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Israel's Netanyahu To Address U.N. As Pressure Mounts Over Gaza War; Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted On Two Charges; Trump Urges Turkey's Erdogan To Stop Buying Russian Oil; Denmark Weighs Response To Drones Spotted At Airports. Wounded Gaza Teen Speaks with CNN Ahead of Surgery in London; Interview with Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Crucial Vote Could Tip Molodova Closer to E.U. or Russia; Sarkozy Sentenced to 5 Years in Campaign financing Case; How Couture Designer Robert Wun Creates His Unique Style. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 26, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:29]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, where it is 1:00 a.m. wherever you may be watching from. Welcome to CNN Newsroom. And here's what's ahead. Gaza takes center stage at the U.N. as Israel's prime minister is set to speak.

And the Trump administration follows through and secures an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey. So what's next?

And Denmark suggesting Russia is to blame after another mysterious drone incursion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York. This is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: We begin at the UN General Assembly where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be speaking in the day ahead. He is expected to be harshly critical of countries that are recognizing a Palestinian state.

Well, meanwhile, the Palestinian author president is making his position clear. Hamas should have no role in governing a future Palestinian state. Mahmoud Abbas spoke remotely, making that statement as he addressed the U.N. General Assembly.

He condemned Israel's deadly military campaign in Gaza, but he also denounced the October 7 attacks on Israel and the kidnapping of hostages by Hamas and other groups.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): We want a modern civilian state that is free of violence, weapons and extremism, one that respects law, human rights and invests in people development, technology and education, not in wars and conflict. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Hamas, for its part, it is rejecting the notion of it having no role in the future Palestinian state. The group says that would be an infringement on the inherent rights of the Palestinian people to choose who governs them.

The U.S. President is striking an optimistic tone about a peace deal in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We had a very good meeting with the representatives of the most powerful countries in the Middle East, and I think we're going to be close to a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Delegates to the U.N. will get another perspective on the war in Gaza in The day ahead. CNN's Jerusalem chief correspondent Oren Liebermann explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to speak at the United Nations General assembly on Friday morning in what will be quite a remarkable moment. A world leader in New York speaking at the U.N. who has an arrest warrant out for him from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity because of the ongoing military campaign in Gaza, charges that Israel and Netanyahu have vehemently denied.

Netanyahu is expected to blast a number of countries that have recognized a state of Palestine throughout the week, both at the General Assembly itself and before at a French-Saudi summit to support a two state solution. Netanyahu and Israel have said that recognizing a Palestinian state under current conditions only emboldens Hamas.

And yet France and other countries have made it clear that their vision for a Palestinian state does not include Hamas governance in Gaza. In fact, it calls on Hamas to disarm and give up the power it has in the besieged territory. Netanyahu has vowed a response, but he has said that response will only come on Monday. And that perhaps is the critical part of Netanyahu's visit, because that's when he will meet President Donald Trump at the White House.

It is Trump who will set the limits and green light whatever Israel's response looks like to those countries recognizing a state of Palestine. And that's why that meeting is critical.

Meanwhile, Trump also, or the Trump administration, I should say, met with a number of Arab states and leaders to talk about the Trump administration's 21-point plan for the end of the war in Gaza, which calls for the release of the remaining hostages, a comprehensive end of the war, and a governance structure that rules out Hamas and has Arab states participating. From regional sources, there was broad agreement on most of the points

there. Arab states also asked for more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, a red line on annexation of any parts of the occupied West Bank and maintaining the status quo in Jerusalem. But crucially, broad agreement on an outline of what that would look like. US Envoy Steve Witkoff said there might be a breakthrough in the coming days.

There is good reason to be skeptical because of the number of times we have heard that, but the General Assembly has brought the attention, at least to some extent, back to Gaza.

