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What We Know with Max Foster

Trump Heads For NYC, Due To Meet Mamdani Later Today; Trump Expected To Address Iran War At U.N. General Assembly; CNN, MS NOW, Politico Sue Trump Administration Over White House Access; Chancellor Merz's Party Losing Ground To Far-Right AFD; Paramount And States Reach Settlement On WBD Merger. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 21, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:27]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: The U.S. president to meet with world leaders on diplomacy's biggest stage.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

Donald Trump heading to New York this hour as he kicks off a very big week on the world stage. He and other leaders are gathering for the annual U.N.

General Assembly under the shadow of multiple wars. First though, Mr. Trump will meet New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at his official residence

later today.

This will be the third time they've met in person and the first time on Mamdani's home turf. Previous talks have been cordial despite their major

policy differences.

President Trump is expected to focus heavily on Iran when he takes the podium at the U.N. on Tuesday, just one of several major flashpoints in the

Middle East that are raising concerns about a wider regional conflict.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is due to travel to New York on Tuesday for the General Assembly. That's according to Iranian state media. Two U.S.

officials tell CNN Mr. Trump will meet that same day with Gulf Arab leaders to discuss the next phase of the Iran war.

Now, world leaders at the U.N. are also expected to focus on the Houthis' dramatic offensive in Yemen. The Iranian-backed group has seized key

territory in recent weeks, including a strategically important island in the Red Sea. They've also escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Let's bring in Kylie Atwood, who's at the U.N., and what a week ahead it will be of reporting.

But first of all, the mayoral meeting will be interesting, but they always seem to get on in front of the cameras.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. It will be an interesting meeting, particularly because They have met before, but

this is the first time that they're meeting here in New York City, on the mayor's crowds, really. So, we'll watch and see what happens there. But

when it comes to the world stage here at the United Nations this week, all eyes obviously on the Iran war, that expanding conflict in the Middle East.

But sources I've been talking to in the region and even on the U.S. side are not really hopeful that there's going to be some dramatic breakthrough

here.

As you were saying, the escalation between the Iranian-backed Houthi militia and the Red Sea and the Saudis has become a really complicated

issue that is adding to the Iran war and the pressure that is putting on the region. We obviously have seen President Trump try to draw this

conflict to an end, but he has been unsuccessful. And at this moment, we know that the Saudis are asking the U.S. for more support in taking on

these Houthi strikes.

But President Trump does not at this point appear willing to give any more U.S. military direct offense support to that site. He will be meeting with

the leaders from the GCC tomorrow. As you said, the Iranian president will also be coming here to New York. He is not expected to be a part of that

meeting that takes place, but we'll have to watch and see if there's any sideline contact or meetings between the Iranian officials delegation

that's here and the U.S. delegation.

And, of course, the Ukraine war continues on. We saw President Trump post this morning on True Social about the challenges that Russia's oil and

diesel industry continue to face, and he said that the war needs to come to an end. But even on that front, there's no prospect of some sort of

agreement that the Iranians or the Russians believe is going to push the ball forward here, President Zelensky said. But there are talks about de-

escalatory steps that both sides could take, but we have heard that time and time again, so we'll have to watch and see if any of the conversations

that happen in person this week can really push the ball forward at all.

FOSTER: Kylie, appreciate it. Thank you so much for joining us from the U.N.

Now, CNN and two other major U.S. media organizations are suing to regain access to the White House. CNN, MS Now, and "Politico" say the Trump

administration is violating the U.S. Constitution by blocking their reporters from entering the White House. President Trump defended the ban,

saying it's not an attack on the free press, but on what he calls fake news. He claims our news organization and others are a threat to national

security.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is tracking this story for us.

So, Katelyn, take us through the process from here.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Max, there's going to be a couple busy days for the Justice Department and the lawyers that

are representing CNN, MS NOW, and "Politico" in this lawsuit. It already is moving fast because there's a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday. All

three outlets are asking for Judge Timothy Kelly of the federal court in Washington, D.C. to intervene as soon as possible.

