the last few years, investors have rewarded the A.I. story based on potential.

And I think we're starting to hit that crossroads to where we demand the evidence of, I think, three things. One, you know, are companies actually getting enough productivity and revenue to justify those capital spending? What happens if a handful of AI-related companies, you know, kind of representing an outsized share of the markets, kind of reassess their trade, right? That affects the market. And then who pays for the disruption?

And we -- you know, really important at this, why this is coming up to fruition is the cybersecurity risks, the energy demand, the labor displacement, and potentially the regulatory responses. These are now -- all of a sudden, these are not new questions. People have been talking about it. It's now just coming to the head as of right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: We have much more to come here on "CNN Newsroom." Diplomacy over the Strait of Hormuz hits a setback after a planned meeting between Iran and Gulf Arab states was postponed. What it means for global oil prices and tensions in the region. Back to that and more in just a moment.

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[02:15:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Rescue teams in Indonesia are racing to find dozens of people missing after a passenger ferry capsized in the Java Sea, killing at least six people. At least 108 people have been rescued so far, assisted by dozens of vessels, including four Navy ships and two helicopters. The ferry set sail on Sunday with 243 people on board, including 30 crew members. Authorities say the captain had reported rough seas with waves up to 10 feet before issuing a distress call.

Joining us now is CNN's Mike Valerio, live in Beijing. So, Mike, what is the latest on rescue efforts to find those missing in this ferry tragedy?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest is to see if there are any air pockets in that extraordinary capsized red hole that you can see in the Java Sea. But, you know, we showed a couple of seconds of this video in the start up to this story. Let's go back to a control room. This is the latest video, Rosemary, that we have of people who were rescued, who were pulled out of this thing and the surrounding waters. This video was recorded Sunday evening, but is just reaching us here at CNN within the past two and a half hours. So, it is remarkable that people have been pulled from this capsized scene.

But we want to go to two sound bites. The first one you're going to hear is from a survivor talking about the moment the boat, this ferry here, began to tilt. And the second one is a woman, calm, cool and collected, telling a reporter about trying to talk to one of her relatives when the weather was starting to get bad. Well, listen to those two soundbites We'll talk more on the other side. Let's listen now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FAISAL, CAPSIZED FERRY SURVIVOR (through translator): After the ship listed (ph), people panicked and ran to the upper deck. Eventually, the ship capsized, turning upside down. There were 14 of us at that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PUTRI, RELATIVE OF MISSING FERRY PASSENGER (through translator): Our last contact was 5 p.m. in the afternoon yesterday.

UNKNOWN (through translator): And he was already at sea by then?

PUTRI (through translator): He was on his way.

UNKNOWN (through translator): And what did he say in that last contact?

PUTRI (through translator): He said the signal wasn't very good. It kept going down. Then after that, there was no more contact. We couldn't reach him.

UNKNOWN (through translator): But did he report anything on the weather conditions?

PUTRI (through translator): He said it was bad.

UNKNOWN (through translator): And then nothing after?

PUTRI (through translator): No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: Let's show you a map of where this happened. So, if you know the region, if you've been to Bali before, the starting off point on East Java is about an eight-hour, nine-hour car ride west of Bali. So, it's between essentially where you're looking, like Jakarta and Indonesia, between those two rectangles, that's the Java Sea. So, that is where this overnight trip was happening.

So, when you think of weather deteriorating after sunset, this capsize happens, as far as we know, in the dark. A harrowing scene. And as our reporting continues into the afternoon hours here in Asia, the question really is, how many of the 100-plus people, Rosemary, these rescuers are able to find? Again, is there an air pocket?

There are boats from the Navy, from Coast Guard teams in the region that are swarming this boat. But, again, we're looking for new, updated information on how many of the 100-plus missing people right now are able to be saved. Stand by for an update on that. We'll be back in the 4 a.m. Eastern hour. But that is certainly, you know, just what we're all hoping for, that there are more people who are pulled from that scene, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Such a terrifying situation for those involved and, of course, the loved ones of those on that ferry.

