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Trump Open to Easing Iran Sanctions; Five British Terror Plot Suspects Freed on Bail; Two Killed in Strike on Science Academy; SpaceX's Starship Makes Fiery Splashdown; Pope Leo XIV Completes Four- Day Visit to France; Nvidia Launches Tool to Stop A.I. Agents from Going Rogue. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired September 29, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. And ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," President Trump outlining his conditions for easing sanctions on Iran. How mediators are trying to bring both countries back to the negotiating table. And British authorities releasing five people suspected of being involved in a terror plot on an air base used by the U.S. What the president has to say about this. And SpaceX's Starship rocket making a fiery splash down in the Pacific after a shortened test flight. What the company considers a mission of success.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval."

SANDOVAL: U.S. and Iranian officials have renewed talks through mediators as part of another effort to end the seven months of war. The U.S. officials telling CNN that President Trump is willing to give Iran some sanctions relief and also release some frozen funds. That's in exchange for concrete progress on a nuclear deal. According to one official, Tehran has indicated that they are flexible on nuclear issues, but both sides have not reached an agreement on the exact timing of any potential commitment. President Trump, however, seems to be ready to claim victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have the best economic numbers. We have Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. We're going to win that war very soon. That will be over. And the gas prices will come tumbling down. So, nobody else could have done that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Paula Hancocks is joining me live from Abu Dhabi with the latest. Paula, good morning to you. I wonder if Iran's foreign minister or any other Iranian officials right now are sharing any insight as to where some of these mediating efforts are going with, you know, some of their regional allies.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Polo, I think what we're seeing is what we have seen a number of times before, which is President Trump giving an incredibly rosy view of how these talks are going, and then you have more of a reality check from Iranian officials.

So, what we've heard from the U.S. president and, in fact, from a U.S. official, is telling us that there is this potential for President Trump to give sanctions relief, to be able to freeze some of the frozen assets of Iran if there is concrete progress on the nuclear issue. Now, Tehran does not want to talk about the nuclear program at this point. Their focus is very much on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, on lifting the U.S. naval blockade, whereas the Trump administration wants to push forward with this nuclear program restriction.

So, you have both sides wanting to talk about different things at this point. We did hear from the Iranian foreign minister just before he left New York to head back to Tehran. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, FOREIGN MINISTER OF IRAN (through translator): Today, one of the Qatari mediators held another meeting with us. We discussed ideas on how to find a way to fulfill Iran's conditions and how these conditions could be met. They had some ideas, and we agreed that they would raise the matter again with the American side, after which the U.S. side's final response would be conveyed to us. I hope this process will be completed by tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So, as he's saying tomorrow, that's actually now, today. So, he's certainly hoping to have some kind of response from the U.S. President Trump already said that the proposal that Tehran put forward was unacceptable, but Araghchi has said he wants a more formal answer through the mediators, and he said that once Qatar has some kind of response from the U.S., a decision will be made in Tehran.

Now, what we did hear also from a U.S. official is that they have indicated that Iran is flexible when it comes to the nuclear issues. Now, we've heard a fairly swift response from Abbas Araghchi as he was preparing to leave New York, rejecting that suggestion that Iran is changing any of its ideas or its conditions, saying that Iran's conditions have not changed when it comes to what it is looking for.

[03:05:08]

It favors going back to that memorandum of understanding that was signed back in June, that both sides have effectively ignored for the past few months, which did focus more on alleviating economic pain for Tehran and less focus on the nuclear program which, of course, is what the U.S. wants to focus on. Polo?

SANDOVAL: We will see what that so-called concrete progress looks like. Paula Hancocks, as always, grateful for your reporting, live from Abu Dhabi.

Let's go to the U.K. now where U.K. authorities have released on bail five men suspected of terrorism and explosive offenses. They were initially detained near an air base that's used by U.S. long-range for missions in the war with Iran.

President Trump criticized the decision to release the men, and he also suggested that he knows who was responsible for the plot.

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TRUMP: I'm surprised that they released them. I wouldn't have done that. Look, they've been very good. They worked with us very closely. We know everything about them. We would not have released them.

UNKNOWN: You said 'might be.' Iran might be? Can you elaborate on that?

