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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Trump Expects Iran's Response Soon On Proposal To End War; Cruise Ship Passengers To Be Transported To Quarantine; Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Voter-Approved Map; Pentagon Releases Never-Before-Seen UFO Files; Aired 12-1a ET
Aired May 09, 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 HOST: -- I've seen this in other places in the past. People that are good at communicating on TV that have figured out how to use social media, that have clear strong messages sometimes upset the system. So if you had to bet, you would probably bet against Spencer Pratt, but it might not be smart to bet against him right now.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: I wouldn't bet against the great show. It's coming up for you. Elex, have a good one.
MICHAELSON: Thanks so much, Laura. "The Story Is" starts right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Story Is" no deal yet between Iran and the U.S. Alex Plitsas with us live to explain how President Trump's trip to China could have a big impact on all of this.
"The Story Is" who will control congress? The Virginia Supreme Court giving a big win to Republicans. With us to debate redistricting, Brian Tyler Cohen on the left, Caroline Sunshine on the right.
"The Story Is" UFOs, the Pentagon releases evidence that NASA astronauts may not have been alone in their missions to space. Dan Farah, Director of the Documentary Age of Disclosure is here live to respond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, "The Story Is" with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to "The Story Is." I'm Elex Michaelson. 9 o'clock on a Friday night here in Los Angeles, and "The Story Is" war negotiations. The U.S. expects a response from Iran soon on its proposal to end the conflict. A fragile ceasefire remains in place, but both sides have continued to exchange fire around the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military said Friday that it disabled two Iranian flagged oil tankers trying to bypass its blockade.
All this is President Trump considers resuming the short lived operation called Project Freedom that guided ships through the waterway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Project Freedom is good. We were asked not to do that by Pakistan, who's our friend, as you know, the Prime Minister (inaudible). But I think Project Freedom is good, but I think we have other ways of doing it also. We may go back to Project Freedom if things don't happen, but could it be Project Freedom Plus? Meaning, project freedom Plus other things.
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MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, Iranian officials gave an update on Iran's Supreme Leader who hasn't been seen in public for months. They say he's been healing from injuries but, "Is now in complete health." Sources tell CNN that U.S. intelligence believes he is playing a critical role in Iran's war strategy despite his absence. More on that, we are joined now by CNN National Security Analyst, Alex Plitsas. He's Director of the Counterterrorism Program at the Atlantic Council and a former Pentagon officials.
Alex, what are you hearing about the Supreme Leader's health? Where he is? And why that may be contributing to Iran's lack of response to some of the U.S. military action in the last few days?
ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So some reporting from our national security team at CNN earlier, corroborated some things that I've heard in the background from some of the partners that have been engaged in negotiations. And that's that it seems that Mojtaba Khamenei was pretty severely wounded, pretty badly burned. He may have suffered some severe leg injuries. And he may be have even had surgery a few times at least on his hand at the point where this was disfiguring and kind of hard to communicate.
So he's allegedly in hiding at this point. And the only way to really communicate with him is either in-person or through multiple couriers, which is meant to protect him. And that again also corroborates what we had heard based on the last time the U.S. was negotiating face-to- face, that some of the final details, they really couldn't work out because they had to go back to Iran, and get that straightened up the Supreme Leader, but there was no way they could do that through electronic communications from Pakistan.
MICHAELSON: So in terms of an Iranian response to the U.S. right now or even an Iranian's response on the deal itself, it's having to go through this laborious clandestine process to try to get an answer, right?
PLITSAS: Yeah. That's taking place. At the same time, there's always been multiple constituencies inside of Iran. So whether that be the Supreme Leader and the late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba's father was able to correct down the IRGC a little bit harder where Mojtaba is sort of new and doesn't retain quite the same amount of power. I did just get an update not that long ago from, several GCC partners as well as from within Pakistan.
And from what I'm hearing, it does appear that the IRGC is still the problem at the moment, and that's why we haven't seen a response return. So still not, not completely clear. There's still a fracture inside of Iran and still not complete agreement on how exactly to respond to the U.S. proposal.
MICHAELSON: What's the main sticking point right now in terms of the U.S. negotiation with Iran?
PLITSAS: So the U.S. had originally started out with a complete moratorium on any enrichment inside of Iran, and then the President also called for the 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium at 60 percent to be removed from the country and potentially into U.S. custody. The Iranians pushed back and wanted to have more autonomy when it came to enrichment potentially after 10 years.
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There was negotiation maybe up to 20 years from what I'm hearing, and that's still the sort of influx. And then separate from that, it's pretty typical. The Iranians over the last several decades we've been engaged in these discussions have always come to the table offering some minor nuclear concessions and really seeking major economic concessions in the United States in return, because the sanctions have been biting. And so they're looking to have those lifted, but the President didn't really like the way it was structured.