[15:05:01]

It looks like he's not going to be able to do that until Wednesday afternoon. That's two full business days from now, but that is a pretty

short time in the land of the courts for a judge to be stepping in. We'll see if Judge Kelly is willing to make a ruling at time. But right now, Max,

what we're already hearing is the White House trying to position this as a national security decision.

However, the president is -- has been out there on the record, as has the vice president this morning, saying that there are -- there's unfavorable

or negative coverage coming from these three news organizations and that the president should have the ability then to toss them out of the White

House grounds if he wants.

Now, that's not how the law works, and that's certainly not what the courts have done in the past. There have been cases over this sort of thing the

whole way back to 1977 when a reporter lost press credentials that were revoked by the Secret Service and the federal court in Washington. It

restored those credentials to that reporter, Robert Sherrill.

Since then, over and over again, the same thing has happened. Jim Acosta, who lost his press credentials when working for CNN in 2018. Brian Karam,

who was working for "Playboy" magazine as a correspondent, he also lost his press credentials in 2019.

This judge, Tim Kelly, he oversaw that case against where Jim Acosta sued the Trump administration, ultimately at the first hearing he had, so a

similar trajectory as this so far. He had a quick hearing after that case was filed for Acosta. He held that hearing and he ruled from the bench

saying that the White House couldn't take away the press credential of Jim Acosta without more due process, more notice, more looking at the facts and

negotiating with the news organizations talking to Acosta.

So ultimately, following that court ruling, Acosta's press pass was restored, Ryan Karam's similarly. And so, Judge Kelly, he's going to have a

lot of law to look at, some of which he himself helped to create.

This is going to be a big story for First Amendment rights, for press freedoms, and for the constitutional protections to all of us, not just

journalists in court this week.

Back to you.

FOSTER: Just explain -- yeah, Katelyn, the central constitutional question for people who aren't caught up with the ins and outs of the media

industry, how the White House operates and all that, what is the central constitutional question here about who controls who has access to the White

House, which is obviously the president's residence as well, and some people might argue that he can control who comes in and out.

POLANTZ: He can control to a certain extent, especially in the private spaces, but the press, you can't retaliate against individual parts of the

press, broadcasters, print media, anyone who's exercising their First Amendment rights because of what they publish. That's enshrined in the

First Amendment of the Constitution, and it's something that the courts underline over and over again. You cannot discriminate against someone

because of their political or their journalistic speech, just isn't how it works.

As far as the press pool itself at the White House, there are a number of news outlets who are hard pass holders, people who have the ability to go

in and out of the White House. They have security, granting them access. The badges of correspondence from "Politico", MS NOW, CNN, as well as

photographers from CNN and MS NOW, they were turned away, and those badges were taken over the weekend. Some of this issue is a different

constitutional question.

It is the due process question. Was that too abrupt, and were the news organizations not given enough time? Both of those concepts in the

Constitution, due process and the First Amendment, will very much be looked at by the courts -- Max.

FOSTER: Yeah. OK. I really appreciate you taking us through that, Katelyn. Thank you.

As Katelyn was saying, the White House refusing to allow CNN to be involved in that pool coverage of the president. The pool made-up of four major U.S.

TV networks plus CNN. Each participant rotates responsibility for providing coverage of the president's activities that day. Today was supposed to be

CNN's turn. The other major networks involved in the pool say that without CNN, there will be no pool.

Here's CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter with some perspective on how the entire U.S. media landscape is actually handling this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: News outlets are not ignoring it, and that's very important. Here at CNN, yes, we have to cover this lawsuit,

and we'd be covering it if it were NPR, "The New York Times", or the AP or ABC that were being banned. We would cover it if it were the BBC or

Reuters. It just happens to be CNN.

But, you know, in this particular case, we're talking about something that affects the entire American news media. So, it is important, even though

it's probably a distraction. You've just identified all the reasons why the president has a desire to distract.

