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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Trump Vows to Destroy Iran's Power Plants, Bridges If No Deal; Iran Rejects 45-Day Ceasefire, Demands Permanent End to War; Artemis II Returning to Earth After Successful Lunar Fly-By; Trump Endorses Republican Steve Hilton in California Governor's Race; A Look Inside 'Eva Longoria: Searching for France". Aired 12-1a ET
Aired April 07, 2026 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. THE STORY IS starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON (voice-over): The story is in Iran. We're hours away from President Trump's deadline to blow up critical infrastructure.
THE STORY IS in outer space. NASA successfully pilots around the moon. Retired astronaut Garrett Reisman here live.
THE STORY IS presidential pick. Republican Steve Hilton with us live to talk about President Trump's endorsing him.
And THE STORY IS "Searching for France." Eva Longoria joins me to discuss her new food series coming to CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: There is a lot of breaking stories that we are following right now, but we begin with our top story in Iran and President Trump's warning to Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or else.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're giving them, we're giving them until tomorrow, 8:00 Eastern Time. And after that, they're going to have no bridges. They're going to have no power plants. Stone Ages. Yes. Stone Ages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Meantime, sources tell CNN that Israel has approved an updated target list of energy and infrastructure sites in Iran.
Here's what President Trump said when asked about the potential for war crimes in Iran. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How would it not be a war crime to strike Iran's bridges and power plants?
TRUMP: Because they killed 45,000 people in the last month? More than that. It could be as much as 60. They killed protesters. They're animals.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: If it seems like diplomatic talks are picking up, are you willing to hold off on attacking critical infrastructure?
TRUMP: Well, I want to say -- I don't even want to talk about it.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you concerned that your threat to bomb power plants and bridges amount to war crimes?
TRUMP: No, not at all. No. No, I'm not. I hope I don't have to do it.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are there certain kinds of civilian targets, though? I'm thinking schools or hospitals.
TRUMP: I don't want to tell you that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That you would say are off limits?
TRUMP: I don't want to tell you that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: President Trump also called a recent 45 day ceasefire proposal a significant step, but not good enough. Iran reports that Tehran has rejected the proposal, and an Iranian source says that the Strait of Hormuz will not return to its previous conditions unless the war is permanently stopped. Despite all this, President Trump says there has been progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I can tell you that we have a active, willing participant on the other side. They would like to be able to make a deal. We have to have a deal that's acceptable to me. And part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: CNN's Ivan Watson live now in Hong Kong.
Ivan, how is Iran responding to all that?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, with defiance, Elex. We have heard from the spokesperson from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Here's a taste of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) EBRAHIM ZOLFAGHARI, SPOKESPERSON, ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS CORPS (through translator): The rude rhetoric, arrogance, and baseless threats of the delusional U.S. president arising from the deadlock he faces in, aimed at justifying the repeated defeats of the U.S. military will have no effect on the continuation of offensive and crushing operations by the fighters of Islam against U.S. and Israeli enemies, and will not repair the humiliation of the United States in West Asia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: So, Elex, here we are, we're more than five weeks into this war, and it looks like we could be on the verge of a very significant escalation if we take President Trump at his word. We have heard a statement purportedly from Iran's supreme leader. That's Mojtaba Khamenei. Recall that he was the son of the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the joint U.S.-Israeli bombardment of Iran, again, a little bit more than five weeks ago.
We haven't seen much of Khamenei at all throughout the course of this war, but he was eulogizing Iran's top intelligence officer, which Iran -- Israel claimed to have killed. Iran confirming that General Majid Khademi was killed, one of a growing list of senior Iranian officials and commanders who have been assassinated throughout the course of this conflict.
And Khamenei, the supreme leader, went on to say that the unbroken ranks of the combatants and fighters on the path of truth in Islamic Iran, going on to say, you know, basically they're committed to continuing this battle.
Israel has also claimed to have killed a special operations commander from the IRGC Quds Force. We have not gotten confirmation of that yet from Iran. These are some of the casualties that continue to be incurred here.
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Israel has also claimed to have targeted a major petrochemical complex in Iran. The South Pars petrochemical complex and Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said that this is a severe blow to Iran's industrial base. It's going to cost Iran tens of billions of dollars. Iran has confirmed that at least four of Iran's army officers were killed in that remarkable rescue operation that the U.S. military carried out on Sunday to rescue the second airman from the downed F- 15E Strike Eagle, the fighter jet that was shot down, that they actually suffered casualties from U.S. aircraft.