Right now, it's a negotiation about a negotiation, essentially. Can we get this 30-day moratorium lifting the blockade and would be in a potentially negotiate on the nuclear deal? But that's when the Iranians want us to remove all of our leverage, and the president's not ready to do that.
MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, the President expected to go to China next week to meet with President Xi. How is that impacting the situation in Iran?
PLITSAS: So China is one of the largest consumers of oil from Iran. They buy from there quite frequently. The -- from what I've been told by some of the interlocutors, the Iranian Foreign Minister has been in near daily contact with his Chinese counterpart. And the Chinese have a lot more leverage, but at the same time they've also got a decent stockpile in the background, while this is in terms of oil.
Now this is impacting them obviously with the blockade. A Chinese ship was actually hit the other day largely by accident, obviously, because I don't think the Iranians would have done that purposely, but it just goes to show you what can happen and how these things can spiral out of control if the wrong ship is hit or if they'd actually been successful in striking U.S. ships that could have caused catastrophic damage or loss of life, and our response might have been much, much larger and more significant.
So it's yet to be seen if the Chinese are really going to weigh in, but that's going to cast a shadow over the President's trip there when he has a lot of other things on the agenda that he would like to achieve, and, unfortunately, a lot of it's going to be spent on Iran.
MICHAELSON: Yeah. And you know that President Trump does not want to be embarrassed while he's in the middle of negotiations with China as well. So if there isn't a deal, maybe he gets through the China trip, he comes home, there's still not a deal, what's on the table then? What are -- what are your sources in that are planning on this doing right now?
PLITSAS: So as you described it, Project Freedom Plus. So that was the guided, not quite escorts, but these guiding ships out of the straits there. Because there are 20,000 sailors on about 2,000 ships or so that are stuck in the strait. There's a giant humanitarian crisis most people aren't aware of. Mean, people have been stuck for months now running out of food and water with an inability to dock anywhere. So the U.S. has been trying to help clear that out.
But the plus portion would be if this continues and there are still stickered points within the governing framework inside of Iran somewhere, there's a potential for additional decapitation strikes, additional military strikes along the Strait of Hormuz, and then potentially even infrastructure targets inside of Iran itself. And the Iranians from what I'm told from sources inside of Iran really want to localize any potential conflict to the Strait of Hormuz. They do not want to get conflict to be reinitiated inside the country.
The President, I think, would like to reach a deal as well, but his patience level is running out. And if this is not resolved by the time he gets back from China, I think there's a pretty good chance he'll have to green light additional military operations.
MICHAELSON: Which would happen right around this time next week. Alex Plitsas, thank you so much for joining us. One of the best sources of information of anybody on TV. We appreciate you being with us every step of the way, including the night when this whole thing launched right here on a Friday night.
Now to this, a three day ceasefire is in effect in Ukraine as Russia prepares to mark the Soviet victory in World War II. President Trump announced that Truths on Friday.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I asked and President Putin agreed. President Zelenskyy agreed both readily, and we have a little period of time where they're not going to be killing people. That's very good. They also agreed to give a 1,000 on each side, 1,000 prisoners back. So they're going to be transferring almost immediately 1,000 prisoners from each side. That's very good Russia- Ukraine. I'd like to -- I'd like to see a big extension.
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MICHAELSON: Now with the ceasefire in place, Russia is set to hold its traditional parade in about three hours marking the defeat of Nazi Germany. But the annual parade is scaled down this year without the usual display of military hardware. Instead, the event will mainly include Russian troops, which you can see here practicing earlier in the week. Kremlin says that's because of what it calls the current operational situation. All this happening as Ukraine is stepping up drone attacks deeper inside Russia. The cruise ship at the center of the deadly Hantavirus outbreak is expected to arrive in Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday. The 17 Americans onboard will be transported to a quarantine unit at a Nebraska Medical Center where the CDC will monitoring them for symptoms. Doctors say it can take up to eight weeks after exposure for Hantavirus symptoms to appear. As health officials worldwide scramble to track the outbreak, President Trump says the situation is under control.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We, seem to have things under very good control. They know that virus very well. It's been around a long time. Not easily transferable unlike COVID, but we'll see.
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We're studying it very well. We have very good people studying it very closely.