So yes, it is a distraction. And it's also an important First Amendment test. The president has continued to ratchet up his pressure, getting more

and more extreme in his attempts to push out news coverage that he deems unfavorable.

And as he does that, the courts have pushed back. And you know what's important that I have not seen before, the other major networks are pushing

back. I've had a lot of viewers in the last, what is it, 20 months or so when Trump's back in office, saying there should be more solidarity,

institutions should defend themselves together.

And that's actually what's happening today. We have seen the other major networks come to CNN's defense, and that includes Fox News, a name that

might surprise some people. So, we'll see how long this goes on for, but at least for today, a unique show of solidarity because of the threat that's

unique as well from the president.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Brian Stelter.

Now the Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany calls weekend elections an absolute disaster following regional victories by both far left and far

right parties in Germany. The results mark a major setback for Merz and his centre-right Christian Democrats Party. The chancellor is under pressure to

resign after less than 17 months in the job. He signaled he won't step down. Merz's loss is to the far right, the pro-Russian AFD's party's gain.

It's emerged as a major political force over the last decade.

Fred Pleitgen reports from Berlin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's become almost a sad routine these days for German Chancellor Friedrich

Marz, his opponents cheering after beating Marz'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 Marz with a weak chancellor. 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."

"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 anti-Semitism in its ranks, allegations the party's leadership strongly denies.

We have been witnessing for several months growing radical and openly expressed anti-Semitism that is even welcomed with applause.

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.

"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."

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)

FOSTER: So what we want to know is what is the future of German politics.

Joining us now, Max Hofmann. He's the Berlin bureau chief for "Deutsche Welle".

Thank you so much for joining us, Max.

I mean, let's first of all talk about that's the center ground. how much they lost. We'll talk about the other parties in a moment, but it's not

just about the other parties doing very well. It's how badly Merz's party did, right?

MAX HOFMANN, BERLIN BUREAU CHIEF, DEUTSCHE WELLE: Right, it's a historic low. It's the first time that the Christian Democratic Union, a former Big

Ten party at the very least, did not make it into parliament in one of the state parliaments. In Germany, you need to be above the 5 percent threshold

to come in. If you're at 4.9, you don't get any seats. So that's why it's historic.

The evening started and didn't look like that. They were polling a bit above the 5 percent, but as the evening progressed, they fell beneath the 5

percent. And that was -- that reinforced the whole feeling of this being a disaster acknowledged by the German chancellor himself, as we just saw in

the report.

[15:15:10]

FOSTER: And we'd seen the FDA do well in one -- win one state election. People say, you know, there were alarm bells about that in the mainstream,

the center, right? But having a second successful election now starts to feel like a trend. Is that -- is that the way it's being interpreted in

Berlin?

HOFMANN: Yeah, I mean, the AFD, so far right party, has been polling very strongly also on the national level now for months and years, and

especially in the eastern part of the country. So, this was not a big surprise that the AFD actually performed so well in the state of

Mecklenburg. Western Pomerania, which is up north, if you're familiar with German geography. But what we are witnessing also in those state elections

here in Berlin is that more and more of the vote is going to what you would have called the fringes of the political spectrum in the past.

So, to the far left and to the far right, because here in Berlin, the far left one and the middle, which is also the party of the German chancellor,

is being more and more eroded, which would make it difficult for the constellation we have right now of center parties to form a coalition in

the future. They barely made it this time, and it's going to get harder and harder if this trend, as you called it and it's rightfully called, the

trend continues.

FOSTER: Why do you think this is happening? Is it a failure of the establishment or the success of the fringes or something within the country

that's very unsettled right now?

HOFMANN: There are a lot of factors, but it boils down to a real crisis of trust. And the numbers show that today. It's not just about this little

policy or this detail about the pension reform. There is just a general lack of trust that the problems that people are facing in everyday life,

and I'm sure some of them are similar to what people in the United States are facing, you know, high gas prices, high cost of living, that they're

not being properly addressed and that the parties in charge right now really don't have the answers to that.

