Return to Transcripts main page

The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Trump Wraps Meeting On Iran Deal Without Announcing Decision; Emerging Iran Deal Risks Shattering Netanyahu's Legacy; U.S. General Holds Rare Meeting With Cuban Military Leaders. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired May 30, 2026 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: -- episodes.

ARI SHAPIRO, CO-HOST, CNN "ENGAGEMENT PARTY" PODCAST: We've been talking a lot about Summer House. Do you know this show?

COATES: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: OK.

COATES: No. I don't know anything about Ciara.

SHAPIRO: OK. Why don't we do that? I mean -- so, like this show that is a proper reality show that has had this story that has broken out of the algorithm --

COATES: Yes.

SHAPIRO: -- and like broken out of the reality T.V. bubble. What is it about what's been going on that has everybody, whether they watch reality or not, talking? We're going to get into it.

COATES: Well, we choose sides as a society.

SHAPIRO: I also think it is an archetypal story. It's Midsummer Night's Dream on reality T.V.

COATES: Oh, bring in Puck. Where is he? Ari Shapiro, thank you so much, and congratulations to you.

SHAPIRO: Thanks a lot, Laura.

COATES: And Ari Engagement Party is available to stream on CNN's platforms and wherever you get your podcasts.

Well, you know what? That's it for me. Have a great weekend. The Story Is with Elex Michaelson starts right now.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. Welcome to The Story Is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: The Story Is, no decision. After two hours in the

Situation Room, President Trump has yet to make a final call on a pending deal with Iran. CNN National Security Analyst Alex Plitsas joins me with details.

The Story Is, one out, four to go. Rescuers in Laos working to help four more men out of the cave, and the challenges are many, their health, the risk of panic, and rain could all jeopardize the operation.

The Story Is, anti-weaponization fund paused. Now it remains to be seen if the president will end it or push ahead. My panel, Josh Greene and Emily Wilson on set to debate.

And The Story Is, American art in Arkansas. Crystal Bridges marks the U.S.'s 250th birthday with a major expansion, and the best part is, tickets are free. We'll take you inside the museum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michaelson.

MICHAELSON: Our top story is, still no word on whether President Trump has actually reached a decision on a peace deal with Iran, after wrapping up a two-hour meeting in the Situation Room. That is despite saying that he planned to make a final determination before walking into that meeting. U.S. officials telling CNN, Washington and Tehran reached a tentative agreement this week to open the Strait of Hormuz and then begin nuclear talks. However, Iran's Foreign Ministry says the two sides have not yet finalized the so-called memorandum of understanding. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says that President Trump is willing to wait for a deal that ensures that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The status as of right now is that any deal will be a good deal, and I had a chance to talk to President Trump this morning. He wanted me to reiterate how patient he is in ensuring that with America undertaking this kind of historic endeavor, any deal will be a good one, a great one, and he is patient in the pursuit of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Joining us now live is CNN National Security Analyst Alex Plitsas. Alex, welcome back. We talked to you 24 hours ago exactly to try to get a sense of where the deal was at. It wasn't exactly clear. Is there any more clarity 24 hours later?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yeah. So, it appears all the elements of a deal were there in terms of discussion between the U.S. and the Iranians, and it was stuck largely over sequencing in terms of when the Iranians would get released some of their frozen funds. And so, the president entered into the meeting today for a two- hour meeting in the Situation Room, in which actually DNI Tulsi Gabbard was there as well, which is notable, just given the fact that she has been out of some of these previous proceedings, and it ended, we're told, with no decision.

However, tomorrow is the end of the 10-day pilgrimage to the Hajj in Mecca, and at that point, I'm told that the U.S. had been asked by the Saudis to ensure that there would be no military action before the Hajj pilgrimage was complete. And so, we are quite frankly coming down to the wire for the president's decision to be done, and a bit precarious, again, that we don't have a decision coming in just before that holiday is about to expire.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. We have been looking at live pictures of that every night, an extraordinary amount of people who have been marking that celebrate -- that holiday. So, big question is, where is Israel on all of this? Because we hear about him negotiating with leaders in the Middle East, but not that much about his conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu these days.

PLITSAS: So, I think the Israelis had expressed their desire to go in and finish the job. They had made that quite clear, but they would abide by whatever it is the president decided, but their security would still come first, and we've seen a number of strikes that have taken place in Lebanon. We saw that they crossed into the Litani River today on the ground in southern Lebanon.