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MICHAELSON: CNN's Melissa Bell reports on what's next for the ship and its passengers.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As the MV Hondius heads towards the Canary Islands, in Tenerife, authorities are preparing for a race against time when the cruise ship arrives here in Granadilla. That cruise ship is now on its way here to Tenerife and is due to arrive at this port. It's pretty blustery here already, and what local authorities are saying is that the weather conditions are going to deteriorate Tuesday, which means that the only window of opportunity for getting all the passengers off of the ship is between when it arrives at midday on Sunday and by the end of Monday.
The 147 remaining passengers and crew will only leave the Hondius when a plane to their country is ready to take off from Tenerife Airport. The goal, to minimize their time on the island.
VIRGINIA BARCONE, SPANISH HEAD OF CIVIL PROTECTION & EMERGENCIES (translated): That means all the technical aspects have to be sorted. Refueling must be complete, and the aircraft door must be open so they can start boarding.
BELL: Passengers will then get ferried off the ship on speedboats, taken to the airport, and then flown to their respective countries. Spanish authorities say that the first passengers to be taken off the ship will be the 17 Americans. CNN understands from sources that they'll be taken by charter planes straight to the national quarantine unit in Nebraska.
BARCONE (translated): I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is absolutely no chance of any contact with the civilian population.
BELL: Those assurances not enough for many here in Tenerife. Port workers on the island expressing their frustration in front of the local parliament.
RUBEN MANGANE, TENERIFE PORT WORKER & PROTESTER (translated): We don't have any information. We don't know how that virus is spread. Therefore, we can't have the needed EPI's. We don't know if we should be using FFP2 masks or a single mask. We know nothing.
BELL: With COVID still on people's minds, these protests are reminder of the fear these outbreaks can inspire. Melissa Bell, CNN, Tenerife.
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MICHAELSON: Thanks, Melissa. Major loss for Democrats after Virginia Supreme Court strikes down their voter approved map. What will the U.S. Supreme Court do? Our political panel here to discuss the latest redistricting fights. Brian Tyler Cohen versus Caroline Sunshine is about to get heated. Stay with us.
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MICHAELSON: Now to the latest on the redistricting battle in the U.S. The Virginia state supreme court has struck down the democrats redistricting plan that voters approved a few weeks ago. The plan could have helped democrats win as many as four more house seats, but the state's high court ruled that the process of creating the referendum violated the state constitution. State Democrats say they intend to appeal the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has given states wide latitude when it comes to redistricting.
President Trump took to social media to celebrate the decision, calling it a huge win for the Republican Party and America in Virginia. Meantime, Alabama lawmakers have approved a plan to hold new primaries if the court allowed the state to use different congressional districts in this year's elections.
Let's bring in Brian Tyler Cohen, host of the No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen podcast, and Caroline Sunshine, former communications aide for President Trump's 2024 Presidential Campaign. Welcome back to both of you.
Brian, let's start with you. You have been on this redistricting train for years.
BRIAN TYLER COHEN, HOST "NO LIE WITH BRIAN TYLER COHEN" PODCAST: Yeah.
MICHAELSON: Telling Democrats that you should redistrict. A lot of time, they wouldn't listen to you. Now it seems like they finally are and realizing the risk of this. What's your reaction to what happened in Virginia and what Democrats should do now? COHEN: Look, I think that the reaction to what happened in Virginia is that it is the perfect encapsulation of the asymmetry between the two sides, where we have independent redistricting commissions in all of the Democratic weapons. And even when you go to the voters, even when 3 million people show up to vote in a referendum, that based on some small technicality, all of those voters' voices are going to be silenced. At the same time that we have Republicans in Florida, in Texas, in North Carolina, possibly South Carolina, Tennessee, all who have just decided by fiat that they're going to redraw their state's maps. I mean, basically --
MICHAELSON: Well, elected legislatures.
COHEN: -- elected legislatures, but redrawing the state maps without a single person weighing in on this stuff, basically ushering in Jim Crow 2.0 in the south, I wouldn't be surprised if we get to a point where we see no black representation in any of these southern states. And so I think it's a wakeup call to Democrats across the country. If you are a Democrat in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, this is the time to start fighting back and recognize the urgency of this moment right here, because Republicans don't believe that Democrats have a right to exist as a party.
And so if we don't start fighting back and if we don't stop unilaterally disarming, they're going to -- we're basically going to good government ourselves into obscurity.
MICHAELSON: Caroline, what do think of this is? Is it a Jim Crow 2.0?
CAROLINE SUNSHINE, COMMUNICATIONS AIDE, TRUMP 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Well, so you're opposed to this because you think that this dilutes people's political power unfairly? Is that why you're opposed to this?