TRUMP: Well, I don't know. I'd rather not. I mean, I know the answer. I can be very specific, but I'd rather not say it. But I would not have released them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Nic Robertson is in Fairford, England with the latest on the investigation.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Early Sunday, they were cuffed in police custody. Now, the five men arrested on suspicion of terrorism and explosive charges outside a U.K. base used by the U.S. Air Force are out on bail.

LAURENCE TAYLOR, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, U.K. COUNTER TERRORISM POLICING: To be very clear, this does not mean that the investigation is over. They are subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others. They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of inquiry.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Police, after searching their vans, appear to lack evidence for now to support their suspicions.

TAYLOR: Those vehicles have been subject to extensive examination with the support of military assets and forensic experts.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): It was finding those vehicles that triggered this farmer who took pictures of them to raise the alarm.

LOCAL FARMER, CALLED EMERGENCY SERVICES OVER SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES: First thing I noticed was there's a vehicle on our farm drive, and then I realized there's three of them, and they're parked in a really strange formation.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Right after, she spotted the now-released men. LOCAL FARMER: It's such a flash moment of seeing them. There were

definitely more than five. We think maybe between eight and 10 of them were there at that point, and a lot of them had their faces covered.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): She called the police hotline 999, and then her friends.

LOCAL FARMER: I put a message on our village WhatsApp group just saying -- because I didn't want people to be scared, I just said just to let you all know something very odd has happened today or tonight in the village and told them what I'd seen. And literally, within five minutes of that, everything sorts of kicked off and armed police arrived.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): After them, the bomb squad showed up. Next, several hundred local residents, including the farmer, evacuated. But the circumstances leading to the short-lived arrest are raising concerns.

ROBERTSON: Local residents, including the farmer who called the police, have questions. They say over the past week, the base appeared to put in place what looked like additional security measures. Big vehicles, concrete blocks blocking the gates, giving access to the airfield.

LOCAL FARMER: I just can't process how that base was on such high alert and that the men were even there, never mind how many and how many they caught. They reacted very quickly to the 999 call, but before that, where were they?

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The area's local lawmaker has questions, too.

ROZ SAVAGE, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, SOUTH COTSWOLDS: I have so many questions that I really want to ask the secretary of state for defense, even the prime minister, about who knew what and when. If there was advanced intelligence, then it seems that a lot of people who should have known that didn't know that.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): For now, more unknown than known. The U.K. counterterrorism chiefs leaving the possibility open. The men acted wittingly or unwittingly working for a foreign state.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Fairford, England.

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SANDOVAL: In Ukraine, the mayor of Kyiv says that at least two people have been killed in a Russian attack on the National Academy of Sciences.

CNN's Clare Sebastian reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, shocking scenes unfolded in central Kyiv on Monday afternoon. People leaning out of second-floor windows of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, trying to escape after the building housing Ukraine's top scientific research institution was hit by a Russian drone in broad daylight. Well, firefighters managed to rescue these people as smoke billowed from the top of the building.

The attack is part of a new Russian strategy we've seen over the past month, the round-the-clock strikes, mostly targeting the Ukrainian capital. It's a strategy that's seen. Russia hit an expanding list of targets, from warehouses to data centers, even a strike on the headquarters of Ukraine's domestic security service.

And it has fundamentally altered people's lives. School is now happening in bunkers. On Sunday in Kyiv, the air raid siren was on for a total of 18 hours. This high-rise apartment block among those hit. And even as the U.S. looks to restart trilateral talks, this cycle of violence may only get worse.

President Zelenskyy promised Monday that Russia will definitely face a response, he said. But the Kremlin is already painting this as revenge, as it often does in this war. Ukraine will have to pay a price for the actions taken in recent months, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday, referring, of course, to Ukraine's deep- strike campaign that has targeted mainly oil infrastructure and military facilities. That, he said, is precisely what is happening now.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," SpaceX making its latest trip to orbit, sending a massive Starship rocket up to space to deliver some satellites. I'll tell you how it all turned out.

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): Four, three, two, one.