We heard from the U.S. military and from President Trump more than 100 aircraft used as part of the rescue effort. Finally, Israeli officials have told CNN that they are preparing additional targets, industrial targets in Iran if they get the go ahead from President Trump to expand the conflict. Again, according to his timeline, by 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, and that Israeli officials are skeptical that there is the possibility of any deal with Iran before then. MICHAELSON: Yes, I mean, because, Ivan, the last time we saw you on
this show, you were in Pakistan where there was hopes that there might be some sort of deal worked out there. That clearly didn't happen. Now you're back at your home base in Hong Kong.
Where are we in terms of hopes for diplomacy right now
WATSON: There have been efforts made. You have a number of countries that issued a proposal to Iran for a 45 day ceasefire. Iran apparently has rejected that and instead come back with a 10 clause response for ending the war, not wanting a ceasefire, but a complete end to the war. And it includes, some of its clauses would be ending regional hostilities, establishing a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, reconstruction and the lifting of sanctions.
In the past, Iran has demanded sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, which it effectively has right now. We've reported that it seems to be charging a toll of around $2 million a tanker ship to pass safely through there. And we've heard from Iranian officials speaking to CNN that they will definitely demand payment in the future in any arrangement for commercial shipping to safely pass through there.
If that does in fact come into play as it is effectively in play right now, then that would be a dramatic change from the previous -- the pre-war arrangement where you had, you know, more than 140 ships passing through the strait every day. Iran generating revenue from that. That was not a revenue source more than five weeks ago.
MICHAELSON: So they could end up actually making money off of this war.
Ivan Watson, thank you for your reporting from Hong Kong.
We're joined now here in studio live by Benjamin Radd, our resident Iran expert around here. He's a senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center, currently serving as a visiting professor at USC.
Ben, welcome back. We hear about some of the terms Ivan just laid out there for a potential deal.
BENJAMIN RADD, SENIOR FELLOW, UCLA BURKLE CENTER: And now we're hearing about the racket of $200 million a ship.
MICHAELSON: $2 million, he said.
RADD: $2 million a ship. Yes.
MICHAELSON: But still, I mean, it doesn't sound like we're close to a lot of sort of no goes based off of that. Right?
RADD: There are red lines for both countries. I mean, you heard Iran wants an end to hostilities. They want lifting of sanctions. They want essentially -- and reparations, reconstruction. That's a no go for the United States. And what does the us get from Trumps position? This whole thing was started because he wanted an end to Iran's nuclear enrichment program, zero enrichment. Secondly, no ballistic missiles. We've seen what damage they can cause. And third, end of supporting proxy groups. None of those things -- both sides are so far apart on this.
MICHAELSON: So it -- so then it does not sound like there's going to be a deal by 8:00 Eastern Time tomorrow, 5:00 Pacific Time.
RADD: No.
MICHAELSON: So what does that mean, Ben? Because the president is promising an attack on the infrastructure if there is no deal.
RADD: Yes. And so the question then becomes does he do that at this point? It's, you know, either put up or shut up. He has to deliver on that. And what does that mean in terms of the U.S.'s exposure to potential charges of war crimes. We've heard him sort of dismiss that. There's issues of proportionality. If the U.S. can end the war quickly and save more lives or impact, degrade Iran's military greater than the civilian harm would be, then there's this sort of proportionality justification under international law. There's precedence for this. U.S. did this in Iraq in 1991, but it's still, it's one step short of deploying forces in Iran, which is something he wants to avoid.
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MICHAELSON: So this conversation about war crimes, this is something you were teaching at USC today, right?
RADD: Yes. Yes.
MICHAELSON: And you actually watched this press conference live with your students when they asked about war crimes. And he kind of dismissed the whole notion, right?
RADD: He did.
MICHAELSON: I mean, this concept of if it is war crimes or even if it's not, is there anybody to prosecute the United States on this front? And so does it even really matter?
RADD: No, it doesn't matter. And we -- the United States is not party to the Rome Treaty, where the ICC sits and --
MICHAELSON: International Criminal Court.
RADD: International Criminal Court. Exactly. And so there's -- and you know, neither is Iran, neither is Israel, for that matter. And as far as the U.N.'s concerned, the U.S., there's veto mechanisms. There's no way that you're going to bring the United States in front of a U.N. based international court of justice tribunal or anything of that sort. It's just not going to happen. And the president knows this. So at this point, it's what is the reputational impact that the United States suffers if he does this. But he would probably claim that this war could end sooner and the suffering would be greater if the United States doesn't do this.