VALERIO: Yes.

CHURCH: Mike Valerio, I appreciate your live report on the ferry tragedy. All right, it was a security scare for former CIA director, David Petraeus, and former British prime minister, Boris Johnson, on Sunday. Reports indicate that a passenger train was struck by Russian drones near the country's border with Poland. A Ukrainian railway company says the train left the station earlier than expected. That same station held trains occupied by Petraeus, Johnson, and various officials at different times. We have no reports of injuries at this time, but the incident has left passengers shaken like this woman on board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLYA POLYAKOVA, SINGER (through translator): Today, our train that was heading to Poland was evacuated three times.

[02:19:58]

And the third time, when we were running into a field, a Shahed drone struck the train. We heard it. Thank God we were far away because we ran very quickly. I was with my younger daughter. Honestly, I'm in shock, and I'm terrified from it. I will come back to it and talk about it because I have a lot to say and there are many things that have deeply shocked me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Amid those reports, U.S. President Donald Trump also commented on Russia's war on Ukraine. The president called on Ukraine to stop targeting Russian diesel supplies. He claims that's driving up the price of fuel. But the war with Iran has had a much more dramatic effect on fuel prices worldwide. Tensions in the Middle East are driving up oil futures yet again. Both Brent crude, the global benchmark, and U.S. crude rose nearly three percent on Sunday. And here's where prices stand right now. You can see crude at 102 and 11 there. And if we bring up Brent -- can we bring that up? No. OK. We're having a few little problems here.

But moving on, a major diplomatic push in the Gulf is now on hold. Gulf diplomats and Iranian officials were supposed to meet Monday in Oman without the U.S. at the table to discuss a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But that meeting has now been postponed indefinitely with Oman saying more consensus is needed. And this comes after months of private talks over a possible legal framework that could allow Iran and Oman to collect fees for vessels to pass through the critical waterway.

President Trump, meanwhile, still believes the war could end by November. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Look, it could end before the midterms or it will end after the midterms. Iran -- I will tell you this. Iran wants to make a deal so bad. They are calling constantly. They want to make a deal. They got to make the right deal. I'm not going to make a deal that's no good. We'll ultimately get out unless we decide to stay and keep the oil like Venezuela.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now is Negah Angha, a visiting fellow with King's College London. She was also a senior advisor at the U.S. State Department and National Security Council under the Biden administration. I appreciate you joining us.

NEGAH ANGHA, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER FOR U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT AND NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, VISITING FELLOW AT KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So, Oman says these talks between Iranian officials and Gulf diplomats to open up the Strait of Hormuz are now on hold indefinitely because more consensus is needed. Why do you think those talks are cancelled?

ANGHA: Look, it's a setback. But I think postponing this meeting is not the same as abandoning the diplomatic channel. I think what we're seeing right now is, obviously, Oman having confirmed the postponement.

But we're seeing a lot of these sort of underlying negotiations, a lot of these diplomatic channels continue. We've been seeing reporting of various foreign ministers of both states engaging in conversation over the last 24 hours, working through some, you know, potential discussions around what this agreement could look like, what a meeting could look like. So, I think we could very well see a potential re- emergence of this meeting. Maybe it could be on the margins of the U.N. general assembly later this month or a bit later.

I think my assessment overall is that there's an incentive to keep the diplomacy track alive because, you know, it's essentially better than the alternative, which is escalation, and, you know, the Gulf governments are needing a way to protect essentially their infrastructures, their economies, their citizens.

But, you know, it's very clear that, you know, the underlying distinction between warning stability versus trying to find concessions around achieving it is really the issue at this point.

CHURCH: But what do you think suddenly changed? Because talks between Iran and Oman had been going on for months in an effort to find a legal framework that would allow the two countries to collect fees from vessels passing through the strait.

