00:00Before we get started this morning, a quick programming note. We've got some exciting
00:03changes coming to Unbiased Updates. A new anchor joins us later this week, and we're getting the
00:08studio ready for their debut. So things may look a little different around here this morning,
00:12but we'll still have all the news you count on. For now, here are today's Unbiased Updates.
00:18Oil prices surging again this morning. A key Saudi pipeline attacked
00:22as shipping through Hormuz remains nearly frozen. How high crude is climbing?
00:27Plus, a warning from the people building AI. Slow it down. Why President Trump says the U.S.
00:33can't afford to. And those $5,000 checks? Trump says they're happening, 100%.
00:38But there's one big hurdle in his way.
00:43The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.
00:49These are your Unbiased Updates from Straight Arrow.
00:55Oil prices are surging again this morning. Renewed fighting in the Middle East is putting
01:00even more pressure on global energy supplies. Brent crude, the global benchmark, traded above
01:05$108 a barrel, with the U.S. benchmark around $103. The latest jump comes after attacks forced
01:12Saudi Arabia to shut down its key east-west oil pipeline, an important alternative with shipping
01:18through the Strait of Hormuz, already severely disrupted. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen
01:23have launched new attacks on Saudi Arabia and seized territory along another critical Red Sea
01:28shipping route. Gas prices also remain high, with diesel at a record $6.23 a gallon today,
01:35according to AAA. But President Trump says the Middle East isn't responsible for the diesel shortage.
01:41Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia. Let him go
01:49after targets, but not diesel fuel, because he's causing a shortage of diesel fuel. This isn't done
01:54by the Middle East. This is done by what's happening with Russia and Ukraine.
01:57Meanwhile, a diplomatic effort to ease pressure on another key shipping route is now on hold.
02:02A planned meeting between Iran and Gulf states over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been
02:07postponed, with Iran saying Saudi Arabia requested the delay. No new date has been announced.
02:14For the first time, we're hearing from one of the two U.S. Air Force officers shot down over Iran
02:19in April. The weapons systems officer, identified only by his call sign Bravo, told CBS's 60 Minutes
02:26about the moment their F-15E was hit, forcing him and his pilot to eject over the mountains of Iran.
02:32That day was just another day in the war for us until the moment where we got hit by an
02:39Iranian weapon.
02:40I think the best way I've been able to describe that moment was getting hit by a freight train.
02:47We do all we can to try to save the aircraft. It was evident that that wasn't possible,
02:54and soon thereafter, we ejected and found ourselves floating over the heart of Iran.
03:00So within seconds, you're ejecting. That's how quick the decision is.
03:04It is. I will be thankful to my dying day for my pilot and crewmate Alpha for saving our lives
03:12and
03:13ejecting us. Bravo's parachute was damaged and he hit the ground with a broken back,
03:18arm and shoulder. He landed about five miles from his pilot Alpha, who was rescued by American
03:24forces about six hours after the crash. Military experts estimate Bravo plummeted to the ground
03:30at between 70 and 100 miles per hour and called his survival a modern-day miracle. But even with
03:37broken bones in three places, Bravo kept moving, hiking and climbing a 7,000-foot ridge line. That's him you
03:45can see here, alone behind enemy lines, evading capture without food or water for two days.
03:51Two elite Air Force pararescue operators finally reached him, ending one of the most complex and
03:57risky search and rescue operations in U.S. military history. There's a growing call from some of the
04:04biggest names in artificial intelligence to slow things down. But President Trump isn't convinced.
04:09Asked about it Sunday in Ireland, Trump said the U.S. is leading China in AI and he doesn't want
04:15to give up
04:16that advantage. Well, I say this, look, we're leading China in AI. We're the most sophisticated
04:21country in the world. And frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins.
04:27And we can put guardrails, we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative
04:31forces
04:31that are bringing it up that shouldn't be bringing it up and they're bringing up things that won't happen.
04:37Those comments came a day after Anthropic CEO Dario Amadei called for new limits on how quickly AI models
04:44become more powerful. On Saturday, he wrote, we must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities
04:50of AI models. Progress will still seem fast and we must make wise use of the time we gain.
