they's on a whole episode of planet earth they did about women and their anti-joke vaginas. it's in hd, too, it's horrifying. three hurricanes are brewing in the atlantic ocean and florence the strongest at the moment by far is barrelling straight toward the eastern u.s. coast. plus les moonves is out as the head of cbs after multiple women accuse him of sexual harassment or assault. and top white house officials are slamming the now infamous anonymous op-ed as the vice-president offers to take a lie detector test over it. hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and of course all around the world. i'm rosemary church and this is cnn newsroom.

a dangerous hurricane is on a collision course with the southeastern u.s. right now hurricane florence is just days away from making landfall on its current path. it's headed for north and south carolina and could hit as soon as thursday. florence is gaining speed and strength over the atlantic and it could become a brutal category 4 storm. so, to keep an eye on all of this, we turn to our meteorologist pedram javaheri. the critical thing is who is going to be affected here and when? of course, very unpredictable in a lot of instances. >> it is, especially this many days out, four days before landfall. the models had been in incredible agreement the last several hours at least where we think the storm could potentially end up. the carolinas become the target. the 30% chance across the

western caribbean for tropical system to form. beyond florence we have isaac and helene off the coast of africa. certainly an active pattern shaping up on the 10th of september, today being historically speaking the peak of hurricane season in the atlantic ocean. it is coming into alignment here. category 1, 90 mile per hour winds, we believe the system has everything it takes to go under rapid intensification. in fact, water temperatures in this region between 2027 to 30 degrees celsius warm in some areas 86 to 88 degrees fahrenheit. warm waters, even warmer, notice the color contours. the area there as we go over warm waters, certainly can intensify just before landfall u. but we think category 4 possible there come sometime thursday afternoon. and any sort of system that would want to push this away from the united states unfortunately doesn't look to come together as high pressure parks off the northeast and could essentially guide this and give it very little room to escape out of its guidance which

would be right around portions of southern north carolina. look at the agreement on the models here going into thursday and potentially friday with just about every single model pushing it into the southern reaches of north carolina, potentially portions of north and south carolina. again, coming ashore as a category 4 would be the first time a storm greater than a category 3 has impacted the carolinas since hugo back in '89. certainly been a long time since the system of this magnitude has made landfall. rosemary, notice what is concerning here. we have 8:00 p.m. guidance here for thursday at 140 miles per hour, and then 8:00 p.m. on friday 65 miles per hour. that is about 24 hours near land after it makes landfall. this is a major, major concern with the system where we think the high pressure essentially guides it into the carolinas stalls, causes the system to stall and causes it to rain over this region potentially as much as 10, 15 or 20 inches in a few isolated spots. this would be life-threatening flash flooding with a system

that would be very slow to move after it makes landfall on thursday, rosy. we're going to follow this. >> we appreciate that, pedro. we'll check back in with you in the not too far distance from now. thank you so much. people along the u.s. east coast are already preparing for florence, stocking up on food, water, generators and batteries. south carolina, the city of charleston is reportedly offering free sand bags to residents and three governors have declared states of emergency ahead of the storm. more now from cnn's kaylee hata. >> reporter: i think the sentiment here in carolina beach can best be described as cautious optimism. people still hopeful so many days away from landfall, the storm could take a turn and spare them here. we saw plenty of folks enjoying the beach and great weather on sunday. but folks saying they didn't come out to the beach before preparing. you see store shelves emptying, water, bread, milk, batteries, the storm essentials.

one long-time resident of this area telling me he wakes up every day prepared for a storm because that's the risk that you run when you live in this part of the country. while those store shelves have emptying, you're not seeing anybody going so far as boarding up their windows yet. people are waiting for a little more information before they go to those lengths. states of north carolina, south carolina and virginia, though, getting a little bit farther ahead in their preparations, declaring states of emergency. again, that's part of the preparation, making those declarations allows those states to organize their resources and allocate them to get ahead of this storm. >> another big story we are watching very closely, anger is growing in russia over plans to reform the pension system. protests broke out across the country on sunday. demonstrators are furious about a proposed hike in the retirement age. a monitoring group says police crackdown detaining more than 800 people and these images appear to show a child and a

pensioner being grabbed by police. so, cnn contributor jill dougherty joins us now from seattle, washington. she's our former moscow bureau chief. good to see you, jill. so, president putin is used to being adored by the russian people. even his supporters are angry with him over this pension issue. how bad could this get for him, do you think? >> well, right now it is i think concerning for the kremlin because you have now -- you pointed out young people, old people, of course, and people who are caught in the middle who thought that they were going to be able to retire with some type of pension and now might have to put it off. you have men going from 60 to 65 retirement age, and for women it was going to go from 55 to 63, and then president putin intervened and it's going to be