MICHAELSON: So, I mean, there's no scenario where like Pete Hegseth is brought before the Hague or Benjamin Netanyahu is brought before the Hague for what happened in Gaza. Like I mean, people can talk about war crimes and obviously nobody wants to see that, but it doesn't seem like there's a lot can be done about it.
RADD: They are incredibly hard to bring, these trials.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So you say that the real goal at this point is to avoid ground troops for President Trump. How does he do that?
RADD: He does that by essentially compelling Iran to capitulate. The word today with the expression is he's waiting for them to cry uncle. Right? That's what he said. He's -- can he make it so painful that basically they have nothing left to fight with? They have no power. They have no resources, they have no utilities. They have no, you know, oil to fuel their ships. Not their ships, I should say, but their, you know, whatever they're using to fuel anything, right, to power their systems, their defense systems, their --
MICHAELSON: Their cars.
RADD: Right. Basically making it so that they have nothing left to fight with other than, to borrow his word, Stone Age tools. And that would bring an end to it. But this is a group that is not -- that will die fighting. They have nowhere else to go. They will be -- they'll be killed by the Iranian people if they just walk out and say, we give up, you know, they're not going to get amnesty anywhere.
MICHAELSON: Plus, Iran is invoking some damage to the United States, including the Strait of Hormuz. I mean, that's hurting the United States and hurting global commerce.
RADD: It's hurting everybody. It's hurting the Iranians. Let's add this as well. The reputational damage for them, their relations with the Arab world going forward, it's now poisoned for years to come. And now sort of this extortion scheme of holding the strait hostage, you know, and charging ships $2 million. I mean, this is, you know, this is a racket, and this is not going to serve Iran long term.
It has to live with these other states. You know, they have to at some point engage in diplomacy and commerce with them. How do you do that under this policy?
MICHAELSON: So what's next then? What does this look like 24 hours from now if we're talking again then?
RADD: So then you continue the strikes on the senior leadership. We saw Israel do that with the number two of the IRGC, and you deplete their leadership to the point where the only ones left are not ideological diehards willing to go down to the last man. And they'll basically fragment, you know, and then create space for either defections or hopefully from their perspective, an internal coup or a popular uprising.
MICHAELSON: Benjamin Radd, so interesting to watch this day after day. Let's hope for not too much pain tomorrow, although it could be that way depending on what happens. Thank you so much. RADD: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Still to come, some better news. The Artemis II astronauts are making history in more ways than one. What they saw on the dark side of the moon. Plus one of our favorite NASA astronauts is here live to talk about his e-mail to them and what they're saying to him.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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MICHAELSON: The four astronauts aboard Artemis II are Earth bound once again after traveling the farthest from Earth that any human has ever traveled, and seeing sights no human has ever seen before quite like this. They have been now completed a lunar flyby, circling around the far side of the moon and taking pictures of its previously unseen surface from that perspective.
They also experienced an hour-long solar eclipse, giving them a brilliant look at the sun's outer atmosphere and the glow of the Earth. They also endured an expected communications blackout, losing contact with Earth for about 40 minutes. Astronaut Victor Glover described what those moments of complete isolation were like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICTOR GLOVER, ARTEMIS II PILOT: I said a little prayer, but then I had to keep rolling. I was actually recording scientific observations of the far side of the moon. You know, that is actually the time when we were the farthest and the closest to the moon. And so we were really able to make some of our most detailed observations of the far side of the moon up close. And so we were busy up here working really hard. And I must say it was actually quite nice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: As the astronauts began their return trajectory, they received a call from President Trump who congratulated them and invited them to visit the Oval Office. That's some of what we were just looking at there, that call with the president. He told them that the U.S. would invest more in the space program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Your mission paves the way for America's return to the lunar surface very soon. We're going all out. We're doing everything we can. We'll plant our flag once again, and this time we won't just leave footprints. We'll establish a permanent presence on the moon, and we'll push on to Mars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:20:02] MICHAELSON: Joining me now is Garrett Reisman, a retired NASA astronaut with plenty of experience in space, having flown on all three space shuttles. He's also professor of astronautical engineering at USC and the former director of space operations at SpaceX.
Welcome back. Good to see you.
