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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
U.S.-Iran Talks Back on Track; Interview with Tom Steyer; Trump's Top Initiatives Face Criticism, Pushback, Legal Challenges; L.A. Mayoral Candidates Make Last Pitches Before Election Day; Colombia Plays Costa Rica in Friendly Match Before World Cup. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired June 02, 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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LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: This show is expiring right now. Thank you all for watching. "THE STORY IS" with Elex Michaelson is next.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. Welcome to THE STORY IS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS tension between the U.S. and Israel. New details of an extraordinary exchange between President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.
THE STORY IS down to the wire. Polls indicate that the California governor's race could be too close to call. One of the top candidates, Tom Steyer, is here live on our set.
And THE STORY IS the L.A. mayor's race. On the final day of campaigning I talked to all three leading candidates.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: A lot going on tonight. The top story is U.S. talks with Iran are back on track, according to a regional source. Iranian media reported earlier that Tehran had suspended negotiations over Israel's continued strikes on Lebanon. President Trump, striking an optimistic tone late in the day, telling ABC News the talks with Iran are continuing at a rapid pace and an agreement could be reached, quote, "over the next week."
President Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in what sources describe as a very heated conversation. Trump took credit for deterring Israel from launching a major raid on Beirut. The president called it, quote, "a little glitch" that he turned around very quickly.
Residents fled the Lebanese capital after Israel vowed to strike Hezbollah targets there. The Israeli defense minister had declared there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. But later Israeli leaders seem to back off, although Netanyahu warned that the IDF would continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.
For more on all of this, let's bring in CNN's Mike Valerio, tracking it all live in Beijing.
Mike, lots of back and forth today.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that could be the understatement, Elex, of our early afternoon. And we were waiting on this side of the world for Iran to wake up and to respond to this back and forth, how they're going to respond to these latest developments with President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
So as we get to this conversation, really the sentiment, according to our CNN reporting and reporting from our global analyst, Barak Ravid, who is a phenomenal reporter for Axios, revealing in this conversation, reporting that the war in Lebanon waged by Israel, according to White House officials, was somewhat very much undermining Trump's ability to get a deal with Iran and to open the Strait of Hormuz.
So turning to Barak Ravid's reporting, this essentially is how the call between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump went down. With plenty of expletives in this conversation, the president, as summarized by a U.S. official saying, you're expletive crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your expletive. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.
An official described it to Barak Ravid as perhaps one of the worst conversations that the president has had with the prime minister since Trump came back to the White House. And there's this feeling within the White House, again, according to our CNN reporting and reporting from Axios, the president believes that Netanyahu is responding disproportionately to Hezbollah threats within Lebanon, striking an apartment complex, we see the footage on CNN all the time, to take out just a few Hezbollah targets. But in the process, scores of civilians in several attacks are killed.
The president is saying that that is a disproportionate response. So after this, the president posts on Truth that negotiations with Iran are continuing at a rapid pace. So we're waiting to see if that jibes with how Iran is seeing things. And we've heard in the past, most notably, just a few days ago, Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, saying that things are not going well, that Iran needs more guarantees from the American side about its nuclear program being able to survive, and those $24 billion in frozen assets being unfrozen in Qatar.
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So that is certainly what we are watching as we approach this 100-day mark coming up on Sunday, Elex, more than three months into this war.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Mike, some of the quotes from that meeting really are extraordinary to take us inside that room. And it will be interesting to see now that that's public what are the repercussions. We'll talk more about that next hour.
Mike Valerio, live for us in Beijing. Thanks for starting us off.
Mixed signals from the Trump administration over the future of the president's $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund. It was meant to compensate people who claim that they have been wrongly targeted by past administrations, which would include the January 6th rioters. The fund was also created in part to settle President Trump's massive lawsuit against the IRS. On Monday, the Justice Department said it, quote, "disagrees strongly with the federal court's decision to temporarily pause the fund," but added that it will abide by that decision.
The move has triggered a flurry of reactions on Capitol Hill as Democrats try to analyze the administration's shift in strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): So I think this is just Trump saying, OK, I'm not going to include it in this bill, but I'm not giving up on this idea.