60. i think it's significant, rosemary, that he did publicly come out and try to soften it because, after all, you know, this is something where he had to show that he is on the side of the average people, and especially women. and he did. that shows the concern. you know, i don't think, though, that the kremlin should be surprised. they obviously weren't. they knew this was coming. there have been protests right from the beginning when they began this process of reform. now, reform is what they call it. obviously the kremlin -- an economic necessity for the country. you can't have such low retirement rates or ages. but the people say this is my life, now i'm ready to retire and i can't. and i think it's a personal thing that they feel that the

government does have money. i think the image among many russians is that russia is not a poor country, but they wonder why this has to happen. so there is that combination of two conflicting feelings. pride about russia and anger that this is happening. >> yeah, and, jill, life expectancy is a big issue here, isn't it? so how likely is it that president putin will make another adjustment to the pension age to appease his critics? or will he perhaps dig his heels in? >> at this point i think it's the latter because if you look at some of the video pictures of those demonstrations and how, you know, police really did crackdown, they're very serious about containing any type of protests. i think also, you know, they feel that they have to go through -- one interesting point about all of this is that these demonstrations happened on an

election day. it was the mayor of moscow who did well and was -- did well in being reelected. and throughout the country, there were regional and local elections. and how the party that basically is the kremlin party, united russia, will be other indications. they're going to look at those pictures obviously at people in the street, but they're also going to look as those election results to figure out how serious is it for the party in power. >> right. jill dougherty, we appreciate your analysis coming to us live there from seattle, washington. north carolina has a new message for a new era with less emphasis on its nuclear status and more on future prosperity. the north celebrated its 70th anniversary with a massive military parade sunday. noticeably absent, though, long-range missiles. in a note to the ongoing nuclear

talks with the united states, the message was received. u.s. president donald trump tweeted, thank you, to chairman kim. we will both prove everyone wrong. there is nothing like good dialogue from two people that like each other. much better than before i took office. now will ripley has our report. >> reporter: the stands of pyongyang's may day stadium transformed. tens of thousands of north koreans, like human pixels flipping colorful cards, revealing the new agenda of their supreme leader kim jong-un. it reveals the new message north korea wants to send to the world. the last time they did this five years ago, the focus was nuclear power. now it's economic power and diplomacy, with a history-making nod to south korean president moon jae-in due to visit pyongyang for a summit with kim jong-un next week.

>> they call these the mass games. this is actually my first time seeing it in person, and i've never seen anything like it. it's mind blowing. sort of like the opening ceremonies of the olympics. they even have a huge torch, but it's all about north korean history and their economy. they say around 100,000 people are participating, mostly students. earlier sunday, a military parade through pyongyang's square. it featured thousands of goose-stepping soldiers. unlike past parades when the nuclear program was featured prominently, this time they didn't have a single inter-continental ballistic missile on display. just because north korea is not parading nuclear weapons doesn't mean it's getting rid of them. denuclearization talks with the u.s. have hit an impasse. the main sticking point, north korea wants a peace treaty to formally end the korean war, a war featured prominently in this parade celebrating north korea's 70th founding anniversary. do you think north korea should give up nuclear weapons?

>> translator: never, ever. we built this powerful nation on the basis of our military strength. if we give up our nuclear weapons, we can't guarantee the existence of this nation. >> reporter: pyongyang's display of military hardware comes just days after kim reportedly sent a letter to trump. have your feelings about america and president trump changed at all? >> translator: we don't worry much about president trump or u.s. policy. we care about the policies kim jong-un is working to improve our economy. >> reporter: it shows whether the nuclear focus is on the economy. there is one thing that matters the most to the people of this country and that is showing their admiration for their leader kim jong-un. this may be the new image of north korea, but here, some things never change. will ripley, cnn, pyongyang. >> and cnn's paula hancocks is following the story from seoul. she joins us now live. always good to see you, paula. of course it is worth noting

