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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Shooting Suspect Charged with Attempting to Assassinate Trump; King Charles Begins High-Stakes Diplomatic visit to U.S.; Trump Unlikely to Accept Iran's Latest Proposal; Putin: Message Received from Iran's New Supreme Leader; Legal Battle Between Altman & Musk Over Company's Mission; Conspiracy Theories about WHCD Shooting Spread Online. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 28, 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 Washington, D.C., where there are multiple big stories tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS shooting investigation. The man charged with opening fire outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner makes his first court appearance.

THE STORY IS royal speech. King Charles is preparing to address a Joint Session of Congress in the U.S.. We've got new reporting on what he's expected to say.

And THE STORY IS A.I. on trial. Elon Musk and OpenAI chief Sam Altman expected to testify in Oakland in a landmark case that could change technology forever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: I'm Elex Michaelson. Welcome to THE STORY IS.

We will be reporting from Washington, D.C. all week long. And there are big developing stories right here in Washington, including the first court appearance by the man accused of attempting to storm the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Cole Tomas Allen went before a judge on Monday, where he heard the three charges against him, which include attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald Trump. The other two charges, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony. One official said additional charges are likely.

That incident has sparked security concerns, but the acting attorney general, who was among the guests at Saturday night's dinner, defended the Secret Service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: Law enforcement did not fail. They did exactly what they are trained to do. This was not an accident. It was the result, as we know now, of preparation. What is clear from the complaint and from what we have so far is he was targeting President Trump. He described that in his manifesto. He was targeting administration officials. He described that. But as far as us understanding additional motivation, that's for the FBI and law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Now, the attack has also raised questions over the line of succession, with both the president and vice president and many Cabinet members all attending the same event. The White House press secretary talked about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Those conversations ahead of the WHCA dinner did take place, but there were several members of the Cabinet in the line of succession who did not attend for various personal reasons. So designating one survivor was not necessary, as we had several members who were not there already.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Now, all of this playing out as Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla kick off their state visit to the United States. King Charles is set to meet with President Trump and address a Joint Meeting of Congress on Tuesday.

Talk more about that in a moment. But first, let's talk more about what is going on with this investigation. Justice Department officials are now providing new details about the suspect in that shooting and his actions ahead of the attempted attack.

CNN's Kyung Lah has the details from outside his family home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just before Cole Tomas Allen allegedly rushed towards the White House Correspondents' Dinner, a new criminal complaint says his family received an e-mail electronically scheduled to send at that moment he charged the security perimeter. "I don't expect forgiveness," it read.

Secret Service stopped 31-year-old Allen, a part-time teacher, arrested him Saturday night after the shooting at the Washington Hilton. In pictures displayed from the U.S. attorney's office, Allen was armed with two guns registered to him, a 12 gauge shotgun, a 38 caliber semiautomatic pistol, and several hunting knives.

You can see him here in this video sprinting through a hallway outside the ballroom, where the dinner had just started around 8:30 p.m. In the e-mail sent to Allen's family, there's this line. "I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done." JEANINE PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Make no

mistake, this was an attempted assassination of the president of the United States, with the defendant making clear what his intent was. And that intent was to bring down as many of the high ranking Cabinet officials as he could.

LAH (voice-over): Allen lived with his parents in Torrance, California, a quiet beach community and suburb of Los Angeles. Allen's LinkedIn profile says he studied mechanical engineering at the California Institute of Technology. Photos show he was a member of a Christian fellowship group.

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As a Caltech student, he helped build a robot that played soccer and was featured in a local news story in 2017 for developing an emergency brake for a wheelchair.

COLE THOMAS ALLEN, SHOOTING SUSPECT: The wheelchair brakes tend to lock the wheels, but don't actually lock the chair to the ground.

LAH (voice-over): After college, he would continue to design, this time his own video game called "Boredom," described as a nonviolent, asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model. He'd become a tutor at a college prep center, even getting named Teacher of the Month in 2024.