GARRETT REISMAN, PROFESSOR OF ASTRONAUTICAL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Good to be back, Elex.
MICHAELSON: The person I most wanted to talk to about this whole thing.
REISMAN: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: You got the best perspective on this. Describe the emotion of today.
REISMAN: A lot of highs. I mean, it was really a wonderful day. Everything went according to plan. That's first and foremost. It was a very successful, what we call a nominal mission. Everything -- there was no surprises. But, you know, the interesting thing to me was the first time we sent men to the moon, they were all test pilots, and they were kind of tight lipped about the whole thing. They didn't share a lot of the emotions. It was all just about getting the job done.
What we're seeing here today is we have our kind of a new generation of astronauts and they're sharing what they're feeling, which is wonderful because when they're talking about what it's like, what they're seeing out the window and what they're feeling, and what they're feeling about their families, their personal stories, it just gets everybody so much more into it. I think it's wonderful.
MICHAELSON: Well, speaking of families, there was a really special moment today. Talk about that.
REISMAN: The most poignant moment by far was when they named the crater after Reid Wiseman's wife, Carroll. Now, Carroll unfortunately passed away from cancer, and Reid even thought about stepping down from the astronaut office or not even taking this flight to the moon and his two daughters actually said, no, you have to do this and kind of encouraged him to stick with it. And today, after that heartbreak that he went through and seeing what it was like for him and his daughters to lose their mom, when they said we're going to name this crater Carroll, it was, I mean, I shed tears. So it was --
MICHAELSON: Let's play that for people that may have missed it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY HANSEN, ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST: So at certain times of the moon's transit around Earth, you can, we will be able to see this from Earth. And so we lost a loved one. Her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Elie, and if you want to find this one, you look at Glushko and it's just to the northwest of that, at the same latitude as home. And it's a bright spot on the moon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: What a beautiful moment. And you think about his daughters and what that must mean to them, watching their dad do something that no other human has done before. And then to think of their mom in that moment.
REISMAN: Yes. And his family was there in mission control when that was happening. So it was, yes, that was, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
MICHAELSON: Yes. What a beautiful thing. Meanwhile, they had this 40 minutes where they didn't have to talk to anybody, which is a dream.
REISMAN: Yes. Yes.
MICHAELSON: A lot of people. And you e-mailed them about this, right?
REISMAN: I did. So, first of all, you know, people have this impression that like that 40 minutes when they're out of calm, they have no communication with the Earth is something to be scared about. It's a gift.
(LAUGHTER)
REISMAN: It's so wonderful, because, you know, think about it. They've been in the spotlight the whole time from the -- from leading up to launch. There's group texts they're sending out to all their launch guests, you know, and then there's the media and all of NASA and mission control.
MICHAELSON: Getting an e-mail from you, apparently.
REISMAN: An e-mail from me.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
REISMAN: They have all the spotlights on them. They have 40 minutes when it was just the four of them and the moon, and it had it all to themselves. What a gift. And I -- so I did send him an e-mail and I said, I have a lot of FOMO. You know, I am so jealous because I would love to be on this ship going around the moon. But the thing I'm most jealous about is those 40 minutes.
(LAUGHTER)
MICHAELSON: I mean, it kind of reminds me a little bit of, you know, when planes used to not have Wi-Fi, it was like when you're up in the air, at least nobody can bother you or text you or call you or e-mail you or anything. And now it's like, now that they have the Wi-Fi back, you can't even get that space away from people as well.
REISMAN: No place to hide anymore.
MICHAELSON: You know, it's great because there's so much bad news that we talk about every day. And I got to admit, I talked to so many politicians. It's so much more fun to talk to you.
REISMAN: Thanks.
(LAUGHTER)
MICHAELSON: But you think about the last time that there was a mission like this was back in 1968, a year when Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed. Martin Luther King was shot and killed. We were in the middle of the Vietnam War. There were riots in the streets. There was a protest at the Democratic convention. And then this mission, and you see something similar now.
REISMAN: You know, I see a lot of parallels to 1968 with what's happening right now, because we also, as you pointed out back then, we had a very strong division in American society, which we also have today. We're involved in a war. When the crew of Apollo 8 came back, somebody sent the crew a telegram and it said, "Thank you for saving 1968."
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Now I know, you know, that was the first time that humans ever traveled to the moon. So I'm not saying that what we just saw today is going to be as transformative, but we need this so badly. Right now we have our heads down dealing with all kinds of troubles and problems and conflict. And for a day, we had our heads up looking at these four people going around the moon, showing what Americans can do, and Canadians can do, when we are united and when we are working for the common good and when we're working together.