[01:05:08]

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke earlier on Thursday where he condemned Israel's ongoing campaign in Gaza that's left more than 65,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. But he also condemned Hamas' attack on October 7, called for a release of the hostages, and he too said Hamas has no role in the future governance of Gaza. Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: For some analysis, now let's go live to Sydney, Australia, and Antony Loewenstein, who's an investigative journalist, also filmmaker, as well as author of "The Palestinian Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World." Antony, it's good to have you.

ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST AND FILMMAKER: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: So, look, I'm really interested in talking about this flight path that the prime minister took. We'll get to that in a moment. But first, I'm wondering if you could help me preview what we could expect in the hours ahead with Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the UN. What are you expecting to hear during his remarks?

LOEWENSTEIN: Belligerence, arrogance and hubris. Netanyahu has a long history of being like this. And even though there are now growing pressures on Israel around the world, you know, you have a situation where Spain is imposing military embargo, they're not buying Israeli weapons. You have growing numbers of European states, Australia recognizing Palestine, although I would argue that's mostly lip service.

The country that Israel needs is the U.S. clearly. And Trump so far has been not that dissimilar, frankly, to Biden, 110 percent supportive of what Israel is doing in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere. So I would expect a speech to denounce these Western states that have recognized Palestine. There's a growing kind of thinking around this.

And there's been some leaked documents coming out of the Israeli mission in New York, which essentially goes around that Israel frames itself as on the front lines of a kind of global war against Islamic terrorism and Muslims in general claiming that the only real reason this is what Netanyahu probably will say and what Israeli government believes. The only reason that many Western states now recognize Palestine is because of pressure from domestic Muslim constituents.

I mean, it's complete nonsense, by the way, but that's the line. And I think, therefore, what Israel is framing itself as and which is why growing numbers of the right and the far right globally support is that kind of hard, ethno, nationalist, apartheid state. That's what Israel is today.

SANDOVAL: Yes, in addition to perhaps criticizing some of those nations that have added to their list of countries that recognize a Palestinian state, I'm curious if he's going to also address an audience of one, the man in the White House.

Now, in terms of what could potentially be a pressure point in the war on Gaza, do you expect that President Trump may tell the prime minister when he meets with him next week what he told reporters in the Oval Office this week, which is that he will not allow Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank?

LOEWENSTEIN: I mean, we can hope so, but it's important to say that viewers understand annexation has basically happened. It's not official. It's not a declaration from the Israeli government. But anyone who spends any time in the west bank for years, as I have as a reporter, will say that settler violence against Palestinians, Israeli soldier violence is so off the chart.

There have been thousands upon thousands of Palestinians which have been ethnically cleansed from Palestine in the last two years in the West bank since October 7th. So, yes, annexation is not formally declared.

But ultimately we've seen even, for example, after the recent attack by Israel on Doha, the on the Hamas elements in Qatar, Arab states response was so mild. They are very, very reliant on U.S. support and they know that. So, yes, I saw that result of the meeting.

And Israel says that they're not going to, you know, not going to be -- they're going to be, they can't annex. But frankly, Israel's doing it anyway by default without doing it officially. That's what worries me deeply.

SANDOVAL: And CNN has already reached out to the prime minister's office to try to ask about the leader's flight plan -- flight plan to the U.S. as we know, there's some flight tracking websites that show that his official planes seem to avoid European countries, certainly not accidental here, especially those countries that could potentially enforce an arrest warrant for the crime, the war crimes that the prime minister denies.

So how telling should that be about this growing gap between the prime minister and some of the nations that were previously key European allies of his, the fact that he wanted to avoid as much of them as he could as he flew here to the United States?

[01:10:00] LOEWENSTEIN: There's a bit of a disconnect between the European people and European bureaucracies. From the E.U., the base in Brussels, there's been lots of talk in the last two years of greater action against Israel as Israel's genocide in Gaza worsens. But on the bottom line is very little has happened. The E.U. is still buying heaps of Israeli weapons and surveillance tech. That is the reality.

