♪ >> former president trump appears but refuses to answer questions under oath. the u.s. attorney general is investigating whether he falsely represented his assets. in ukraine, russian airstris killed 13 people in the south near a nuclear facility held by moscow. several others seriously injured. wildfires continue to rage across france.

in the southwest, thousands in the path of the flames have been evacuated. temperatures and dry conditions are fanning the flames. thanks for joining us. former u.s. president donald trump has pleaded the fifth. he appeared for a deposition in new york this wednesday but refused to answer questions from the new york attorney general conducting a civil investigation into whether trump falsely represented his assets to tax agencies and lenders. this comes days after the fbi searched his florida home in connection with a separate probe into the removal and destruction of classified documents. trump has denied any wrongdoing. melissa, i know you have been waiting for the former president to return to trump tower in new york. reporter: the former president just left a short time ago.

he arrived after 9 a.m. this morning, new york time and left after 3:00. he was there about six hours. according to a statement he put out on his own social platform, truth social, he exercised his right to plead the fifth and not self incriminate. it is interesting, you may remember in 2016, then candidate trump famously said anyone who pled the fifth appeared guilty and if they had nothing to hide, they should just talk. today it seems he decided against that advice. legal cases mount against him. today's case was a civil case brought by the attorney general looking into whether the trump organization misled authorities about their finances, not to be confused with a separate criminal probe being sought by the manhattan district attorney,

also in new york. not to mention his other cases against him in georgia and the federal case that led to an fbi raid on mar-a-lago, monday night. that is looking into the mist proper handling of documents. the stakes could not be higher for the former president in what is shaping up to be an extraordinary week. >> it is fair to say refusing to comment on something is not something typical of the former president. in the face of these legal woes and cases piling up against him, he appears to be emboldened by all of this. reporter: trump is anything but ordinary. he does not seem to be crumbling in the face of all these legal cases. in fact, he is said to be relishing being back in the limelight, dominating headlines. it is where he loves to be. publicly, he is crying these

cases are a witchhunt against him. privately behind closed doors, he is said to be capitalizing on this, seeing if he can use it to announce a 2024 presidential run. he hopes that can shield him from some of these problems, and potentially be reelected. what is more notable at the moment is we are seeing the republicanrally around trump. he is still seen to be this one figure who could unite the party. on the other hand, at the moment, it seems it is better for them to rally behind trump and keep him in the headlines because it is better than what would be in the headlines otherwise, which is good news for the biden administration. a victory lap for the democrats after they passed a sweeping legislation in the senate, sunday, a massive climate, tax and health bill.

inflation is coming down, which is a huge victory for biden. the republicans are very happy to not have the media talk about that. >> interesting point. melissa in new york, thank you for the update. two ukraine, where russian airstrikes have killed 13 people in the south near a nuclear facility held by moscow. several others were injured when missiles hit the district, across the river from the nuclear power plant. it struck a bridge in the russian held region after hiing another key bridge in the same area a few days before. both bridges were considered strategic for russian forces. i spoke to rob parsons in odessa, who have the latest on the military situation. reporter: the situation is unchanged at the moment. the russians continue in the

donbass region, some 600 kilometers north of where i am. for the last month, they have made little progress. we are talking about kilometers in single figures. they are taking heavy losses. they are now faced with a dilemma of what to do about the counteroffensive in the south, not far from here. do they move troops south and at the same time jeopardize the offensive in the donbass? what to they do? it seems they will start picking troops. it is difficult to supply, as the ukrainians have closed down the bridges across the river. very difficult for the russians. what are they going to do logistically to maintain the position they have? if they lose it, it will be a

dramatic psychological blow for the russians. the ukrainians are talking achieving that by the end of the year but one general is suggesting spring next year whatever the case, it will be tough. >> that is our chief foreign editor reporting from odessa. wildfires continue to rage across france. in the southwest, thousands have been evacuated. soaring temperatures and dry conditions are fanning the flames. we have the latest. >> rampant, the fire has ravaged 6000 hectares of forest since tuesday and has spread to the neighboring department. thousands evacuated overnight. >> the primary objective is to save human lives. so far, there have not been any victims. we have carried out preventative evacuation since last night and will continue so today.