REP. TOM SUOZZI (D-NY): So right now it's paused. That's good. The people don't like it. The elected officials don't like it. The courts don't like it, but they're going to -- they may try and keep it going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The fund is also sparking friction among Republicans. This was former vice president Mike Pence's reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: It's deeply offensive to me that you could have a fund that could even possibly compensate people who assaulted police officers or vandalized the Capitol on January 6th. And I think that's broadly held by most Republicans and most Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: A judge has set a hearing for June 12th to hear arguments on whether to extend the pause on the fund.
Let's talk elections. Tomorrow is the last day to vote in California's gubernatorial primary, and it is not clear who is going to advance. According to a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, a clear frontrunner has yet to emerge as voters prepare for a competitive ballot on Tuesday. Remember the top two advance regardless of party. On the Republican side, an endorsement from President Trump appears to be lifting Steve Hilton into striking distance.
Meanwhile, Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer are both looking to consolidate their party's support. Over the weekend, Steyer referenced our recent interview with Becerra in an attempt to differentiate his candidacy. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM STEYER, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: The key point about Xavier Becerra was that this week, when he was asked on TV what he would change, he said, I think we're doing pretty well. And Elex Michaelson said, but what would you change? And he said, we're the fourth biggest economy in the world, we must be doing something right.
Well, let me say this. It's not working for working Californians in the state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: We talk with all the leading candidates here. Tonight Tom Steyer joins us live.
First off, thanks for watching.
(LAUGHTER)
STEYER: Well, let me say, I thought you did a solid job as a reporter to ask the basic question, why are you running?
MICHAELSON: Yes.
STEYER: And his answer was everything is fine.
MICHAELSON: Well, the question was, what would you change in the state?
STEYER: Yes, it was.
MICHAELSON: And sort of what do we do differently, and I said, what would be a specific policy that you would change? And he went on for about two and a half minutes and he did not name a specific policy. He did say that we would build more housing.
So let me ask you that same question. What is a specific policy that you would change if you get in there?
STEYER: Well, Elex, do you have a little bit -- can I go through a few?
MICHAELSON: Yes.
STEYER: I mean, I've said we will break the monopoly power of the electric monopolies and reduce electric costs by 25 percent -- electricity costs by 25 percent. I've said we will push for single payer starting on day one.
MICHAELSON: Single payer healthcare.
STEYER: Yes. Single payer healthcare, that healthcare is a right for every Californian, and we will deliver it. And we will get single payer. I have said we will -- on day one, I will call a special election to close a corporate tax loophole that's worth over $20 billion to the state of California, money that we need both to step up our educational system, K through 12, but also to deliver healthcare, because there's a huge hole in the budget that's been caused by Donald Trump and his big bill kicking people off Medi-Cal.
I could keep going.
MICHAELSON: Those are a lot.
STEYER: I'm saying we're going to build a million houses, and I can take you through very clearly the way we're going to do that.
Look, California is unaffordable for most Californians. And they're really stressed. And so even though the state, the richest people in this state are killing it, the truth is the majority of Californians can't make ends meet.
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And so the idea that we're not going to do anything about that, that we're not going to structurally change things, I'm saying corporate special interests are driving up the costs for Californians. That's why they have record profits. And I'm saying we're going to have to take them on. In order to change things structurally, we're going to have to take on these corporate special interests. And they've heard me say it, and they've spent tens of millions of dollars to stop me.
MICHAELSON: Yes, they have. Let's -- there's a lot we could get into all that, but let's just go with single payer for a second.
STEYER: OK.
MICHAELSON: So the projections are that the cost of single payer, if we were to do that in California, would cost three times the cost of the entire budget of California right now. And there's a lot of folks that are scared that think, how do we pay for that? And why are we going to take on other people potentially coming in here and using our system? You say what?
STEYER: So, Elex, let me say this. There are single payer systems around the world. Overall, they cost about half as much per person as our system. Our system is a combination of what the government does and what employers do and what unions do. And so when we think about the cost of the system, you're lumping everything in the state in without taking into account that most of the people are on a system that's not directly from the government.
