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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

World Leaders Attend UNGA Amid Wars In Middle East, Ukraine; Venezuela's Interim President Set To Meet With Trump; Mamdani Defends Trump Meeting, Says Focus is on New Yorkers; Venezuelan Delivery Driver Shot, Wounded by ICE Agent; Italy to Ban Veils in Schools, Cap Foreign Students Per Class; Merz's Party Loses Ground in State Elections. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 22, 2026 - 00:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Polo Sandoval in New York in for Elex Michaelson. And coming up this hour, The Story Is on the world stage. President Trump set to address the United Nations General assembly in just a matter of hours. But it might be the meetings that are happening on the sidelines that may produce the most results.

And The Story Is, limited coverage as news outlets stand behind CNN, MS NOW and Politico after their ban from the White House grounds the president's trip to New York getting a lot less coverage than he'd like.

And The Story Is, Trump and Mamdani standing shoulder to shoulder there in New York City. What's behind this dynamic between these two leaders? We'll discuss.

Hi, everybody. Welcome. The United Nations General Assembly debates get underway in a matter of hours. President Donald Trump will be speaking in the morning, but the gathering is expected to be overshadowed by the U.S.' war with Iran as well as the lingering Russia, Ukraine conflict. The UNGA is also taking place amid President Trump's ban on CNN and other outlets from the White House.

And while the world will be able to see Donald Trump's speech, thanks to UNTV, the U.S. president's trip to New York will not be receiving the coverage it normally would. And that's because major television networks are standing with CNN by declining to replace its White House pool crew. And this after the Trump administration barred the network from fulfilling its assigned duties on Monday. A preliminary hearing on the potential restraining order is scheduled for Wednesday.

MS NOW and Politico were also banned from the White House and they have joined CNN in a retaliatory lawsuit. The networks are alleging that President Trump's ban violates the First Amendment and the Constitution's due process protections.

And it also requests that journalistic access be restored immediately. President Trump is insisting that the attack is not against the free press, but rather on what he continues to call fake news, which he described as a cancer in America.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is reporting on what likely led to the president's media ban.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He's been lashing out about the coverage. Obviously, that's not surprising. It is something that he has complained about for years, long before he was president. But he's been facing a string of setbacks lately when it comes to Supreme Court, when it comes to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, gas prices rising, the Iran war still underway, and certainly a big topic here at the United Nations General Assembly this week.

But it was the president being shown a graphic of negative coverage last week by Politic we're told by his close aide, Natalie Harpe, someone who's often in the Oval Office, often with him on Air Force One, and is actually joining him and traveling with him on this trip to New York just now, according to the reporters who are still traveling with him. She showed him a graphic of negative coverage from Politico. And we are told that it so infuriated the president that he decided to loop these outlets together, lump these outlets together and ban them, as he announced on Friday, from covering him, which he himself, despite the vice president saying earlier today, this is not a ban on the free press. The president himself called it that last week when he was in the Oval Office taking questions about how exactly he envisioned this working.

Now, what we do know is this has kind of prompted a scramble in and of itself behind the scenes because this is for the first time in modern history that the president has not had a major T.V. network traveling with him when he goes somewhere, often there is one representative, one team from CBS, CNN, NBC, ABC, or Fox, who is always with the president, no matter where he goes, whether that's a war zone or down the street from the White House or here to New York. But today, there is no T.V. camera traveling with President Trump as the networks are now acting in solidarity after the White House refused to admit CNN and let them carry out their assignment as the T.V. pool today.

SANDOVAL: All right, Kaitlan, thank you so much.

In the meantime, Iran's delegation is arriving in New York. That's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Araghchi, actually, that's arriving there in New York. And the Trump administration said that it has allowed a, quote, "core delegation to attend." And the president, Masoud Pezeshkian, is expected to attend the U.N. General Assembly. And the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, told CNN on Monday President Trump is open to meeting with Pezeshkian while he is here in New York.