At the same time, the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby, as well as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Mike DiMino, were meeting with the Lebanese today at the Pentagon to talk about the ceasefire and the demilitarization of Hezbollah and Lebanon.

[00:05:00]

So, kind of two things going on in parallel there. But the -- again, the Iranians had tied that to the deal. It doesn't appear that Lebanon is going to make or break the deal at this point. It is incredibly important. But at this point, it seems to be stuck on the frozen funds issue. At least that was the last I had heard earlier today.

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, more military action possible in Cuba. We know that the U.S. military leader held a rare meeting with the senior Cuban military officials near the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay. What more do you know about that? What do you make of that happening?

PLITSAS: So, this is the second in a number of meetings of senior U.S. officials with the Cubans recently. So, we sent CIA Director Ratcliffe down to Cuba to go meet with the Cuban interior minister and officials there, in which he had pretty much laid down the wall from President Trump, is what I was told, in terms of they need to get on board of the timeline to change policies, or else there was a so what at that point that it was going to be delivered, basically an ultimatum, and I'm told today as well.

So, the SOUTHCOM commander, as you mentioned, General Donovan, met with Cuban counterparts there along the perimeter, and again, those roles of security-related discussions with the Cubans related to U.S. security posture along the Guantanamo Bay military complex that's there, and any potential for a flare up, as well as, again, delivering some security messaging for the president.

MICHAELSON: So, no deal that we know of on there. But is it encouraging that they're at least talking to each other?

PLITSAS: It's encouraging that they're talking. But again, the Cubans at this point still don't seem to have budged. Once again, I'm told the president was a little miffed that after the blockade of oil coming in and out, and there should have been more movement from the Cubans, but they've sort of dug in their heels once again, and they don't seem to be moving quite as fast as the president would like. But he is allowing that to continue to take place to see if they'll get the policy change that would prevent us from having to take any military action from his perspective.

So, the administration is taking a more tactful approach. We're not seeing the overt military threats that we saw very publicly related -- when it was in Venezuela or other places. It's been looming in the background, less public messaging, but very direct to the Cubans, to their faces.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. That happening while they're still trying to bring an end to this war with Iran.

Alex Plitsas, thank you for getting us started on a Friday night. We appreciate it. Have a great weekend.

The White House has released President Trump's latest physical exam results. One of those Friday night news dumps that happened late at night comes after days of criticism over a lack of transparency following an unusual three-day delay. The memo from the president's physician, which came in late tonight, says that Trump remains in, quote, "excellent health with normal cognitive screening results and no major cardiac abnormalities", but it recommends some weight loss and more exercise. The report addresses the much discussed bruising on President Trump's hands, contributing that to frequent hand shaking and aspirin use.

Here is CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner's take.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The other thing that they mentioned once again is this nonsense about his -- the bruising on his hand related to vigorous handshaking. OK. Maybe that's why his right hand is bruising. Why is his left hand bruising as well? So, they have to really stop it, trying to write off the bruising to that. What they haven't been able to explain is why he is taking so much aspirin. So, again, there are bits and pieces of facts here. The lags that they present -- appear to be all sort of within range, which is good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: A one-two punch for President Trump's anti-weaponization fund, courtesy of a pair of federal judges. A federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked any action related to the $1.8 billion fund, which was created to compensate people, the administration says, were wrongly targeted by the Biden administration. A hearing is scheduled for June 12th. That same day, a federal judge in Florida is set to hear a related case after taking the extraordinary step of reopening the president's original lawsuit against the IRS, which she had closed last week.

CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig explains what's going on here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (on camera): Earlier this week, a group of 35 retired federal judges wrote a letter to Judge Williams, saying, "You actually have the power to reopen this and block the fund if you find that there was fraud, you were given incomplete information, or this was a collusive lawsuit." And in today's ruling, the judge said, "I'm going to do just that." There is a definitive note of skepticism in the judge's ruling. She said, "I need to hear from you, Donald Trump, and the administration within two weeks, why this is not a fraud? Why this is not collusive."

