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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Rescuers Gear Up To Resume Mission To Save Trapped Men; Iranian Official - Deal With U.S. Has Not Been Finalized; California Passes Bill Restricting Social Media For Teens; Judge - Trump's Name Must Be Removed From Kennedy Center; State Voters Go To Polls For Primaries On Tuesday, June 2; CBS's 60 Minutes Faces Major Leadership Shake-Up; Chinese Astronauts Back On Earth After Nearly 7 Months In Space; Aired 1-2a ET

Aired May 30, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: -- 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's never worked a day in his life in TV news.

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

MICHAELSON: Thanks for watching "The Story Is," and welcome to the weekend. I'm Elex Michaelson. "The Story Is" in Laos where rescue operations have resumed to save four known survivors still trapped inside a deep cave system. A multi-national team of divers is helping with that rescue. They have to take this route just to get to the remote location.

First, a 30-minute drive on rough roads, then another half hour trekking through the jungle to reach the cave's mouth. When they get inside, parts of the cave are so narrow, there's barely enough space for their crucial oxygen tanks. One rescuer describes it like crawling through a drinking straw. They're giving the trapped men a crash course in basic diving to help them get through the flooded section of the cave. Some of the men are trapped starting to have health issues. One person was guided out to safety late Friday. Two people still missing. Survivors trapped inside have been fighting for survival for 11 days now. CNN's Will Ripley made that trek to report on the scene. Will?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 10 days trapped underground. The first survivor is pulled from a flooded cave in Central Laos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all right. I'm still strong, he says. RIPLEY: An ambulance rushes him away, but tonight, the rescue is on hold. Another agonizing night for the four known survivors, the fate of two still missing unknown. Rescue divers are exhausted. Getting one man out took days of preparation and backbreaking work. What was that moment like when you guys got the first villager out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. It was I don't know how to describe. It was full of action. It was full of emotion, full of everything.

RIPLEY: The route to safety winds through 850 feet of narrow jagged tunnels, some flooded with ice cold, pitch black water.

NORRASED BENZ PALASING, RESCUE DIVER: We have to climb out. We just we cannot do like that. We do, like, just a little bit just a little bit. They're like account 200 meter. We spend 50 minute.

RIPLEY: 50?

PALASING: 50, 5-0.

RIPLEY: Wow.

PALASING: 50 minute to call in. So that was very small. And then some water trap around. We have to, like, clean in water. We have to, like, submerge the water sometimes.

RIPLEY: The most dangerous section is a flooded passage roughly a 100- feet long. Divers describe near zero visibility, sharp rocks, and no room for mistakes. Rescuers spent days pumping water out of the cave, installing guide ropes, securing an evacuation route. The cave entrance plunges underground at a 45-degree angle. Food, water, and medicine have finally reached the men, but days spent in the dark are taking a toll. Doctors are now reporting health problems among those still trapped, skin infections, digestive issues, and growing exhaustion. Those still inside the cave struggling to breathe rancid air wonder if they're running out of time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we're still here after another two days, we'll be dead, he says. I'm completely exhausted. If I don't get out of here, I'm going to die.

RIPLEY: The cave sits in one of the most remote regions in Southeast Asia. Satellite images show a makeshift access road bulldozed through the dense jungle in a matter of days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And directly below us is where this cave rescue is unfolding as we speak.

RIPLEY: The drive from the Laos capital takes between eight and 10 hours. CNN reached the site by helicopter, then four wheel drive, then on foot. We found families anxiously waiting.

SAMOM IAN, WIFE OF TRAPPED MAN: He's still trapped inside. He said he's very exhausted now.

RIPLEY: What's the first thing you're going to say to him when you see him?

IAN: What should I say? I'd be happy to see my husband again. I'm grateful to people from other countries that came to help us. Thank you.

RIPLEY: Families are celebrating the first rescue, wondering if the others will make it out alive.