And even the chancellor acknowledged as much and said his party right now did not have the right answers to many of the problems that people are

facing.

FOSTER: Max Hofmann, thank you so much. An extraordinary night. You must be exhausted, but it's been really interesting to hear your views on that

seismic election result.

HOFMANN: Thank you.

FOSTER: Now, coming up, an historic merger is one step closer to becoming reality. Details ahead on the major settlement reached in a multi-state

lawsuit against Paramount. Hear what the California attorney general has to say about those heated talks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:12]

FOSTER: Paramount has reached a settlement with several U.S. states who tried to block its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the coalition suing to block the merger, this settlement clearing the way for Paramount CEO David Ellison to

dramatically expand his media empire. In exchange for the states dropping their antitrust lawsuit, Bonta said Paramount will make various

commitments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Paramount has made an enforceable commitment to significantly increase domestic production, production in the

United States and necessarily production right here in L.A., in Hollywood. More jobs, more economic activity, better for workers, more output when it

comes to movies. Today we know that the vast majority of the company's global production takes place abroad. And only a small fraction, about five

percent only, of the company's films are made here in this country, in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: We should say that WBD is CNN's parent company.

Let's discuss this merger with Sarah Fisher. She's a CNN media analyst and media correspondent for "Axios".

Thanks for joining us, Sara.

I mean, we should at this point say this deal is now going ahead, and it is not just a big media deal, it's a massive emerging American corporate

culture, right? One of the biggest ever.

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: It's one of the most highly levered deals as well. This deal worth $110 billion is being backed by tens of billions

of dollars of debt. It's also being backed by tens of billions of dollars worth of foreign money. So, this passing and getting this settlement

through to close is such an enormous historic moment for the media industry, but also for the American business industry at large.

FOSTER: Yeah. You mentioned the foreign money. A lot of it's coming from the Middle East, right? So how does that factor in?

FISCHER: Yeah. Well, they got a waiver of essentially approval from the FCC that said that they could still broadcast their programs because

remember, Paramount owns CBS, which is a broadcast network with the backing of those foreign entities.

And, you know, the only body that would really prevent this deal from going through on national security concerns would be the Committee for Foreign

Investment in the United States. That committee is chaired by President Trump, and it is run by his allies. And so, we are not expecting and have

not expected any sort of formal pushback from CFIUS.

The three entities, Middle Eastern entities, the Saudis, the Emiratis, and the Qataris have all agreed to give this money but have no voting power,

have no board seats, no governance. And one might ask the question, why would you back a deal with all of these billions of dollars if you don't

want those things? The answer everyone assumes is for soft power, but there's really, again, not much they could do because they don't have

voting control or anything like that.

FOSTER: So, obviously, our viewer is most interested probably at this point on how CNN would be affected. What do we understand the setup will be

there and what discussions were there around that?

FISCHER: So one of the three things that these state attorneys general cited as a reason to suit a block the deal was that the combined Paramount

Warner Bros. company would have way too much power over cable networks because you would be combining the cable networks owned by Warner Brothers

Discovery, which includes CNN, but also TNT and TBS and others with the cable networks owned by Paramount, which include all of those Viacom

networks like VH1 and MTV and Comedy Central.

There was a question about whether or not they would be forced to divest the Warner Bros. cable networks, which by the way, they didn't want to do

because these cable companies still mint a ton of cash.

[15:25:04]

They're very profitable. But instead, the state attorneys general agreed with Paramount in its settlement that they don't have to spin out these

cable networks, but they do need to create an independent editorial oversight board that would oversee CBS and CNN to ensure that they are

editorially independent from its owners.

Now, I've talked to a bunch of folks who say that that is not going to go far enough, but then you also have people that say, why are we even

creating an editorial oversight board when that's not addressing an antitrust issue, which is dominance of cable.