[00:10:00]

And if the judge finds that it was collusive or fraud, she can reopen the case, and she can block the weaponization fund.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, another federal judge has ruled that President Trump's name must be removed from the Kennedy Center within two weeks. A U.S. District Judge also blocked Trump's plans to close the historic performing arts venue for a year's long renovation. The ruling ordered the center's website to remove all mentions of the name "Trump Kennedy Center". Shortly after the ruling, Trump appeared to back down from his fight to revamp the arts center. He suggested on social media that he is transferring control of the Kennedy Center from the executive branch to Congress without disclosing any details. The Kennedy Center board has indicated it plans to appeal the ruling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): I'm 23-years-old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): How do you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): I'd like to thank everyone, all my relatives, brothers and sisters. Thank you very much for the district and provincial authorities, and everyone who came to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: That is one of the survivors, the first to be rescued from a remote flooded cave in Laos. A multinational team of cave diving specialists are hoping to resume their daring and complex rescue operation, now that it is Saturday morning there. Four other survivors are still trapped in that cave, cramped, pitch black, where they have been for more than a week. Some of them are starting to have health issues. The stranded men are more than 800 feet from the cave's entrance.

Meanwhile, the rescue team has not had contact with two other missing cave explorers. The emergency team rescued the first survivor Friday night. They're giving the trapped men a crash course in basic diving to help them get through the flooded section of the cave. One of the divers says they're encouraged by the success of Friday's rescue, but they caution that everybody is at the mercy of the elements, and possible rain in the forecast would be a, quote, "disaster".

Joining us now live from Indiana is Anmar Mirza. He is a former national coordinator for the National Cave Rescue Commission here in the U.S., one of the top experts in the whole country on this idea of how to rescue somebody from a cave. Thanks for being with us. What do you think that the rescuers have learned from the first guy getting out that may be helpful for the next four?

ANMAR MIRZA, FORMER NATL. COORDINATOR, NATL. CAVE RESCUE MISSION: So, by the fact that they have done this successfully, first off, that's going to be a very large morale boost, not only for the rescuers, but for the people inside the cave, and morale is very important to the success of the operation. And so, that unto itself will go a long ways towards making this possible for the rest of them. But they will also have learned if there are any sticking points as far as problems that the non-divers, the people that they're rescuing, may have, and things that they might be able to do to mitigate those problems before they become a problem.

MICHAELSON: How do they pick the order of who to rescue when?

MIRZA: So, I'm not there. So, I can't speak specifically to how they were doing it. But my feeling is, is that they're most likely going to be taking the first person that they chose is most likely the most physically capable. This is a very strenuous trip just to get in to where these people are, and then to get back out again for somebody who is in good shape and somebody who is an experienced diver, and these people have been in the cave without food or with minimal food and with bad water, bad air conditions for several days. And so, they're already in a weakened state.

And so, they wanted to have the highest -- I'm guessing they wanted to have the highest probability of success on the first one to make sure that they could find out if there were going to be any problems, what they might be able to do to help solve those problems for the people who came later, plus, giving the people in the cave who maybe needed a little bit more time to recover by being fed and whatever medications they might be giving them, giving those a chance to work.

MICHAELSON: So, you did a lot of commentary for CNN back during the Thai rescue from a few years ago. A lot of people remember that whole process. How is this different, and perhaps more complicated?

MIRZA: So, the cave in Thailand, first off, was a natural cave. This cave, we're not sure if it's -- how much of it is a cave, and how much of it has been mined, and if it's mined, that can be a lot more unstable.

[00:15:00]

It's also a lot smaller. The cave in Thailand, there were places -- while there were a few places that were small, this entire cave is relatively small, and that makes it much more difficult, especially when they're squeezing through the place where they have to have the scuba equipment with them. So, that increases the danger, and that also increases the effort that is involved with it.

They do have the advantage that the people that they're bringing out are adults. And so, there is a little bit of less of the fact that they're not trying to bring out youths. But from the standpoint of it being physically more difficult, they have that working against them. Now, they do have an advantage, unlike in Thailand. Thailand had a much longer distance to go, but they had large areas where they could get out, and the rescuers could walk through sections of it that weren't flooded, whereas in this cave, even the sections that aren't flooded, they're still having to crawl through or climb through very tight, narrow passages.

MICHAELSON: I cannot imagine what must have gone through the guy's mind who was able to get out today, and that feeling of freedom really would be extraordinary.

Anmar Mirza, thank you so much for your perspective, and we wish all of them a lot of luck this weekend.

Coming up, a former detainee is back home after his release from Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration facility. Now he is speaking out about what it was like inside that notorious detention center. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: A Cuban immigrant is reunited with his family, after his daughter achieved what many told her was impossible. She got him released from Florida's notorious immigration detention center, which is known as Alligator Alcatraz.