that you covered the 2013 mass games in north korea. how different does it look five years later? >> reporter: well, rosemary, it looks incredibly different. i mean, the message couldn't be more different. back in 2013, it was at a time when the anti-american rhetoric was extremely high, and also there was a lot of military and missile messages within the parade itself and within the mass games as well. so certainly this really is very different. although i should add that five years ago when the mass games was last held, that was for the 65th anniversary of victory day, which is what north korea calls the end of the korean war. they tell their people that they won that korean war against the americans. but what we're seeing here is it is more about the economy, the anti-american message that was prevalent five years ago doesn't seem to be at this point. we're seeing -- this isn't just a message for the international community for the u.s., for

south korea. this is also a message for the north korean people, that the focus now will be more on the economy and certainly that is going to be a welcome message for them. one thing that really struck me was the fact that they played some of the footage from the meeting between kim jong-un and president moon jae-in of south korea back in april as they met at the dmz. now, according to our team on the ground in pyongyang, there was rousing applause from the north koreans in the audience when that was played. so just more than a week away from those two leaders meeting once again, that really has a very clear message we are hearing from the south korean unification ministry they were welcoming that message from the mass games. rosemary? >> so, paula, what does the absence of long-range missiles at this 70th anniversary celebration signal, do you think, and how might the people of north korea adjust to this new focus on the economy? >> reporter: well, certainly

this is what the north korean leadership has been saying since the new year's address in january, that there was going to be this focus on the outreach, the diplomacy, and also on the economy. in fact, a number of years ago kim jong-un said that he wanted to focus on the economy. he had this policy which was the jewel tradual track nuclear economy. he believes he's gotten where he needs to be with the nuclear and missile program. whether or not that is the case is a matter of discussion. but the fact is he believes that he is at the point now where he can focus on the economy and certainly i think the people of north korea, given the constraints that they lived through would certainly be hoping this is going to be the case. >> all right. many thanks to our paula hannah konks joining us live from seoul in south korea where it is 3:15 in the afternoon. we'll take a short break here. but still to come, a u.s. media titan steps down amid new allegations of sexual misconduct. we'll have that story for you

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the chief executive of u.s. multi-media giant cbs has resigned. les moonves is facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, which denies. as cnn's brian stelter reports, moonves's departure is one of the most significant movements yet for the me too movement. >> reporter: of all the me too cases in the past year, there has not been one like this. les moonves is the first fortune 500 ceo to leave his post amid harassment allegations in this year of #metoo. it is a remarkable turn of events when the first allegation came out, he vowed to fight on. back then in late july when ronan farrow's reporting came out, the cbs board basically stood by moonves. he wasn't suspended, he was

forcnot forced to step down. two law firms investigated the allegations. a corporate war between moonves and the controlling shareholder of cbs shari redstone. fast forward six weeks. farrow heard from more women, more accusers who were concerned cbs was not taking action, was not holding moonves accountable. farrow published a new story on sunday morning on new yorker website. just within a few hours, moonves was out. now, the caveat here, the complication is that the negotiations for him to leave were already underway at that point, but it seems clear that the new harassment allegations, which also included allegations of assault, which were even more disturbing than the first set of allegations, all of that a major factor in this sunday night announcement. moonves is one of the most powerful men in tv, one of the highest paid executives in the media business. so this is leaving a lot of aftershocks. there are going to be developments for days to come,

including about how much moonves is going to be paid on the way out the door. normally he would have been paid well over $100 million if he had just been forced out one day. but because of the allegations against him, it's going to be a much more complicated and legal conversation. now moonves has admit today some mistakes in his past, but denies ever abusing his power and he denies what he calls the appalling accusations of assault, of force i believe sex that were detailed in the new yorker story earlier on sunday. all of this, of course, happening at a time of dramatic change in the broadcast business, and now cbs moves into a new era without moonves in charge of the company. much more to come on this, but it is a climatic moment in the me too movement. brian stelter, cnn, new york. >> serena williams is fighting back against what she says is sexism and double standards in the tennis world. the u.s. open saturday fined the tennis star $17,000 for three