COHEN: I think that it dilutes the ability of people in certain jurisdictions to be able to vote for their representatives. Nashville has been cracked into multiple districts. Memphis has been cracked in multiple districts. And so there's no way that those people who live in those jurisdictions can vote for their representatives because the Republicans have purposefully gerrymandered those states to dilute their voting power.
SUNSHINE: So you're against diluting voting power?
COHEN: I'm against gerrymandering.
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SUNSHINE: OK. So do you support then illegal immigrants being allowed to vote in elections?
COHEN: Illegal immigrants don't vote in federal elections.
SUNSHINE: Well, illegal immigrants are who Democrats want to vote in federal elections. COHEN: But that doesn't make any sense. It doesn't matter if they want it doesn't matter what anybody wants.
SUNSHINE: If are against diluting political power for anybody, you should not want illegal immigrants to vote in American elections because we can't dilute the political power of Americans and a Democrat party.
MICHAELSON: But this isn't a discussion about that. And illegal immigrants are not allowed to vote in federal elections. What about this move of what the Supreme Court did and what republicans are doing right now when it comes to redistricting? A lot of this started with President Trump telling Texas to get in more congressional districts.
SUNSHINE: Well, I think checks and balances played out here. I mean, the Virginia Supreme Court said this can't happen in 2026, but it could happen in 2028. So I'm not sure what the big deal is here. This went through the democratic process, and the Supreme Court, the judge struck it down saying the language in the referendum was flagrant and misleading. And he's not saying it can't happen. He's just saying it can't happen in 2026 because it's unconstitutional.
And he's correct because that is a flagrant power play by Democrats to try to reshape the midterms in 2026. Now my question for you is what comes next?
COHEN: Was it was powerplay when Donald Trump demanded the same thing in Texas? Said that he was entitled to five seats in Texas? Was that a power play?
SUNSHINE: Texas isn't Virginia. The states are sovereign.
COHEN: I'm asking you if it was a powerplay. I'm asking you if it was a powerplay.
SUNSHINE: How it played out in Texas because Texas isn't Virginia.
COHEN: I understand that Texas is not Virginia, but I want to know if you --
SUNSHINE: Where it is this go? Because you want to talk about powerplays. I would love to know, Hasan Piker on your side of the aisle said today that as a result of this ruling, if a peaceful revolution is not possible, then violent revolution is inevitable. So do you agree with Hasan Piker?
COHEN: I'm not Hasan Piker.
SUNSHINE: But do you agree with that?
COHEN: Hassan Piker can speak for himself.
SUNSHINE: What does he mean by that?
COHEN: I don't know. You can ask him. I'm not Hassan Piker.
SUNSHINE: But do you agree with that. Do you condemn that?
COHEN: Call Hassan Piker and ask.
SUNSHINE: Where do you want to see this --
COHEN: What I'm here to -- I don't care what Hassan Piker says. I'm not Hassan Piker.
MICHAELSON: I don't think Brian's pushing for a violent revolution.
COHEN: Yeah.
SUNSHINE: Are you or no? Just to be clear. Because, like, where does this go now that the Supreme Court in Virginia.
COHEN: Here's where it goes. It goes to me calling on every Democratic elected official, either in the legislature or the governor's office, in Democratic states across the country, and demanding that they redraw maps to fight fire with fire and actually counteract what Republicans have done in a raft of different states across the country and what they continue to do in Southern states across the country in response to the Voting Rights Act being gutted.
MICHAELSON: Do you think that there should be a national ban on gerrymandering to try to stop this whole thing around the country?
SUNSHINE: Not opposed to it, but I also believe that the constitution says, tenth amendment, what is not outlined here is left to the states. And I think states have a right to decide their own process. And that's what I'm arguing with you is the process played out here in Virginia. It was put on the ballot on a referendum directly to the voters. It barely passed. The language was extremely misleading. There was an appeal. It then went to the state supreme court. What's the problem here? Checks and balances played out.
MICHAELSON: And you supported a national ban.
COHEN: 100 percent. And in fact, when the Democrats put that forward, a national ban on gerrymandering in 2021, the Freedom to Vote Act, every single Democrat voted for it. Every single vote Democrat or Republican voted against it.
MICHAELSON: You think the United States Supreme Court, which has supported Texas' right to do this and has supported California's right to do this, will support Virginia's right to do redistricting? You think they might overturn this?
COHEN: No. I think that the Supreme Court has proven itself to be an arm of the Republican Party, if nothing else. And we have seen numerous instances where, whether it's this U.S. Supreme Court, where you had a bunch of justices beat their chest about the importance of precedent and the Voting Rights Act, which is that that precedent has been reaffirmed over and over and over again for the last 60 years, just like Roe was President that was reaffirmed over and over again. The supreme court stands for its own adherence to the Republican party. MICHAELSON: You think the supreme court might step in?