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Rescue divers who've flown in from all over the world have been meeting for the last couple of hours here, and in fact, all of them are getting ready to get into that white pickup truck and that green bus, which will take him to the entrance of the cave where they have had other, rescue officials from Thailand and Laos camping out overnight, operating generators to pump out as much water as possible before they begin this extremely difficult and dangerous operation to try to get the remaining four villagers out. But one of the divers said, frankly, it's a miracle that the first made it out alive, and he was the youngest and the strongest in the group. And there were very serious concerns about whether the other four will be able to make it. Will Ripley, CNN, Central Lao.

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MICHAELSON: Will, exclusively for us there in Lao. Thank you, Will. There is still no word on whether President Trump has reached a decision on a peace deal with Iran after wrapping up a 2-hour meeting in the Situation Room. That is despite saying that he planned to make a, "Final determination before walking into the meeting." News officials told CNN that Washington and Tehran reached a tentative agreement this week to open the Strait of Hormuz and begin nuclear talks. However, Iran's Foreign Minister says, not so fast. The two sides have not yet finalized the so-called memorandum of understanding. The ministry spokesperson adding, "Regarding other points that have been mentioned, the nuclear issue, I stress again that at this stage, we are focused on ending the war. Therefore, we have nothing to say about the details of the nuclear issue at this stage. While waiting for a deal to be reached, Iran is quickly digging out its vast missile stockpiles that were buried by U.S. and Israeli strikes.

That's according to a CNN analysis of new satellite images, which cast doubt on President Trump's claims of having nearly completely wiped out Iran's military capabilities. CNN's Tamara Qiblawi reports.

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TAMARA QIBLAWI, SENIOR INVESTIGATIONS WRITER: These are recent satellite images of Iran's missile bases taken after the start of the ceasefire with the U.S. and Israel. Dump trucks and excavators digging through piles of rubble along the mountainside, but it's what lies beneath the surface that makes this significant. A vast stockpile of missiles trapped by U.S. bombs and likely intact according to weapons experts, with satellite images showing Iran quickly regaining access to them, casting doubt on U.S. President Donald Trump's claims of having all but vanquished Iran's formidable rocket arsenal.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces. Very few of them left.

QIBLAWI: CNN previously identified a pattern of U.S. Israeli strikes to put Iran's missile complexes out of commission, not by destroying them, but by blocking the tunnel entrances leading in and out of them, leaving the rockets trapped inside and severely hampering Iran's ability to wreak havoc on U.S. allies in the region. But that was only a temporary solution. Iran is already undoing the effects of that strategy. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has acknowledged that Iran has been repairing the damage.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: You are digging out your remaining launchers and missiles with no ability to replace them. You have no defense industry.

QIBLAWI: But the recovery is widespread and it is happening quickly. CNN looked at 69 tunnels across 18 underground missile bases. At least 50 of those access points appeared to have been cleared and many others are being repaired. Take this base in Western Iran. Just weeks ago, U.S.-Israeli fighter jets destroyed all four entrances to the underground complex, but now two of them appear wide open. The roads needed to wheel out its trapped rocket launchers repaved. And Iran is already in the process of clearing the remaining two. It's also repaired some of the more than a dozen craters left behind by U.S.- Israeli munitions.

The craters indicate that a large amount of firepower was used to destroy just two tunnel entrances. And all Iran needs to reopen them? Dump trucks and bulldozers. As Iran rallies around the missiles that survived the war, weapons experts say it will continue to come up with new ways to protect its arsenal from any renewed US Israeli bombing. Tamane Qiblawi, CNN, London.

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MICHAELSON: In response to a request for comment, the Pentagon referred CNN to a previous statement that says, "America's military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President's choosing." We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands, while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests.

The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, says on average 11 children have been killed or injured per day during Israeli operations in Lebanon in the past week.