>> it is the second time this summer residents had to flee their homes. the area in southwestern france was hit in july by two wildfires, destroying 30,000 hectares of woods, saw 40,000 people evacuating. >> we don't think our houses threatened but the question is when we will be able to come back. >> the winegrowing region is one of many across france experiencing extreme heat and drought this summer, resulting in multiple bushfires. this year is already the worst since 2008. >> in kenya, votes are being counted in a crucial presidential election. 22 million people were expected to cast ballots tuesday but only half that number went to the polls. results are expected by the end of the week. >> the law requires us to

compare the images against the originals, so we are not doing any telling now until we start assembling the photos from returning officers. the commission, seven days as part of the constitution, complete this exercise, that we shall undertake as soon as possible once all the returning officers bring the documents to the telling centers. >> benjamin mendy appeared in court wednesday to face charges of rape and sexual assault. he pled not guilty on all counts. antonio kerrigan has the story. reporter: at a cot in nthern england, benjamin mendy has arrived in court to face charges of eight rapes, one attentive d -- one attempted rape and

other sexual assaults. the manchester city defender pleads not guilty on all counts. the footballer was incarcerated in august, 2021. remaining behind bars until january this year in liverpool, he has been released on bail. he made his french premier league debut. the left back made the squad for the world championship in 2018. his lifestyle has drawn criticism, including from the french manager. once the rising star, he became the most expensive defender in history when manchester city bought him for 61 million euros, a club where he has now not played for one year. the prosecution will open monday in a set trial to last three months. >> in france, a sad ending for a beluga whale stranded in the s

eine river. rescue operators in the end decided the whale had to be euthanized. reporter: they had come to see the beluga whale that was to be released into the salt water off the atlantic coast and possibly into the wild. it never came. the condition of the sea mammal deteriorated while it was transported by land, after being netted out of the river. they had no choice but to euthanize it after arriving in normandy. >> they advised us to put down the beluga whale, who was too weak to return to the sea. >> the state of the animal's muscles was insufficient to breathe properly. he was suffering from respiratory deficiency. >> the six-hour operation to pull out of the river, plus the slow drive to the coast were a

risky venture. the animal was first stted swimming up the river last week. thousands of kilometers frorom s natural habitat in the arctic ocean. it continued to swim inland to within 70 kilometers of paris. after several heat waves and record droughts the summer, with temperatures rising, wildlife conservationists tried to feed it fish but the animal refused to eat. by the time it was lifted out of the water, it was severely emaciated, weighing 800 kilograms, well below the typical weight of 1200 kilograms. rescuers believe it was already sick before it wandered up the river. >> finally, we take you to italy where a robot that looks like it is from the future is being used to explore the past. our correspondent natalia mendoza has the story from pompeii. >> this morning in the streets of pompeii, an unusual operation is underway.

amongst the tourists, experts in ai are carrying a new high-tech tool called spot. a robot dog that has become the new mascot of the archaeological site. >> [speaking non-english language] >> spot's added value is his capacity to inspect areas of the site that are usually inaccessible, like this tunnel that crosses the ancient city underground. the four-legged robot sends data real-time to the team of archaeologists. >> [speaking non-english language]

>> spot can explore in the dark, thanks to an internal laser connected to a system of sensors. the data collected helps to monitor the state of the site and the progress of the restoration. >> [speaking non-english language] >> this robot is part of a vast project in pompeii that includes the use of other tech tools. like this drone, the first flying las scanner that can digitize in 3d thanks to the five cameras it carries. >> [speaking non-english language]

>> the data is then sent to a digital platform and analyzed. hey leap into the future for the ancient city. it is a listed as a unesco world heritage site. >> that is it for now. stay tune for more world news coming up on france 24. ♪ >> hello and thanks for joining us. today we are in bordeaux, southwest france for an exceptional exhibition by a

franco-american artist taking place here in the contemporary art center. welcome. built on the banks of a river, they open the summer before the pandemic. it's a miss to wide access of the arts for the region and this show is one worth traveling for. >> what was it like seeing work you created over the past decades in one place? >> i am happy it happens while i am still alive. it is exciting to see all that. >> do you think there is a consistent theme or message in your work? >> i had so many paintings to choose from.

then i thought the theme could link together as several hearings of -- several series of paintings i did. twins, doubles, of the same thing. so, that is the thing i hope we see when we walk inside the show. >> more than 1000 artworks, 100 of her pieces are being shown. her first retrospective in france, a journey through 40 years of making art. >> it means a lot of things. body is the name of a massage. >> what sort of massage? >> it is a massage you do with your whole body. i have never done it. i know it exists. >> as well as in animate objects, many of the recent

works focus on glamorous female idols, such as a famous french actress and her sister. >> there seems to be a dramatic link between some of the women in your work. victims of car accidents. and another one was murdered. is that on purpose? >> not really on purpose. i like the dramatic story. it adds something to the model. you can imagine the red here was may be or something but no, because actually this was a photograph done before in the cover was a red background. i choose her because of the expression on her face, which is charming and seductive but a bit scary. he is very small. a bit of a joke also.

and she is like a goddess, a giant goddess. here, what i also like in this painting was it is an old cheap white sweater. i don't know how you say. you can see her scar she has on her chin. a picture of beautiful hair and eyes and all that, with something less beautiful. i like the sculptures. it is a change for me. i am very proud of doing them. i like them all. >> it is a lot of children. >> yeah. it is interesting to see the first culture, which is very basic. it is body body.