SUNSHINE: I don't think they're going to hear this. I don't see why they I don't see why they would. Again, the people of Virginia spoke. And what's interesting is when this referendum was put on the ballot, let's be very clear, it disenfranchised the rights and the voices, if we're talking about who got disenfranchised with a referendum, of rural Virginians. This referendum transferred power from majority of the state, which is rural Virginians, and consolidated it among the swamp, which is people who work in D.C. and live in Virginia. But I didn't hear you speaking up.
COHEN: And I by the way, I would concede that when you have a gerrymandered map, certain people are disenfranchised, which is why this whole thing was sparked off after Republicans first went after Texas. I didn't agree with it when it happened in Texas, but what I don't want to see is unilateral disarmament. I think gerrymandering is a scourge all around. But if you really care about disenfranchisement, then you'll care about it when it happens right off the bat.
You'll care about it when it happens in Texas. You'll care about it when all of a sudden Memphis is cracked into multiple districts, Nashville is cracked into multiple districts, and those people have no voting power, because that's a 100 percent Republican.
MICHAELSON: And that is true in California now that Republicans are being disenfranchised by prop 50.
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COHEN: Correct. But the difference is --
MICHAELSON: And the districts are -- the districts are not, it's not fair to Republican voters. And the idea of, like, a 52 to nothing map here is not fair, just like it's not fair, what we're seeing in Tennessee and other places where there's going to be no Democratic representation. That's bad for democracy.
COHEN: Correct. It's terrible for democracy. The difference is there's only one party that actually supports a nationwide ban on gerrymandering, and that's the Democrats.
SUNSHINE: Violent revolution, to be clear, is also bad for democracy.
MICHAELSON: Either Brian or myself are endorsing violent revolution, just to be clear. Always against political violence. I've said that repeatedly. Quickly, here in Los Angeles, there's a very interesting race happening right now for Mayor. Karen Bass, the incumbent who has been embattled and does not have very high approval ratings right now, is being challenged by Spencer Pratt, a reality star known for the hills, who's a Republican, gets a lot of attention on social media, had a debate this week, got a lot of attention for it.
What do you make of what Spencer is doing right now? He's running ads that he's getting a lot of attention for. Certainly, a lot of Republicans around the country who don't live in Los Angeles and can't vote for him are endorsing him. What do you think of his chances to actually win in a deeply blue city?
SUNSHINE: I think Spencer Pratt could be the next mayor of Los Angeles, and I'll tell you why. The last time a reality television star who was politically incorrect ran for office, he ended up all the way at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And Spencer Pratt is reminding me of the saying, first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. He has all the makings. I don't even have to use the Donald Trump example. He has the charisma of Mamdani, AOC, Trump. He has that outsider anti-establishment energy, and he is good at harnessing attention. He is running, tactically speaking, a very nimble, agile, smart campaign. I can tell that campaign is not being governed by committee. My guess is it's a very small team of five to six people.
Who just like Trump in 2016 are able to move a lot faster than bloated political consultant type campaigns. And Spencer, people are saying they don't like his politically correct comments. So in the debate the other night, people said he was offensive maybe when he was suggesting that Nithya Raman go ask people who are homeless under the freeway for treatment. They were going to get stabbed in the neck, and people were really offended by that. Well, guess what?
In Venice, California today, we had a man get his arm sliced off with a samurai sword. So Spencer Pratt, it looks like is way more in touch with reality than the rest of the candidates on that state.
MICHAELSON: Quickly, Brian. Thoughts on Spencer?
COHEN: What could possibly go wrong with a longtime reality star who speaks bluntly, knows how to game the media, and decides that he wants to be a politician. I think that that would actually carry more weight if Donald Trump's approval rating wasn't what it is right now and if he wasn't, basically exposed as a con artist for promising to be, this populist champion and instead prices are higher for everybody. Health care is cut. Food assistance has been cut. And we're spending God knows how many billions of dollars per day on a war in The Middle East that he promised would never happen.
MICHAELSON: Well, in the next few weeks, we will be talking to all the leading candidates for LA mayor, including Spencer Pratt here on "The Story Is." But for now, thanks to Carolyn and Brian. We could keep going all night, but at some point, we got to stop. Thank you guys both for being here. We appreciate it.
Coming up, a Palestinian journalist spent a year in Israeli prison without charges or trial. Now he shares an appalling story with CNN about the conditions behind bars. Jeremy Diamond reports from Israel next.