ANGHA: You know, I think the MOU essentially, the memorandum, essentially envisaged, you know, a dialogue between Iran and Oman, but it was alongside the consultation with these Gulf coastal states that would be impacted by this. And I think, you know, the issue was essentially that the agreement wasn't necessarily going to open the Strait of Hormuz, but it was essentially, you know, the discussion around the conditions.

And as those consultations continued to, you know, evolve with the various Gulf states, there were concerns.

[02:25:04]

Again, the concern right now, and I think, you know, we're at a moment of uncertainty, is that the Gulf states do not want this current status quo. They do not want this essentially allowing Iran to have, you know, the ability to collect tools, the ability to have, you know, the commercial passage in the way that they would have it without serving their interests as well. And so, it's going through a lot of those technical details. And, again, I would see this -- it is obviously a setback, but it is a pause that's forcing them to have a lot of these conversations.

CHURCH: Right.

ANGHA: And then we have to bear in mind as well, of course, Saudi Arabia is the concern with what's happening in the Red Sea. This is all being co-mingled.

CHURCH: So, how significant is it that the U.S. is excluded from these talks? And do you think that helps or hinders efforts to reopen this critical waterway? Would the U.S. even accept any deal that came out of this?

ANGHA: Look, I think, you know, Washington can basically see this both as an opportunity and a risk. I think an arrangement that restores the safe commercial passage will serve the American interest. But I think Washington is going to be much less comfortable with a deal that effectively gives Tehran a veto over any sort of shipping or generates a pressure for the United States to lift any blockade before any commitments are verifiable.

So, I think, you know, again, there is this -- you know, the initiative still very much depends on the wider U.S.-Iran divide at this moment in time. I think, you know, as a former U.S. diplomat, I would distinguish between, you know, this idea of losing ownership of a process from losing influence over its outcome.

I think Washington doesn't necessarily have to design a re-agreement for that agreement to advance American security. And so, I think they are heavily involved but behind the scenes to ensure that it works towards American interests. They don't necessarily need to receive the diplomatic credit in this instance.

CHURCH: Negah Angha, thank you so much for sharing your analysis and perspective with us. Appreciate it.

ANGHA: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: And we'll be right back.

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[02:30:00]

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[02:30:41]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church.

Let's get up to speed now on our top story. U.S. lawmakers are divided along party lines over the issue of artificial intelligence. The growing debate comes after a stark warning about A.I. safety from the CEO of industry giant Anthropic. He's calling for a slowdown on A.I. development to avoid the risk of a disaster brought on by a technology we can't control.

The development of A.I. infrastructure is becoming an even bigger issue for voters ahead of the November midterms.

CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten looks at the latest polling on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there. You know, one of the big debates that seemingly came out of nowhere developing before the midterm elections, which are now a little bit -- well, according to my fake watch, a little bit under two months from now here in the states, is the debate over A.I. and data centers.

President Trump, a big proponent of both. But the American people, simply put, are not with him when it comes to this issue. You can see it clearly in the numbers. I mean, just look at this. Look at these numbers.

Okay. Trump's approval rating on ai, his net approval rating, look at this, negative 34 points. That is, his disapproval rating is 34 points higher than his approval rating or a comparable metric. I mean, that's terrible.

And somehow that's even worse than it was back in March when he wasn't too hot to trot either, when he was, according to my little note, I like to leave myself little notes on the bottom of the screen, about 25 points underwater on this issue. Now, you think that this net approval, rating approval disapproval is bad. Why don't you look at it among independents, look at it among independents? Because if you think there's 34 points is bad, how about 61 points underwater with independents?

I don't care if you combine Jacques Cousteau and the little mermaid, you could not get that far underwater. I mean, my goodness gracious. Independents 61 points more likely to disapprove than approve of the job that President Trump is doing when it comes to the issue of A.I.

Now, President Trump not on the ballot come these midterm elections, but there's going to be a lot of Republicans running for Congress. And we've seen a lot of flip flops from different politicians, from both parties when it comes to data centers.

And you want to know why there have been flip flops? Because the ones that were pro are becoming con because theyre looking at polling data like this.