And yes, there is growing pressure within European states. Just in the last week, there was mass strikes in Italy and in support of Palestine is obviously Spain and other nations which are increasingly openly against what Israel is doing. But still, still two years on after this genocide has begun, the European Union remains, I would say, almost paralyzed by its inaction.

So, yes, Netanyahu's plane may well have changed its flight path, although it's worth saying that French officials told the Israeli press that they had given permission for Israel to fly across its territory. So, you know, ultimately the Europeans have leverage and they're not generally using. And that's a shame. It's an outrage, actually.

SANDOVAL: We have to leave it there. Antony Loewenstein, as always, thank you so much for coming on and offering your perspective.

LOEWENSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two criminal charges, giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. We're getting reaction from politicians on the right and the left. There's the House minority leader, Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who said, quote, Donald Trump and his sycophants in the Department of Justice, they are completely and totally out of control and have viciously weaponized the criminal justice system against their perceived adversaries.

Meanwhile, Comey posting his own response in a video statement on his Instagram account.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump. My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I'm innocent. So let's have a trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Comey is expected to be arraigned on October 9th. And as CNN's Evan Perez reports, President Trump celebrating this announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: A federal grand jury indicted former FBI Director James Comey on two felony counts of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

The historic indictment marks an escalation in President Donald Trump's push to use the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies. The grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, approved the two felony counts after newly installed U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan made the presentation herself. The grand jury rejected a third count for a separate alleged false statement.

Now, it's unusual for U.S. attorneys to present case to the grand jury themselves. Usually career lawyers in the office do this, but we know that prosecutors in the office had raised concerns about the strength of this case.

Comey is a longtime adversary of the president and is now the first senior government official to face federal charges in one of Trump's largest grievances, which is the investigation surrounding the 2016 presidential election.

Just last weekend, the president posted on social media urging Pam Bondi, the attorney general, to take action against Comey and other political enemies. Trump celebrated the indictment on his social media platform, saying, justice in America. One of the worst human beings in this country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the corrupt head of the FBI.

Comey could face up to five years in prison if he's convicted. The Justice Department says both charges relate to his September 30, 2020's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Comey testified that he did not authorize someone at the FBI to be anonymous source for news sources, according to the Justice Department.

Now, according to the indictment, that statement was false. Comey responded to the indictment in an Instagram video, saying, let's have a trial. Keep the faith. Attorney General Bondi said in a post on X, no one is above the law.

Today's indictment reflects the Justice Department's commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Well, some European officials say that Russia is behind new drone sightings in Denmark. Why could become an issue for various NATO nations. That's coming up next. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

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[01:19:06]

SANDOVAL: U.S. president Donald Trump wants Turkey to use its influence to try to end the war in Ukraine. He hosted Turkish President Recep Erdogan at the U.S. -- at the White House on Thursday. Mr. Trump said that Turkey has been neutral so far, but he would like to see it bring Russia and Ukraine to be able to attend the negotiating table. He also said that he believes that Turkey may stop buying Russian oil.

But as Nic Robertson explains, Mr. Erdogan came with his own list of priorities, which also include some high tech U.S. weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Trump has leverage over Erdogan right now. Erdogan comes into this meeting and President Trump spoke about it, wanting F-35, wanting F-16s, wanting other goods from the United States, Patriot defensive missile systems was another one on the list there.

Erdogan was very close to getting or at least on track for F-35s back in 2019.

[01:20:07]

And that went off the rails because he bought a Russian made surface to air missile defense system, the S400, and he was part of a group of countries were actually helping in the development of F-35s. Now he comes back to the table with Trump and Trump is saying, this is on the table again.

So in those terms, there is some form of leverage that President Trump has there over Turkey on the oil, but it's not clear that's something that is realistic for Turkey to sign up to right now. Perhaps the President is going to look for commitments for reduction over time. Not clear.