SANDOVAL: Still can't get over these images. SpaceX celebrating after the launch of its so-called Starship rocket. The spacecraft made its first trip to orbit on Monday, and it deployed 26 new Starlink satellites. But it was an engine issue that forced the control team to cut down its original 10-hour flight plan down to three hours. And it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, and then, you see here, it burst into flames after those three hours. Still, the mission supplied SpaceX and aeronautical experts with critical data on how to continue sending those massive rockets with heavy payloads into space. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: All right, let's discuss the end of that mission and the mission overall, and speak to Sarah Treadwell. She's a NASA solar system ambassador. Sarah, thank you so much for coming back.

SARAH TREADWELL, SOLAR SYSTEM AMBASSADOR, NASA: Yes, thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: So, let's look at the way this all played out. We know that engine trouble forced the flight to be cut short, but how was this a milestone mission for SpaceX, essentially for NASA as well in that overall mission of eventually getting back to the moon?

TREADWELL: Yes, this was big for Starship because it was the first time they went orbital instead of suborbital which, you know, basically, a suborbital flight is just sort of a hop, skip, up, and then gravity pulls you back down. This is where you're putting enough power and thrust into the rocket and the engines to be able to keep it into space. And this spacecraft is huge. It has not done this before. And this was a huge step for Starship.

SANDOVAL: On that note, Sarah, just what is the significance of the size of the vehicle? Obviously, there's a larger payload that comes with this. Just what's the sort of the advantage now that they can turn to this, you know, size of vehicle for future missions?

TREADWELL: The goal of Starship is to maybe get people someday to Mars. And if we ever want to get people past the moon, we have to have things that can take a lot of equipment and a lot of, you know, supplies and people out there. And so, you need something that is large enough to do that.

And we have not had anything since Saturn V, which was the rocket that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon. We haven't had anything large enough to do that. If anything, we actually went backwards in time as the United States progressed in its space program to the point where we couldn't even send our own astronauts up into outer space.

So, for Starship to be making these big jumps forward, to be pushing further out, is a very significant step for the space industry and for NASA as well.

SANDOVAL: Absolutely. Certainly, a sign of progress. Now, when you look back at it, too, and with the caveat that, you know, we haven't heard a whole lot from SpaceX yet in terms of the issues with this mission, but just as an expert that was observing all this play out, Sarah, what do you think were the issues that SpaceX identified that do need to be addressed before they make it to the next step?

TREADWELL: They are, you know, notoriously kind of quiet when it comes to saying what exactly happened, right? So, I don't even know what happened exactly with that engine. But what I do know is that this is how SpaceX does things. They iterate, they use their failures as a way to learn what didn't work and how they can improve on it, which is a completely different model than what NASA's budget can afford them.

[03:20:04]

You know, NASA doesn't have the budget to blow up a rocket and see what went wrong, right? They have to always keep their tabs on what's happening and be very careful with their launches. And so, SpaceX being able to work this way really helps them progress a lot quicker.

SANDOVAL: You know, some -- a pretty dramatic end to this. I want to show some of the video to some of our viewers where you could almost see that we were going in for perhaps an ideal sort of conclusion to this, but then it ended up in an explosion. Just remind our viewers what SpaceX philosophy has been in terms of reusing some of their equipment, some of their vehicles and their components. Obviously, in this particular case, that won't be an option.

TREADWELL: Yes. You know, I think what's interesting, and you're not the first person I've heard this from, actually, every Starship is going to end up this way because it's not really meant to land in the water. It isn't. It's not meant to land in water. They're landing it this way because the idea is eventually to have both the booster and Starship get caught in what we call chopsticks. So, it's literally going to land back down in these chopsticks.

And they haven't tested that a lot yet because if something were to go wrong, you're not only ruining your vehicle, but then you're ruining the platform that it's, you know, trying to land back in and stuff like that. So, they've been always landing in water while they're testing the designs of the system, and it's not meant to tip over and hit water that hard. So, that's why we're always having these fiery endings. So, it's just kind of what has been happening.

SANDOVAL: How do you think Monday's mission actually helps achieve those future goals of SpaceX and NASA? You mentioned even the exploration on the way to Mars. What's next? What's the next big launch for SpaceX that you'll be closely watching?