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MICHAELSON: Thanks for watching "The Story Is." I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories. President Trump says he is expecting to hear back from Iran soon about his latest proposal to end the war. This says the two sides continue to exchange fire around the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. military says it fired on and disabled two Iranian flagged oil tankers trying to bypass its blockade.
Despite the attack, U.S. officials say the ceasefire is still in effect. A three day ceasefire is in effect as Russia prepares to mark the Soviet victory in World War II. Traditional victory parade is set to begin in less than three hours, but without the usual display of military hardware. The truce between Russia and Ukraine will last through Monday, and it includes a large prisoner swap with Ukraine.
The cruise ship at the center of a deadly Hantavirus outbreak is expected to arrive in Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday. Officials say the 17 Americans onboard will be transported to a quarantine unit at a Nebraska medical center where the CDC will monitor them for symptoms. Doctors say it can take up to eight weeks after exposure for Hantavirus symptoms to appear.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says Israel has arrested more than a 100 media workers since the war in Gaza began. The group says they're often held without charges, and their detention is retaliation for their work. CNN's Jeremy Diamond spoke with a Palestinian journalist who was recently released from an Israeli prison.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: The man gingerly walking down the steps is Ali al-Samoudi, a well-known Palestinian journalist. I've worked with Ali several times and I barely recognize him. The 59- year-old has just been released from Israeli prison where he was held for a year without charge and without a trial.
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The physical toll of his detention now on display. This is what Samoudi looked like when I last worked with him, three months before he was arrested. He lost a 130 pounds in prison, about half his body weight.
ALI AL-SAMOUDI, PALESTINIAN JOURNALIST (translated): They basically gave us food only to keep us alive. Breakfast consists of one spoon of labneh, a quarter spoon of jam. As for dinner, it's a luxury dinner for us. Two spoons of hummus and one spoon of tahini in addition to an egg.
DIAMOND: It was only when he emerged from prison where mirrors were banned that he saw his face for the first time in a year.
AL-SAMOUDI (translated): My situation is difficult, and I understood that, but I didn't imagine it to this extent.
DIAMOND: You had already interviewed, I'm sure, Palestinians who were held in Israeli prison, but what was it like to see it and experience it for yourself? AL-SAMOUDI (translated): When I came to prison, the reality was different. It was a real hell. One time after I returned from the visit with a lawyer, they threw us on the ground. An Israeli officer stood and stepped on my head like this and pressed my face into the ground for four minutes until I suffocated.
DIAMOND: Israel's prison service did not respond to a request for comment about Samoudi's detention. But it's what Samoudi witnessed that's most painful, like the young man who got sick, but was refused medical treatment.
AL-SAMOUDI (translated): He died in front of us for no reason. Why? Are we not human?
DIAMOND: That man is Louay Turkman, a 22-year-old from Jenin who was also held without charge. Israel's prison service didn't respond to our request for comments. Samoudi is among a 105 Palestinian journalists who have been imprisoned by Israel since October 7, 2023 according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. 33 are still being held in Israeli prisons, nearly all of them without charge. That pace of detentions landed Israel as the third worst jailer of journalists worldwide last year, behind only China and Myanmar.
When we asked the military at the beginning, when you were detained, we said, why?
AL-SAMOUDI (translated): I know.
DIAMOND: They said you were, "identified with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization and suspected of transferring funds to the group."
AL-SAMOUDI (translated): Bullshit. They did not ask me once about any suspicions. My arrest is part of the Israeli war against the Palestinian press and media to silence my voice and block my camera and break my pen and thus prevent me from practicing my right that all laws and international norms guarantee, the freedom of the press.
DIAMOND: Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jenin, the West Bank.
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MICHAELSON: Thanks to Jeremy. Up next, if you've ever wondered if there's life on another planet, you're not alone. Just ahead, the Pentagon releases files, it says have never been seen before, and they are something. Dan Farah, the Director behind the eye opening documentary, The Age of Discovery -- Age of Disclosure joins us to break it all down. Stay with us.
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MICHAELSON: After demand from President Trump on Friday, the U.S. Pentagon released what it calls never before seen files on UFOs. The files include accounts of what officials now call unidentified aerial phenomena or UAPs. The release has been billed as an effort to provide greater transparency to the American public. But as CNN's Tom Foreman reports, none of the information released so far provides real answers.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Crackling with videos and photos showing cryptic images of what appear to be very peculiar flying craft, the release by the Pentagon has UFO and UAP watchers buzzing, even as President Trump who ordered the release has said he doesn't know if there is life beyond earth.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do.
FOREMAN: Many of the newly released reports are quite recent. For example, U.S. intelligence officials just last year saying they saw glowing orbs traveling in some undisclosed spot at a high rate of speed. They appeared to be oval shaped, orange in color with a white or yellow center and emitting light in all directions. In 2022, there are reports of a military sensor tracking a UAP moving from north to south, and in another report flying from west to east.