04:56And two of his biggest rivals quickly agreed. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his company also plans to use
05:03independent safety evaluators. Elon Musk's response was much shorter, quote, Dario is right.
05:09The debate is also moving directly into midterm politics. Michigan Democratic Senate candidate
05:15Abdul El-Sayed told CBS Face the Nation Sunday that AI development is outpacing safety
05:21and called for public oversight. There are things that we should not be using AI to do. And we
05:26collectively have to decide that we need public oversight so that all of this technology is not
05:32being created for the interests of a few against the well-being of a many. Pennsylvania Governor Josh
05:37Shapiro also weighed in Sunday, calling the warnings from AI leaders a bright flashing red light,
05:43writing that it's, quote, long past time for our federal government to step up,
05:47take this seriously and put up some guardrails. That follows a push from former President Barack Obama,
05:53who urged Democratic leaders last week to develop a clear AI agenda focused on safety and the economic
05:59impact. President Trump is doubling down on his promise to send $5,000 checks to American adults if
06:06Republicans keep control of Congress in November. He first made that promise at the Republican
06:11midterm convention in Dallas last week. And on Sunday before leaving Ireland, Trump insisted those
06:17checks will happen. And now they say, oh, the $5,000. The $5,000 is going to happen 100%. And
06:22the reason is
06:24because our country is staking in billions and billions of dollars. And it's going to happen because
06:30the people deserve it because they were treated so badly by the Democrats and by Biden.
06:35But there's a big step between that promise and sending out money. House Speaker Mike Johnson says
06:40the plan would need congressional approval, something Trump has said he doesn't think is necessary.
06:45Johnson was asked Sunday whether he would commit to delivering the checks.
06:49Like every idea that the president comes up with, he's a great idea generator. We're going to process
06:54that in Congress and figure it all out. I commit that Congress will work through it and find consensus
06:59on that like I have to do everything else. And there's already some Republican pushback. Florida
07:03Governor Ron DeSantis said last week that if the government has surplus revenue, it should cut taxes
07:08and return that money to people saying, quote, what I don't think you want to do is borrow another
07:14trillion and a half dollars and then just try to flood that into the economy because that will lead to
07:19more inflation. That will lead to more debt and more inflation. All of this comes with Trump's approval
07:25rating down from earlier this year. An AP Nork poll from July found just 33 percent of U.S. adults
07:31approve of the job he's doing, down from 42 percent when he took office.
07:37A second judge has now blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing President Trump's executive
07:42order limiting mail voting. The ruling comes as the Trump administration is already asking the
07:47Supreme Court to allow the new rules to take effect. Late Sunday night, U.S. District Judge Carl
07:53Nichols, a Trump appointee, said without an injunction blocking the order, quote, there is an increased risk
07:59that a significant number of otherwise appropriate absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be
08:05counted in the upcoming elections. Trump's order requires all ballot envelope designs to be pre-approved
08:12by the Postal Service. States would also have to upload the names of people receiving mail ballots
08:17to an online portal, which still isn't up and running. Election officials say at this point it's
08:23impossible to implement the changes before November's midterms. And the clock is already running. Mail
08:29ballots are being sent out in at least three states, Alabama, North Carolina, and Wisconsin,
08:34with more states set to start sending theirs this week. Finally this morning, the wait continues for an
08:41American men's U.S. Open champion. Germany's Alexander Zarev beat Ben Shelton in four sets Sunday to win
08:47the men's title in New York, 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. It's Zarev's second Grand Slam title
08:55after winning
08:56the French Open earlier this year. Shelton was playing in his first Grand Slam final, trying to
09:01become the first American man to win the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick in 2003. He also became the
09:07first
09:08Black American man to reach the U.S. Open final since Arthur Ashe in 1972. The 23-year-old dropped
09:14the first two sets, then fought back to take the third. But Zarev took control again in the fourth,
09:19closing out the match and extending the American men's title drought for at least another year.
09:25Unbiased Updates is the fastest, fairest few minutes of news. Watch us anytime at san.com or on our app,
09:31or join our growing audience on Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
09:36For all of us at Straight Arrow, I'm Simone Del Rosario. Have a great day.
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