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And although tensions between the two countries remain high, there have been no publicly reported U.S. strikes on Iran in more than two weeks now. But President Trump is signaling major decisions on the conflict may be coming. And this while Iran is warning that any new attack would trigger strikes on U.S. targets across the region.

CNN's Alayna Treene has more on what to expect at this year's UNGA.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The big focus on foreign policy is really going to come into play on Tuesday when Trump addresses the U.N. General Assembly. Now, his speech is going to talk -- touch on a number of different issues. But this is what the U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz had to say to reporters last week about his address. He said that the president will, quote, "highlight how he has and how his administration have confronted complex problems head on around the world." He said he will touch on the importance of ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon.

Now, the reason him bringing Iran up, part of the reason it's going to be so interesting is because there's actually going to be Iranian officials at the U.N. General Assembly. We're told there's going to be a slimmed down delegation including Iran's president. But he's also going to touch on other topics, I'm told, and really wants to tout himself as a leader of peace around the globe. But what I think is going to be even more interesting is in the meetings that come after we're told the president has a series of bilateral meetings, one of which is going to be with the series of leaders of Gulf nations, leaders from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the list goes on.

And part of the reason that's so interesting is because we know that the president has listened to these leaders in the past, particularly as it relates to military action in the war between the U.S. and Iran. At times the Saudis, for example, have asked the president to hold off on attacks out of fear of retaliation for their countries. And the president has held off.

SANDOVAL: And President Trump's U.N. address will come as gas prices in the United States continue rising amid the war with Iran. In fact, according to AAA, the national average gas price is now $4.48. Compare that to $4.12 last month.

And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in New York for the General Assembly. This is some new video into CNN. And the president there says that Ukraine is pushing to strengthen its air defenses and also says, quote, "A new drone deal is also ready to be signed." President Zelenskyy is set to meet with several world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump.

And on Monday, Donald Trump renewed his calls for Russia's war in Ukraine to end. Trump says that one reason is because Russia has, quote, "lost control of its diesel oil industry." And all this comes the day that -- after -- the day after Ukraine launched a major drone attack on the Moscow region, damaged one of Russia's largest oil refineries. Mr. Zelenskyy says that Ukraine is targeting facilities that bring in billions of dollars to fuel Russia's war machine, according to him. Mr. Trump, however, says that it's causing a diesel shortage at a time when the U.S. war with Iran is spiking global prices.

Last week, he asked Ukraine to stop.

(BEGIN VIDEOP CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've asked President Zelenskyy not to hit the diesel plants, refineries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it potentially that you --

TRUMP: Because that's what's driving it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it potential that you --

TRUMP: Wait a minute, the diesel is being driven up by the fact that it's having a hard time coming out of Russia and that's a case that hurts the world. We got to stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Joining me now from Los Angeles is Benjamin Radd. He's a political scientist and a senior fellow at the UCLA Berkeley Center for International Relations. It's always great to see you. Thank you so much for joining us, Benjamin.

BENJAMIN RADD, POITICAL SCIENTIST: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: So as the UN General Assembly gets underway, what are your expectations when it comes to the war with Iran and specifically when it comes to the attendance of Iranian President Pezeshkian? I mean, does that at all, you think, help revive peace efforts?

RADD: Well, under Iran's constitution -- under specifically Article 110 of the Constitution, the president of Iran has no power really to make foreign policy decisions or decisions pertaining to matters of war and peace. That is purely up to the supreme leader. Now, that doesn't mean that the United States can't engage the Iranian delegation either directly or indirectly on the sidelines. But expectations have to be managed as to what can actually come out of a meeting with the president, given how relatively unempowered he is under Iran's constitutional framework.

SANDOVAL: And when it comes to any possible de-escalation, be it, you know, working through the president or as you just mentioned a little while ago, through the supreme leader, just how much of the burden also falls on Gulf nations? I mean, we know the Qataris could play a key mediating role with support from other neighboring countries, the Saudis, Turkey, et cetera.