In 2024, a teardrop shaped craft and an uneven ball of white light and a diamond shaped vessel traveling nearly 500 miles an hour are all reported by military observers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All engines running, commit flip top.
FOREMAN: Older NASA missions also appear, although many were made public earlier. Among them, a bit of unusual audio between the capsule and ground control during the 1965 Gemini 7 mission.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Houston. Say again, 7.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a bogie at 10 o'clock high.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any more information, estimate distance or size?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like hundreds of little particles going by on the left out about 3 to 4 miles.
FOREMAN: Also, Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean reporting from space in 1969. You can see these lights, particles of light, flashes of light, and they're just sailing off. They really haul out of here and press off out at the stars. There are many pages of comments by curious citizens, some obvious hoaxes, and more, but no solid answers about what it all means from government officials present or past.
LEON PANETTA, FORMER U.S. DEFENCE SECRETARY: I have not seen any firm evidence that there are aliens out there. What the Pentagon is now doing is basically letting the American people make up their own lives.
FOREMAN: To be clear, the overwhelming number of these sightings are explained as being air planes or weather balloons or mirages or meteoroids, something that makes sense. But some of them still can't be explained and that's what keeps the interest up. And it's likely to stay there because the Pentagon says more releases are on the way. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had repeated instances of something operating in the airspace over restricted nuclear facilities, and it's not ours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are otherworldly things that are performing maneuvers that have haven't been seen.
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MICHAELSON: That's a short clip from the recent documentary, The Age of Disclosure. Director Dan Farah talked to officials at the top levels of the American government about UAPs and found evidence of government knowledge going back more than 80 years. Shortly after the film's release last November, President Trump signed the order resulting in today's release.
Dan Farah joins us live now on set. Dan, welcome back to "The Story Is."
DAN FARAH, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER, "THE AGE OF DISCLOSURE": Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: This doesn't happen today without your movie.
FARAH: Absolutely not. And I think we're in the middle of a major turning point in human history and super proud of the role the film is playing in educating the public.
MICHAELSON: Let's talk about some of the specifics of what we saw here. One thing you found especially interesting, and we've got an image of this, of its 1972 Apollo 17 goes to the moon. And then the astronauts see this image right here. Three lights, this triangle of lights.
FARAH: It's a triangle craft, a structured aircraft observing the astronauts on the moon in 1972, and, it's pretty extraordinary. Obviously, we don't have antigravity technology now. We didn't have it then. I had heard that this image exist while I was making my film, but it was still kept in secrecy. But today, it was released to the public.
MICHAELSON: And what do you make of that?
FARAH: I think it's extraordinary evidence. I mean, that is a structured craft observing the astronauts on the moon. MICHAELSON: Your sources say that the cabinet. There are cabinet members inside the Trump administration that are tasked with working on this. What are they saying?
FARAH: So February, in response to this national conversation that the film created, President Trump gave a presidential directive to declassify evidence of non-human intelligent life and UAP. And from there, key cabinet members like the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of War, and some other key figures had the job of identifying where evidence exist inside of the intelligence community, shaking the trees at all the intelligence agencies and every federal agency, the military branches, and figuring out what can be safely declassified without becoming a threat to national security. They received a ton of pushback from the permanent bureaucracy inside of all these federal agencies. These people did not want to give up this evidence and still haven't given up much of the evidence.
But they -- the cabinet has been able to get some, and today, they released the first tranche of what they felt could be declassified and shared with the American public. It's definitely going to be an ongoing process and a rolling declassification process. I'm told the next batch will be released in -- within the next 30 days.
MICHAELSON: But you're hearing that they're trying to send a message to the permanent bureaucracy. You're not going to get in trouble for the fact that you hid this for so long.
FARAH: Yeah. A big a big concern that's been identified is that the people who have been involved in gatekeeping this information for decades, they're afraid to come forward. They're afraid of repercussions. They're afraid of being sent to jail or villainized. And so I've been told that the administration is sending the message to the military community, intelligence community, that this is not an endeavor to go out and punish anyone. It's not a witch hunt, right? They're just trying to find out the truth. They're trying to get the evidence, and then they want to be in a position where they can evaluate it and decide what can safely be shared with the American people, what needs to be kept in secrecy for national security reasons.
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MICHAELSON: Because one of the extraordinary things in your documentary, like, we just heard there, Leon Panetta, who not only was the Secretary of Defense, he was the Director of the CIA and the White House Chief of Staff. In different administrations. So you think if anybody would have seen this, it would have been Leon Panetta. But your argument is that even the highest elected officials and their top appointees were kept in the dark.