According to the White House, Allen's sister said he'd recently become politically active, attending a "No Kings" march in California and joining a leftist group called "The Wide Awakes." That group calls for activism without violence. He appears to have run a social media account that posted, "Put a traitor back in office, get treason. I don't understand why people are surprised by the U.S. ripping itself apart."

BLANCHE: Violence has no place in civic life. It cannot and will not be used to disrupt democratic institutions or intimidate those who serve them and it certainly cannot continue to be used against the president of the United States.

LAH (voice-over): The complaint lays out Allen's movements. On or about April 6th after President Trump announced he would attend, Allen made a reservation at the Washington Hilton. Amtrak records show he left Torrance on April 21st, stopping in Chicago and arriving in Washington carrying, alleges the complaint, the two guns he bought in California.

His sister told investigators he stored those weapons here at his parents' home in Torrance without them knowing, the White House told CNN. In the e-mail sent to Allen's family, Allen wrote, "Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior. It is complicity in the oppressor's crimes." The e-mail was signed, "Cole 'Coldforce Friendly Federal Assassin' Allen."

(END VIDEOTAPE) LAH (on-camera): The prosecutor in Washington says it is possible there could be additional charges depending on what happens with this investigation. But for now, he is currently facing three different counts, intent to assassinate the president of the United States, transporting weapons and ammunition across state lines and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence -- Elex.

MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Kyung Lah reporting in Torrance.

Joining me live now is Laura Coates, CNN's chief legal analyst and anchor of "LAURA COATES LIVE," which of course airs before this show every night. She's here in Washington as well.

Laura, you've been a federal prosecutor. What's this case like? What would you be doing now if you were a prosecutor potentially about to work on this case?

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR, "LAURA COATES LIVE": I'm casting the largest investigative net possible to go before my grand jury. Remember, this is a criminal complaint. I still have a grand jury I have to go before, who I'm going to try to get as much information in front of and use their subpoena power for electronic information and communications.

I'm looking to figure out everyone who may have known about it or did not know the full scope of preparation, and anything I can actually use to show premeditation to combat any potential defenses. It's all going to be important in developing the ultimate case, and they are accurate to suggest what we're seeing today in terms of these charges is not going to be the exhaustive eventual indictment here.

But every prosecutor knows right now they're thinking to themselves, what might the potential defenses be? How can I overcome them in the indictment process with an eye towards a successful conviction and prosecution?

MICHAELSON: So what might be the defenses?

COATES: You know, many would look at this and suggest, well, how about the attempt? Did he actually have the ability to access the president of the United States? Has he made an obvious attempt, any overt act in furtherance of that crime? Well, it's not that he had to be able to access him, it's that he had to make an effort to do so. And many could argue that even the purchasing of the train tickets or the preparation to get to this area and the Washington Hilton might be enough.

His inaccessibility to the president would not be enough to overcome the ability to try to attempt to assassinate. The other claim could be made about insanity. Everyone looks at insanity defenses. Think, you know, Hinckley and the Reagan assassination attempt, I might add, in that same hotel back in '81, which eventually led the laws to change about this. But an insanity defense really requires you do not know right from wrong, or you have a total lack of impulse control, or there's some mental deficiency or disease that it makes it impossible for you to distinguish right from wrong. Here the preparation, the premeditation that they're speaking about,

and of course, the notes to the family and manifesto will significantly undermine that ability to raise that claim.

MICHAELSON: Yes. I mean, it certainly seemed like he knew what he was doing was traditionally wrong based off of that manifesto. And in fact, he wrote that. Meanwhile, I just want to ask about you and sort of what this whole experience was like for you.

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You were anchoring CNN's coverage of what was supposed to be a fun event, probably a fairly easy event for you to just be able to laugh and have a good time. What was that like for you all watching from the studio and then switching in an instant into this very dramatic breaking news mode?

COATES: You know, it's such a good question because, you know, we were all wondering, since the very first time that President Trump was going to appear at this dinner as the president, we know the history. We know the absence of a comedian. We were talking to people about what this would be like, wondering what he might say when that pivot occurred. And we were in a commercial break with the screen playing in front of us, and all of a sudden they brought us up to say, go.