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A Lebanese news agency reported four more deaths including children in new strikes on Friday. Many adults have another problem bidding goodbye to their homes after Israeli evacuation orders. One resident says she doesn't have the heart to leave the city of (inaudible), which Israel struck earlier this week. Relief workers say Israeli operations have about 1.3 million people displaced in Lebanon.

Here in California, the state assembly unanimously, in a total bipartisan way, approved a plan to restrict teens from certain social media platforms considered to be addictive. It would prohibit kids under 16 from having accounts on social media sites such as Google, Meta, and TikTok that have features aimed at keeping users engaged. Those features include endless scrolling and autoplay.

The bill was introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal. It now goes to the state senate for consideration. Governor Gavin Newsom has already expressed support for social media age restrictions. This is a look at the fact that it passed unanimously. California State Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal live in studio with us now.

MICHAELSON: Welcome to "The Story Is," and congrats on the bill.

JOSH LOWENTHAL, CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLYMEMBER: Appreciate you, Elex, and I appreciate the interest.

MICHAELSON: So let's talk about what exactly it does. Because you say it's not exactly a ban.

LOWENTHAL: Well, I don't like the word ban. I like the word delay. We're not banning our children from accessing social media. We're banning social media from accessing our children. What the bill does is it identifies these harmful features that everyone in the pediatric, scientific, education communities have determined to be harmful for children in their development. And the bills effectively says to the platforms, if you are going to engage in these harmful features, then you need to wait until children have the developmental abilities, the prefrontal cortex, to be able to handle the type of things that they're going to encounter online, and we've determined that to be age 16.

MICHAELSON: OK. So we'll put up on the screen what those things are. There's three things in particular. One of them is this algorithmic content, which means it sort of targets you. Another one is this ability to infinitely scroll, where it just keeps going and going and going. Auto play, it keeps going and going. And also the notifications that are constantly going towards you and giving you that dopamine effect when you get a notification. And you're saying if any of these are present, then kids can't look at it, right?

LOWENTHAL: We're saying then you have to wait until you're offering your services to kids. Now what we want out of the outcome of this bill is effectively for the platforms to give those up. And so they can continue to have children in their ecosystem as long as it's safe. And that's what parents are asking for throughout the State of California.

MICHAELSON: And you used the example of, like YouTube. So there's YouTube, and then there's YouTube Kids. And YouTube Kids does not have all of those things that regular YouTube does. LOWENTHAL: An important component of this bill is the creation of an e-safety commission, which is going to be an advisory entity with experts in the field that are constantly evaluating what the platforms are doing or what they're not doing. And that's relevant because the platforms are changing on a daily basis. What YouTube and YouTube Kids are doing today may not be what they're doing tomorrow. So it is important that we have folks that are monitoring precisely what the platforms are doing, that can demand data back and forth, that have a pipeline with the pediatric and scientific communities over those things, so we can know what should be in bucket and what should be out of bucket.

MICHAELSON: Because -- basically, it sounds like you're what you want is for TikTok or Instagram to design a kid's version, which right now they really don't have.

LOWENTHAL: Well, they --

MICHAELSON: They have a version, but they still have a lot of those other things. You've used the example of, like, LinkedIn right now, which I don't know how many people want that when they're 12-years- old. But if they did, that doesn't have a lot of those addictive features built in.

LOWENTHAL: LinkedIn, Pinterest, Discord, there are many examples of those that lean into wellness as part of their core principles. And sort of the big ones have not done so yet, but what we see is we have court cases on the one side that are holding them liable for these features, and you have jurisdictions around the world that are doing the same thing that California is trying to do.

MICHAELSON: Well, let's talk about that. Because the last time we talked to you on this show, you were live in Australia when they were about to enact something very similar, you studied what they're doing. How is that going so far? What have you learned from Australia?

LOWENTHAL: Well, the learnings have been that the platforms have the ability to comply. They kicked off 5 million accounts since the -- since it was implemented, and they're going through the process right now of working with the platforms to make sure that they ensure that young people are not getting back on. Now there's two buckets of kids, Elex.