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RADD: The challenge with that is, is now Iran -- Iran's leverage in the last few weeks have -- has increased somewhat, and this is in large part due to the advances that the Houthis have accomplished in the last few days. Specifically, they've been able to capture the town of Mocha, which is near the Bab al-Mandab Strait and now threatens the second major strait through which 30 percent of the world's oil reserves, crude and diesel, flow through. Now, you mentioned in your last segment the issue of diesel. So you have now two issues. You have a supply constraint coming as a result of Ukraine's attacks on Russia's refineries, and then you have a supply constraint as a result of the chokehold on both of these two straits in the Persian Gulf.

For the Gulf States, this becomes important. And the idea that they can create -- reroute and create pipelines that bypass these straits is not a reality right now. I mean, the Qataris said as much today at a -- at a conference. And so it is critical for them and for the other states that depend on these vital waterways to get them reopened.

SANDOVAL: I also want to get your thoughts, too, Benjamin, on any of these sidelines that are expected, especially involving the Ukrainian president, President Trump, and or other Trump administration officials at this point in the ongoing war in Ukraine, I mean, what are you expecting to come out of this? Any potential deliverables that could potentially bring peace to that other conflict?

RADD: Yes, you know, the president has vacillated with frustration, either directed at Zelenskyy or Putin. Right now he's signaled or he's indicated that this pause that's being proposed would have both sides pause. Pause on energy strikes by the Ukrainians, pause on Black Sea strikes and on civilian targets. What the Ukrainians are concerned about going into the winter now is attacks on their energy grid, their electrical grid. This has been something that Russia has done in the past winters.

And for them, they want to maintain the ability to power their cities, to really provide for their people. So not just that, also, there's food, there's grain. And so this is critical. So what President Trump has to secure is a commitment from the Russians to not attack those specific targets and for the Ukrainians to refrain from doing the same. Now, we've heard Zelenskyy say that he's ready to take, quote, "serious steps" in that direction and that he won't target these Moscow refineries.

We'll see if in his talks with President Trump, if he doubles down on that and if something can emerge from those talks.

SANDOVAL: Yes, something else to watch there. And then another thing, too, that I find extremely interesting here is Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, also at UNGA this year. It's going to be her debut at the global gathering. Of course, her former boss, Nicolas Maduro, has been in New York since the start of the year, except in detention since he was captured by U.S. authorities. I'm just curious, in your assessment of this in the world of geopolitics, what message does that send, especially with this being, I understand, the first time that Rodriguez will be able to meet face to face with President Trump himself?

RADD: I wouldn't be surprised if the president highlights her presence there and what would be given us the success or relative success of U.S. operations in Venezuela and the relationship with Venezuela and what the president has spoken about, how the United States reenter the oil market there in a way that contrasts with the struggles that we've seen the administration have in Iran and to basically look for areas of foreign policy success. And this is one of the rare ones that he can point to in the last 12 months. So I absolutely see him calling attention to that and trying to minimize where the frustrations are right now with Iran. SANDOVAL: Last few seconds I have with you, Benjamin, I wonder if you have any closing thoughts on what you will be specifically looking at when it comes to the UNGA this year.

RADD: Is the president going to declare victory when it comes to Iran? I mean, I'm curious if now a few weeks away from the midterm elections, will he turn this into a last minute push to really reframe and reorient what this war has been? Will he say that the United States has won or is winning? Is he going to, you know, lean on that rhetoric or is he going to take a more neutral stance on where the U.S. is right now?

SANDOVAL: Yes, we've heard other members of the Trump administration try to frame it that way. But to your point, it would certainly be significant to hear him directly say that on the world stage. We'll be watching closely.

Benjamin Radd, as always, thank you so much for your time and your analysis.

RADD: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: And still to come in this hour of The Story Is, this major media merger, a settlement reached in California when it comes to these ongoing efforts to merge Warner Brothers Discovery and Paramount. We'll tell you what could be the next step.