code violations. williams sparred with the umpire during the contentious women's singles final on saturday. during the match the umpire issued warnings and docked points for receiving coach, smashing her racket and calling him a thief. williams noted accurately men do and say far worse on the court without punishment. fans say they are impressed by how -- by the way that williams handled the situation, and that it was fuelled by more than just sexism. >> it is so hard to stand there and speak your truth in a moment where you also have to show humility and class and grace, right? it's a challenge. and she walked that line perfectly. >> do you feel what happened to her was sexist? >> absolutely. absolutely. she is an athlete -- >> keep going. racist, i would venture to say that there is a racial divide

that continues to show itself. as a corporate woman, i experience it in the workplace. to me, serena was at work today and she had an experience whether you're in the political space, whether you're in the entrepreneur space or in the corporate space, it's what happens. >> reporter: are you proud of the way serena handled it? >> incredibly. i learned a lesson today. i was not handling it like that in the stands. >> williams lost the u.s. open title match to japan's naomi osaka. for osaka, the victory against her lifelong hero was bitter sweet. but there is no such hang up in japan where people are raving about their hometown hero. cnn's khloe wire reports from tokyo. >> reporter: a lot of the world is focused on the controversy surrounding serena williams' loss at the u.s. open. here in japan there is a lot of focus on the positive. the historic victory of naomi osaka, just 20 years old. she grew up in the u.s. but she was born here in japan. she has dual citizenship. she is now the first japanese player ever, man or woman, to win a grand slam.

that was big news here across the country. listen to this. the match was on so early here that most of the newspapers had already gone to print, but one of the major newspapers printed an extra edition so they can share the news with people in the streets. there's a lot of excitement among the people here in japan. listen. >> translator: it is cool that a japanese player has done this. she is so strong. i play tennis and think she is an awesome player. >> translator: it was a remarkable feat that she could did defeat serena like that. i think she makes japan and hokkaido proud. she is the best. >> reporter: some on twitter calling the young japanese tennis player japan's new hero. abe weighed in congratulations to osaka for your victory in the u.s. open. thank you for your energy and excitement during this difficult time for japan. this was some much needed up lifting news for a nation that's

been reeling the past week or so. a violent typhoon jebi causing destruction, then a devastating earthquake in hokkaido where people are still missings. dozens of deaths. that northern ireland is where naomi osaka's mother was born. her grandfather said he hopes her victory will be encouragement for those whose lives were impacted. now, osaka's success is earning her popularity and respect here in japan, but so is her demeanor. respectful, kind, bubbly, humble. she loves japanese manga and movies. she continues to study the language. she embraces her japanese heritage. the culture, the people and they are embracing her back. it was a powerful moment, christy, on the awards ceremony stage when naomi said that it was always her dream to play serena williams in the u.s. open final. she turned to her with tears in her eyes, bowed and said, thank you. that was japan. that was the respect and honor of japanese people on full display on the world's sporting

stage. more to come from this young phenom. >> all right. thanks for that. we'll take a short break here. but still to come, president trump wants a name. the latest on the white house efforts to find out who wrote a blistering editorial about the administration. we're back in just a moment. i don't keep track of regrets. and i don't add up the years. but what i do count on is boost®. delicious boost® high protein nuritional drink now has 33% more protein, along with

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welcome back, everyone. this is cnn newsroom and i'm rosemary church. i want to update you now on our main stories we're following this hour. people along the u.s. east coast are stocking up on emergency supplies ahead of hurricane florence.

the storm is expected to grow to a powerful category 4 before it makes landfall. if it stays on its current track, that will be on thursday or friday. more than 800 people were detained in russia sunday amid nationwide protests against pension reform. that's according to a monitoring group. images appear to show a child and a pensioner being grabbed by police. many russians, even backers of president vladimir putin, are upset about plans to raise the retirement age. a police shooting in the u.s. is renewing the conversation about the use of deadly force against african americans. the police officer on the left has been arrested and charged in dallas. she was off-duty when she allegedly shot and killed this man, botham jean who was her neighbor. authorities say the officer maintains she entered the victim's apartment in the mistaken belief it was her own,