I mean, there's a reason why Trump's approval rating on A.I. is so low. It's because take a look at this. Local data centers prefer candidates for congress to oppose or support. Look at the opposition here, 54 percent overall say oppose, oppose, oppose. They oppose. They want their candidates to oppose data centers.

Compare this to the support. You know, when I can do it like this. Ten, five, you know, it's a low number. Just 15 percent say they want local candidates to support. They want candidates to support local data centers.

You'd think that this 15 percent is low. How about this 8 percent among independents? I can do that really easily. Look at that. Eight, eight, eight percent support among independents, or say that they want candidates to support him.

Look at this, 62 percent say they want those candidates to oppose, oppose, oppose, independents say, oppose the data centers. That's a ratio of nearly eight to one, nearly a ratio of eight to one.

Now, why? One of the big reasons why folks in the electorate are so opposed to data centers and A.I. -- well, it's almost always about the economy. And I think this final data point will kind of give the game away. I mean, look at this. What will I do to jobs in America? Will it reduce them, increase them? Well, overall, 64 percent of voters say that in fact, A.I. will reduce jobs in America compared to just 19 percent who say that A.I. will increase jobs in America.

But again, you think this 64 percent is high. How about among independents, it's 72 percent, 72 percent of independents say that A.I. will, in fact, reduce jobs in America compared to a very lonely 14 percent. That's 10. And the final four to get you to 14 percent.

You just look at these numbers and you go, you know what? If I'm supporting A.I., I'm supporting data centers, and I am running in this midterm election, I am running really, really scared.

[02:35:09]

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Joining me now is Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and coauthor of "Campaign of Chaos: Trump, Biden, Harris and the 2024 American Election".

Good to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you for having me, Rosemary. CHURCH: So, Larry, the race is on to rein in artificial intelligence

as former president Barack Obama calls for A.I. oversight to be at the center of the Democrats agenda, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says he's ready to do that. But how difficult will it be for all lawmakers to make A.I. regulation a priority, given President Trump dismisses the dangers and defends minimal regulation, stressing the need to beat China in the A.I. race.

SABATO: The fact that President Trump has made it very clear already that he doesn't think there's a problem, and therefore he doesn't think there's a need for regulation suggests that, at the very least, he could veto whatever Congress passes. And I don't think congress will get this together very quickly.

It's a complicated issue. There are lots of different views on it. There are conflicting corporate outlooks on it. There's only a couple of weeks of legislative time left in this fall, given the election. They've canceled most of it in the House of Representatives.

So to expect any kind of thoughtful legislation about a complex subject like this is really expecting far too much of this Congress.

CHURCH: But, Larry, how much pressure is there on all lawmakers to act when it comes to regulating the pace of A.I. developments? Given the warnings coming from A.I. executives themselves and concerns from the general public?

SABATO: Well, there is pressure, and I think most people, you know, average people were really taken aback by this. I know I was. I -- yes, I've read from time to time that this expert and that expert thinks that there are great dangers here, and there probably are. But to have someone from the inside come out with a simple tweet, a post on X and say that, you know, 10 percent chance that we're all going to be dead within a few years because of A.I., this tends to grab your attention.

And sure enough, there have been well over 100 million views of this particular tweet, probably a lot more than that now. And it's one of the first things that people discuss when you meet friends on the street. So this is something that everyone will have a stand on, but probably no one will do anything about for the short term at least.

CHURCH: Yeah, it was certainly a sobering message, wasn't it? And of course, in the meantime, the Senate is returning from recess. What are the priorities for lawmakers ahead of the looming midterms, and how much is the growing issue of data centers dominating those priorities, with a lot of public concern about what's happening with those data centers in many neighborhoods?

SABATO: Yes, I think data centers will take precedence over A.I. simply because its relatively easy for Congress to pass a resolution or even a piece of legislation suggesting that consumer rights have to be taken into account. The price of electricity, the things that people are complaining about all across the country. This is doable, although it won't be easy again given the time crunch involved. But A.I. will be on the sidelines. Data centers have become an issue that are that's bipartisan. And that means probably something can be passed, but not something that's detailed or raises partisan hackles.