MICHAELSON: And also a great moment when the late Jim Lovell, who of course was piloting Apollo 13, famously played by Tom Hanks in the movie, recorded a message before he died, and they played it for them on this mission right before they did this today, which was also very, very cool.
REISMAN: It was awesome. And Jim Lovell also on Apollo 8 in 1968.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So now it's going to be kind of quiet probably, let's hope, for the next few days. The next big thing is going to be reentry on Friday. That could be an interesting few hours. Describe what we should expect on Friday evening.
REISMAN: So Friday evening they're going to come screaming back from the moon. And there's no way to come back slowly because the Earth's gravity is pulling you all the way back from the moon. So you're speeding up the whole time once you get within Earth's gravitational pull. And with all that speed comes a lot of heat when you're coming through the atmosphere, which puts a lot of load on the heat shield. And that's where there was a problem in the first Artemis mission.
Now, I know you have a guest in the green room. Another one of my astronaut classmates, Daniel (INAUDIBLE). I'll give him a little plug because he is a material science expert and worked hard on this heat shield. So you should ask him this question about if you want to know the technical details about what will happen when they come back. But it is a challenge. And it was where Artemis I failed. And
fortunately, there are no people on board. Now it's for real.
MICHAELSON: Well, thank you for the plug. So Danny will be with us next hour here on THE STORY IS talking about that very topic, but it is great to talk to you this hour. Thank you again for your service to our country. And what a cool experience for the kids at USC. They get to listen and learn from you as well.
Garrett Reisman, thank you so much.
REISMAN: Thank you, Elex.
MICHAELSON: California has not elected a Republican governor in nearly two decades. My next guest hoping to change that. Steve Hilton joins me live to talk about the race. A big endorsement from Donald Trump announced today. Plus a new debate announced by CNN today. All that when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS California's race for governor.
[00:32:21]
U.S. President Donald Trump is now throwing his support behind Republican candidate Steve Hilton, in a move that could shake up a wide-open race to replace Gavin Newsom.
In a social media post, President Trump called Hilton a fine man he has known for many years before giving him, quote, "my complete and total endorsement."
Hilton is a former FOX News host and had served as a senior adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron before moving to California in 2012.
A poll conducted weeks before Trump's endorsement put Hilton at the top of a crowded field, which includes eight major Democratic candidates and the Republican sheriff of Riverside County, Chad Bianco, who also wanted Trump's endorsement but clearly didn't get it.
In less than two months, they'll all be vying to become the top two candidates to emerge from the state's primary and advance to the general election in November.
Steve Hilton joins me live now from Palo Alto. Welcome back to THE STORY IS and congratulations.
STEVE HILTON (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Elex. Great to be with you.
MICHAELSON: So, this endorsement happens from President Trump, which I don't think you were expecting, necessarily. And then you ended up on the phone with him last night. How did that conversation go? What did he say to you? HILTON: We had a great conversation. I wasn't expecting it at all. I
hadn't asked for it. I, as I've said to many people who've asked me about that, I said, look, I'd obviously welcome the president's endorsement. It would be a tremendous honor.
But I think the California governor's race is not necessarily at the top of his agenda right now. But clearly, he felt that it was the time to -- to weigh in on my behalf, which I greatly appreciate.
I sent him a text to say thank you. And then, he gave me a call, and we had a very good chat, mostly about how actually, if you have a Republican governor in California aligned with many of the commonsense things that the president wants to do -- for example, open up energy production in California, crack down on fraud in California.
If you have a government that wants to work with the administration, for example, on forest management so we can stop wildfires getting out of control. There's so many things that actually -- where you see the Trump administration wanting to do things that actually help Californians, but the Newsom administration here is constantly fighting the president. And so, nothing gets done, and they end up in court cases.
It will be a total change for the better if you can actually have a constructive partnership that helps Californians.
MICHAELSON: So, do you endorse the job that he's doing as president?
HILTON: Well, my focus is California.
Look, most of the things that we need to change in California, the fact that we've got the highest cost of living in the country, the highest gas prices, housing costs, insurance, all these problems that Californians face, small business owners, most of my career has been in business, and I've been a small business owner.
[00:35:08]
MICHAELSON: Yes.