As Carolina Peguero reports, it took a six-month legal battle to bring her father home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIANNE BETANCOURT, DAUGHTER OF JUSTO BETANCOURT (on camera): I can't even say that I'm happy and not cry.

CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A relentless legal battle --

BETANCOURT (on camera): Poppy is home, and we got him some cafecito, PEGUERO (voice-over): -- and a daughter doing everything in her power to get her father released from Florida's migrant detention center, known as Alligator Alcatraz.

BETANCOURT (on camera): I've worked so hard over the last six months for this, and everyone told me that it was impossible to give up, that I wasn't going to get it done, and my dad is sitting right next to me.

PEGUERO (voice-over): Her father, a Cuban national, Justo Betancourt, is one of thousands of migrants who have been held at what was billed with much fanfare as a temporary facility --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (on camera): It's an amazing job. They've all done a great job. Proud of them.

BETANCOURT (on camera): -- and the conditions, Justo says, are inhumane with shared cells with barely any space and little to no access to food and medicine.

JUSTO BETANCOURT, RELEASED FROM ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ (on camera) (Interpreted): From the moment you arrive, you're an animal that's assigned a number.

BETANCOURT (on camera): My dad's health was not the best before he went into Alligator Alcatraz, but my dad, the condition that they released him in, I learned today that my dad had a mini stroke while he was detained.

PEGUERO (voice-over): Wearing an ankle monitor, Justo recalls being moved through several immigration centers. At one point, U.S. authorities sent him to Mexico, but officials there refused to take him due to his poor health. He was then sent back to the Florida center. Arianne recalls the day he was detained.

BETANCOURT (on camera): He showed up to his routine immigration check- in. I was sitting in the car, and we were waiting, and hours were going by, and we couldn't see him anymore. He wasn't outside, and a woman showed up, screaming that her husband had called her on his Apple Watch, and told her that they detained him and the other 15 guys that were in line with him.

PEGUERO (voice-over): ICE tells CNN, Justo entered the U.S. illegally and has past criminal history for possession and selling illicit substances, though he says he served time for those charges. For now, he is back with his family. Justo was released after his attorney filed several petitions for habeas corpus.

MIRIAM HASKELL, LAWYER, COMMUNITY JUSTICE PROJECT (on camera): We argued that the government still did not have a plan for his deportation, and the government responded to say that Mr. Betancourt would be sent to Mexico, but ignored the fact that his removal had been attempted to Mexico in the past and had been denied. And so, that, combined with the length of his deportation, demonstrated that the government really doesn't have a plan and didn't have a plan for his deportation. PEGUERO (voice-over): And as the center is set to close, the big question is, what happens to the hundreds of detainees that activists say are still being held in the Florida center.

THOMAS KENNEDY, FLORIDA IMMIGRATION COALITION (on camera): Very likely that most, if not all, are going to end up at other detention centers, unfortunately.

PEGUERO (voice-over): Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' office did not directly respond to the questions about the fate of the detainees after the detention camp closes, instead, referred us to comments the governor made earlier this month defending the facility.

RON DESANTIS, FLORIDA GOVERNOR (on camera): Being able to fill that void, where at the time the federal government did not have the resources to do it no question that saved lives, no question it has increased public safety, and no question it's the right thing to do.

PEGUERO (voice-over): For now, Arianne and her dad are making up for lost time.

J. BETANCOURT (on camera) (Interpreted): As your dad, the biggest thing I can tell you is that I'm proud of you. I've always been proud of you, since the day you were born.

A. BETANCOURT (on camera): I love you, Poppy.

J. BETANCOURT (on camera): I love you too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Carolina.

There is much more to come on CNN, including details of the legal wrangling related to the president's lawsuit against the IRS. We'll cover it all with my panel, Josh Greene, Emily Wilson, standing by. The Story Is, politics next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Welcome back to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

U.S. President Donald Trump left a key meeting in the Situation Room without announcing a final decision on Iran one way or another. He gathered his top advisors Friday to discuss an emerging deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but now it's not clear where the president stands.

[00:30:00]

Iran's Foreign Ministry says no agreement has been finalized. Divers are gearing up to rescue more of the survivors trapped in a

flooded cave in Laos. Rescuers brought out the first survivor on Friday night. We're looking at the dramatic moment here. Four people still trapped, two others still missing. Possible rain in the forecast for Saturday could complicate the whole mission.