So I don't know if it will really have any effect. But politicians have to have something to say on the campaign trail. This is on the voters minds, along with A.I. And so members of Congress who are running for reelection are going to have to answer constituents and probably put a TV ad or two together.

CHURCH: And, Larry, with the midterms just weeks away, as you point out, what do most polls tell you about what to expect in terms of results, given the intensifying war with Iran and, of course, rising gas and grocery bills

SABATO: Rising costs and prices of food and gas, the extending war in Iran, which has been unpopular from the beginning and is even more unpopular now and shows no sign of ending, along with other indications of corruption in the Trump administration, the selling of pardons, which was a big issue tonight on one of the major networks in the United States.

You put all this together, and what I've seen is actually traditional. The party that's ahead, the party that is leading because the atmospherics of the year encouraged them, and that's the Democrats in this case, have built on their generic lead.

[02:40:11]

That is, we always ask voters and all the polls for a year in advance, are you planning on voting for the Democratic candidate for Congress in your district, or the Republican candidate? Well, it started out at two or three percent lead for the Democrats. Now it's at seven to eight percent.

That is very likely to produce a Democratic House of Representatives, though I can't tell you the margin yet. And it suggests that Democrats will have at least an even chance of taking the Senate, even though the Senate seats up are pretty heavily Republican.

CHURCH: We'll see what happens. Larry Sabato, thanks for joining us and sharing your analysis and perspective. Appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you as always, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And we have much more coming up on the show, including Celine Dion back doing what she loves, how fans are reacting to the superstar's comeback.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CELINE DION, SINGER (through translator): I believed, I believed, and voila, the sun is here. The sun before me. So tonight I want to sing for you. To sing for me. To sing for life.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Celine Dion fulfilling a promise to her legions of fans with an emotional return to the stage this weekend, the superstar held her comeback concert in France on Saturday. It is the first in a series of concerts she will hold in Paris. Dion broke down in tears during her opening number. She stepped away from live performances after she was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, that is a rare neurological condition which causes muscle spasms.

And joining me now is Alma Rota, an editor for "Rolling Stone France". Good to have you with us.

ALMA ROTA, EDITOR, ROLLING STONE FRANCE: Good morning.

[02:45:00]

CHURCH: Good morning to you, too.

ROTA: Good morning, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Celine Dion promised her fans she would return and she did not disappoint with a spectacular comeback concert in France Saturday. What was your response to her incredible performance and hitting those high notes, given what she's been through in the last few years?

ROTA: She was stunningly elegant and emotional and defying some rumors. She was definitely singing live. You could hear the discipline in her voice and the work in every note.

What was striking for me that she didn't seem to hide the effort. And yet she was incredibly strong and generous. It was very emotional, very powerful comeback.

CHURCH: Yeah. Just extraordinary, isn't it? And, Celine, as we mentioned, was diagnosed with this rare neurological condition called stiff person syndrome, which causes muscle spasms. And she has even shared video of some of the worst moments where she deals with those spasms.

How did she overcome this and pull off such a spectacular return?

ROTA: I think she has put so much effort and work and I think she has allowed herself to, to show herself vulnerable. I think for a star like her that was always -- we expect from her that she was perfect. I think she, she allowed herself to show herself as vulnerable and fragile. And she said she had tamed her vulnerability and that she made -- it made her stronger. So that's how she presented herself on Saturday.

CHURCH: Yeah. Just amazing. And Celine broke down in tears during her opening number, as we reported. How was that received by her fans who've been with her all the way, haven't they, supporting her efforts to return to the stage?

ROTA: Well, first of all, um, the fan had come from all over the world and the excitement was long before the concert. As you might have seen, Paris had turned into Celine city for a few days. They went to the hotel. People were waiting for her, and she was coming down late at night singing with the fans.