There's been loud noises in the ballroom, which, of course, at that moment in time, we were trying to uncover the information in real time, Elex. It wasn't as if we were simply reporting what we'd already heard about. It was all unfolding before our eyes. And really, the investigative and journalistic curiosity on behalf of the audience has to kick in because everyone wanted to know about the safety of everyone in that room, about the safety of people who were in the line of succession, of course, and what was going on.

And so I have to tell you, it was one of those jarring moments I probably will never forget, but also one that I'm grateful did not end in what could have been a horrific casualty event, and instead heard us speaking to our colleagues as opposed to wondering what might have been.

MICHAELSON: Yes, it really was remarkable coverage. And it was pretty frightening being in that room that night as I was as well.

COATES: Yes, I can only imagine for you.

MICHAELSON: And today, a much nicer day. You had an opportunity, a rare opportunity to go be at an event with the king of England and the queen of England, and even get to speak with the queen. This was at the British embassy.

COATES: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Several of our CNN colleagues were invited, along with all, you know, top leaders from around the country. What was that like? COATES: Well, I mean, it's not every day I get to meet royals, I'll

tell you that, although I do think you're kind of royalty as well on the West Coast, of course.

MICHAELSON: Yes, right. Yes, yes.

COATES: But, you know, it was really fascinating for me because I'm like most Americans, like most people in the world, have always heard about the royals and the protocols and the sort of the pageantry of it all. But it was really interesting to be in their presence and to at least have the opportunity to shake the hands and speak with the queen and be there firsthand because it was such a moment in history to be able to be there and talk to them, especially at the times we're in when we know, of course, about the relationship here in the United States between our president and the prime minister and, of course, the liaison role of this very, you know, special monarch as well.

And given what we as Americans know about the royal family is usually just removed from what we've seen in tabloids or otherwise, it was really interesting, and it was really an honor for me to be there. I want you to know, I was on my best behavior. I wore my finest garden party attire. I looked fabulous, I tried my best.

MICHAELSON: What did you wear?

COATES: Well, I'm so glad you asked. I had a wonderful green floral dress on and I was able to have the little delectables like they had a scone with clotted cream and fruit. I tried it all because, you know, who knows when I'll ever be invited again?

MICHAELSON: Yes. Would you ever get that opportunity. Yes. I'm sure the queen first said, I'm a big fan of "LAURA COATES LIVE." Yes. That first instance.

COATES: Well, when I tell my grandkids, that's exactly the lie I'm going to tell. Thank you.

MICHAELSON: All right, Laura, great job this weekend and tonight.

COATES: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: And of course, you can check out "LAURA COATES LIVE" every night at 11:00 Eastern, 8:00 p.m. Pacific right here on CNN.

More coverage now.

A little bit more about this trip. King Charles, Queen Camilla, four- day visit aimed at marking the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence from British rule. The king and queen greeted by President Trump and first lady at the White House on Monday. Then they attended that garden party at the British embassy in Washington.

This visit comes eight weeks into President Trump's war with Iran, a war the British prime minister has refused to support infuriating President Trump and straining relations between the two nations.

With me now is CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster here in Washington. He's made the trip, spent the day with the king.

Let's go through what happened today and some of the highlights. We had a British embassy visit where he had a chance to meet a whole lot of folks.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was interesting, a complete mix, trying to speak to the relationship between peoples really. So the first group he met were a cross party group of politicians. He had the Treasury secretary there and Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House was there, Mike Johnson, and it's really showing that, you know, the U.K. has this relationship with politicians, but it doesn't have to be political. It can be historic as well.

You know, there were people bringing along their kids to meet the queen. Then they went to meet -- see some more celebrities and sports people that represented some crossover and politicians.

[00:15:07]

The queen then went out of her way to meet a group of charities that work with domestic violence survivors. And this is an ongoing project for her, but you're going to see her doing that a lot through this trip. And it does have associations with the Epstein story because the king feels he can't speak about the scandal because his brother is being investigated. He doesn't want to get involved in that case.