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And also Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney missing his Monday meetings at the U.N. Find out what kept him from traveling to New York. Stay with us.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: This settlement is not a vote of support for this merger. It is not a blessing of the broader merger. I'm always willing to come to the table for honest, good faith negotiations and when we can find a strong solution that protects competition and consumers. I'd rather resolve the case, the issue in the boardroom instead of the courtroom. And that's what happened here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: You just heard from California Attorney General Rob Bonta as he announced a settlement in the lawsuit seeking to block Paramount's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The planned acquisition is still being finalized, but the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery expects that it will close no later than early October. CNN's Brian Stelter who takes a look at the details of this new agreement.

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BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Paramount has cleared the final hurdle in its year long quest to take control of Warner Bros. Discovery. The announcement came on Monday from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who had been leading a 12-state coalition suing to block the deal on antitrust grounds. Bonta said that the state AGs, those 12 state Democratic attorneys general in states like New York and Connecticut and Oregon and Arizona had all agreed to settle rather than taking the case to trial. That is what clears the way for Paramount to complete one of the largest mergers in U.S. history.

And already the settlement terms are proving controversial. But this resolution means that this channel, CNN and the rest of Warner will soon be controlled by the Ellisons, the billionaire family that's assembling a global media empire with the help of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and other investors. The merger is likely to take effect in the next 10 days or so, and many of the impacts are yet to be known. But there will almost certainly be layoffs and other cost cutting moves because Paramount will be under pressure to pay down its debt and to prove on the -- deliver on the synergies that it promised to Wall Street.

Now, California and those 11 other states sued to block the deal in July, and at the time they talked about wanting structural remedies like asset sales or divestitures in order to let Paramount move forward. There was a trial date set for March, but Paramount pushed hard for a settlement agreement and seems to have prevailed on many counts. Bonta said that Paramount is making more investments in domestic film production and legally committing to releasing 30 films in theaters per year. But those are behavioral remedies, not the more severe structural remedies that Bonta said he was seeking. Paramount is also staying put in California after weeks of talk about a possible relocation, so Bonta can call that a win.

But I spoke with sources in other state attorneys general offices who said they were disappointed by the outcome. In Connecticut, for example, that state wanted Paramount to be forced to divest to sell off both CNN and Paramount's CBS News division. That is not happening. But there is language in the settlement agreement that calls for an editorial independence board made up of journalists appointed by Paramount who are meant to ensure ethical coverage and editorial freedom. Who those board members will be, what they will do, whether it will be effective, whether viewers and readers will buy it, all of that remains to be seen, but we will be hearing more about what the combined company might look like in the next few weeks.

Brian Stelter, CNN.

SANDOVAL: Back to our coverage of the U.N. General assembly, in the coming hours, the general debate session and other high level briefings are set to start among more than 100 diplomats and world leaders that are here in New York. And they'll be discussing a wide array of topics. Artificial intelligence certainly going to be high on the agenda, especially for outgoing U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

China is a key player in that industry, but it's unknown if Chinese leader Xi Jinping will make time to appear at that summit. He is, however, due to meet with President Trump this week in Washington. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant stressed the importance of the U.S. and China being on the same page when it comes to AI.

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SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We think that just like with any cross border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two AI powers in the world, very important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And as discussed a little while ago, we're also expecting a Tuesday meeting between Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez and President Trump. This will be the first time that they're -- that they get to meet in person following the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which happened earlier this year.

And President Trump will also take part in a signing ceremony for a new security agreement with Greenland and Denmark. The president says that it gives the U.S., quote, "permanent control of Greenland's security" and that it bars any adversary from establishing military bases on the island like China or Russia.

Major transportation issues in the northeastern United States delaying Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's arrival in New York. His flight was one of hundreds that were affected by an equipment outage. U.S. Transportation officials are saying that an aging circuit blew at an air traffic control facility in Philadelphia and that when they tried to activate the backup system, that it too failed because crews at the -- at a construction site had accidentally cut the line. And the outage directly impacted at least five major airports in the Northeast, including three here in the New York City area. But the stoppage had some ripple effects across the country.

New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport saw more than 300 flight cancellations on Monday. That's more cancellations than any other airport in the world. That's according to FlightAware.com and this all comes at a time when Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been calling for the modernization of airport systems and infrastructure.