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One bucket of kids are the ones that are under age 11 right now that are not addicted yet. There's going to be immediate relief for that population. The ones who are already addicted that's going to be a little bit bumpy. We've never engaged in anything like this as a large social experiment, and we need to make sure that this is not about being punitive to children. Kids are going to be kids. Some kids drink when they're underage. I tried it. Or go to R-rated movies when they were under age 17 or whatever. We don't want to be punitive to kids. It should be the responsibility of the platforms to make sure that kids aren't getting addicted to this. MICHAELSON: And, obviously, this is happening in California, but there are other states looking at this and other countries as well, right? Are you're in communication with the European Union?

LOWENTHAL: There is a community of folks, policymakers throughout the world that are working with each other, countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil. And, yes, the President of the European Commission announced that the entire EU is going to be taking on this policy this summer.

MICHAELSON: So in California, you think this thing's going to pass?

LOWENTHAL: Well, our Governor has already spoken out in support of this policy. And let me take a moment to say how proud I am of our Governor and the first partner for destigmatizing this issue by talking about the experiences that they've had with their families. And it enables all of us to be able to talk about this issue, which is really something that every single family that has school age children is contending with.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. And, it's a big conversation all around the world. Josh Lowenthal, Assemblyman, thanks so much for sharing your perspective and interesting, we're seeing a bipartisan approach to this as well. The former U.S. Attorney General speaks to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but stays mostly tight lipped about the justice department's handling of the Epstein files, plus details of the legal wrangling related to the President's lawsuit against the IRS. All that ahead on "The Story Is."

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MICHAELSON: The White House has released president Trump's latest physical exam results late at night on a Friday. It comes after days of criticism over a lack of transparency following an unusual three day delay. The memo from the President's physician released says that Trump remains in "excellent health," but it notes a recommendation for weight loss and a little more exercise. But it also addresses the much discussed bruising on the president's hands, which he's attributed to frequent handshaking and using a lot of aspirin. A one, two punch for president Trump's Anti Weaponization Fund courtesy of a pair of federal judges, a federal judge in Virginia, has 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 government. A hearing is scheduled for June 12th.

That same day, a different federal judge in Florida is set to hear a related check case after taking the extraordinary step of reopening the President's original lawsuit against the IRS, which she had closed last week to examine allegations of fraud. And another federal judge has ruled that President Trump's name has to be removed from the Kennedy Center within two weeks, and all mentions of the Trump Kennedy Center must be removed from the center's website. Judge also blocked Mr. Trump's plans to close the venue for years long renovation projects. Shortly after the ruling, President appeared to back down from his plans. He says he's transferring control to Kennedy Center from the executive branch to congress.

Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before lawmakers in Friday in a long sought interview. She did not say how much about how the justice department handled the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files repeatedly noting that her successor, Todd Blanche, was largely in charge. CNN's Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid has more.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Former Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared here on Capitol Hill where she answered questions for just under four hours in a much anticipated interview with lawmakers. This was their opportunity to grill her on the Trump justice department's handling, of all things, Epstein. Now Democratic lawmakers say that she tried to pin the blame for a lot of the mistakes, especially in the review and redacting process on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Let's take a listen.

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MELANIE STANSBURY, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: This is absolutely a cover up and a smokescreen to prevent Pam Bondi from having to testify under oath pursuant to a congressional subpoena.

MAXWELL FROST, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Every single one of our questions got one of three responses. One, not to my recollection or I don't know. Two, talk with Todd Blanche. I don't know anything about it. And three, I am not talking about Donald Trump.