So the truth of the matter is single payer is the only way that we can get control of health costs in the state of California. If you, in fact, look at what's been going over the last 50 years, the cost of healthcare has gone up at twice the cost of inflation. It is eating up every family. It is eating up every business that has to pay for their employees' healthcare. And if you look at the budget of California, it is robbing every other part of the budget. And we're gradually moving people out of healthcare. Healthcare is a right for Californians. This is legitimately the only
way we can deliver healthcare to every Californian, and be able to afford it as a state. That's why I'm for it. I understand that getting it right will be a lot of work.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
STEYER: But we don't have a choice because if you look at our budget, you know, we -- if you look at, we're 38th out of 50 states in education. We used to be number one.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
STEYER: We don't even meet the legal requirements from Proposition 98, which says this much of the budget will go to education. We're actually saying, well, we can't do that this year. We promise to pay you back in the future. Healthcare is eating us up. We have to do something about it. And for the people who say, you know, we'll sort of compete our way out of it, we've heard that for far too long. We have to make a structural change if we're going to deliver healthcare to Californians.
MICHAELSON: You know, it seems like the way that this race is setting up is that it seems like a three-person race for two slots, even though there are 60 people on the ballot, and that is you versus Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton. Steve Hilton, Republican, former FOX News host, was on "ERIN BURNETT" tonight making his argument. Here's some of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE HILTON, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: You've seen Tom Steyer spend a lot of money on this race, nearly $220 million, I think it is now. And so it's basically a three-horse race for two slots. I think that we will make it because actually the big number that I pay attention to, and I think, which is why we'll get change in November, is that there's a majority of Californians who think we need change.
We've had 16 years now of Democrats running everything in California, and the results are just pretty disappointing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So his argument is that the Democrats have screwed this up, don't deserve to be trusted, and we need to sort of blow it up by bringing in an outside voice, and that we shouldn't give the Democrats more time. What do you say to that?
STEYER: He's right, we do need change. And let me say this. I'm the person who's actually talking about how to change California and make it better for working people. I haven't heard Steve Hilton come up with a single idea other than that Republicans are better.
MICHAELSON: Well, that's not true. He said -- he says he wants to do a tax cut for everybody under -- making under $100,000. He talked about that regulation.
STEYER: That's fair. But the truth is he's an acolyte and he's endorsed by Donald Trump.
MICHAELSON: He is.
STEYER: Which means he's in favor of the oil companies. He's in favor of this war. He's in favor of ICE raids. He's in favor of some crazy stuff about abortion. In fact, Steve Hilton's ideas are Donald Trump's ideas. And those ideas aren't working in the United States of America. Donald Trump is, you know, his party and he are responsible for kicking one to three million people off Medi-Cal. He's stiffing us about FEMA. He's cutting $1.3 billion out of healthcare because of unsubstantiated claims of fraud.
So let me say this. I don't take Steve Hilton seriously.
MICHAELSON: You don't take him seriously?
STEYER: Absolutely not. He is not a serious candidate. He actually is not someone who has actual ideas that will help California. He's supported by a president who has basically declared war on California. He's doing everything he can to hurt us.
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And I could keep going on, on all of the things. I think, look, he is a MAGA right Republican.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
STEYER: I think Xavier Becerra is a corporate Democrat. He's taking money from the big corporations. He is promising -- you know, he famously was for single payer until he went into a meeting with the lobbyist, the strongest lobby against single payer. And he says -- he didn't say this, but they said very clearly he indicated that he was against single payer. The next day, they endorsed him and maxed out to him. So they clearly thought he said that.
MICHAELSON: Right. And then we pressured him on the debate stage about that and he would not give a clear answer on that particular topic.
STEYER: Exactly. And he's taken the maximum amount of money from Chevron. They came in with another $500,000 last week. He said he's for oil drilling. He said we need Chevron. He said -- and if you go on his Web site, he has no environmental policy.
MICHAELSON: To that point, to that point, though, gas prices are high.
STEYER: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And there are a lot of folks that aren't necessarily on the right who feel like if you shut down California's oil refineries or don't drill that that hurts jobs for people that work there.
STEYER: I understand that. MICHAELSON: And it increases gas prices for people who need help right
now, who can't afford electric vehicles.
STEYER: So, Elex, have you heard what my idea is on this?
MICHAELSON: I have, but do you want to share them with everybody?
STEYER: If you'll let me.
MICHAELSON: That's what we're here for.