HILTON: And you see the struggles of small business. All of this is self-imposed from here in California --
MICHAELSON: Yes, but --
HILTON: -- by Democrat policies. That's what we've got to change.
MICHAELSON: That's a pretty straightforward question. Do you think President Trump's doing a good job?
HILTON: Well, overall, I really agree with the direction that he's taking the country.
For example, on the economy opening up. Look at what's happening with energy. Of course, you've got a spike with the Iran war. But before that, you had gas prices coming down right across the
country because of the action he's taken and his team to unleash American energy production everywhere except California.
I agree with the way that he's trying to reduce taxes, in particular for working class, people all across the country. That's what I want to do here in California. Your first hundred grand, no state income tax.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
HILTON: So, the things that affect California, I think the direction that he's taking -- less bureaucracy, less government, lower taxes -- that's what we need here, too.
MICHAELSON: All right. So, you've heard this, I know, from political consultants on both parties who say this Trump endorsement does two things.
It essentially guarantees that you will make the top two. That probably Bianco doesn't make it, that there are not going to be two Republicans in the top two, that you're going to make the top two, and that there will be a Democrat in the general election with you.
And then it essentially guarantees that you will lose the general election, because that Democrat will constantly bring up the fact that you support Trump, that you just said that you think that he's doing a good job in a state where Trump is underwater by between 20 and 30 points, and he loses big in elections here.
What do you say to that, that -- that this basically helps you now but hurts you later?
HILTON: There's an incredible arrogance about that statement, if you think about it, that there's no possible outcome for California other than another four or even eight years of one-party rule by the Democrats.
We've had one-party rule for 16 years already, and it's given us the highest poverty rate, the highest unemployment rate, many other things where we're the worst performing state in the nation. It is time for change in California.
And so all these pundits and the Democrat machine that arrogantly assumes that, yet again, the Democrats are going to run away with it, because that's what happens in California, because they've got money from the government unions and all this advantage of the machine that they've built over the years. That is so arrogant. It takes the electorate for granted.
People are desperate for change. If you look at the polls, there's a majority who think the state's going in the wrong direction.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
HILTON: Why would you vote for a Democrat if you want change, considering they've been in power for all these years? So, I just don't buy any of that argument at all.
I think that, when they see my argument's for positive, practical things -- $3 gas, cut your electric bills in half, your first 100 grand tax free, a home you can afford to buy -- practical stuff. It's not divisive. It's not ideological. It's what we need in California. I think people in the end will vote for it.
MICHAELSON: So, basically, all of the Democrats running have all put out sort of similar statements about this. We'll just put up one of them that that Matt Mahan put up, the mayor of San Jose, who said Trump has spent 15 months attacking California. So why is Steve Hilton taking his endorsement?
"Trump has spent 15 months slashing funding, spiking costs, weaponizing federal power that has worsened California's problems. Now he wants to run the state through Steve Hilton."
What do you say to that argument that you laid out ways that you think that he's helped the state? But a lot of Democrats feel like he's not only hurt the state but politically continued to go after the state because of its leadership.
HILTON: But it's not an argument. It's just a silly political, partisan rant.
You know, look at the things that we have to deal with in California. Did Trump cause the worst homelessness crisis in the country, by far?
Is it President Trump that's given us a public school system in California, where less than half the students meet basic standards in English, where only a third meet basic standards in math? Was it President Trump that increased gas prices $2 higher than the rest of the country?
Is it President Trump that failed to build the housing we need, so we have the highest housing costs?
None of that. The real issues that, actually, Californians are focused on. You ask any Californian, what are they worried about? What are they most concerned about? It's cost of living. It's the inability to afford your own home. It's, if you run a business or trying to run a business, the insane regulations and taxes and nonsense you have to put up with.
None of that is coming from Trump or D.C. at all. It's coming from the Democrats, who've been in charge of California for 16 years. And that's why we need change, because it's going so badly. And I think people will see that it's not.
[00:40:05]
Of course, the Democrats want to make the whole election about Trump and MAGA and all this stuff, because the record is so bad --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
HILTON: -- and they've got no new ideas for change.
My job will be to say, look, we can turn things around in California. You just have to vote differently to how you voted before, if you want a different outcome.
MICHAELSON: Well, this race is being followed all around the country and really all around the world.
And some exciting news today, CNN announced --
HILTON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- that we are going to be hosting a debate, and that is going to be happening on May 5th. I will be moderating alongside Kaitlan Collins. So, it'll be interesting to watch.