I thought it was very interesting just to sort of digress slightly into Syria, telling Erdogan, who was sitting there right next to him, who had called tough and opinionated in positive terms, actually then going on to say, and you were the one that essentially should take credit for overthrowing Assad in Syria and installing Al-Sharaa and saying that these people, your surrogates.

I would be totally fascinated to hear what Erdogan has to say about that, because at the time, at the end of last year, that was sort of the assumption of what was happening. Again, inside details on that scant. President Trump laying some of them bare, it seems.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Nic Robertson reporting. And during his meeting with the Turkish leader, Mr. Trump repeated his claim that Russia is a paper tiger. He also said Moscow has little to show for its massive bombing campaign in Ukraine. NATO's Secretary General seized on that statement in this interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: What is the hope, do you think, for Putin to understand that it's time to agree to a ceasefire, to negotiate an end?

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I think President Trump hit it exactly as he should have by saying to mention the paper tiger. And then the Russians coming back yesterday, the whole day saying, no, we are not a paper tiger. We are a bear. Hey, when you see a bear, you know you see a bear.

AMANPOUR: Right.

RUTTE: But you will notice.

AMANPOUR: But that's the posture (ph).

RUTTE: Yes, but it means that Russia is insecure and that President Trump was able to hit a nerve probably at the highest echelons of the Kremlin.

AMANPOUR: OK.

RUTTE: And why is this? Because if I was a student of history, as I am, and Putin is also a student of history and he loves his country and he's proud of that history, I would not be in a good place. He is -- he's lost 1 million people now or seriously wounded in this war.

He is now losing in one month what the Soviets lost in 10 years in Afghanistan only in one month. So this is what happened at the moment. And he is not making the progress he wants. He is -- he has these long lines waiting for the gasoline stations to fill up the cars with gasoline because the Ukrainians are successful in hitting the oil refineries in Russia.

So he's not in a good place. I think President Trump feels that and he's putting pressure on Putin come to the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Russia's foreign minister is suggesting that his country, not Ukraine, that his country is the victim of the conflict in Kyiv. Sergey Lavrov accused NATO and the European Union of declaring what he called a real war on Moscow, and he said they're conducting it by supporting Ukraine. Lavrov spoke on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Thursday. He also made some similar comments before Russia actually launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine back in February of 2022.

Speculation is rife that Russia could behind a series of drones that are disrupting operations at airports in Denmark. The Danish military says the drones were spotted near several military installations on Thursday. CNN's Sebastian Shukla with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Multiple airports in Denmark have been disrupted by drones this week and including in what Copenhagen says is a hybrid attack by unknown professional actors. While not confirming who is behind these incidents, they have said, though that it is a systematic operation.

The Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, even called Monday's incident at Copenhagen airport as a serious attack on critical infrastructure and linked it to other recent similar incidents in Poland and Romania.

The Russian Embassy, though, has said that it's denied all involvement and rejected any suggestion of Russian involvement as absurd speculation. Nevertheless, Europe is on high alert after a series of breaches by Kremlin drones and aircraft in recent days and weeks.

It is meant the invocation of Article 4 of the NATO alliance on multiple occasions, a clause which the NATO alliance must meet to discuss and talk about how all of the members of the alliance will respond.

BORIS PISTORIUS, GERMAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): It comes as no surprise. Even if my colleague Mette Frederiksen in Denmark obviously cannot say anything where these drones come from, the suspicion is obvious.

[01:25:00]

This is part of Vladimir Putin's strategy without us being able to say anything concrete in this case, as I said, but it is part of what we experience every day. We are not at war, but we are also no longer at complete peace. We are being attacked hybridly in disinformation campaigns and now also by drones. That is the reality we are facing and dealing with.

SHUKLA: Nations around Europe then are clearly being tested. Boris Pistorius, the German defense minister, told the Bundestag that a Russian surveillance drone had been monitoring German and Swedish vessels in the Baltic Sea. The question of how to combat these attacks is a very different question altogether. Denmark decided not to shoot down these drones for fear of hurting civilians.