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SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We know these problems can happen. We know these cuts can happen. And to Brian's point, as we work through all the new equipment, all the new architecture of our telecom, which is fans, it all takes money. And so that's why we have a holistic view of everything, including how we rework our telecom.

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SANDOVAL: And still to come, New York's mayor defending his face to face meeting with President Donald Trump. Why Zohran Mamdani says that working with the president could help New Yorkers. Stay with us.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in for Elex Michaelson, and these are today's top stories.

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A Mississippi grand jury has found no evidence to support bringing charges in the death of Nolan Wells. The 18-year-old was found dead after a Fourth of July boat trip with friends just off the Gulf Coast.

The grand jury report agreed with authorities that Wells drowned and found no criminal or racially motivated wrongdoing.

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to address the U.N. General Assembly in the day ahead. President Trump's address will be coming amid the U.S.'s war in Iran that's now more than six months old, with no immediate end in sight.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also expected to be at the UNGA after the Trump administration allowed a, quote, "core delegation" to attend the gathering.

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico are uniting after President Trump banned them from the White House. The media outlets are arguing that the ban is unconstitutional, and they are suing the administration to immediately restore access for their journalists to the White House.

A preliminary hearing for the White House's potential restraining order is scheduled for Wednesday.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I just wondered if you thought that you might get to this working relationship when he was calling you, you know, a lunatic radical, probably a communist during the campaign. You were calling him a fascist, amongst other things. Things have changed.

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: Well, I think we've both said that -- that we'd be willing to have a conversation if it could benefit the people of this city. And to me, you can hold very disparate opinions and also be able to sit down, because that is what this work demands of us.

If I was only willing to speak with people who agreed with me all the time, I would be sitting at home looking in a mirror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani there, speaking with our own Christiane Amanpour. The mayor is defending his decision to meet with President Trump on Monday.

The two sat down at the mayor's official residence, Gracie Mansion, where they discussed a number of issues, we're told, and Mamdani says that he was -- he has been consistently willing to, quote, "work with anyone" that could deliver for New Yorkers.

The mayor also confirmed that he's the one who initiated the meeting, where the two discussed immigration and migrant safety. The leader also discussed affordable housing and also, plans for a massive federal development backed by the mayor.

Trump said that he would consider supporting the project, noting that it would need a lot of federal approvals.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you talk about affordability and did you -- is there anything you can do for affordability for New Yorkers?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I know a lot about affordability because I did that housing. I did many, many low-income and moderate-income buildings over the years and had great success with it.

We have -- we really were -- it was very important. I would think that Sunnyside would have to have a component, at least a pretty substantial component, of exactly that. So yes, we discussed that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Joining me now is Ben Smith. He's a co-founder and editor- in-chief at "Semafor" and also a longtime New York City reporter, very familiar with New York City politics.

Welcome to the program. Good to see you.

BEN SMITH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "SEMAFOR": Thank you for having me on to talk about my favorite subject.

SANDOVAL: Well, you were watching this meeting closely. As you know, this was now the third meeting between President Trump and New York City Mayor Mamdani in the last 12 months or so.

What was your impression about this meeting? And has this surprisingly friendly relationship between these two held?

SMITH: Yes. I mean, just to set the stage, you know, Donald Trump is in New York visiting the United Nations. He has high-stakes meetings this week with President Xi, with Delcy Rodriguez of Venezuela. He met Macron today.

But those meetings come with, like, exceptionally low expectations at this point. I think there's a sense that Trump is -- and the United States have become almost impossible for foreign leaders to do business with. They're just kind of trying to keep things stable.

But it seemed like the meeting Trump was most excited about was his visit to Gracie Mansion, where the mayor lives in New York City and where Trump, I guess -- you know, he's a New York guy. He clearly was very pleased to be there and kind of excited to be there, the way I was a little kid growing up in New York, visiting Ed Koch at Gracie Mansion once. And yes, these two -- this is -- you know, have this very kind of warm

relationship. Trump acts like this sort of affectionate uncle. Mamdani never betrays any emotion. Sometimes you see him just sort of staring off into the distance while Trump talks.