The two-hour debate will take place right here live on CNN. Assuming that you make the stage, your thoughts on that and sort of your strategy for that and the value of that.
HILTON: Well, I'm very happy that you're hosting a debate, Elex. I think it's fantastic news for the national audience to see what's going on with the biggest economy in America, the biggest state with the fourth biggest economy in the world.
And so. people should see the arguments for change that are coming from me and what the Democrats are trying to say they'll do. Because they all know the problems. Those are things that should be aired.
I'm very confident I'll be there. I'm leading in the polls. I'm leading on fundraising, apart from a certain billionaire called Tom Steyer, who's trying to buy the election on the Democrat side. So, I'm confident we'll be there.
I'm not sure about Matt Mahan, though. He's not doing so well, despite a lot of money that's come his way from big tech donors. So, we'll see.
But I'm looking forward to whoever's there. because we've got a very strong argument to make --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
HILTON: -- that it's time for change in California. And I think that people will see that in the debate and beyond.
MICHAELSON: Tom Steyer, by the way, has spent over $100 million of his own money, which is which is quite something.
Steve, great to see you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Appreciate the conversation, always.
HILTON: Thank you, Elex. See you soon.
MICHAELSON: Coming up. Eva Longoria will be back on CNN, speaking of, Sunday, for an eight-episode series exploring France's culinary heritage. Just ahead, we talked with her for an exclusive look at her journey and how to cook with lots and lots of butter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: We're going to mash the potatoes.
EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Of course.
LONGORIA: Oh, OK. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I'm very strong.
LONGORIA (voice-over): I need to work up an appetite.
LONGORIA: Now I'm not as strong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: It's perfect.
LONGORIA (voice-over): OK. Workout complete. Laura whisks the cooked potato into a pan of hot milk before revealing the guilty secret to the perfect potpourri.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Now you add cold butter. We're adding 500 grams of butter.
LONGORIA: Oh my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: That's a lot of butter!
It's too much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
LONGORIA: That's over a pound of butter. This is not your mom's typical recipe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: That's what gives us a beautiful, smooth mash.
LONGORIA: Oh, OK.
It's taking everything out of me not to lick this whisk.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: You may have heard that Eva Longoria is back with a new season of CNN original programing. Last season, she was searching for Spain. This season, she's searching for France, checking out the best in food, culture, and history and a whole lot of butter.
Eva Longoria joins us now from New York. Welcome to THE STORY IS for the first time, and congrats on the new season.
LONGORIA: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Nice to meet you, Elex. I can't believe I came to New York and you're in L.A..
MICHAELSON: Yes, yes. You have to come visit us soon and bring food, hopefully.
LONGORIA: I will bring you some butter.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So, let's start with that. Is there such a thing as too much butter?
LONGORIA: Well, apparently not in -- in -- in the pommes puree in Paris. They -- they -- that was half the butter, by the way. Then we put another half. I was like, that's half the butter?
But one thing I discovered, I'm such a Francophile. I've been -- you know, I've lived in France. I speak French. And I convinced CNN to let me do "Searching for France." And I had so much fun.
But about butter. The interesting thing is just the North uses butter. I was in Provence, and I said, let me guess, you're going to cook that with butter?
And they said, oh my God, no, they cook olive oil. They do olive oil in the South.
MICHAELSON: Wow.
LONGORIA: And I said, oh my gosh, didn't know that.
So much we owe to the French cuisine and fine dining. It was really, really a fun trip.
MICHAELSON: Yes, I mean, it was fun to see you show off your Spanish speaking skills in season one, and then your French speaking skills in season two.
LONGORIA: Yes, yes.
MICHAELSON: How -- how did this experience change you as a cook and how did it change you as a person?
LONGORIA: Well, you know, like I said, I have such close ties with France, and it's so much easier when you speak the language to navigate a country. But the easiest barrier to overcome for any country is food. And so, I
love to eat. And I always say, if you want to know about the people of a country, all you have to do is eat. Because food says so much.
And specifically, France. What I came out with -- probably the headline out of France was it has so much history politically, whether it was the French Revolution, whether it was, you know, King Louis the XIV that really created the art of the table. There's so much politicizing of food and history of food that came -- comes through in the cuisine.
[00:50:07]
I -- one of the regions I had never been to, and I've been all over France, was Alsace, which is the German border. So, obviously, that was affected by German influences. because it was Germany, then it was France, and then it was Germany,
and then it was France. And then during World War Two it was occupied.