And President Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" is facing a pair of legal setbacks. A federal judge in Virginia has temporarily blocked action related to the fund, which would compensate people, the administration says, were targeted by the government, specifically the Biden administration. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Florida reopened the president's original lawsuit against the IRS to examine allegations of fraud.

Let's talk about that and more with our political panel for the night. Political commentator Josh Greene, known as "Josh the Progressive" on social media, and media personality Emily Wilson, who hosts "Emily Saves America". Welcome to you both. Emily, welcome for the first time. Josh, good to have you back.

Let's start with you, as our returning champion. Josh, your thoughts on this anti-weaponization fund. Is it a good idea? Does it make any sense?

JOSH GREENE, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the whole thing is disgraceful. I think it's another sign that we are a nation in decline under Donald Trump. If there is one group we don't need to give more sympathy for, it's the scumbags and Nazis who tried to overthrow the government. Meanwhile, you got innocent people being killed in the Middle East, people in ICE detention centers starving, but the Trump administration wants us focused on these political prisoners who definitely don't need more of our tax dollars. So, I find it disgraceful.

MICHAELSON: What do you think?

EMILY WILSON, HOST, EMILY SAVES AMERICA: Yeah, and I know a lot of these people personally, and they're good people. They were 100 percent targeted by the administration. They had a lot of pressure put on them. They were told to be, I mean, literally like abused in jail and starved, and they had families, and they lost a lot of money, and they were -- I mean, they were harmed, and I do believe that they deserve compensation for that, and they were mistreated, 100 percent.

MICHAELSON: Are you talking about the January -- people involved with January 6 --

WILSON: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: -- that were convicted for that?

WILSON: Yeah, and I'm not talking about all of them as a whole. Obviously, some people broke laws, and yeah, you have consequences for that, but in general, I mean, a lot of people were targeted. I mean, also across the board, you have doctors that were also deplatformed. A lot of people under the Biden administration lost a lot of money and were stripped -- doctors were stripped of their licenses. I mean, it goes really deep.

MICHAELSON: So, for people that attacked police officers or committed crimes at the Capitol, you think that they should be paid?

WILSON: No. I don't think that they should be paid, but a lot -- I mean, this goes very deep. A lot of this, we don't believe that those were Republicans. We believe those -- a lot of those people were Antifa. No, I don't think they deserve money. But a lot of them were treated extremely unfair, and they were like literally abused in jail, and they were targeted. They were treated worse than people who actually murder people.

MICHAELSON: Your thoughts.

GREENE: Well, you do realize Antifa just means anti-fascist, but that's not who these people were. These people attacked police officers. These people were absolutely savaged that day. And the fact that we're giving them taxpayer money, like I said, it's disgraceful, and it's unserious that we're even having this revisionist history when it comes to these thugs.

WILSON: Well, one person died, and that was Ashli Babbitt, and she was a Republican.

GREENE: Well, police officers died too.

MICHAELSON: But she was breaking the law, and she was -- I mean -- right? And police officers died as well.

WILSON: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: So, it wasn't just Ashli Babbitt.

WILSON: Well, and police officers also committed suicide afterwards, and there was a lot of them, and I think that wasn't looked into enough either. I think that was really odd.

MICHAELSON: We could talk about this all day.

WILSON: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: But we want to get to a lot of different topics here tonight, including what's happening -- in terms of our larger culture, because everything has become so politicized that it seems like in some ways we almost can't talk to each other.

So, there was an incident recently where Jaxson Dart, who is the quarterback for the New York Giants, went to a Donald Trump rally and introduced the president on stage, which obviously thrilled a lot of Trump supporters, but didn't thrill a lot of folks in New York, where Donald Trump is not as popular, and on his own team, including his teammate Abdul Carter, who spoke out against it, said that he was kind of hurt by the fact that he was embracing the Trump administration. Both Jaxson Dart, Abdul Carter, spoke today. Both of them said that they had spoken to each other and sort of worked through some of this, but kind of agreed to disagree. What do you think about this whole thing of athletes using their First

Amendment rights, but also some of the pushback that we see on both sides whenever anybody does?

WILSON: I think it's exhausting. I think everyone is truly just exhausted of politics being in everything now, and also, I'm like, it is an honor, no matter who the president is, to get to introduce them, and even be near them.