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And they kind of do each other favors. Like Trump, there was just no way Mamdani was going to criticize Trump. But then, Trump did say to the press, Oh, yes, he was really tough on me in the private meeting, to kind of let Mamdani off the hook.

SANDOVAL: It is absolutely fascinating to watch, as you mentioned. But I'm still left with the question of why do it altogether? I mean, what do each of these leaders stand to gain by appearing along -- alongside each other, you think?

SMITH: I mean, they both love attention, but it's not parallel. I mean, Trump really loves attention. He likes that he gets positive attention when he does this and that Mamdani is nice to him. And he always says, you know, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. I mean, I think it's -- he's pretty straightforward.

Mamdani more or less is very pleasant to him and gives him what he wants and doesn't criticize him to his face.

And -- and for Mamdani, the stakes are much higher. I mean, the presidency is a substantially more powerful office than the mayoralty of New York.

And Trump, in particular, could have messed with New York's finances. He could have directed the kind of, you know, incredibly aggressive ICE crackdown that you saw in Chicago. And that is happening to some degree in New York.

And Mamdani, by cultivating this relationship, has neutralized Trump. He's actually -- you know, the New York Republicans have been attempting to run against various people, Democrats, by saying they're associated with this lunatic Mamdani. And Trump has totally pulled the rug out from under that.

SANDOVAL: Mayor Mamdani also said that he raised the issue of -- of temporary protected status and keeping said protections in place for migrants in New York or specifically New York City's Haitian community.

Of course, as we know, the White House has expressed some interest in ending said TPS protections. Do you think that anything concrete may have actually come out of that?

SMITH: I don't think that Mamdani necessarily moved Trump on immigration, or even was trying to. I mean, I think he had to -- it was important. And Trump recognized that it was important for Mamdani's politics that he be seen to, you know, stand up and say this thing that's obviously very important to a lot of people in New York.

SANDOVAL: Yes.

SMITH: But I don't know. Half the time you do sort of look -- look at Mamdani. He's just gazing a thousand yards away -- and think he's really just kind of surviving this.

SANDOVAL: I have a couple seconds left with you, Ben. Just maybe a closing thought. Do you see this unexpected bromance lasting, or do you see it tested in the future?

SMITH: You know, they're both very enthusiastic about a giant construction project in Queens. And I don't know. I wouldn't bet against it.

SANDOVAL: Ben Smith, as always, really appreciate all your reporting on this and other stuff. Thank you so much for your time.

SMITH: Anytime you want to talk about this subject, I'm here for you.

SANDOVAL: And you see there, Mayor Mamdani also met with another world leader on Monday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The two -- you see them a little while ago -- hugging and exchanging soccer jerseys as they posed for photos at the residence of Brazil's ambassador to the United Nations.

The mayor told Lula that the Brazilian president had inspired New Yorkers, especially those left behind by politics.

Still ahead on THE STORY IS, disturbing new details about a Venezuelan man who was shot by an ICE agent in Texas. Why his lawyer fears that he may never walk again.

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[00:43:11]

SANDOVAL: For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans seem to be drinking less alcohol. That's according to a new study in "The Annals of Internal Medicine."

Drinking among Gen Z adults between the ages of 18 and 29, well, that dropped more than 5 percent. Heavy drinking among millennials, aged 30 to 49, that was down about 17 percent.

However, the study's author says that rates of alcohol use are still higher than before the pandemic in 2018.

Now to new information about the Venezuelan delivery driver that was shot and wounded by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Texas.

An attorney representing the 28-year-old man says that he was moved from -- from a hospital to a detention facility with a bullet still in his back.

And the city of Austin saw a second straight night of protests following that shooting, demonstrators carrying some of these signs. They chanted and demanded answers.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reporting from Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE LINCOLN-GOLDFINCH, PEREZ FAMILY ATTORNEY: His name is Wilbur, on the telephone.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dramatic phone call in the middle of a news conference, with activists protesting the ICE officer shooting of a Venezuelan food delivery driver Sunday in Austin.