STEYER: What I've said is, look, this war in Iran has driven up gas prices by a buck 50.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
STEYER: It has not changed the cost for Chevron. What does it have to do with their cost? They're charging us the costs based on the world price, not based on their cost of production.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
STEYER: That's known as a windfall profit. It's like $70 billion.
MICHAELSON: But California has higher gas prices than every other state before that.
STEYER: They do.
MICHAELSON: Because of the higher gas prices and gas tax here.
STEYER: But this is -- this is a dollar -- this is $1.50. We're being gouged at the pump. And in fact, and I'm sure you know this, too, the lobby group for oil and gas in this state is called the Western States Petroleum Association. The head of it said in Sacramento two weeks ago, it is the duty of Chevron to extract every penny, to gouge every penny they can out of Californians at the pump as a result of the Iran war.
OK, game on. That's a windfall profit. You are getting a windfall profit. And my point is windfall profits tax. Let's get that money and send it back to Californians. They are gouging us, Elex, and they're admitting it. And they're proud of it. OK.
MICHAELSON: So the last question, Xavier Becerra argues that you are trying to buy the election and that we can't trust a billionaire and that that is something to fight back against. What do you say to people that are concerned about that, this concept of spending over $200 million, and that makes them feel uncomfortable?
STEYER: I see. I say two things. One, I'm not taking money from any of these corporations, and that means I actually can stand up only for Californians. It's the Californian people. And I have no conflicts. I have no split interests. There's no one else who I care about. And I can say they have spent over $50 million against me, plus the money that they're spending for other people. And if we're going to make change, Elex, in this state, and I
absolutely think we need change for this to be an affordable state and to rebuild the California dream so people can own a house and have great schools and enjoy our state, someone is going to have to take on these corporate special interests.
I mean, my point is two things. One, is California for Californians or is California to be run by corporations for their bottom lines? That is the very simple question right now. That is the question for Californians. And it's funny because we have a billionaire who's fighting for working people every day, and we have a career politician who's standing up for corporations and billionaires.
And it's ironic, I didn't think this is -- I said to you before, I never thought this is where we'd end up, but it's ended up in a place where it doesn't seem like anyone else is sitting here going, I'm going to work full time for working Californians. I'm going to make their life better. I'm going to reduce costs. I'm going to absolutely make sure they're fairly paid, and they're going to be able to thrive in California, not just try to survive.
MICHAELSON: Tom Steyer, thank you. I can keep going all day, but we got to stop at some point.
STEYER: What a treat to see you. Thank you.
MICHAELSON: Great to see you as well. Good luck out there tomorrow. And if you want to call in tomorrow night we're doing a show about four hours.
STEYER: I'll give you -- OK.
MICHAELSON: OK. It's not just in California that voters will be weighing in. Primaries will be held in six states from coast to coast Tuesday. We'll be covering the key primary races. We'll give you the results as they come in. Coverage starts Tuesday right here on CNN and on the CNN app, including a four-hour edition of the show that may have an interview with Tom Steyer that I may have just booked.
Still to come, officials report a new round of deadly Russian strikes against Kyiv. We'll have details on the latest attack, plus new doubts over a concert series planned for America's 250th birthday. Why multiple performers are pulling out of that project. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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MICHAELSON: Reports out of Kyiv indicate people are trapped under the rubble of a residential building after a heavy missile and drone attack by Russia. Ukrainian officials say the assault happened early Tuesday morning local time, wounding nearly 100 people with multiple deaths. Reported strikes reportedly hit multiple buildings, a clinic and a children's school, sparking fires and burning cars.
The attack comes after warnings from President Zelenskyy that a, quote, "massive strike was possible." Russian state media reported last week that troops began systematic strikes at military facilities in the Ukrainian capital.
[00:25:01]
In the coming hours, Kenya's high court is expected to hear more arguments on whether an Ebola quarantine facility will be allowed to open in partnership with the U.S.. A judge previously barred that arraignment pending a legal challenge, but the Kenyan government is still moving forward with those plans.
The move has prompted outrage in the area near the proposed site of the facility. Crowds gathered to protest on Monday, burning tires and blocking roads, with demonstrations. Residents say they're angry with officials for even entertaining the idea. And the recent outbreak of Ebola has been largely concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the World Health Organization reporting at least 43 confirmed deaths in the DRC and Uganda.