But should these drones be Russian or any other state actor and a NATO nation were to engage one, it could well be seen as a major and dangerous escalation. Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Well, a teenager from Gaza gets a life changing surgery in London. Ahead, he shares his story of survival and of recovery with CNN. You won't want to miss this. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

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[01:31:25]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval New York. And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Now, the story of a teenager from Gaza who's finally getting the medical attention that he needs after his jaw was severely damaged by an exploding Israeli tank shell. The wounds nearly killed him, but now he's in London for this important surgery.

CNN's Christina Macfarlane has the story.

But first, a warning to some viewers that some of the images in this report may be difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In ten Hours, Majd will get his smile back or think about eating or speaking normally again.

He's about to undergo radical reconstructive surgery, 19 months after an Israeli tank shell exploded near him blowing away his jaw.

MAJD ALSHAGHNOBI, PATIENT: I'm really happy to be treated here and have my operation.

MACFARLANE: Majd was collecting flour from an aid point when the Israeli tank shell hit, killing the two friends he was walking with. His wounds so horrific he was presumed dead.

ALSHAGHNOBI: They took me to Al-Ahli (ph) Baptist Hospital. They put me in the morgue. When they saw my arm move, they moved me to the hospital kitchen because there was no space in the operating room.

MACFARLANE: In the kitchen, his life was saved by an emergency tracheostomy, but he was caught just short of death with no chance of healing without further care. So his mother had to get him out.

MOTHER: I had been running for a month and a half between Nasser Hospital and al Aqsa Hospital for a month and a half to be able to make the arrangement for him.

MACFARLANE: He did get out thanks to the charity Project: Pure Hope, who privately funded Majd's evacuation and treatment. And thanks to one of Britain's leading pediatric surgeons who had the difficult task of choosing which Gazan child they should save.

OWASE JEELANI, PROFESSOR OF NEUROSURGERY, GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL: As a surgeon, like I said, you know, I'm used to dealing with injuries. But this was something that I was not used to.

But you know, if you sort of pause and look away, you know, this by tomorrow there'll be a dozen, a few dozen more children that are well at the moment. But will not Be well tomorrow, will not be around tomorrow.

MACFARLANE: Professor Jeelani and nine other surgeons have taken months to meticulously plan this operation. Through the use of 3D modeling, they will take bone, soft tissue and blood vessels from Majd's leg to close the gap in his jaw.

JEELANI: Majd was the best-case scenario where we feel with our plan, we can really get him close to how things used to be for him and make the biggest difference in his life.

MACFARLANE: The World Health Organization says hundreds of people have died waiting for medical evacuation, and more than 3,500 children are in need.

Majd is fortunate. His case has drawn attention here in the U.K., even from Prince Harry.

But the trauma for his family is not over. In escaping Gaza, his mother was forced to leave behind two of her sons, Muhammad and Yusuf.

What has life been like for your family in Gaza since you've been here in London.

MOTHER: They're exhausted. They tell everyday that you've left with your favorite child. They're in the north. You know what the north is like.

[01:34:46]

MOTHER: And they say they could die at any moment. If I knew the war would come back, I wouldn't have left.

MACFARLANE: It took foreign governments, doctors and NGOs working together to bring Majd's jaw back. But much is past healing.

ALSHAGHNOBI: I wish Gaza could go back to what it was, that everybody could be reunited, and be together in Gaza as it once was.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And CNN's newest anchor, Elex Michaelson, sat down with former British prime minister Tony Blair to talk about the war in Gaza. Also, another familiar face that was there with you as well.

Elex, first off, welcome to CNN. You're hitting the ground running clearly with this fascinating conversation that you had. Clearly with more European recognition of the state of Palestine, I assume that the former British leader had had much to tell you.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. So we're here in New York for a joint event with Tony Blair and Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of the institutes that they work with coming together to talk about the issue of climate change yesterday, as we now have U.N. General Assembly and New York Climate Week bringing people from all over the world here to New York.