[00:35:00]

I mean, if I was in that position, if it was Biden or Trump, I would be very excited, and I would take that as an honor. But it's so annoying, because the second you start talking about politics in general, immediately it's half the country against the other half. And in general, I think they're really two well-spoken gentlemen. They did it with grace. But I think everyone is just really exhausted. We should try to separate the sports from the politics and everything, leave it to people in politics and politicians, and it would be nice to see people getting along a little bit. So, thank you for having us.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, no, and that's part of the point of this whole thing, and that's what we do here every night.

But Josh, it's interesting, because some of our friends over on Fox have talked about this concept of shut up and dribble, when LeBron James was exercising his First Amendment rights, a lot of those same people seem to cheer on Jaxson Dart when he is exercising his First Amendment rights. It seems like people, regardless of what side you are, are excited when people agree with you, but when they don't, you want them to basically be quiet.

GREENE: Yeah. The double standard is really pathetic. And Jaxson Dart made the choice to get political when he did this, when he went out and expressed support for the disgusting whale known as our president. I mean, Jaxson Dart, he made this choice consciously, and he made the choice to support the president, who is best friends with Jeffrey Epstein, the president who is --

MICHAELSON: He is not best friends with Jeffrey Epstein.

GREENE: They were.

WILSON: He banned him from Mar-a-Lago and said he was disgusting.

MICHAELSON: And we also don't have proof that he is committing war crimes either. But -- I mean, I know those are some of the talking points out there.

But let's stick to the facts here, and let's talk about what's happening in terms of the California governor's race as well. We are in a situation where the polls show that this race is tightening. We got a new poll today that came out from UC Berkeley IGS. It shows Xavier Becerra, the HHS secretary, at 25 percent, Steve Hilton at 21 percent, Republican, and Tom Steyer starting to move up. He is at 19 percent. We've seen several recent polls, public polls and private polls, that suggest that he may have momentum. The big question now is, are we going to have two Democrats or are we going to have a Democrat and Republican? For a while, it looked like there might be two Republicans. But how are you feeling about this race right now?

WILSON: Yeah. I mean, I was really excited, I thought it was going to be two Republicans, which I think is what California needs after a lot of failed leadership. But in general, it looks like it could be potentially Hilton, who I think is fantastic, and I voted for -- against a Democrat, and -- I mean, look, I think that represents California pretty well. You have a very split population. I think people want change. He has gone up pretty fast in the polls today, and I'm excited to see what happens. So --

MICHAELSON: How do you see it?

GREENE: Well, I think it's sad that, in California, if we want to call ourselves the most progressive state, fourth largest economy and the richest country in history of the world, we don't have better choices for governor, and I find that there should be a candidate that actually represents working families in California. I would have loved to see a socialist governor here in California, just like we've got with Mamdani as mayor of New York. But we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. I know Steve Hilton definitely is not going to be governor, though.

MICHAELSON: Well, you've got a chance to have a Democratic Socialist as mayor of Los Angeles. We now have a race between Nithya Raman, Karen Bass, the incumbent mayor, and Spencer Pratt. All look very close. Right now, based off of the recent polling, it could be any of the three of them as the top two. How do you see that race? Are you all behind Raman?

GREENE: Not necessarily, but I'm definitely not behind Spencer Pratt, whose notable homeless plan is, let's round up the unhoused population and ship them somewhere else. That's a real big brain idea. I'm sure that's going to address the systemic issue of homelessness in L.A., just fine.

MICHAELSON: Your thoughts on that.

WILSON: Yeah. I mean he is the only one actually I've heard who has a real plan when it -- especially when it comes to the homeless, which is an issue. You watch any news network, it's an issue for everyone in Los Angeles. It is extremely dangerous. These are not the homeless people we were dealing with 20 years ago. These are not the drugs we were dealing with 20 years ago. And honestly, when you look at the other two options, it is either incompetence or it is something much more sinister, and failure on purpose, and people want to see a change, and he is our hope for that.

MICHAELSON: You think that there was failure on purpose --

WILSON: Yeah, I do.

MICHAELSON: -- by Mayor Bass --

WILSON: Yes.

MICHAELSON: -- that she wanted to fail? What do you mean by that?

WILSON: I don't know how you can mess up that bad. I truly don't know. You are either completely incompetent, and you have failed your job. So, of course we're not giving you a second chance, or you did it for a much more sinister reason, which I believe, when it comes to real estate and land grabs and all these things, the way she handled the fires, the way she has handled the homeless and crime --

MICHAELSON: You have evidence of that? That's a big allegation.