TREADWELL: I know that this was a big goal to, first of all, you know, deliver a payload into orbital space that they haven't done before. So, that was a big achievement, and that is something that they wanted to prove because there are many things that they want to do while in orbit with Starship. They want Starship to be able to refuel, to go on to other places. Obviously, we want to have people eventually on it to go to the moon and to deliver things to the moon.

I think, in the short term, what we're going to see is we're going to see the attempts of those catches now. Last, oh no, gosh, it was, I think, two years ago now, there was the catch of the booster, which was incredible. And so, I think, now we're going to be seeing a lot more attempts of catching of the booster and the Starship itself as we keep progressing towards that rapid reusability.

SANDOVAL: Yes. Yes, it's hard to forget those images as you referenced a few years back with almost surgical precision that that vehicle returns and it was perfectly caught. Unfortunately, not this time. But look, it takes many mishaps to finally get to that point. But fortunately, with no crew on board, the importance of getting it right when that time comes.

Sarah Treadwell, as always, thank you so much for helping us better understand what is the latest efforts to explore space.

And still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," Pope Leo urging world leaders, tech companies, and also the rest of us to take A.I.'s threats to humanity seriously. More of the message from the pontiff when we return.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Let's take a look at today's top stories. A U.S. official says that President Trump is willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release some frozen funds, but there's -- quote -- "concrete progress on a nuclear deal." According to the source, the U.S. is having positive discussions from mediators and that Iran has indicated that they are flexible on nuclear issues.

The U.S. and China have agreed to slash tariffs on $60 billion worth of goods. The tariff (INAUDIBLE) wide range of products. The U.S. has agreed to lower tariffs on dozens of Chinese goods. Meanwhile, Beijing has also agreed to lower tariffs on more than 1,600 U.S. goods, and that includes meat, some seafoods and also agricultural products, and that's just to name a few.

Communities are braving extreme conditions after Hurricane Polo made landfall along Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Forecasts are showing the storm will likely remain a hurricane in the hours ahead as it moves across the peninsula and into mainland Mexico. The storm is expected to weaken rapidly over the Sonoran Desert later today.

Before his next international trip, Pope Leo will be visiting South America, a place he knows well. You see, a trip will be something of a homecoming. Before he became pope, he spent nearly two decades serving in Peru as a missionary, and then as a bishop. On Monday, he wrapped up a four-day trip to France.

CNN's Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it was a very significant visit by Pope Leo because France, despite it being a highly-secularized culture, there were really very big numbers turning out for the pope. Amassed with 800,000 people in the center of Paris, 150,000 people turning out in Lourdes, a major pilgrimage site for the pope.

[03:30:03]

And I think it was really striking to see the numbers of young people who also were there for Pope Leo. The Catholic Church in France, despite having years of declining numbers going to church, has seen an increase in conversions among young people. Pope Leo mentioning that on the way back from Metz to Rome, saying that he was there to encourage young people who he said he felt were searching for something. So that was a really important part of his visit.

On board the plane, he also addressed A.I., which is something he talked about in France. And he was asked about the threats of A.I. to humanity. And this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, BISHOP OF ROME, SOVEREIGN OF THE VATICAN CITY STATE: If someone were to ask me, am I in panic mode? No, I'm not. I sleep at night. I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in A.I. should be taken seriously. I don't think that that is a fake news, as some have said, to try and cause whether financial or some other kind of benefit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAMB: Well, Leo also cited the head of the A.I. company, Nvidia, who he suggested was not taking it seriously enough in terms of the risks of A.I. That's very unusual for the pope to do that. He also said the Vatican has set up a special commission to look at the risks and benefits of A.I. This is something that Leo has devoted a lot of attention to during his pontificate.

But I think, broadly speaking, the trip to France was a success for Leo. He was able to connect with people, to draw really big crowds, and to deliver a number of important political messages.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Christopher, thank you. At least 21 people have been killed as heavy rain triggered new flooding across Nepal. Some of this video we're showing you shows the scale of the destruction as a massive landslide crashed into a river near a northern mountain village. Authorities did warn of possible flash flooding in dozens of districts as river levels continued rising. And downstream, floodwaters are also spilling across Nepal's southern border into neighboring India. Nepal is still recovering from last month's catastrophic floods.