You know, chanting and dancing and spending time with her. And that that is incredibly generous. So the excitement built up for many days before she came on stage. That was amazing.

And before, before she went on stage, people were chanting her name like in a stadium. It was like a football match. And it was incredible.

CHURCH: Incredible. Absolutely. So. So what comes next for Celine Dion and how many more live performances like this can we expect to see, given what she has been through?

ROTA: Well, she's supposed to do a few dates up until end of October. And the arena in Paris. And they have announced more shows, another round of show for may 2027. So that is a lot of work. So she's preserving herself. And I think it's a lot of discipline and she has to rest. And there's a whole team behind her. And this is huge. So it's a huge resiliency with a lot of pressure. And I think she's going to be on the top.

CHURCH: Alma Rota, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate you joining us.

ROTA: Thank you. Thank you. Have a good day.

CHURCH: You too.

And coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, just ahead, an exciting end to the U.S. Open men's singles final and the crowning of a grand slam champion. That story and more after the break.

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[02:52:48]

CHURCH: Heavy rain left, streets flooded and cars submerged in Westport, Connecticut, on Sunday. Emergency crews say they responded to a series of calls involving stranded drivers as roads became impassable. Flash flood warnings were declared in the southern portions of Connecticut, as well as Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The first hint of fall is spreading across parts of the Midwest and Northeast. This week, a blast of cool, dry air has sent temperatures dropping into the 50s and 40s overnight in Chicago, Detroit, and other parts of the Midwest. By Monday evening, those cool temperatures are expected to make their way to New York City, Boston and Providence. Daytime temperatures are expected to largely stay in the mid 70s through Wednesday.

Well, Germany's Alexander Zverev has won the U.S. Open men's singles championship, capping his breakthrough year with a second grand slam title. The top seed defeated American Ben Shelton in four sets, regaining control after Shelton rallied to take the third. Shelton's loss disappointed a home crowd hoping to see an American man

win a grand slam title for the first time in 23 years. The match, though, marked a full circle moment for Zverev, who let a two set lead slip away during his first U.S. Open Final six years ago.

CNN World Sport's Patrick Snell caught up with him courtside after his big win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, many congratulations. You are holding a magnificent piece of silverware. But let's start with the moment you clinched it. You appeared to not initially realize you'd won the title.

What was going through your mind at that moment?

ALEXANDER ZVEREV, U.S. OPEN MEN'S SINGLES CHAMPION: I thought I thought it was 5-1. I thought it was five one instead of 6-2. So I thought, I have one more game left.

So I was quite focused. I was quite calm, but then I was luckily on the side of my team and they were all screaming that it's over. So I'm very happy that it was.

SNELL: They confirmed it.

ZVEREV: Yeah, they confirmed it for me.

SNELL: What a moment that was.

What a year it's been for you, Sacha. You win the French Open. Now, the U.S. Open. At the start of the year, though, would you ever have dreamt it possible that you would go on to win? Not just one, but two grand slam singles titles?

[02:55:02]

ZVEREV: Yeah, of course, that's what you work for. But definitely, if you would have given me a paper at the beginning of the season for one grand slam title, I would have signed it, that's for sure. But standing here with two is absolutely amazing and I couldn't be happier.

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

ZVEREV: Yeah, it's funny, the scar tissue started here six years ago, but, yeah, I mean, I definitely had tough moments, especially I think in Paris. I had a lot of stress in me. But here I was just enjoying my time on the court because I won in Paris already. So, it was much more enjoyable, a lot of fun on the court and, definitely happy with how I played.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well done.

Well, Pope Leo is preparing to mark his second birthday as pope. The pontiff turned 71 years old on Monday. He became the first U.S. born leader of the Catholic Church last year after the death of Pope Francis. Since his election, Pope Leo has addressed several controversial issues, including artificial intelligence, climate change, international conflicts, human rights and modern technologies.

Happy birthday to the pope.

Well, thanks for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. CNN NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval is next after a short break.

Stay with us.

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