But while I spoke with them both about that, I also talked to the British prime minister who -- former British prime minister who is deeply involved in this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: On the situation in the Middle East, we know that you recently met at the White House to talk about the situation in Gaza. What was the big takeaway from that meeting? And where do you see that situation going forward?

TONY BLAIR, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Look, I think President Trump really wants to bring the war to an end. There's a huge amount of work going on to try and do that. And it will only happen if we have a solution that ends the war on the basis that protects Israel's security but also gives some hope for the future for the Palestinians.

And everything is about how you put together those two objectives. So let's hope, because we really do need it to end.

MICHAELSON: What do you think is a realistic timeline for that?

BLAIR: I don't think you can be sure at the moment, but let's see. But people are working very hard on it. And the great thing is the president is completely committed to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So you can see there Polo, he's an experienced diplomat, clearly trying to compliment President Trump on this issue, trying to avoid some swipes at President Trump on the climate issue that we talked with earlier, trying to, you know, get his way on this very important issue.

SANDOVAL: Yes, he's been front and center trying to confront previous conflicts in the past. So certainly knows a thing or two.

Obviously, some lighthearted moments as well. I assume, especially when it comes to conversations with the former governor of California. What did he have to say?

MICHAELSON: Well, this was his first tv interview since his son got married. A whole lot of people around the world first got to know the name Patrick Schwarzenegger on this season's "White Lotus".

And now Patrick Schwarzenegger is a married man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: What was that like?

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, FORMER CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: It was great. You know, it was like, he's been going out with this girl now for with -- Abby for, you know, eight years. And so they finally said, let's do it.

And, you know, I went out with Maria for nine years, and people always ask me, well, what's the long time? And I said, well, I believe in long escrows.

But in any case -- but the bottom line is look, they are so happy together. There's such a happy couple and they're going to be fantastic parents to their children.

And I'm so proud of Patrick because, not only because that he has a wonderful wife and he's a wonderful son, but also his career, you know, "White Lotus" and in all this stuff. And now he's shooting a movie over there in London.

And he's doing really great. And of course, I'm very happy with all of my kids because they're all fantastic.

MICHAELSON: Rob Lowe said you made a big speech at the wedding.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Not a big speech. You know, it was just kind of making some jokes and doing a little bit of roasting and having some fun with the whole thing.

But I mean, I don't want to let Patrick know how much I -- how proud I am of him and how he is a product, not of my upbringing, but of Maria's and my upbringing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: And he goes out of his wife -- out of his way, I should say, to always compliment Maria Shriver whenever talking about his kids with her.

So congratulations to Patrick and the entire Schwarzenegger family.

Polo, back to you.

SANDOVAL: Two very proud parents. And I'm sure he didn't say if Saxon Ratliff -- if he knew -- if Saxon Ratliff would return for the next season of "White Lotus". We'll have to watch.

[01:39:52]

MICHAELSON: I'm not sure if they know yet, actually. Because I don't know if the script has been written yet.

(CROSSTALKING) 4 MICHAELSON: So we don't know. They don't know.

SANDOVAL: Elex, it's always great to see you. Again, welcome.

MICHAELSON: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Well, Moldovan authorities, they say that they foiled a Russian plot ahead of a crucial election. We'll have more details on that and why the stakes are so high for Sundays parliamentary vote.

[01:45:17]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: Moldova faces a critical election on Sunday, which could decide whether the country keeps moving forward, integrate -- moving forward with integration with the E.U., or whether the former Soviet republic leans closer to Russia. But the Moldovan government says that the Kremlin is already trying to influence that outcome.

CNN's Clare Sebastian explains for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Moldovan police apparently moving in on a Russian state-backed network to organize mass riots around upcoming parliamentary elections, dozens arrested.

The fear of violence spilling onto these politically-charged streets. A new twist ahead of a crucial vote the government here has already warned Russia is trying to rig.