The United Nations says that at least 1,450 people were killed with more than 5,000 still reported missing. Homes and infrastructure were destroyed, displacing thousands of families. An estimated 2.2 million tons of debris still needs to be cleared.

And ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," we'll get back on A.I. amid security threats and concerns about artificial intelligence. A tech company, Nvidia, is launching a new platform to stop A.I. from going rogue. We'll tell you more.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. Here are your business headlines. Officials say an 87-year-old woman will get to stay in her home after her eviction sparked widespread protests in Spain. Maricarmen Abascal was evicted last week. She was evicted last week after her home was purchased by an investment fund. Her lawyer is saying that her client has reached an agreement with the landlord. And the Spanish prime minister says that his cabinet will meet in the day ahead to approve some relief measures.

U.S. President Donald Trump unveiling plans for a multi-billion-dollar steel mill in Iowa. According to the Trump administration, Mesabi Metallics will put about $15 billion into the plants and the project will result in more than 1,700 new jobs. The announcement comes as President Trump seeks to bolster his economic record ahead of November midterm elections.

And President Trump will be hosting a meeting at the White House in the coming hours with the leaders of top A.I. companies. The heads of Anthropic, Nvidia, Palantir, OpenAI, as well as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg are all expected to attend. Sources indicated that the meeting is meant to get the government and top tech officials on the same page in regards to A.I. oversight.

And chipmaker Nvidia has already released new software hoping to help stop A.I. agents from going rogue. It comes in response to the growing calls for A.I. regulations amid a number of recent security issues. CEO Jensen Huang says that the company worked with more than a hundred industry partners on the project.

Here's CNN's Clare Duffy with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: That's right, this safety product launch seems very much in line, not only with Nvidia's existing business that already provides much of the chips and the software that is running A.I. workloads today, but also with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's stance on A.I. safety.

Huang has largely dismissed these existential concerns around A.I., these concerns around rogue A.I. agents, and said it is all a matter of simply controlling this technology better.

That is effectively what this new software that Nvidia is rolling out is going to do. It is going to monitor and contain A.I. agents that companies are running, ensure that they meet those companies' policies, and also shut them down if the agents try to act beyond their scope of work.

[03:39:57]

All of these very important to Nvidia's business because this company is counting on the A.I. development boom continuing. And so, if we were to see a slowdown, whether because of regulation or because of companies voluntarily deciding to pull back on development, that could directly impact Nvidia's business.

I also think that is why you see the company engaging in this massive share buyback today. The company has been facing questions about just how much this A.I. boom is going to continue.

And so, this buyback is a way, I think, for Nvidia to express optimism in the future of where this is all going, and certainly tied in closely with its efforts to make A.I. technology seem more safe so that companies feel confident in having A.I. agents run even more complex and even more sensitive workloads.

We will see how much that bears out in the weeks and months to come. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: The FBI is grappling with the fallout from a massive data breach. The bureau says that it's now operating under the assumption that hackers successfully stole data on all current FBI employees, including home addresses and other sensitive personal information.

Thousands of former employees are also potentially affected. One former FBI official says that the uncertainty is causing a lot of concern at the bureau, leaving agents wondering if they were exposed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG EHRIE, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, NEWARK FIELD OFFICE: Incredibly disturbing to hear this and to hear about a leak and not knowing the extent of that. And the obvious question retirees, current agents are all asking, am I involved? Is information about me out there in the wild?

Talking to my former colleagues and current colleagues. That's a matter of concern. Certainly, understand that the bureau wants to understand the extent of the leak and the information that may be out there before they start notifying people. But there's a certain what we call a due diligence, that if somebody's information is possibly out, you need to contact that person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: All right, let's close with our first look at China's pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, who are now in their new home at Zoo Atlanta. Some of this new video showing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services inspecting the pandas after their arrival on Sunday. Both are part of Beijing's long tradition of panda diplomacy. But visitors will have to wait to officially get to see them as their routine quarantine period ends in about a month.

And with that, thank you so much for watching. I'm Polo Sandoval. We leave you with "World Sport," then I'll be right back here at the top of the next hour with more new news.

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