ROBERT GARCIA, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: What she's saying here in her words and remarks is that it was Todd Blanche, the current acting AG, that was leading the Epstein investigation. And quite frankly, all of the mistakes that we saw, the redactions, not protecting survivors, she continues to push that back onto the acting AG, Todd Blanche, by the way, was Donald Trump's former personal lawyer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: But on social media after the hearing, she said that that was not true, and she defended Blanche's handling of this and his "Herculean efforts." Now the committee says she is the 13th witness that they have talked to in this investigation, though because this happened behind closed doors, it was not televised or even recorded, we won't know what they learned and what she said until they release a transcript as early as next week. Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

MICHAELSON: There's much more to come here on "The Story Is," including a look at the LA mayor's race ahead of the primary election on Tuesday.

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A lot of folks voting this weekend. Our panel is here to discuss it all. Maeve Reston, Jon Regardie standing by. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: "The Story Is" California politics, the state's primary is next Tuesday, and the LA mayoral race is one of many contests on the ballot, but getting a lot more attention than the other ones. A recent poll from UC Berkeley and the LA Times finds incumbent Mayor Karen Bass leading among likely voters at 26 percent, followed by Nithya Raman, city council member, democratic socialist, 25 percent, and Spencer Pratt at 22 percent, republican. Remember, this is a non- partisan race.

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I'm joined now by Jon Regardie, Freelance Political Reporter who just wrote the cover story for the LA Magazine about the mayor's race, And Maeve Reston, contributor for the brand new news outlet L.A. Material, which is great, where she's written extensively on this. Of course, she's a veteran of CNN. Great to see both of you again, my friends. Thanks for being here.

This race, Jon, is weird. Your article was called LA's Weirdest Mayor's Race. Talk to me about why it's so weird, and some of it has to do with an incumbent who's not very strong.

JON REGARDIE, POLITICAL REPORTER, LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE: Absolutely. And that is the weirdest part. Basically, coming out of the Palisades fires, we've had Karen Bass with an approval rating below 50 percent. Just an incredibly weak number, and one would think that, OK. That's weird enough, and that would probably lead to real major league challengers coming to try to take her down. And we expected Rick Caruso, the mall developer, to do it. He considered for years, and then he did not enter end up running. So we wound up with a situation where because he had waited so long, the people who got in were people we never would have expected. The City Council Member Nithya Raman, who as you just mentioned, gets in literally on the last day, and the other major --

MICHAELSON: And had endorsed Karen Bass for mayor last time, and she had endorsed Raman for city council. So Bass was like, where did that come from?

REGARDIE: Absolutely. And then the other one, which may have even been stranger, Spencer Pratt, reality TV personality, no record in local politics gets in suddenly surging. And even add on to all that, it's a situation now because in Los Angeles, no one is likely to get more than 50 percent. So we're probably going to the top two finishers are moving on to a runoff. It's just weird all around.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. And for people that may don't follow LA politics that closely, if somebody gets 50 percent on June 2nd, they're the mayor. So that is what Spencer Pratt says is his best shot at winning, and that's his strategy, is to try to get 50 percent on June 2nd. We have not seen a poll that has shown him coming anywhere close to that, but he would say that the poll itself are flawed and they're not counting his people. Maeve, you talked about, and this is one of the polls that we've seen, in LA material where Bass is winning. And you say the mayor is attracting support of Latino voters, and her allies are spending heavily to make sure they turn out. Latinos were a majority minority city here in Los Angeles. That Rick Caruso, who you mentioned, who spent over a $100 million on the last race thought that Latinos was going to be his key to victory. He was very disappointed they didn't turn out in big enough numbers for him. You say they are turning up for her.

MAEVE RESTON, CONTRIBUTOR, L.A. MATERIAL: They did. In Caruso's race, though, in the primary, he actually did get a larger share of Latino voters than Karen Bass did in her first race. But what we're seeing now is basically, like she has other pieces of her coalition that have fallen away. Those really frustrated Westsiders, the people who still are really angry about her handling of the fires. And so, I think the campaign feels like she has a really strong shot of turning out a lot more Latino voters even than voted for her the last time, because she was really confrontational when I.C.E. rolled into town, when they showed up in MacArthur Park. She went up to some of the very heavily armed officers.