But what they can do is emphasize survivors always are the most important people with any of these sorts of cases. And we asked one of the charities about that, and they about why, you know, what they thought of the king not addressing this issue. And they said, well, they respect that. So this is about the king showing optics to conversations without getting too involved in the politics, where he could get in trouble.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And interesting also, he spent time today at the White House having tea with President Trump and the first lady as well. Tomorrow, though, perhaps the biggest moment of the trip, a very rare address from a foreign leader to a Joint Session of Congress. I know you have reporting sort of looking at what he's going to say.

FOSTER: Yes. It's interesting because he doesn't -- he can't constitutionally get involved in the daily politics. So for the first time that anyone can remember, there will be Oval Office moments. For example, they're meeting quite often one on one, but there won't be any reporters in the room or any video, which is really unusual. And this is something that the palace would have requested.

And the White House didn't have to agree. But they're trying to make this work as well. So we're not going to see any potentially awkward moments where politics comes into the conversation. But behind the scenes, I understand that the king will address those issues and talk about them privately because his task here is to rebuild that U.K.- U.S. relationship, and the government wants him to do that privately.

And then he speaks to Congress. So speaking to a joint, the joint chambers, which is a rare honor. And he will talk about the historic links between the two countries and how the economies and security are intertwined. But he will say we show up to each -- for each other basically because we're friends, we stand shoulder to shoulder. So he'll start off talking about Saturday night and the attack at the Correspondents' Dinner, and he will talk about solidarity.

He will talk about World War II, potentially, and how we stood shoulder to shoulder in that conflict. But I think the more interesting part of this is he will then talk about, you know, the great things that have come out of this relationship and specifically talk about NATO and the United Nations and effectively saying that post-World War II order is something that has come out of the U.K.- U.S. close relationship.

And you can imagine how central Churchill was to that in the beginnings and starting that conversation. So he's got a very clear argument there, but it's quite confronting for parts of the White House, I imagine, who are constantly criticizing these institutions. So I think many people around the world will look at what Charles does in that speech and feel he speaks for them with the United States that isn't supporting that current world order.

MICHAELSON: Max Foster of CNN, our royal correspondent. It's going to be a busy few days for you. Thanks for being with us late tonight. We appreciate it. Best of luck tomorrow.

Let's bring in now retired FBI supervisory special agent Richard Kolko, joining me live right now.

Richard, this event tomorrow, we're going to have a joint address, which means all the biggest leaders in one place once again. We're going to have a state dinner. Many of the biggest leaders in one place. He then moves on to New York with a lot of major figures all there. Talk about the challenge of securing an event like that given what happened this weekend.

RICHARD KOLKO, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Absolutely. I want to tell you, it's a busy week for the United States Secret Service. But that's not true because it's a busy time for them all the time. They go from one event to another to another. They just had the leadership of the security for the dinner this past weekend. Now they've also got the leadership for the king's visit this week. So very busy time.

As you said, they're going to be in Congress tomorrow. That's an easy one. They're at the White House. That's an easy one. The movement up and down the streets in Washington, D.C., very well practiced in Washington. You got to remember the leaders that are through that city all the time. Same with New York. That of all the cities in the world, probably New York and Washington are best prepared and best rehearsed to move VIPs of this level back and forth.

So they've got the command post, they've got everything they need. There's some differences between how New York and Washington do it, but the result is the same.

[00:20:01] You've got experts in both ends. Washington, D.C. has to rely on more joint forces just because of the size of the departments. The king landed in Maryland today at the air force base. So Maryland State Troopers helped move them into the district. And the district takes over and just like that. But a lot of work to be done. But they said they've enhanced the security based on what happened over the weekend.

MICHAELSON: How does it work? Because obviously the king is the representative of the British government, and the president is representative of the American government, who's in charge when it comes to security?

KOLKO: Well, in charge of security is the United States Secret Service working with diplomatic security. FBI provides intelligence, the intelligence community is involved. It's a huge joint operation, but the British are allowed -- are encouraged and allowed to bring their own security detail. They negotiate with the United States Secret Service on carrying weapons, who's driving the cars, things like that. That all gets worked out.