A protester is facing federal charges related to his involvement in protests outside of an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, According to the U.S. attorney's office, a 27-year-old Brooklyn man allegedly threatened to assault and murder the ICE officer and his family. According to a complaint, the same ICE officer had hit Nicholas Matthew Scelfo twice in the leg with a baton during a physical altercation. On Monday crowds gathered again to protest what they describe as inhumane conditions inside the facility. Department of Homeland Security had denied those allegations.
Newark's mayor has imposed a 9:00 p.m. curfew around the building in hopes of defusing the situation. But on the first night, several protesters refused to disperse, leading to their arrests.
The White House is scrambling to salvage a concert series planned to celebrate the country's 250th anniversary. The problem is the majority of the performers dropped out. Some say they were told the event would be nonpartisan and feel misled. But rapper Vanilla Ice, who is confirmed to perform, says the politics shouldn't matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANILLA ICE, MUSICIAN: That's all we're doing is celebrating the birthday of our country. What's the big deal here? And as far as entertainers, I don't think it's fair to put any of us on a pedestal like that as far as politics goes, because, you know, it shouldn't matter. We're just here to play. I'd play for anybody. So it's, you know, and I go play for Biden's family or anybody. It doesn't matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The president mocked the performers who dropped out on social media and suggested that he could replace them. President Trump referred to himself as, quote, "the number one attraction. The man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime."
This is far from the first time things haven't gone according to President Trump's plans.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty looks at some recent challenges to his projects.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many of President Trump's high profile pet projects.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're ahead of schedule.
SERFATY (voice-over): Have crescendoed into controversy.
TRUMP: This is my gift to the United States of America.
SERFATY (voice-over): Days after the lineup for the nation's 250th concert series was released, a string of artists abruptly dropped out, publicly admonishing the event, saying they felt misled about the event's political associations. Rapper Young MC telling "Rolling Stone" it was a bait and switch, saying the artists were never told about any political involvement with the event, and country singer Martina McBride saying she was told it would be a nonpartisan event. But that turned out to be misleading.
President Trump fired back, announcing that he will now personally kick off the celebration, blasting the artist as overpriced singers who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and calling to cancel the whole event to replace it with a Make America Great Again rally.
As critics charge, the president is making this about him. The secretary of interior stating he should be involved.
DOUG BURGUM, INTERIOR SECRETARY: The president plays a key figure in helping to, again, celebrate, kick off and be at the opening of these events. It's very appropriate.
SERFATY (voice-over): Meantime, Trump's other major and much touted personal endeavors are also facing serious headwinds. The ballroom.
TRUMP: It's going to be one of the most beautiful buildings that's ever been built in the country.
SERFATY (voice-over): Reflecting pool makeover.
TRUMP: I want to keep our country beautiful and safe. Beautiful also. This place was disgusting place.
SERFATY (voice-over): And planned arch.
TRUMP: It's called the Triumphal Arch. It's in honor of the veterans.
SERFATY (voice-over): All facing uncertain futures while they remain under litigation. And on Friday, a federal judge dealt a massive blow to the president's plans for the Kennedy Center.
TRUMP: You can't have this looking like it does. SERFATY (voice-over): A judge saying Trump cannot add his name to the
Kennedy Center and blocking the planned two-year closure for renovations meant to start next month.
In response, the president distanced himself from the arts institution that he had once coveted leading as chairman of the board.
TRUMP: I was honored when the board changed the name a little bit.
SERFATY (voice-over): Saying he has no interest in continuing unless he was free to do what he wanted to do. Even the president's UFC fight arena that is being built on the South Lawn of the White House.
JOE ROGAN, 'THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE" PODCAST: The White House thing is odd. I don't like it.
SERFATY (voice-over): Getting pushback from the president's own allies.
ROGAN: And it's D.C. and we looked it up the last time, like last year, same day, it was 100 degrees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had the lights.
ROGAN: Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had the lights.
ROGAN: Yes. That attracts bugs.
[00:30:02]
SERFATY (on-camera): Now, it's not entirely clear yet what President Trump's role will be in opening night in that concert series.
But notably, this was an event that was organized by Freedom 250, a group that was launched last year by President Trump. Notably, that is entirely different and separate from another group called America's 250 that also has several anniversary celebrations around the 250th anniversary.
Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Still to come, a look at the heated L.A. mayoral race and what the candidates say about the future of the city. I talked to all three of them in the field today.
And we've got an all-star panel to talk about it. Ian Calderon on the left, Matt Klink on the right to break it down. And there's a lot to break down. Wait till you hear what Spencer Pratt told me today. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:35:26]
MICHAELSON: It is coming down to the final hours for L.A. residents to vote for the next mayor of Los Angeles.
The current mayor, Karen Bass, is one of three frontrunners in an incredibly tight race, along with city councilmember Nithya Raman and former reality show star Spencer Pratt.
I spent the day with all three on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON (voice-over): The candidates making their last-minute pitches.
MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: No time for amateurs.
NITHYA RAMAN (D), L.A. MAYORAL CANDIDATE: My plan involves ensuring real accountability and real results.
SPENCER PRATT (R), L.A. MAYORAL CANDIDATE: My opponents are the reason the city is failing.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): The race to lead America's second largest city is tight, with an unlikely candidate that's propelled the race into the national spotlight.
PRATT: This is where I live.
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC'S "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": You think this guy wants to sit through city council meetings all day?
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Incumbent L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is facing challengers from her left and her right, including City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and Spencer Pratt, a registered Republican previously known as a reality TV villain.
MICHAELSON: The mayor's race is officially nonpartisan, meaning the candidates' party identification is not listed on the ballot. If no candidate gets over 50 percent in Tuesday's election, the top two vote getters will face off in November.
RAMAN: This is, A, a wide-open race.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): A U.C. Berkeley-"L.A. Times" poll shows a close contest between Bass, Raman, and Pratt. I recently sat down with all three.
MICHAELSON: If you had to pick one word that separates you from your opponents in this race, what is that?
RAMAN: Courage.
PRATT: Truth.
BASS: Experience. Collaboration. I'm sorry; I had to throw in another.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): The 2025 Palisades Fire still looms large, where 12 people died and nearly 7,000 structures burned, including Pratt's home.
PRATT: If they didn't burn my house down, I wouldn't be running for mayor.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): At the time of the fire, Mayor Bass was in Ghana.
BASS: It was a horrible, horrible moment in my life.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Despite days of high wind warnings forecast for L.A.
BASS: The point is, I wasn't here when my city needed me. And that is a profound regret.
PRATT: Oh, I was in Ghana. Oopsie-daisy. It's like, no, you should have resigned.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Raman says she decided at the last moment to challenge Bass, in part due to the city's response to homelessness.
RAMAN: I share the frustration that I see across the city that so many Angelenos are feeling right now.
MICHAELSON: When you talked to Jake Tapper in 2023, you said that your goal was to end street homelessness in L.A. By 2026. How were you so off?
BASS: I didn't anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers that I would experience.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): For the last two years. The mayor's office reports L.A.'s homeless count has shown a decline. Last year's count reported a roughly 18 percent decrease in street homelessness since before she took office.
Pratt wants to build a facility outside of L.A. and require L.A.'s homeless to go there for drug treatment.
PRATT: It's going to be somewhere where people go, and they go, thank God for Spencer. This is the greatest thing in the United States of America.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Pratt's direct-to-camera, social media videos --
PRATT: And we need change.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): -- and A.I. clips, created by his supporters, are redefining L.A.'s political norms. In one A.I.-generated fan video, Pratt is Batman, Mayor Bass is the Joker, and residents are throwing tomatoes at. BASS: His social media is now taking on a violent turn.
PRATT: Coming from the lady who allowed 12 people to burn.
RAMAN: I don't want this injected into my politics, and I hope Angelenos stand up on June 2nd and reject it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: So, there's a lot to unpack there. So, we brought in the big dogs on this night before the election. Ian Calderon, former California state assembly majority leader and is a former Democratic candidate for governor in this current election cycle.
And Matt Klink is a Republican strategist and is the owner and president of Klink Campaigns, Inc.
Welcome, gentlemen. What a race. How do you see the mayor's race?