WILSON: It is a very big allegation. I talk about it. Spencer talks about it, and it's something I think worth diving into, but yes, Spencer has our vote, and we're very hopeful.

[00:40:00]

MICHAELSON: All right. Emily, Josh, thank you both for sharing your perspective. We welcome all perspectives here, and we love --

WILSON: We appreciate that.

MICHAELSON: -- hearing different perspectives as well.

Up next, an inside look at the spectacular new expansion of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. We'll be joined by its world-renowned architect to learn what inspired him about this project. This is one of the nicest museums in the country, and the great thing about it is it's free for everybody to visit.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Ahead of the U.S.'s 250th birthday, a major expansion of American art is coming to Arkansas. Next week, Crystal Bridges officially opens its expanded space to visitors. Look at these pictures. The 314,000 square foot museum features some of the country's most distinguished artists, and if you want to check it out, here is the best part, it won't cost you a thing. General admission is free.

Olivia Walton is Board Chair of the Crystal Bridges Museum. Moshe Safdie is a founding partner of Safdie Architects, responsible for this expansion. They both join us now from the Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas. Welcome to The Story Is. Thank you for your contribution to the art world.

MOSHE SAFDIE, FOUNDING PARTNER, SAFDIE ARCHITECTS: Thank you.

OLIVIA WALTON, BOARD CHAIR, CRYSTAL BRIDGES: Thank you so much for having us.

MICHAELSON: Olivia, let's start with you. Take us on a bit of a tour of the expansion project. What are we looking at behind you, and what are we looking at when we look at some of the images from the museum?

WALTON: Well, Moshe has built a masterpiece here, nestled in an Ozark forest running over the Crystal Spring. That's why it's called Crystal Bridges, because these extraordinary structures he built actually span the water that's coming out of the Crystal Springs. So, we had 200,000 square feet of gallery and office and engagement space, and now we're doubling our public-facing footprint by adding an extra 100,000 square feet, that means more galleries, including the most extraordinary room I've ever seen, Elex, 14,000 square feet. Moshe here has engineered the perfect full spectrum white light. You've got to see it to believe it, four tennis courts.

We've also got a brand new learning and engagement space. We have a digital art studio, ceramics. We have a wet room for kids who want to get their hands dirty. I mean, we are just -- we don't want people to come to Crystal Bridges to observe. We are inviting them in to stay, to participate, and to come back over and over. We're all about trying to be an artery for community.

MICHAELSON: And Moshe, we're talking about 114,000 square foot expansion. You had to move nearly every work of art. What is the story you are trying to tell with the design of Crystal Bridges?

SAFDIE: The first move was to find the location, give the museum kind of a magical setting, and we did that by damming the springs and creating ponds down the valley, like you would see in a mill town, and the pavilions are sort of clustering around it, and it's all about experiencing art with nature. And we have a variety of galleries, some of them built with timber, local timber, some of them just with high lights. We have a bridge gallery that's all glazed, so that you can see the whole landscape around it, while you watch objects which are not sensitive to light, and a lot of interactivity space and education workshops for the kids to come in and work together.

So, it's about nature and art being experienced simultaneously, and about an architecture that really belongs to this place that sort of grows out of the site itself.

MICHAELSON: Olivia, every gallery will feature indigenous art and craft objects. Talk to me about the museum's commitment to championing historically underrepresented artists. Why was that so important?

WALTON: Yeah. Crystal Bridges really believes in having as big a tent as possible for what art is. And for so long, indigenous and craft have sort of been siloed and not really considered maybe fine art and worthy of being in a museum. But we've always said we -- as we're going to expand the physical space, we're going to help expand the definition of what art is. And indigenous art has been helping shape our national cultural identity for centuries. It's not adjacent to the story of American art. It is central to the story of American art, and it's the same thing with craft. We're always asking ourselves, whose stories are we telling? Well, we also have to ask, who had access to oil paint in art school?

And for so many, particularly in our region, here in the Ozarks, in the middle of the country, people had access to craft, to fiber art. So, we've got a rich history of quilt making, of weaving, of basket making, of ceramics. And so, we're very proud to be elevating craft and indigenous and let them sit shoulder to shoulder with sort of the masters of American art, as considered by the traditional canon.