There's nothing new here. That's the good news because of the level of visits that come to Washington, D.C. all the time. They'll be work together. British will have representatives in the different command posts throughout the city. The Secret Service command post will be the important one, but Metro PD will have one. They'll be doing a lot of things in the city. Lots going on behind the scenes that you don't see as well.

The scouring of the internet looking for any threats that are out there. Very important. There are snipers or special forces or surveillance teams. There's plainclothes. You'll see the king and queen and maybe the president and they're moving. And you see that small group of people. But there is a huge contingent behind them.

MICHAELSON: Richard Kolko, thank you so much for staying up late for us and giving us your insight. We really appreciate it.

KOLKO: Of course.

MICHAELSON: The U.S. has received Iran's new proposal, a look at how President Trump views that latest plan next, with a live report. Plus, we'll bring you the latest remarks from late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after his recent joke about the first lady reignited his feud with President Trump. She's calling for him to lose his job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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MICHAELSON: Turning now to the Middle East and the latest peace plan submitted by Iran. Sources tell CNN U.S. President Donald Trump appears unlikely to accept the proposal. Tehran's new plan would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but leave questions about its nuclear program for later negotiations. The U.S. secretary of state says the proposal is, quote, "better than expected," but reiterated that the strait must be fully and freely open. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: If what they mean by opening the straits is, yes, the straits are open as long as you coordinate with Iran, get our permission or we'll blow you up and you pay us. That's not opening the straits. Those are international waterways. They cannot normalize nor can we tolerate them trying to normalize a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway, and how much you have to pay them to use it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: This, as Tehran's top diplomat met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. The Iranian foreign minister says their meeting included discussions on the war and aggression by the U.S. and Israel.

CNN's Will Ripley live in Taipei, Taiwan, with reaction to that new proposal.

Will, what are what are you hearing?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sounds like, Elex, the big debate within the Trump White House right now is whether Iran or the United States can endure the economic and political hardship that would result if the Strait of Hormuz continues to remain closed. Obviously, the midterms are six months away. And if gas prices in the U.S. shoot up above $4 or even $5 a gallon, that's political kryptonite for President Trump and Republicans.

However, the United States is probably better positioned than Iran to boost its own oil production and try to get more supply out there whereas Iran relies very heavily economically on its exporting of oil. So the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports basically prevents Iran from getting income. There could be serious damage to its oil fields if they continue to kind of remain shut down because they can't export the oil. So it's kind of both sides staring at each other down, seeing who's going to blink first.

The United States is finding it frustrating negotiating with the Iranians. I want to read you a transcript that the State Department put out of Secretary Rubio's interview on FOX News, the part that didn't air on television, says, quote, "One of the impediments here is that our negotiators aren't just negotiating with Iranians," Rubio said. Those Iranians then have to negotiate with other Iranians in order to figure out what they can agree to, what they can offer, what they're willing to do, even who they're willing to meet with.

And remember, it was President Trump who said on Truth Social last week that Iran is having a hard time figuring out who their leader even is. So that's complicating things, slowing down negotiations. But President Trump insisting, Elex, that this latest proposal by Iran would basically cause the United States to lose a lot of leverage because if the strait does reopen, but they haven't resolved these lingering questions about near nuclear weapons grade uranium enrichment in Iran, then the U.S. would lose a lot of leverage in these talks.

And the whole point of this entire thing has been to try to prevent Iran from being able to build a nuclear weapon. The U.S. feels they're not close to that yet.

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, Will, Putin says he received a message from Iran's new supreme leader. What more do you know about that?

RIPLEY: Yes, there's a lot of mystery surrounding Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who, as you know, was wiped out in the initial wave of strikes on Iran that started this war. He has supposedly been in charge, engaging in audio conference calls with other members of the leadership; has been engaged in decision making, according to the Iranian government.