She asked them to leave. And it was this moment for her where she was back in the spotlight and got a lot of actually positive publicity around that after having terrible publicity following the fires. And so she's been doing a lot of care and tending to that piece of the electorate, particularly appearing with immigrant rights activists and talking a lot about how the uncertainty and the chaos that the Trump administration has caused with the raids is continuing to make life difficult for people across LA.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

RESTON: And as you mentioned, there Latinos are a huge share of the electorate. So if she can push up votes in that sector of the electorate, then maybe she will have what would be a less embarrassing night on --

MICHAELSON: Yeah, because if you look at a map of LA for people that don't live here, there's the 405 Freeway, which a lot of people have heard of, that sort of cuts across the city. And on the West side of the 405 is a whiter, wealthier population, which last time around backed Rick Caruso. On the right side of the 405 is a population that is much more Latino. You see an African American population there as well that backed Bass in big numbers last time around. And that divide still exists. And Spencer Pratt, Jon cannot become mayor if he doesn't win some of those folks that Caruso couldn't win the last time around, which is a lot of Latino voters who have to get behind him.

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REGARDIE: But what he does, but the thing is he doesn't need to win that right now. He just needs to, as we were just referencing, finish in the top two. And based on a lot of the discussions I've been having from my stories and others, people think that someone could get into the top two with as little as say, 23 percent, 25 percent. So this right now is not about getting all the votes. It's just about not coming in third place, so you can live to fight another day in November.

So, at a certain point, we may be talking about as you're absolutely right, needing to win some of that Latino population or others.

MICHAELSON: But it's also interesting, Maeve. You write another story for the LA material about the ad wars or lack thereof. You think about TV advertising, which here in California, we see Tom Steyer over and over and over again. We don't see Karen Bass. We don't see a lot of the folks. Why is that?

RESTON: Well, I mean, first of all, that she's raising less this time. And a lot of the outside groups, like we weren't seeing big drops of spending earlier on. There's just -- they're all trying to really get their message out through social media, all of these different ways, and also through digital ads when you're on your phone streaming Hulu, et cetera.

MICHAELSON: Because Spencer Pratt hasn't run any ads, right?

RESTON: No. No. He's not spending anything.

MICHAELSON: But then it's amazing, Jon, what he has done though in terms of reach. He puts out an ad on digital media on X. One of his ads get reached 14 million people. I mean, he has fans creating AI for him that he shares out that's reaching all these people. I mean, Spencer Pratt is doing something we've never seen before in LA politics and really sort of changing the way politics is being seen around the country too.

REGARDIE: 100 percent, Elex. I mean, he is absolutely altering how people are consuming and getting news and information about the election. And I think it's key that you mentioned it's not only his ads, but then when people create these AI generated ads of Batman or Star Wars, then he shares them and they go on to these phenomenal numbers. So and he's doing that by tapping into this rage, this anti- incumbent sentiment in Los Angeles.

People angry about the fires or about homelessness, and he's recognized that in doing something that we haven't seen in modern politics.

MICHAELSON: So the graphic that's up right now that we just had up there looked at the potential general election matchups, if there is a top two. And it suggests that Karen Bass would beat Spencer Pratt pretty overwhelmingly. We've also got other looks at what would happen if there was a matchup between Nithya Raman and Karen Bass, and we see a closer result in that situation. In fact, the poll indicates that Nithya Raman might beat her. We also see a general election. That's what we're looking at there, 32, 48, basically within a margin of error. And then, we see that Raman would beat Pratt now, but I know you have skepticism about these polls.

RESTON: Absolutely. REGARDIE: I mean, I never trust a single poll. And I also what I don't want to do is start looking forward all the way to November. The world can flip upside down, in five months. We've seen drastic changes of some of the results in Los Angeles in 2020 in the primary, and then the murder of George Floyd changed everything. The racial justice protests and reckoning. COVID and we saw people who a district attorney candidate, George Gascon, got 28 percent in the primary that year, won in the general election over someone who had had 48 percent. Things can change drastically.