and shot him because she thought he was an intruder. well, the white house is still reeling from the anonymous op-ed that described an administration in chaos and a resistance to president trump's actions. top officials have denied writing it and some are calling for the author's resignation and possible prosecution. ryan nobles reports on the hunt for who is responsible. >> reporter: it's been a relatively quiet weekend here at the white house, but there's no doubt that the president and his staff are still furiously trying to determine who is the author of this op-ed that was in "the new york times" that claimed there was a person working within the administration that was part of the resistance. the president himself is said to be obsessed with this search. in addition to rooting out who exactly may be behind the op-ed, they are also working to destroy that person's credibility before their identity is ever even revealed. both vice-president mike pence and kellyanne conway, senior advisor, going on the sunday

morning talk shows claiming that this person is essentially a traitor, someone that is working to destroy this administration from within. kellyanne conway taking it even a step further suggesting that the media may be partially to blame. listen to what she told jake tapper. >> what does concern me, though, jake, apart from everything the president and others have said, is that for a media that is constantly talking about facts, accuracy, transparency, authority, the authoritativeness to this anonymous writer was imbued automatically because of the content. as long as the message is anti-trump, it seems, the me messenger has credibility. that should concern everyone. i'm with the vice-president on this. he said the person should resign if the person truly is an appointee who has taken an oath to the constitution. >> and, of course, the big question going into this week what lengths will the white house go to to attempt to try and figure out who this person is. the president suggesting perhaps this person is guilty of some sort of crime.

so, does that mean the department of justice gets involved? the president has suggested that attorney general jeff sessions should look into this. so far the department of justice has said that it won't comment on this situation. >> ryan nobles, cnn at the white house. >> and for more on this, let's go to scott lucas in england. he is a professor of international politics at the university of birmingham. always good to have you with us. >> very good morning to you. >> so, this "new york times" op-ed has thrown the white house into chaos as they try to hunt down the author. let's listen how far they might be willing to go. let's listen to vice-president mike pence on fox news. >> should all top officials take a lie detector test and would you agree to take one? >> i would agree to take it in a heartbeat and would submit to any review of the administration wanted to do. >> do you think the add should do that? >> that would be a decision for the president.

>> that would be a decision for the president, according to pence. do you think he would go that far, the president? and if he does, what might that signal? >> personally, i think we should just have a new series of the apprentice where we could play all this out in front of donald trump and then he could wag the finger and say, "you're fired, mr. anonymous." being serious about this, no. i mean, what the administration is doing this weekend is trying to portray that this is one bad apple who was too cowardly to reveal him or herself. and that, of course, tries push away two important points. the first is the reason why this senior administration official has not come forward as is made clear in the editorial is that he or she believes that if he leaves, then there's no firewall against donald trump and his unpredictability and secondly, probably more importantly, the writer says it's not just me. there are dozens of us in multiple agencies who are working to contain this

president, possibly even block his policies because we believe in the policies of the administration, but we don't think this man is capable of leading us. >> and i mean, that's a thing. it's not just one person. it was clear from the op-ed this is more than one. and this is what senior trump aide kellyanne conway had to say about that op-ed. >> what really was the motivation to -- if the motivation is what they state it is in that ridiculous op-ed, they failed miserably. they missed the mark completely. i think the motivation was to sow discord and create chaos, and i refuse to be a part of that. >> scott lucas, what was the likely motivation behind the writing of this op-ed? is conway right about it being an effort to create chaos, or was this an effort on the part of the author to a slssure vote there is a resistance in the administration trying to keep the president on track? and if that is the case, what

purpose does it serve to reveal that to everyone? >> well, i think, first of all, it's a bit rich of miss conway to try to attack this on the basis of an unnamed official who is telling falsehoods when her own commander in chief on the record has issued almost 5,000 statements in 18 months that are quite dubious and has quite often used anonymous sources to back up his own assertions. but putting that to the side, i think the writer again is appealing not just to those officials in the administration. look, we have to stand together. but the appeal is to republicans, and especially republicans on capitol hill in congress. and that is to say, look, we need you to step forward and to be alongside us in terms of a sensible foreign policy. for example, a sensible policy towards russia, towards north korea, towards our allies, and a sensible approach to economics and to political language. in other words, the republicans on capitol hill, according to this writer, have spent too long being co-dependent on donald