[00:30:16]

But in the six weeks that he has ascended to power, he's not been seen publicly. And there are indications that he may be injured. There was a source that told CNN last month he had a fractured foot, a bruised left eye, minor lacerations on his face. That extent of injuries would not, presumably, prevent him from appearing publicly. And yet, we just haven't seen him.

So, that is the big question swirling over all of this. But Vladimir Putin saying that he did receive a message. He thanked the supreme leader for that message.

Russia, obviously, is a very close ally of Iran, and they have been supplying Iran with vital intelligence throughout this war, telling them which targets in neighboring countries that are tied to the United States they should target and strike.

So, Russia has been helping militarily on the intel side, although they didn't come to Iran's initial aid when this all began militarily, Elex.

So, we'll have to keep watching for any lines out of Moscow about what these talks between Putin and Iran's foreign minister result with, if anything.

And obviously, all eyes also on Pakistan. If and when will the negotiations there resume? If the vice president, J.D. Vance, gets on a plane and flies there, that will be a pretty good sign that they think that there might be some progress to be had, but it's not happening, at least now.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: And the fact that it hasn't happened, at least now, may be an indication that there hasn't been that much progress.

Meanwhile, "The New York Times" was reporting last week that that supreme leader may be even worse shape than some people originally thought. We'll see.

Will Ripley, live for us in Taipei. Thank you so much for your reporting.

A legal battle is underway between two of the biggest names in A.I.: Sam Altman and Elon Musk. We'll talk about their courtroom showdown that's being called a tech soap opera and how it will impact all of us when it comes to artificial intelligence. Jacob Ward, live next.

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[00:36:47]

MICHAELSON: The longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history will drag on even longer after House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected a bipartisan bill passed by the Senate last month to fund most of the Homeland Security Department.

Notably, the bill did not include money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the U.S. Border Patrol. The Senate narrowly passed a separate bill last week to fund those departments, with no Democratic support.

Johnson says that the bipartisan Senate bill has problematic language that needs to be addressed. Senate Republican Leader John Thune says he is willing to work with the House on any technical changes to the bill, but anything further is out of the question.

Johnson warns they need to get on the same page fast

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We have to move DHS funding, because it's urgent. As the secretary of Homeland has said, we're out of money. He's out of money at the end of this week. And so, Democrats have been playing games with this. It's very dangerous, as demonstrated Saturday night. We got to get the job done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Florida lawmakers will take up a redistricting proposal from Governor Ron DeSantis, likely on Tuesday. It is the latest and probably the final gerrymandering effort before November's midterm elections.

Republicans currently control 20 out of 28 U.S. House seats. We're looking right now at the map on your left. The governor's proposal aims to cut the number of Democratic seats by four.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is threatening a lawsuit, calling the plan the DeSantis Dummymander.

It follows high-profile redistricting efforts in Texas by Republicans, and California and Virginia by Democrats.

Two of the biggest names in tech are going head-to-head in a landmark trial that could have huge ramifications for the future of artificial intelligence.

The case, now underway in Oakland, pits Tesla tycoon Elon Musk against Sam Altman and other leaders of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.

At issue is whether OpenAI betrayed Musk and its original nonprofit mission by creating a for-profit subsidiary. Musk co-founded OpenAI back in 2015, but later left and started his own A.I. company, raising questions as to whether this lawsuit is about principles or competition.

Power and egos are also at play. Musk is expected to testify later this week. Altman next week. A jury has now been sworn in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL SAVITT, ATTORNEY FOR OPENAI: The -- the hurdle we think we need to get over is just to present the truth here. We've got a story about what happened that is consistent with the facts. It's consistent with the documents. And we just want the jury to see that.

And we think any fair jury will understand our position, and we think they'll side with us. And we think we've got a jury that will do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: CNN contributor Jacob Ward is a technology journalist and host of the "Rip Current" podcast. He joins us live right now from Oakland.

Jacob, welcome back to THE STORY IS. You say that these jurors are about to have more power than Congress when it comes to A.I. What do you mean by that?

JACOB WARD, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that's absolutely correct, Elex. I mean, this has been a -- a period of time in which everyone is forcing A.I. into your life, right? Your boss and your teachers and the -- you know, the -- just the -- the culture is making it such that all of us sort of feel like we don't really have much in the way of input.