Wilbur Garces Perez called from the South Texas detention facility where he's being held in immigration custody, and took questions from journalists. A legal aid translated his words.

WILBUR GARCES PEREZ, SHOT BY ICE (through translator): I am not doing well due to the gunshot wound, and I have not received the medical attention that I require.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa!

(GUNSHOTS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!

LAVANDERA (voice-over): This video has sparked a wave of anger across the city of Austin. The images capture an ICE officer shooting and wounding Garces Perez from Venezuela, who was working as a DoorDash driver.

The video shows 28-year-old Garces Perez with a gunshot wound in his back. He was then handcuffed after being pulled out of his car.

[00:45:04]

His lawyer says ICE took Garces Perez into custody from the hospital, with the bullet still in his body, just hours after the shooting.

LINCOLN-GOLDFINCH: He's struggling.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch is an immigration attorney representing Garces Perez's family.

LINCOLN-GOLDFINCH: When he was discharged from the hospital at 4 p.m. yesterday, he had a bullet lodged in his back. And they told him they wouldn't remove the bullet. They sent him to ICE with a bullet in his back without pain medication, and he slept overnight in a processing center without a bed.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): She said she spoke with the Venezuelan immigrant by phone Monday morning. She says Garces Perez told her an unmarked black truck rammed his vehicle twice.

A source familiar with the incident tells CNN ICE officers were conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations Sunday based on license plate checks.

The source added agents had a brief exchange with Garces Perez, who federal authorities say is in the U.S. illegally, and had been ordered to be deported before he fled the scene in his car. The shooting took place shortly afterwards.

Video of the scene shows two apparent bullet holes in the rear passenger window of the Venezuelan man's car, and damage to the passenger door.

Garces Perez's attorney says he remains in ICE custody and has been interrogated by the agency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An SUV road next to him and tried to hit him. He thought it was like an aggressive driver. Turns out it was not.

He asked the -- the ICE officer if he could please at least pull over so that they could detain him. They said no, and they sideswiped him, basically.

He did a U-turn to try and find a spot to park so that he could go with them. And they basically ran into him and then shot him.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Protests erupted within hours of the shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's lots of people that are hurt. There is pain in their heart. There is pain whenever they leave their home, knowing that they won't come back.

REP. GREG CASAR (D-TX): We will all be more safe when ICE gets the Hell out of Austin, Texas.

LAVANDERA: For the family of Wilbur Garces Perez, there is mounting concern about his physical condition. His lawyer tells CNN that members of Joaquin Castro's staff, the congressman from San Antonio, met with the 28-year-old Venezuelan immigrant earlier today, and that he told them that he's in extreme pain and losing movement on the left side of his body.

The lawyer is concerned that he is facing paralysis, and we understand that it's possible he is going to be moved from that detention facility to a hospital.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Austin, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Well, authorities are investigating the death of Cindy Crawford's son, Presley Gerber, as a suspected overdose.

Police are saying that first responders were called to a Santa Monica rehab facility on Sunday morning after receiving a report of a possible overdose. Well, the 27-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives are saying that there's no sign of foul play, and Crawford's publicist says that the family is currently asking for privacy during what they call a very difficult and painful time.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is announcing plans for new restrictions affecting foreign students. Meloni said on Sunday that her right-wing government will be banning face coverings in schools, including burqas and niqabs, and also that they plan to limit the number of foreign students allowed in each classroom.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon with more from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Italy has been going through these measures for the last 20 years. I remember when I was growing up here in Italy, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And in the early 2000.

And we were already discussing these measures that were being imposed by -- by the Italian Ministry of Public Education.

In fact, there is already an internal regulation of the Public Education Ministry that has been in place since 2010 that caps the number of foreign students per classroom at about 30 percent, which we understand according to what we're reading on the Italian press, that is the same number that Meloni intends to do in her -- in her announcement.