RESTON: And we're also seeing so many people holding on to their ballots. I mean, it's this the turnout in this election could be so incredibly low that it is another reason to be really hesitant. And I think that's why we're seeing polls that are all over the place.

MICHAELSON: Right. And what we have seen is Republicans turning in their ballots ahead of Democrats so.

RESTON: Yes, with more enthusiasm.

MICHAELSON: Most likely, the first numbers on election night will show Spencer Pratt probably ahead.

RESTON: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: But that may not stay that way or may it may. But probably when you see a big number for him right out the gate, you know that's what's happening.

RESTON: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: Watch us on election night, and we'll help guide you through that. Maeve, John, great to see both of you. Great writing. Check out their work for a deeper dive on this fascinating race.

Coming up, CBS's iconic news magazine 60 Minutes is getting a major leadership shakeup. Why the network's controversial new leader, Bari Weiss, says she's choosing disruption over complacency? Brian Stelter joins me next.

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MICHAELSON: CBS News is making big changes to the iconic 60 Minutes, which is the #1 rated news program on TV by far, one that makes the network a whole lot of money. So why shake up such a successful brand? CNN's Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter is here to explain.

Brian, welcome back. So there's a few things happening here. A couple of the correspondents have been fired. Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, and the Executive Producer has been fired and replaced with somebody who has no TV experience. Who is that, and why these moves? BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: That's right. This new EP, this New Producer is named Nick Bilton. I used to work with him when we both were at the New York Times and then at Vanity Fair. He is a filmmaker, a documentarian, a tech reporter. But when this was announced, on Thursday afternoon, I said to my wife, you will never all day long, you could guess all day long, you will not be able to figure out who 60 Minutes just named to be the new boss.

This was so far out of left or right field. It was a total bombshell to the TV news industry, and that's partly what Barri Weiss wanted. Barri Weiss, who took control of CBS News last fall, appointed by Paramount CEO David Ellison, she has a mandate for real serious change at CBS, not around the edges of CBS News, but very much at the heart of the organization. And so that is what this move is all about, bringing in an outsider, in this case, filmmaker and tech journalist who's known for thinking about the future, looking about where media and tech is going.

[01:45:00]

Bilton told me that's what he's been thinking a lot about, and he wants to help rebuild 60 Minutes in an era not of horizontal video like this broadcast, but a vertical video, the kind that we're all watching on our phones. 60 Minutes, of course, so well-known for those mini documentaries that air on Sunday nights. And Bilton told me those are not going to change. The format of 60 Minutes on TV will be the same, but he said there's so many opportunities to build digitally, to build new versions of 60 Minutes online, and that's what he wants to do.

But whether he can do it, and whether he's the right pick for the job, that's what the entire TV news world's buzzing about, Elex.

MICHAELSON: So he's replacing, Tanya Simon, who was the Executive Producer of 60 Minutes. And some people may remember her father, Bob Simon, was one of the most beloved correspondents at 60 Minutes. She had been producer there for 30 years. She was well respected within the company. Her show was number one on TV. They win every major award. So why is she losing her job?

STELTER: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: I mean, it's one thing when you've got CBS Evening News, CBS Mornings, which had been mired in last place for years. Why fix it when it clearly is not only not broken, but is the most successful thing out there?

STELTER: I think the view from Barri Weiss and her inner circle is that the reason to make a change now is to do so from a position of strength. Before the ratings decline, before the program erodes, make changes now while you're already winning and grow from that position. Reading between the lines of her memo and Bilton's memo on Thursday, it seems they believe 60 Minutes is valuable, but it's archaic, that it's an institution that needs to change, that has not changed and not evolved over the years and desperately needs new outsider energy. I think Barri Weiss has come into an organization that, yes, is partly in third place in the ratings on those other shows you mentioned and is very resistant to change. There might be good reasons not to change. There might be bad reasons. I don't know. But it's a very stubborn place in some ways, although the journalists there are very proud of the legacy of CBS News. So Weiss has concluded she has to bring in outsiders to try to shake things up.