[00:40:14]

And Congress hasn't acted. There's been no federal legislation around A.I. We've had the FTC investigate the industry multiple times, but no binding regulations come out of that.

And, you know, the California attorney general signed off on the transition that OpenAI went from a nonprofit into a benefit corporation.

You know, these things are, you know, the -- supposed to be the regulatory efforts. And we've had none of that.

And so suddenly, what's amazing about being from Oakland is that nine people from this town where I live are going to have incredible input and incredible insight into the past and future of both of these companies -- Elex.

MICHAELSON: So, I mean, what could they do? What would be the outcome, depending on what the jury does? And what would that mean for the rest of us when it comes to A.I.?

WARD: Well, Elon Musk is essentially asking for two things. He wants about $150 billion -- billion with a "B" -- out of the company. He originally was asking for that to go to himself.

But sensing, I think, that that was an unpopular notion, giving him more money, he's now asked that it should be put into the nonprofit arm of OpenAI, which is supposed to signal his commitment to the nonprofit idea that he and Sam Altman settled on years ago.

The other thing, though, he's asking for is basically the deposing of both Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, who's the president of OpenAI, and sort of Sam Altman's partner at the top of that company. So, trying to knock those two people out.

Now, I have -- and that the company should be moved back into a nonprofit status from where it is now.

Now, the experts that I've spoken to have said it is very unlikely that unwinding the corporate structure is possible. But if you were to knock off the two top people at this company, you're then doing real damage to it, because this company, OpenAI, is supposed to go public later this year in what could be the biggest IPO in the history of capitalism.

And so, if you could do that, you could do real damage to the company, which of course, raises this question, right? Is this about ethics for Elon Musk, or is this about competition?

MICHAELSON: So, we know Elon Musk, Sam Altman, two of the most powerful and important people on the planet, but not particularly public when it comes to their personal lives. And we could learn a lot more about them and their company because of that thing called discovery, when it comes to a lawsuit.

WARD: It has been just a season of incredible lawsuits for those of us in the tech journalism business, right? Those social media verdicts that we saw handed down. You saw incredible discovery come out of those companies.

And this company in this case, these -- these people at the top of these companies. Yes. Not only is it going to be about their stuff, it's going to be about all of this gossip and cattiness and infighting at the top of the A.I. heap.

You -- you already are seeing, in these documents, the -- the ways in which, you know, at one point, Elon Musk refers to Jeff Bezos as a tool, saying he's a bit of a tool in arguing that OpenAI should use Microsoft's computing instead of Amazon's.

You have Mark Zuckerberg reaching out to Elon Musk and saying, hey, can I help you with your DOGE people and make sure that they don't get harassed online? How can I help?

You have the -- the mother of four of Elon Musk's children, who was also a board member at OpenAI, named Shivon Zilis. She's someone who seems to have been passing information to Musk during it.

She said in a 2018 text to Musk, quote, "Do you prefer I stay close and friendly to OpenAI to keep info flowing or begin to disassociate," you know?

And then she was asked at one point -- she was deposed and asked about her having these four kids with Elon Musk. And she really didn't -- she describes her -- her connection to Elon Musk is not really being a relationship.

So, we're just going to get all kinds of insight into the weird, rarefied society that is the very, very top, the 0.001 percent of the tech elite here, Elex.

MICHAELSON: And the tech elite that are basically running the world right now.

But what an American moment for those jurors in your hometown of Oakland, who now are going to be able to essentially have more power than them when it comes to this case.

I know you will be in the courtroom, and I look forward to talking to you after those big days right here on THE STORY IS. Jacob Ward, bringing us this info live from Oakland. Jacob. Thank you.

Still to come, the Trump administration is trying to stamp out conspiracy theories about the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting incident.

There's a lot of crazy stuff being said online that isn't being moderated by those folks we just talked about. We'll talk about how to combat some of that, just ahead.