The real difference is that, while those were internal regulation, easier for ministers to get to cancel, in this case, Meloni is proposing an actual bill, an actual law to enshrine in the country's panel and civil code in order for these measures to be implemented.

But we should not really look at what is being announced. But perhaps the timing of when with these announcements, which has been less than a week since the beginning of the school year in Italy.

But as more and more people in Italy expect Meloni to call for early elections sometimes in the upcoming months. Italy will have an election in 2027 at some point.

But for the first time in her career, Meloni is being challenged from the far right of her own coalition by newly-arrived, up-and-coming political start-up on the very far right, not much different from what AFD has been doing in Germany in the last couple of years.

[00:50:13]

And of course, perhaps this announcement seems to be -- have more to do with her political posture than actual implementation of regulation; have more to do with that rise, rather than what actually happens in the classroom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Thank you, Stefano.

And still on the way, and after the break, we'll ask a really important question: why state election losses in Germany are now putting Germany's chancellor's future -- chancellor's future in doubt. Friedrich Merz.

Plus, explosive claims from Princess Diana's brother. A look at his new book that's drawing a rare and forceful rebuke from Buckingham Palace.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:55:34]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

A new book by Princess Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, is set to be released on Tuesday, entitled "Swan Song." The book features explosive claims about the people's princess, her fraught marriage to the now- King Charles, and also the aftermath of her death, including a perceived lack of obvious care for Diana's children, Harry and William, according to the book.

Earl Spencer also claims that on a call to his former brother-in-law after learning of Diana's death, then-Prince Charles sounded, quote, "giddily elated, like a lottery winner."

Buckingham Palace has issued a rare and forceful denial of Spencer's account, saying that the king is mindful that, quote, "the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment, and color memory."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is calling this weekend's state election results a, quote, "disaster" after victories by far-left and far-right parties.

And the results marking a major setback for Merz and his center-right Christian Democratic Union Party, leaving the chancellor under some increased pressure to resign after less than 17 months on the job.

CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It's become almost a sad routine these days for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. His opponents cheering after beating Merz's party in a state election.

In this case, the right-wing Alternative for Germany, whose leader tells me flat-out Merz needs to resign.

"He is strongly damaged," she says. "I believe the CDU cannot continue with Friedrich Merz, with a weak chancellor."

PLEITGEN: While Friedrich Merz is trying hard to dispel any notion that he might have to resign, there's no doubt that the German chancellor is on the ropes and currently fighting for his very political survival. PLEITGEN (voice-over): Nobody has asked any questions about personal

consequences or launched a debate about personnel, neither last night nor this morning, Merz said after meeting with his party's leadership.

But Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union has now lost three state elections in a row. The winners in each case, parties on the political fringes.

After getting beat by a landslide two weeks ago by the right-wing AFD in Saxony-Anhalt, this weekend in the Northeastern state, Mecklenburg- West Pomerania, the CDU didn't even get enough votes to make it into local parliament.

The winners, again, the far right AFD, which calls for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and an end to all military aid for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in the German capital, Berlin, Merz's party lost to the far-left Die Linke, which wants to expropriate large real estate companies and faces allegations of antisemitism in its ranks, allegations the party's leadership strongly denies.

FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): We have been witnessing, for several months, growing radical and openly expressed antisemitism that is even welcomed with applause.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Merz has vowed to fight on and continue what he calls his reform agenda. But Germany's economy remains sluggish. His popularity ratings are in freefall, and even he acknowledges he's become a liability for those in his party fighting for reelection.

MERZ (through translator): I know that national politics played a major role, both in the state election two weeks ago in Saxony-Anhalt, and in yesterday's election, as did my own role.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): And Merz claims he still believes he can fix his government's issues and bring Germany back on track. But the chancellor might be running out of time.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for watching this hour of THE STORY IS. But the next hour starts right now.

I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York, in for Elex Michaelson.

And coming up, THE STORY IS locked out. CNN MS, NOW, and Politico all suing the Trump administration to restore White House access. This as President Trump doubles down on the ban.

And THE STORY IS the United Nations. World leaders are descending on New York for the biggest events in world diplomacy.