MAIA SANDU, MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT: The Kremlin is pouring hundreds of millions of Euros to buy hundreds of thousands of votes. People are intoxicated daily with lies.

SEBASTIAN: The Kremlin denies any interference but is publicly accusing Moldova's government of persecuting political opponents and denying those who support Moscow their right to vote.

What would happen if pro-Russian parties gain a majority in this election?

LAURA THORNTON, MCCAIN INSTITUTE: The first step is just to push Moldova away from the E.U. That's just the gateway drug to pulling them into the Russian sphere.

SEBASTIAN: Russia's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine supercharged this tiny post-Soviet state's E.U. ambitions. Last year, it started accession talks.

But the pro-Russian opposition is pushing back. Its main candidate and former president Igor Dodon, claiming the E.U. is preparing Moldova for war with Russia.

THORNTON: They still have a lot of steps they need to go through to become a member of the European Union. A pro-Russian party or pro- Russian coalition would probably stall that, if not try to reverse it.

SEBASTIAN: Natalia Zaharescu, a Moldovan investigative journalist, says she has seen Russian tactics evolve firsthand.

Zaharescu has spent more than three years infiltrating online networks linked to this man, Elan Shaw (ph), a fugitive Moldovan businessman living in Moscow and linked to a vote-buying scheme that threatened to undermine last year's presidential election and referendum on E.U. integration.

His latest effort, Zaharescu says, was to train Moldovans to become professional online trolls. Shaw has not responded to a CNN request for comment.

NATALIA ZAHARESCU, MOLDOVAN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Hundreds of people were trained how to use social media, how to make accounts under fake names, how to post these messages that they were given.

SEBASTIAN: And she working undercover was one of them.

ZAHARESCU: And they were telling that we are in an informational war. We have to act like a big troll farm. Everything is paid directly from Moscow.

SEBASTIAN: Moldova is, experts say, a testing ground for Russian hybrid tactics, one whose European future now hangs in the balance.

Clare Sebastian, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy will be spending five years in prison after a Paris court found him guilty of criminal association tied to campaign financing.

Sarkozy was found guilty in a plot to finance his campaign with money from Libya. This, in exchange for diplomatic favors for the Libyan government under then leader Moammar Gadhafi.

CNN's Melissa Bell explains.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He'd arrived at the courthouse with his wife, looking confident. But Nicolas Sarkozy emerged as the first-ever former French president to be headed to prison.

NICOLAS SARKOZY, FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): If they absolutely want me to sleep in prison, I will sleep in prison but with my head held high. I'm innocent.

BELL: The former French president was found guilty of criminal conspiracy in a trial he's long argued was politically motivated.

Sarkozy was accused of striking a corruption pact with Libya's Moammar Gadhafi back in 2005 in order to help illegally fund Sarkozy's victorious presidential election bid in 2007.

It's not the first time that Nicolas Sarkozy's faced a guilty verdict or indeed a jail sentence. But in 2021, when he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge, he was allowed to wear an electronic bracelet at home. This time, he left court knowing that he'd be incarcerated.

His wife, Carla Bruni, posting on Instagram after the verdict, "Love is the answer, #hatred will not win."

Nicolas Sarkozy isn't the only leading politician accusing the French judiciary of political bias.

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BELL: In March, the far-right's Marine Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling European funds. She's now appealing a five-year ban on seeking political office with an eye on the next presidential election in 2027.

Nicolas Sarkozy, too, has vowed to appeal. SARKOZY: Those who hate me so much think they are humiliating me. What they have humiliated today is France.

BELL: But the judge's ruling, which referred to the extreme gravity of the offenses, means that no appeal is going to change the fact that Nicolas Sarkozy is going to jail. He'll find out when his prison sentence is to start on October 13th.

Melissa Bell, CNN -- Paris.