Either way, it's a political win for Bonta because he's able to say he got something out of these toxin out of Paramount and it's a huge win for

Paramount because they don't have to divest the cable nets. Where people think it's a loss is for the other state attorneys general. Several of them

were holding out because they wanted some forced investitures.

And then critics of the deal, of course, say that it is a loss to the American people or for people in Hollywood because it's going to cost

production jobs. I'm not here to pass an opinion on that. That's just what the critics say.

FOSTER: Okay, Sara Fischer, thank you so much. A big day in media for sure.

Now, still to come tonight, a big deal, a big week, rather, of diplomatic challenges for U.S. President Donald Trump. From working before or speaking

before the U.S. -- U.N. General Assembly to meeting with China's President Xi, we are live in Washington for a preview of all these big moments he's

got upcoming.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Continuing to follow U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Ahead of that, President Trump will

meet with the New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

[15:30:00]

The two are scheduled to meet at Gracie Mansion later today. A spokesperson for the mayor says they will discuss issues facing New York City. This will

be the third time Mamdani and Trump have met in person, this time on home ground for the mayor. That meeting is just the beginning of a big week of

diplomacy though for President Trump. On Tuesday, he's scheduled to speak at the U.N. General Assembly and on Thursday, he's scheduled to meet with

the Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The focus of that meeting expected to revolve around trade.

Alayna Treene joins us now from New York.

So, Alayna, I mean, how do you think he's going to use the big speech? And obviously this meeting with Xi is so central.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, there's a lot that the president is going to be doing. He has just touched down,

we're told, Max, in New York City for this two day of events, these two days of events here at the U.N. General Assembly today. He's making that

first stop, as you mentioned, to meet with New York City's Mayor Zoran Mandani at Gracie Mansion. We're told a lot of the topics there are really

going to focus on issues for New York. We'll see what else could come up.

I would remind you that they've met in the past. We've had a friendly meeting in the past, but of course they are on very different sides of the

political spectrum. So very interested to see how that meeting goes.

Then he's also meeting tonight, we're told, with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and he's having a lot of other political events at Trump

Tower. But tomorrow is really when we're going to see his presence front and center at the U.N. General Assembly with that speech that you

mentioned. Just to give you a sense of what we're told it'll be about, there is going to be a little bit of a focus on Iran. Of course, this is

what the U.N. ambassador, Mike Waltz, told reporters on Friday about that address. It's supposed to be tomorrow around 10:00 a.m.

He said that the president will highlight how he has and his administration have confronted complex problems head on around the world. He will touch on

the importance of ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. Max, in the conversations I've been having with Trump officials, essentially, they

said he wants to continue to try and argue that he's trying to be a leader of peace around the world.

I'm sure you'll hear him talk about Iran, as I said, but also Venezuela, some of the other actions he's been doing around the country. He'll call

for an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, as he has been doing. But all of that comes ahead of what I think a lot of people are also watching

for, which is not necessarily the address, but the meetings that are expected to come after. One of the most crucial meetings that he has is a

meeting with members of the Gulf nations, and we know part of that is going to be Saudi Arabia. Bahrain, a series of others that make up the Gulf

Cooperation Council.

And this is also interesting because it comes at a time when we know that the Houthi, the Iranian-backed rebels, the Houthi rebels in Yemen are

adding more complications to what is happening in the Middle East. We know that the Saudis in particular have been very concerned about what has been

going on there, talking to the president about this. So there's going to be a lot to, I think, note here. I'd also remind you that the president has

actually listened to a lot of these Gulf nations in the past when it has come to making decisions about how to proceed with the war or to pull back

on certain actions.

So, I'd keep note of that. But some other meetings that he also has, like I said, he's very busy. He's also going to be meeting for the first time ever

with Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez. This, of course, comes after. The U.S. had ousted the former leader Nicolas Maduro earlier this

year.