So, you had some families that had two sons, one fighting for the German side and one fighting for the French side, just -- just for the way it split up.
But how that history really affected the cuisine and what survived out of that.
A lot like France [SIC] and the Franco era. we got to see that like a post-World War Two effect on the cuisine. How the wine was preserved and all the cultural traditions.
MICHAELSON: Did it change you going through this?
LONGORIA: You know what? It reinforced my cooking philosophy, which is cooking simply.
They really -- I know probably French cuisine is known for being fancy and creams and sauces, but they really love simplicity of letting the product shine. And because they have great product -- I mean, the butter from Brittany and the seafood, you know, from Brittany, and seafood from the South and Provence, and the -- obviously, the wines and Bordeaux and burgundy. Their product really shines. And so, you don't need to add a lot.
But the French technique is really what -- what shines. And so, that's probably what affected me the most was, like, I took home a lot of 00 a lot of new techniques that I -- that I'm going to be using in my kitchen.
MICHAELSON: And of course, a lot of us get to learn them now, too, when we watch you.
LONGORIA: Yes. Your mouth will water. You're going to start planning your trip there, to not just Paris. We did the Paris episode. It's amazing.
But all of the smaller regions and these tiny little towns. You're going to really start planning a trip and really start exploring once you see this show.
MICHAELSON: Well, help us plan.
LONGORIA: Yes.
MICHAELSON: So, if there was like one place that we've got to check out --
LONGORIA: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- after you've been there, where do we go? How do we do a dream day in France?
LONGORIA: Yes. I -- I would say yes, you got to go to Saint-Malo in Brittany and Concale, which is the city of oysters. I mean, you just -- they -- the oysters come right out of the water. You crack it open. You shuck it open yourself, and you eat it fresh out of the water. It's so good.
The blue lobster from the Atlantic in the North is -- It's the only place you can do this beautiful blue lobster.
And I would say, Alsace. You know, there's amazing Rieslings there that are not your typical German influence. They're not sweet. They're a little drier. Great sausage in -- in Alsace, obviously, from the German influence.
Obviously, Provence. The Nicoise salad comes from Nice. They're very specific about what goes in it, but if you're in Nice and you actually can order that salad, it is iconic. And so, yes, you've got to get off the beaten path.
MICHAELSON: Do you speak any other languages?
LONGORIA: I'm done, I'm done. That's all I can search for: English, Spanish, and French. And I don't know where I'm going next, but language will be a barrier next time.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Yes, well, there's plenty in English that we should do a series, too.
LONGORIA: So -- so much. Yes, there's -- there's plenty to do. But the great thing about the show is I'm your way in. I'm the viewer's way in. And so, it's -- I do stumble along the way. And I learned so many things. And I have all the questions that the viewers will have.
And so, I think it's been a fun journey. And I think people enjoy -- enjoy learning about other places and realizing how small the world is that we live in.
MICHAELSON: Well, congratulations again. We want to encourage everybody to tune in. Back-to-back premier of the CNN original series, "Eva Longoria: Search for France." Airs Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific here on CNN. Also, on the CNN app, as well.
Eva Longoria, thank you very much. And congratulations once again. LONGORIA: Thank you. Thanks, Elex. I'll see you soon.
MICHAELSON: And come visit us here.
LONGORIA: I will.
MICHAELSON: We'll be back with more of THE STORY IS right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:58:36]
MICHAELSON: Well, not long ago, Michigan overcame UCONN to win the NCAA men's basketball championship, their first since 1989. The Wolverines edging the Huskies, 69 to 63.
The Wolverines came out strong in the first half, putting the Huskies on the ropes, led by Elliot Cadeau there, but it was a shot from Michigan guard Trey McKenney that really widened the lead.
Let's take a look here. And you see him driving in there. And one.
The University of Connecticut Huskies tried their best to come back to win what could have been their third title in four years. Big three there. They got close. In fact, they got within four points inside the final minute.
But this year belonged to Michigan, and they overcame at the end. They were able to take it. They had dominated most of the tournament. And they are partying hard in Ann Arbor tonight.
This is Michigan's first men's national title in 37 years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Bruins have captured their very first NCAA national championship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Incredible moment there. UCLA winning the NCAA women's title for the very first time this weekend. The Bruins dominating South Carolina, 79 to 51 in Phoenix, capping off a stellar season of 37 wins, just one loss.