MICHAELSON: And Moshe, talk about the importance to this region, the fact that so many people, they think of art museums. They think of maybe New York or Paris. Why Arkansas, and what does it mean to that area?

[00:50:00]

SAFDIE: I think the vision of Alice Walton was to bring art to the center of the country, what we evolved as an architecture that's inviting; that's seductive, that's accessible. It's a museum with several entrances. It's surrounded by trails, sculpture gardens. It's all about outreach and bringing people in, people who never go to a museum. And when you walk around and you listen to people talking with their families coming back over and over, the term that I hear the most is it's a happy building, and happy buildings attract people who come over. It's become really a museum, which is the community center. It's become a catalyst. Three people told me today they moved to Bentonville because the museum was built here.

MICHAELSON: Wow. That's got to make you feel so much pride, Olivia, and also, talk about the decision for free admission, which I'm sure is not cheap for all of you. Why that decision, and what does that feel like when you see some of the people who may not be able to afford another museum able to come in and enjoy it?

WALTON: Oh, it's a delight. It lifts our spirits, because it just means we're making good on our mission. So, everything we're doing at Crystal Bridges is about expanding access. Our mission is to welcome all, to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the beauty of nature with the power of art, which Moshe's architecture does so well.

Well, Elex, we can't welcome all if we're going to be asking -- if we're going to be charging. So, it was obvious to us from day one that we needed to be free as the most important thing we could do to be accessible, and it's honestly been very gratifying to see some other arts organizations around the country catching on and noticing that when you are free, guess what, the diversity of who comes through your doors changes a little bit, and your age number goes down a little bit. So, being free is just integral to everything we're doing at Crystal Bridges, because it's all about access.

MICHAELSON: Well, we love that. The only thing I didn't like about this segment is that I'm not there in person with you, because it looks incredible. I got to come to Arkansas and check it out.

Olivia and Moshe, thank you, guys, so much, and thank you for this gift of this museum to the world. SAFDIE: Please come.

WALTON: Yes, anytime. Please come visit.

SAFDIE: We'll walk you through.

MICHAELSON: All right. I look forward to it.

The Story Is continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: One of the most prestigious club competitions in world football is set to take place this weekend. Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal are set to face off in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday. Both clubs completed their final training sessions at Puskas Arena in Budapest ahead of the match. Nearly 70,000 supporters are expected to fill the stands. The winners will lift the most coveted trophy in club football.

Fans of comics and anime are gathering in Hong Kong this weekend. They're celebrating the city's first ever Comic Con.

CNN Senior International Correspondent and self-proclaimed nerd, Ivan Watson is there and takes us along for the ride.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Oh my goodness, it's Colonel Sanders with big muscles and fried chicken, just an example of the random stuff that I'm seeing at Hong Kong's first Comic Con, and the crowd here is in form, and it's fun. Where else do you get to see Rick with his portal? And I don't even know what that machine is? And over here you got Brute wandering around, waving at people, and statues of Spider Man showing his hind quarters. This is a venue where people get to nerd out and celebrate nerd culture, and I love it.

I confess that I'm a bit of a kid in a candy store right now, because I grew up reading Marvel Comics, superhero comics, and I wouldn't let anybody at middle school see my issues of Uncanny X-Men, because I was a little bit ashamed of it. But here, this kind of culture is being celebrated. It has gone fully mainstream. The whole point at these things is to be a fan, to dress up, to have people take photos of you, and to take hook photos. Hey, Freddie, how is it going, man?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on camera): Wonderful.

WATSON (on camera): How is your first Comic Con in Hong Kong?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on camera): Oh yes.

WATSON (on camera): Digging it. All right. And that is my report, as I geek out at Hong Kong's first Comic Con.

Ivan Watson, CNN, in Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: I love it, Ivan. I love the Superman outfit. He is our superhero. Thank you, Ivan.

Thanks for watching the first hour of The Story Is. The next hour starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: The Story Is, cave rescue. CNN's Will Ripley exclusively in Laos, as crews save a man's life.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Something that they never had to do in their lives. This very, very sensitive and difficult dive followed by a very physically arduous climb, which, of course, faces its own challenges.

MICHAELSON: The Story Is, banning social media for kids? California's legislature votes unanimously to require major changes to apps like TikTok and Instagram. The bill's author, Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal, is here live.

And The Story Is, is the clock ticking on 60 Minutes' future? CNN's Brian Stelter talks with the show's new top boss, who has never worked a day in his life in T.V. news.