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[00:49:28]

MICHAELSON: The simmering feud between President Trump and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is starting to flare up once again.

Just two days before the incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Kimmel opened his show by pretending to be the comedic host of the upcoming event, which is known for taunting attendees in the crowd.

But one joke, in particular, about the first lady, Melania Trump, is sparking renewed controversy, especially after what happened on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC'S "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": And of course, our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania. So beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: On Monday, the first lady posted on X that Kimmel's monologue deepens the political sickness within America.

Over on Truth Social, President Trump called for Disney and ABC to fire Kimmel over the joke, describing it as a despicable call to violence.

Just a short while ago, during the latest episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the late-night host addressed the controversy head on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMEL: Obviously, it was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they're together. It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am. It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination. And they know that.

I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence, in particular. But I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.

And also, I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it, because --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: We'll have more on that with "Variety's" top TV writer live in our next hour.

Now, the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner unfolded live on TV. Journalists who were attending the gala were right there on the scene, including myself, gathering information, delivering it to viewers in real time.

Now, despite that, conspiracy theories are thriving online, including posts suggesting that the whole thing was staged. And those allegations spread almost as quickly as the actual facts became public.

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just because Trump and his filth have lied to you about everything every day for 11 years, that's no reason for you to get cynical and think that was staged.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As soon as gunshots were heard at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night, conspiracy theories started spreading. Online posts like this one with no evidence claiming it was staged.

A FOX News clip of the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, also went viral.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It'll be funny. It'll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room, so everyone should tune in. It's going to be really great. I'm looking forward to hearing it.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): This was to be President Trump's first time addressing the Correspondents' Dinner. Traditionally, at the event, presidents poke fun at themselves and at the press. These jokes and jabs are clearly what Leavitt was referring to when she said, "shots fired."

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I didn't want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we're planning at the White House. We need the ballroom. That's why Secret Service, that's why the military are demanding it.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): This statement from Trump, along with a bunch of posts online, had some people speculating that the whole thing had been a set-up to justify the building of Trump's controversial ballroom on the White House complex. There is zero evidence to support this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just admit you staged it in Butler.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Saturday's attack came on the heels of renewed skepticism among some former Trump supporters about the Trump assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have obtained a copy of the so-called manifesto. It says administration officials are targets, prioritized from highest ranking to lowest.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Marjorie Taylor Greene took to social media Sunday, writing, "I want to know why the Trump admin released Cole Allen's manifesto immediately, but they still keep a tight lid on Thomas Crooks.'"

The FBI, under both Biden and Trump, has repeatedly said Crooks has acted alone and has released information about Crooks, including his online search history.

On Monday, Press Secretary Leavitt was asked about the widespread misinformation.

LEAVITT: It's very important to us that we get the truth and the facts about this case and any case out there as quickly as possible to dispel some of that crazy nonsense that you do see running rampant online.

O'SULLIVAN: And we see this all the time now, particularly here in the United States, with virtually every major breaking news story, where as journalists and law enforcement and authorities try to gather the facts before that information can get out, we have people jumping to conclusions online, some of them with hundreds of thousands or sometimes even millions of followers. It is just a part of the modern-day information ecosystem and a reason

to always be careful on what you read online.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Good advice. Donie O'Sullivan, thank you for that.

From sandwiches and scones to a speech before Congress, King Charles will deliver a historic address on Tuesday. We'll preview his speech in the next hour of THE STORY IS.

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[00:59:24]

MICHAELSON: Southwest Airlines is marking America's upcoming 250th anniversary with a patriotic new look. It's unveiled a red, white, and blue jet dubbed Independence One. It's painted with a massive 1776 in honor of Americas founding, as well as a nod to the Declaration of Independence.

Independence One will make its first flight to Dallas, then will join Southwest's fleet to crisscross the country over the next year.

Thanks for watching this hour of THE STORY IS. The next hour starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON (voice-over): THE STORY IS shooting investigation. We're learning about the man suspected of shooting outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

THE STORY IS royal visit. King Charles having tea with President Trump today ahead of a major speech before Congress in the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)