There's also he's meeting with Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tomorrow. He's also going to have different bilateral

meetings with the British prime minister. That's the first time he'll be meeting Andy Burnham and also the Japanese prime minister.

And all of this comes, Max, as you mentioned, ahead of his big state visit with the Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. A lot of trade

meetings expected then, but also a big focus on what's happening with artificial intelligence. I'm told a lot of execs are going to be attending

that state dinner, so stay tuned for that as well.

FOSTER: Yeah, fascinating. A lot. Thank you, Alayna.

Brazil's president says that Donald Trump has no right to govern other countries. In an exclusive interview with CNN, he told Christiane Amanpour

that the United States should focus on its own interests, not try to force its laws on other countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We don't want to challenge the U.S. We just want to say that every country has

their own sovereignty, they take care of their own interests, and the U.S. cannot impose their rules over the others. This is the fact of the matter.

We don't want to challenge or confront.

President Trump was elected to be the U.S. president. He has the right to govern the U.S. president, but he doesn't have the right to govern other

countries. He doesn't have the right to impose his will. He has to have the willingness to negotiate.

This is what is of our interest. We don't want to interfere in the U.S. domestic affairs. We wanted to build partnerships with American companies,

Chinese companies, French companies, German companies.

What we don't want is imposition to impose on us things. And then we have to be very careful. I'm not the guy that is just, you know, want to show

bravery. I don't want to bluff. I don't bluff.

I like to respect And I like to be respected and show respect. This is the relationship that I want with the US.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:35:04]

FOSTER: Now, in the final moment of trade, Wall Street stocks are higher. The Dow is up more than 300 points and could close. Back above 52,000.

This is our Business Breakout.

Donald Trump says that Russia has, quote, "lost control" of its diesel oil industry as the country's war with Ukraine threatens to push prices even

higher. The U.S. president once again called for the war to end. He has previously asked Ukraine to stop targeting Russia's diesel supplies. Mr.

Trump is due to meet with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Tuesday.

There are big delays at some of the biggest airports in the Northeast United States. A ground stock was put in place at airports, including JFK

and LaGuardia in New York and Newark Airport in New Jersey, due to problems with air traffic control equipment in Philadelphia. Details are more than

four -- delays, rather, are more than four hours in some cases, and the Federal Aviation Administration says it does not know when the ground stock

will actually be lifted.

There's also been fresh travel for air traffic in the U.K. A network issue at a control center in Scotland caused disruption earlier on Monday. That

comes just weeks after faulty software caused widespread delays across the U.K. Ryanair says that more than 140 of its flights were delayed on Monday

and has called for the head of Britain's air traffic body to resign again.

Now to the promise and the peril of artificial intelligence, 22 countries are backing a call to keep A.I. under human control. The declaration was

adopted on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly earlier on Monday.

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant pitched new safeguards on Sunday when he met with Chinese officials. They include a notification

system for A.I. incidents that raise national security concerns. 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 A.I. powers in the world is very important.

Anna Stewart's looking at that.

And who can argue with that right, Anna? I mean, if anything's going to work around A.I., it has to involve the U.S. and China, and they are at

least talking.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, they're talking and this idea of some sort of joint alarm system between the two raising national security

threats between each other seems like in the right direction.

But just a few hours ago, we also had a post on Truth Social from the U.S. President Donald Trump saying, "Whoever wins A.I. wins. We are leading now

over China and everyone else. And I'm going to keep it that way. I'm not going to stifle growth or something that will be bigger than the Industrial

Revolution or the internet itself."

It's part of a longer post. He doesn't go on to say that they will be careful with A.I. and the existing law enforcement and justice agencies can

deal with it.

And actually, over the weekend, he also suggested creating an A.I. force, which sounds like it might be coming from a Marvel movie, but some sort of

department, possibly like Space Force, which is a branch of the military that was created by Donald Trump, with an A.I. czar heading it.

Now lots of countries have A.I. ministers, so that wouldn't be unusual. But again, all of these proposals, they all fall really short of regulation.