trump. so even before the elections, the call is, look, this isn't just a question about winning in november. this is a question about republican or conservative values and whether they can survive this man. rightly or wrongly, you may disagree with that message, but i do think that is fairly straightforward political strategy and done very effectively through this piece. >> so, who do you think wrote the op-ed? some trump supporters are even going as far as dropping little hints as to who they think wrote this. what's your sense? >> if i knew that, rosemary, i'd be writing a book and finding an agent right now. >> but from reading it and from what you know about the major players here, what's your sense? >> yeah, my best bet is, rosemary, given that this person has referred to a series of national security and foreign policy issues, for example, donald trump's affinity for vladimir putin, for the concern especially about american relations with allies, this is a person within the u.s. national

security establishment either inside or connected with, say, the state department or national security council. >> right. and of course the op-ed came a day after parts of bob woodward's book "fear" were made public. this is what the author had to say on cbs sunday morning. let's just roll that. >> you look at the operation of this white house and you have to say, let's hope to god we don't have a crisis. people who work for him are worried that he will sign things or give orders that threaten the national security or the financial security of the country or the world. >> scott, how big a concern is that? and could enemies take advantage of the current chaos within the trump administration? >> first of all, it's a huge concern. there's a specific incident in the book, which is that this

president who now says kim jong-un is his best friend in north korea, only last year was prepared to tweet that all americans should leave the korean peninsula, which would have been a signal that war is on the way. and the military had to stop -- step in and prevent that from happening. he has been a president, again, who has been willing to trash nato, who has been willing to threaten withdrawal from that organization, threaten withdrawal from the world trade organization, and he'll do it just in the space of 180 -- 140 characters on twitter. of course, others exploit that. the russians have exploited that. the north koreans have exploited that. the chinese exploit it. the saudis have sploiexploited . how do you do that? play to donald trump's ego. let him vent and anger his frustration against the fake news media and crooked hillary. and say, we like you, mr. president. that by and large means you can appeal to that sense of narcissism and get what you want, whether you're vladimir putin, kim jong-un, or say the saudi monarchy.

>> scott lucas, thank you for your perspective and analysis. we always appreciate it. >> thank you. >> we'll take a short break here. but still to come, a coral reef that's defying the effects of climate change. we are diving under water for the answer to a remarkable story of survival. that is next. back in a moment. i never thought i'd say this but i found bladder leak underwear that's actually pretty. always discreet boutique. hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel. so i feel protected and pretty. always discreet boutique. the a...is stolen.es... hijacked from dreams. pulled from decades of obsession. taken from the souls of artists.

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welcome back, everyone. rising ocean water temperatures are endangering coral reefs around the world. the red sea which contains the planet's northern-most coral reef may be the only exception. so how are they proving to be so resilient to the effects of climate change? cnn's oren liebermann dove under water for some answers. >> reporter: in the shallow waters of the red sea, this coral reef defies expectations. some of the world's most diverse eco systems, coral reefs are in

peril. >> reefs are deteriorating all over the world. they're going down in cover, they die, there is a catastrophe for coral reefs in the world. everywhere they bleach except here. >> reporter: bleaching leaves the reefs extremely vulnerable, overcome by water perhaps too warm for coral to survive. the great barrier reef off the coast of australia seen here has experienced mass bleaching. >> the gulf has never been exposed to bleaching. there is no bleaching here although the water is warming up. >> reporter: i had the privilege of diving along these corals to see a marine world thriving majesty on full display. researchers say thousands of years ago, the ancestors of the corals growing here had to come through the southern red sea where the waters are far warmer. through natural selection, the corals that survived were accustomed to warm salty water. in the relatively cooler waters

of the gulf of akaba, the corals blossomed. the water here is heating up just like the rest of the world. consequence of climate change. but it hasn't affected the corals and researchers say it won't for another 100 years. so you have here both the current condition of the red sea and what it might look like in ten years, 20 years and beyond. >> exactly. so, this is what we're trying to understand, how the beautiful reefs that we see right now are likely to change, if at all, and the future conditions in the red sea. and from worldwide reefs we know that the situation right now is not that good. however, in the red sea it's still looking pretty good for reefs of the area. >> reporter: this may very well be the last reef refuge in terms of the present conditions. this red sea simulator tests different temperature levels and