>> let's look at your latest sculpture. slightly different. >> yes very different. >> your most recent work showing in the exhibition is of the 70's icon. tell us about it. >> it is a bust, who i painted a lot. i was a fan of her, not a fan but i was in love with her when i was 11 years old. i thought she was the most beautiful creature in the world with her long hair. she is a bit high like this. she was a hollywood actress, she was from o austria.

it was the first bronze sculpture i did. she was a very interesting woman. i studied her life and work. she was a painter. she was said to be the most beautiful young lady of the world. but i did her a little like a caricature with big eyes and eyelashes. >> why do you think you are attracted to female idols of times gone by? is that a sort of nostalgia for life as it used to be? >> not really. i think i look a lot at movies or things with women. for me, it says something about myself, like i project myself into them. ♪

>> this is your first-ever painting. what is it like when you look at it? what do you think? >> i think oh my gosh. [laughter] i am not really proud of this. i thought it was important to see the first one. i put a lot into it when i started. >> nina was born in california to a french mom and american dad. she arrived in france when she was five. her american grandmother was an amateur painter and her grandfather was an uncompromising abstract artist. >> that is a reason i never settled for any specific style or point of view because i was always torn between my grandmother and the rigor of my grandfather.

>> in the past, you describe your work as conceptual and dumb. >> there was a time when you could not paint. painting was not in favor. there was all about conceptual art. i thought i need to do something conceptual but i was also attracted to subjects that were local, sort of silly. i did this kind of work like tupperwares, which was repetitive, always the same object on a canvas. that was the conceptual part, choosing the tupperware and repeating it. the dumb side came from the object itself, which is just a stupid plastic box. >> tell us about these lovely hairpieces. >> they were done at the end of the '90's. a longtime painting human

figure, except torso, i took photographs from magazines, fashion magazines, off models with nice hair. i painted barbie doll hair and enjoyed doing the strands of hair. i thought it would be a nice subject. >> hair is quite a big part of the female identity. >> yes. when i was a little girl i was obsessed with my hair. the way i would put it. if i had braids or a ponytail. when i grew up, i sort of overcame all that with the punk movement, where i could do anything i wanted with my hair. i could change it blue. pink. bleach. one time i had panther. i have a sort of date from which i start to think my work is really mine. that is after i have a serious

paragliding accident. that prevented me to paint for a few months. when i came out of that, several things. first, i had seen the earth from above, which is an interesting experience, and moved me into something, but then i had this energy to work and get down to business. that is when i started tupperware's. i did the next year over 200 paintings. after this accident. my real work starts then. >> tell us about these glow-in-the-dark works. the hair is amazing. >> glow-in-the-dark pigments, which are interesting to work with because they are this magical effect of restoring light.

but they are also very difficult. it is like working with sand. it is sticky. >> i love these colors. that skin color. and these ones are interesting. this is an example of when you paint pictures twice, we have things like a good version and a bad version. >> i always do the good one first. that is from a photograph obviously. then i look at that and i do a bad version, sort of a caricature. >> why do you like this? >> maybe because i spend so much time doing these nice works, i need to let go. most of the time i found the bad version more interesting. if i had learned something about this by doing it, i also like to

paint with energy and more violence. >> you have had several international exhibitions. this re exhibition is on. last year you received the legion of honor for your arts in france. what is inspiring you in 2022? >> i'm happy. i will have my first solo show in new york in february. that is important. actually during all the pandemic, i only painted faces close up. i was missing different human faces because of masks. i am doing more experiments with that. new types of pain, canvas. keep on searching. >> thank you so much for joining us. thank you for joining. see you next time on france 24. ♪

>> they are known for their cuisine and saying hello with a kiss. they only work 35 hours paris, when they are not on strike. how true are these clichés about france? every week, we tear apart stereotypes. join us for insight into french culture and current events to understand what makes the french so unique. >> french connections. france 24 and france24.com. ♪

08/10/22 08/10/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> in five days we have identified 51-year-old muhammad syed's a person who perpetrated at least the two crimes on rhode island and cornell southeast. >> our community has lost others, uncles, husbands, and beloved friends. an albuquerque new mexico, police have arrested a primary