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SANDOVAL: Still on the way, a couture designer showing off some unexpected fashion. Why he's embracing imperfection in an industry that is often obsessed with pristine beauty.

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SANDOVAL: A prison in Rio de Janeiro hosted its 19th annual beauty contest. The ten inmates who got to compete were selected based on good behavior.

They paraded in a fashion show featuring some colorful denim outfits that were of their own creation. Tai (ph) Suarez Machado she won the crown. The judges came from justice system representatives, public authorities, also some civil society members.

The contest was organized to encourage self-esteem among women in the prison.

And couture designer Robert Wun already has an impressive list of achievements, celebrity clientele, also the fashion world's attention.

But this week is really quite special for him. You see, his work is part of a London exhibit for the very first time. It's called "Dirty Looks" and it's dedicated to decay.

CNN Saskya Vandoorne with that story.

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ROBERT WUN, COUTURE DESIGNER: Everything here is actually burned. The majority of them is (INAUDIBLE), but there's also candlelight and there's lighter and torches as well.

Since I was young, I loved burning shirts, you know, obviously don't recommend anyone to do it at home. Don't play with fire.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wine-stained, blood-splattered, burnt. Robert Wun's evocative and intricate designs upend expectations of what luxury looks like.

In 2023, his London label gained a rare place on the Paris couture calendar, making him the first Hong Kong-born designer in history to do so.

WUN: So we're in Dalston on the second floor, used to be an old jeans factory.

Welcome to the atelier. This is where everything happens.

It's a very hands-on atelier situation. So you don't really worry too much about is the chair looking good or if there's too many boxes around because its more about what we make here.

We leave all the drama to the work. We don't really want to go to the route where it's just about defining elegance and wealth.

For us, it's to really look into the future of couture. How do we resonate with the younger audience of how they feel about the way the world is?

So this is a piece from our autumn winter '24 collection for the yellow rose. The majority of the jacket was actually done by myself. I just moved the whole jacket to my table. I remember I just started torching it.

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WUN: I really enjoyed it, I don't know why. To get the details we have to use like an incentive (ph) which almost if it's let alone itself, it looks like a floor, but when it's a whole story together, it looks like a painting. That's what I love about it.

As a smoker myself, I have a few holes here and there with jackets or coats that's a bit longer than what it needs to be, so that comes very naturally to me.

You see, for me, it's never about leaning to destruction. But for us it's to tell a full story of a whole collection where the burning technique comes in as part of a bigger picture to relay that emotion.

So these two pieces are from our latest couture collection, very much about the process of coloring your hair and bleaching your hair, getting ready.

And I want to really capture that story, almost like you wake up in a hotel room. You have no idea what you have done last night because you're drunk as hell. But you know that you have another big night happening, so you need to go shower, get changed, change your hair color because you need to match your gown.

So we actually got a big piece of towel and we actually bleach and using pink hair dye to dye it. And then we gave it to the embroidery artists to try to follow and match all the color.

So it's a mix of different kind of sequences, beading, crystals -- one of our favorite pieces actually.

So this is called the "Bleeding Love". And, you know, it really came from the memory that I had with my sister. When she was young she had to go through a very, very big surgery. Of course, thankfully she's ok. But the fear of losing is coming, stemming from love and love itself

can only shine through when there is pain and the fear of losing someone.

It was fascinating to work with the artisans to do something that is a bit untraditional. Instead of making flowers and beautiful sequences. It was a piece of very expensive silk chiffon fabric, and I just get a bit of red dye and I just splash on top of it.

One of our old colleagues was in shock because the fabric itself was almost like 200 pounds a meter. It's no secret, people know I love horror genre. I just like how we create things just to feel a bit more alive about the life we're in. And I think sometimes beautiful things doesn't come from beautiful inspirations.

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SANDOVAL: It really is wearable art. Our thanks to Saskya for that report.

And from the entire team, want to thank you so much for watching. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

The news continues with my colleague Kim Brunhuber after a short break.

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