There's no regulation being proposed here actually on the companies themselves, Max.

FOSTER: And also it has to be global, right? And Europe is looking at this in a different way.

STEWART: Yes, countries around the world are all looking at A.I. in a completely different way and really all countries need to sign up to sort

of one plan here. Twenty-two member states have actually just signed a letter today on A.I., plenty of them EU members, but also countries from

all over the world.

We have the UAE, Bahrain, Singapore, Canada, Turkey, Australia. They are proposing three main things, that companies develop transparent safety

protocols, including independent evaluation before deployment of new models. This is all frontier models, really.

Secondly, that governments will develop common standards. And thirdly, that UN member states will explore creating an international institution that

will oversee these standards for artificial intelligence.

Now, that all sounds great. Again, possibly falling a bit short of what regulation people would like to see on the big A.I. companies. And also,

this will take a very long time, one would imagine, to create, even if all countries signed up to it.

And one of the big issues we have here is just how fast the technology is progressing and developing. And we have got an A.I. race on right now. And

so all of these proposals, frankly, probably fall short of the deadline we're looking at.

FOSTER: OK. Anna Stewart, thank you so much.

Coming up, grief, forgiveness, and conspiracy theories. Patrick Clancy speaks publicly for the first time since his ex-wife Lindsay Clancy's

murder mistrial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:43:09]

FOSTER: We are now hearing from Patrick Clancy for the first time since the murder trial of his ex-wife Lindsay Clancy ended in a mistrial. In a

new interview with "60 Minutes", Patrick opens up about grief and moving on after his ex-wife strangled their three children at a Massachusetts home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK CLANCY, EX-HUSBAND OF LINDSAY CLANCY: I saw headlines that said, you know, killer mom and baby murderer, monster, and none of them were

accurate. I believed that it was her mental illness that caused that. So I shared those words. And I think when it comes to forgiveness, I also felt

that if I didn't get there, I would be eaten up inside forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: With more CNN's Jean Casarez.

I mean, what a guy. It's pretty amazing, isn't he, how he's dealt with this.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. It is. I mean, we learned new things last night from his heart that he decided to share publicly. You

know, we knew from the evidence that Callan -- Callan was the eight-month- old. Cora and Dawson were pronounced dead very shortly after the incident, but his heart was still beating, and so he was flown to Boston Children's

Hospital.

We didn't know that Patrick went with him. And for four days, Callan, little Callan, eight months old, his heart continued to beat. And he said

he held his hand, he laid with him, he talked with him, and he thought he had a chance to survive, but he didn't.

He said that following now, this was January, he said that in March, April, he decided he had to leave Massachusetts because he needed anonymity and

everyone was talking and it was just so hard, so he came to New York. And then May 26th would have been Callan's first year birthday.

[15:45:01]

And he didn't know what to do, so he decided here in New York City, he would go to a very famous church.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: How do you celebrate your son's first birthday months after he's passed away?

CLANCY: And so I go to St. Patrick's Cathedral, I light a candle, and I say, I love you, buddy. And I walk out on Fifth Avenue, and I start crying

my eyes out, and nobody cared.

INTERVIEWER: And was that good? Were you grateful for that?

CLANCY: I thought this is where I need to be. I can grieve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: He also said that he wanted to take his own life, that he didn't care about reaching his 35th birthday. He also said that when he testified,

and remember he was the first witness for the prosecution, that he took the stand on day one and testified. And then on day two, right before the 911

call was played, he walked off the stand and I saw him and they were going to take a short break and I didn't see him return for that 911 call.

Well, he went into a room and he had a complete just a trigger of a breakdown in that room. And they called an ambulance. And he had to go into

the ambulance and they wanted to give him medication. It was a panic attack.

And he said, no, I don't want the medication. I've got to go back in. I want to testify. I want to finish this up. And he did finish it up, but no

one knew that was happening at the courthouse.