FARAH: Yeah. Look, one of the big reveals in the film is that this information, the existence of non-human intelligent life, has not only been kept from the public, but it's been kept from congress and even sitting presidents. And they're politically appointed officials. So the Director of the CIA, for example, is politically appointed. He's not necessarily going to be told about this, but it'll be the career bureaucrat, several layers below them that can gatekeep this information for decades and just wait politicians out. Secretary Rubio breaks this down in the film in a super articulate way, explaining just how our bureaucracy works and how it creates dynamics that allow for this sort of secrecy.
MICHAELSON: And at the time, he was senator Rubio when you interviewed him. Now he is Secretary Rubio, and now he has a role in potentially making this whole thing transparent.
FARAH: He's very much involved.
MICHAELSON: So you describe today as a toe dip.
FARAH: Yeah.
MICHAELSON: What do what do you mean by that? And what do you know about what may be coming in the next 30 days?
MICHAELSON: Look, I think the President's cabinet has only been able to get a small percent of the evidence that exists within all these federal agencies. And so, this tranche of evidence that was declassified today is just barely scratching the surface. Everyone involved in this process inside the government knows that. And so the following tranches will be the juicier stuff that is harder for them to get. It'll just take longer. But I do think that they're determined to get to the truth, and I don't think they're going to give up until they get it.
MICHAELSON: So clearly, there's some there, there. When it comes to all of this. And if you're listening to this conversation and thinking this weekend, I want to learn more about all of this, Dan's documentary, which is one of the best performing documentaries in the history of Amazon, is still available to rent or buy on Prime Video on Amazon Prime. Look up the age of disclosure. Dan Farah, sounds like you might have, some stuff for a sequel.
FARAH: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Coming in the next weeks and months. Great to see you.
FARAH: You too.
MICHAELSON: Coming up, a look at the NBA playoff picture. LeBron James Lakers not happy with officiating after the Oklahoma City Thunder take a 2 nothing lead in their series. Former NBA all-star, Baron Davis, joins me live in studio next hour to talk about that and more. Couple big games in the NBA tonight as well. Stay with us.
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MICHAELSON: Mother's Day is the Sunday in the U.S., and don't worry, you still have time to grab a gift. Retailers expect Americans to spend billions on their moms. The National Retail Federation says a record $38 billion will be spent on Mother's Day's gift this year. And while flowers remain the go to gift, shoppers may get sticker shock placing those orders. CNN's Marybel Gonzalez reports from here in Los Angeles.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been working for 11 years already.
MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana Mendoza, a longtime florist at this wholesale flower market in Downtown Los Angeles, has seen her fair share of changes in the industry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Little by little, every year, different prices.
GONZALEZ: This year is no exception. And how much are these?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These ones are $70.
GONZALEZ: $70. How much were these last year?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last year, they were, like $50. So $20 more.
GONZALEZ: Floors here point to a rise in gas prices due to the war in Iran and President Donald Trump's tariffs as the biggest contributors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have products that fly in from Ecuador, Colombia to Miami, and that they're driven from Miami to Los Angeles by truck. So the fuel cost is extremely expensive right now, and it affects the cost of the flowers.
GONZALEZ: And it's not just the flowers that are costing more. Vendors say the materials they use to make these arrangements from the plastics to the tissue paper to the baskets, all of those are getting more expensive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And today's economy is difficult. It's very difficult. So and flowers can be really expensive.
GONZALEZ: Customers like Gretchen Severson are feeling the price hikes, opting to buy wholesale to save.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're really getting a lot for your money. I know it really does fluctuate, but this is the best I've seen so far.
GONZALEZ: Vendors say they are working with people's budgets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last year, used to do, like, more big ones, but we're much expensive. But now, like, let's do more smaller so people could be, like, reasonable prices. I mean, it doesn't have to be a big arrangement to make your mom happy.
GONZALEZ: I'm Marybell Gonzalez reporting.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: Thanks to Marybell. From award winning films to K-beauty and K-pop, South Korea is influencing global culture in the premiere episode of the new CNN original series K everything. Daniel Dae Kim explores the country's booming music industry with K-pop royalty, PSY, and steps inside the studio behind South Korea's biggest hits. K everything premieres Saturday on CNN International and for U.S. viewers on the CNN app.
Thanks for watching this hour of "The Story Is." The next hour starts right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Story Is" control of Congress. The Virginia Supreme Court giving Republicans a big win in the redistricting fight. Ron Brownstein with us live to break down what's next.