And both Weiss and Bilton said to the staff, they said, "If you don't disrupt yourself, then you will get disrupted." Now that is straight out of Silicon Valley, right? That is a tech era kind of truism that you have to disrupt yourself or you'll get left behind. So that's the attitude. It might be brilliant or it might be a disaster. I don't think anybody knows, and that's why there's so much curiosity about whether this is going to work or not.

MICHAELSON: So 60 minutes, for good reason. The people that work there are known for having opinion of themselves and what they do, because they're the best, so they've been doing this for a long time as the best. How is this being received inside the room to have somebody who's never worked in TV before suddenly be the boss of a brand that's used to having all this independence.

STELTER: Well, I heard from a veteran producer there, Rome Hartman. I just was reading his email again tonight. He said that within the organization, among the rank and file, there was shock and horror and dismay about the appointment of this outsider coming into this organization built in with not really any managerial experience, relatively little TV news experience. There's a sense that Barri Weiss is breaking something that doesn't need to be broken, that doesn't need to be fixed. So within the rank and file, real concern about the future.

And there's some concern about whether this is all politically motivated. We know that President Trump watches 60 Minutes, sometimes gets mad about 60 minutes, sometimes rants about it online. He sued the program in 2024. Paramount very controversially settled with him and paid his future presidential library. There's a lot of history there, and there's been a lot of concern in CBS and outside CBS about Paramount trying to cozy up to the Trump administration while Paramount's trying to buy CNN and the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that needs Trump administration approval.

So there's a political clout hanging over all of this. But Bilton is not a political guy. He doesn't have a political identity. He's certainly not considered MAGA in any way. He has written critically about Trump in the past. And when I said to him on the phone, I said, you going to shy away from aggressive coverage of the Trump administration? He said, absolutely not. He said he's really proud of what the show did this last season. He said that coverage will continue, but it will continue with different correspondence. You mentioned Cecilia Vega fired, Sharyn Alfonsi fired.

They're going to be bringing in new talent, maybe YouTube digital native type talent. This is a big question mark going forward, and ultimately, viewers are going to decide if the show is living up to its reputation. Viewers are going to decide if the show is having aggressive coverage of the Trump administration. It's up to viewers to vote every Sunday or when they're watching online.

MICHAELSON: It'll be interesting to see what happens next on this one. CNN's Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter, thanks for staying up late for us. Have a great weekend.

STELTER: Thanks so much. Thanks.

MICHAELSON: We'll be back with more of "The Story Is" right after this.

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MICHAELSON: Novak Djokovic's quest for a record 25th grand slime title is over at the French Open after a stunning comeback by 19-year-old Brazilian, Joe Fonseca. Djokovic took the first two sets, but Fonseca battled back to win the next three in a nearly 5-hour thriller. The Serbian superstar said that Fonseca played an unbelievable match, while the team said it was a pleasure to play against Djokovic calling him an idol.

One of the most prestigious club competitions in world football set to take place this week in Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal set to face off in a UEFA Champions League final on Saturday.

[01:55:00]

Both clubs completing their final trading 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.

And after nearly seven months in space, three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth safely on Friday. The Shenzhou-21 crew spent their mission completing multiple experiments aboard China's space station. State run media report that they performed the first in orbit breeding of small mammals. Crew returned on a different spacecraft than the one they launched in after cracks were discovered in the original craft's viewing window.

Thanks so much for joining us all week here on "The Story Is." It's been quite a week, and next week is going to be quite a week as well. We hope you'll be with us Tuesday night for special election coverage here in California and throughout multiple states in California. We're doing a 4-hour show for you that night. We hope you'll join us for that and more. In the meantime, I'm Elex Michaelson. Have a great weekend.