acidity in the water. the corals are brought to the tanks and placed under varying conditions. >> so, this is a many, many individual animals living together as one. so each individual here on the screen is one animal, one mouth of the animal. >> reporter: then they're examined under a microscope to see how they react. the lessons help governments and scientists to help reef that cannot protect itself. pollution monitors and controlled with the reef's survival in mind. here we are standing in four miles of four different countries. we're standing in israel. that's egypt behind me. jordan in front of me. you can see saudi arabia across the sea here. but the reef doesn't recognize international borders. its future, its survival depends upon international cooperation to protect the corals. below sea level, politics rarely gets in the way of cooperation between neighboring countries. the reef may be growing, but

it's still fragile. part of a much larger eco system near the booming resort towns of the gulf of akaba. >> it's an eco system that grew as a reef next to a complete desert. basically there is not supposed to be artificial life. there is not supposed to be a lot of development. we are allowing the development of a lot, but it has to be very slow. >> reporter: the reef is only 4 kilometers long, a tiny fraction of the 2000 kilometers of reef along the red sea. perhaps because it's so small, israel treats it as a national treasure. one that's far too valuable to let go. orrin liber man, cnn. >> incredible there. we are going to take a very short break. but we'll be back in just a moment. are finding themselves in a chevy for the first time.e you can too during the chevy labor day sales event. now through september 10th, use labor day cash to get almost $5,000 below msrp

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welcome back, everyone. well, sweden is one of europe's most liberal countries, a welfare state with a welcoming policy of refugees. but now a far-right party with near nazi roots has made major gains in sweden's general election. the two main centrist coalitions

are separated by less than half a percentage point, and the antimigrant sweden democrats are hoping to play a decisive role in upcoming negotiations to form a government. our senior international correspondent na teeka shubert reports from stockholm. >> reporter: the preliminary count is finally in and we're at the watch party of the social democrats. this is the party that has dominated swedish politics for decades. they manage to stay on top, but still have the worst result they've had in nearly a century. here's how prime minister explained it. >> translator: we wanted to see a better result. there is no doubt about that. but despite this, the voters have made the social democrats the biggest party. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: the insurgent far-right party, the sweden democrats came in third. they weren't quite able to oust the center right moderates as the largest opposition party.

but it is certainly enough as the sweden democrats leader told supporters, it is enough to drive their no more immigrants agenda. >> translator: we have nothing more to give but sweden, friends. we are not satisfied. we are not satisfied. we see that we are this election's winner but now we enter a new mandate period and now we are going to get influence over swedish politics for real. >> reporter: the sweden democrats campaigned hard on anti-immigrant issues, rising crime rates and immigrant neighborhoods and an overburdened welfare system. that's how the sweden democrats painted it. now, they were able to score a number of votes, however, the majority of voters still voted against sweden democrats' anti-immigration policy. it did, however, polarize the country. neither the left nor the right were able to form any sort of majority block in parliament, and that leaves voters wondering

where the country is headed to next. atika shubert, cnn, stockholm. >> the co-founder and executive chairman of the chinese e-commerce giant alibaba is stepping down. the company says jack ma will depart one year from now and be replaced by current ceo daniel zhang. ma plans to stay on alibaba's board of directors until the shareholder meeting in 2020. he is a true rags to riches story born to a poor family. he grew ali baba from a web page run out of his apartment to a $420 billion company. ma himself is worth about $40 billion, one of the rich est men in china. the arizona cardinals nfl team honored the late senator john mccain sunday. the arizona senator's wife cindy was made honorary captain of the team for its game against the

washington redskins. mrs. mccain's duties included participating in the coin toss to start the game. afterward she tweeted her thanks to the team, writing, support for our family has been overwhelming. we are going to keep fighting for the america john believed in. and thank you so much for joining us. i'm rosemary church. i'll be back with another hour of news in just a moment. you're watching cnn. do stay with us. here we go. discover. i like your card, but i'm absolutely not paying an annual fee. discover has no annual fees. really? yeah. we just don't believe in them. oh nice. you would not believe how long i've been rehearsing that. no annual fee on any card. only from discover.

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it is peak hurricane season in the atlantic with a storm set to make landfall in the u.s. this week. we will have the latest on hurricane florence. plus, serena williams gets hit with a hefty fine after a dramatic final, but the fine could turn out to be worth it for women in tennis. and too close to call. sweden's election rests on a knife edge as a party with neo-nazi roots splits the vote. hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and of course all around the world. i'm rosemary church. this is cnn newsroom.