FOSTER: Jean, appreciate it. Thank you so much.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

FOSTER: Now a Venezuelan driver for the food for service DoorDash is now in US federal custody after he was shot and wounded by an ICE agent in

Texas.

The incident in Austin, Texas, was captured on video by a different driver who was live streaming the moment the 28-year-old man appeared to be shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED), dude. Oh, my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, video shot by sound appears to capture the incident as well as visible bullet holes in Perez's car. The Department of Homeland Security

says Perez was taken into federal custody after being shot pending removal from the U.S.

Priscilla Alvarez joins us from Washington.

There's a lot to take in there, but what is the central element of this story for you?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, depending on who you talk to, it is the pattern that has emerged with ICE and these shootings that have

continually happened over the course of the year during these operations. That's something that officials in Austin as well as Democratic lawmakers

are pointing to.

But the other part of this has been the why and how this all transpired. Now, we did just hear from his attorney. Let me just run through some

highlights there.

So, the attorney said that he is currently at a detention center in Texas. that the bullet is still lodged in his body, that he slept at a processing

center overnight where he said he didn't have a bed, and that he has also shared with his attorney that they have not provided pain medications.

Now, this is, again, from his attorney and had been a concern held among her and his family because it took them quite a few hours to even get in

touch with him to know where he was and what his current condition is.

Now, what I will tell you in talking to my sources is that they have described what transpired prior to this shooting, and we're still putting a

lot of this together. But what my sources tell me is that ICE was conducting operations in the Austin area on Sunday based on license plate

checks. That means they may run license plates, and if they see that the vehicle is registered to someone who is illegally in the country, that they

may pull them over.

And that is what happened here, because they saw that his vehicle was registered to him, someone who had a deportation order. Now, my sources

tell me that there was a brief exchange with ICE that happened, and then later the shooting unfolded. We're still trying to understand what exactly

happened in that moment, because his attorney has shared that he was confused by who exactly was following him in those moments. Typically, ICE

is in an unmarked SUV when they are conducting these stops.

Now all of this has been captured by eyewitnesses. You're seeing some of that video there, and the Department of Homeland Security says that HSI,

the Homeland Security Investigations branch, is going to be investigating this alongside the FBI. We've asked the department for more information

about the circumstances around this incident, Max, but certainly there are still questions here as to why we are in another -- another story where

about the circumstances around this incident, Max.

But certainly, there are still questions here as to why we are in another story where a ICE officer has discharged their weapon.

[15:50:03]

FOSTER: Absolutely. Priscilla, thank you for bringing us the details around that.

Now, a major announcement by Italy's prime minister. Still to come, why new rules on school dress and class size are set to play to Georgia Meloni's

right-wing base.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Italy's prime minister is looking to ban face coverings like niqabs and burqas in schools. Giorgio Benoni also wants to cap the number

of foreign students in the classroom.

Here's Stefano Pozzebon with more from there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Italy has been going through these measures for at 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 2000s, and we were already discussing these measures

that were being imposed 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 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 will this announce, which has been less than a week since

the beginning of the school here in Italy. But as more and more people in Italy expect Meloni to call for earlier elections sometime 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 a newly arrived, up-and-coming political

startup on the very far right. Not much different from what AFD has been doing in Germany in the last couple of years. And of course, perhaps these

announcements that seem to 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)

[15:55:07]

FOSTER: Now, finally, singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran apologizing for what he calls his mistakes. Sheeran has been under fire after he dropped Macklemore

at the opening act, or as the opening act, on his concert tour because of Macklemore's pro-Palestinian comments whilst on stage. Sheeran spoke out

during the latest show of his U.S. tour to explain he has sympathy for both sides in this conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SHEERAN, MUSICIAN: This is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel, and let them know the

news pressure on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable

and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians' lives, children's lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: I'm Max Foster. That is WHAT WE KNOW. Do stay with CNN. I'll be back in a moment.

END

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