IAN CALDERON, FORMER CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY MAJORITY LEADER: Yes, I mean, it's a toss-up. And it is just -- I mean, this has just been such an interesting election cycle, from the mayor's race to the governor's race. So many different things that are up in the air. So many different types of politics that we're now experiencing -- in a race like the mayor's race was the entrance of Spencer Pratt -- that we're just not used to. So, I find it very interesting.
But this is -- this is a tight race. And there are no guarantees when it comes to who's going to be making that runoff.
MICHAELSON: Yes. How do you see it?
[00:35:01]
MATT KLINK, OWNER, KLINK CAMPAIGNS, INC.: Three people competing for two slots, each running in a different lane. Spencer Pratt as the disruptor. The question mark about does he have the experience to lead the nation's second largest city?
Nithya Raman, who's saying that L.A. is not progressive enough. And then Karen Bass, who nobody I know thinks that L.A. is a well-run city. But saying that she has the experience to lead Los Angeles forward.
All of these arguments are fundamentally flawed. So, it's a choice between the lesser of two evils in this case.
MICHAELSON: Or three.
KLINK: Or three evils in this case.
MICHAELSON: To use your thing. I'm not calling them evil. I'm just quoting you.
KLINK: Yes. Air quotes. MICHAELSON: Now, I talked with Spencer Pratt today about his strategy,
because there is a possibility that if somebody gets over 50 percent tomorrow, they become the mayor.
Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: If somebody gets 50 percent plus one tomorrow, the race is over. How do you -- how do you see this going?
PRATT: I believe I'm winning tomorrow night outright. I think there's a tsunami of votes coming from all the people that are done with politics as usual. They want an outsider. They want a disrupter.
MICHAELSON: There is no polls that show it anywhere close to being 50 percent for you. What do you say to that?
PRATT: I would say to all those people that I have, they're not talking to pollsters. They're moms trying to dodge naked zombies with a stroller.
There are people walking their dogs to the park, making sure their dog doesn't step on a fentanyl needle or sniff some fentanyl, or walk over human poop to get a matcha. Those people don't have time to talk to a pollster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Matt Klink, your thoughts on that answer and the substance of that answer? The possibility of getting over 50 percent.
KLINK: So, substantively, he is right that his supporters -- his supporters are likely undercounted. He certainly has more support than he's polling.
There is virtually no circumstance that I can envision where Spencer Pratt gets 50 percent tomorrow. Him saying that is the equivalent of Karen Bass saying she's going to solve homelessness by 2026. It's never going to happen.
MICHAELSON: OK. Wow. So, that's quite a thing. Even from the -- like, the top Republican strategist in L.A.
KLINK: I feel very comfortable saying that.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Do you agree with that?
CALDERON: It's just not -- it's just not realistic. I mean, was that the Spencer Pratt shimmy? Is that going to be a thing he's going to work on his campaign now?
MICHAELSON: That could be a meme. People complained when Governor Newsom did that during an interview that I did with him. That is still a meme. But it's interesting to hear what Karen Bass is doing in terms of her attack. She did something I hadn't really heard before, saying about sort of amateur night. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASS: Let me just say, no time for amateurs. We don't need a TV reality show villain. Nor do we need a former councilwoman who has been in city hall twice as long as I have, and who is OK with tents in the street.
RAMAN: I have demonstrated my capacity for delivering results in my time as a council member and as a legislator that has led the city.
MICHAELSON: She says it's not time for amateur hour.
PRATT: I agree. That's why I'm running. She failed us. She was in Ghana when she should have been the mayor and let 7,000 homes burned to the ground due to literal -- literal negligence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: What do you make of the way Bass is framing this? Not time for amateurs, from a political strategy perspective.
CALDERON: Yes, I mean, look, I -- I understand why she's running on that.
And to her point that, you know, her experience and -- and her political acumen is what got us through, you know, Donald Trump over the last couple of months sending ICE into Los Angeles. And, you know, there could have been a very real different scenario of how things would have played out and how that would have impacted Los Angeles without her, without her experience, without her political depth.
But also, at the same time, she's also running against that experience that a lot of people are so frustrated with and feel so lost when it comes to feeling like they can, you know, breathe in a city where they're just being squeezed from every end.
And she made a lot of promises that just haven't come to fruition. And, you know, if she's so experienced, why wasn't she able to solve those challenges when she got elected the first time?
MICHAELSON: So, that sounds like that would be a Republican talking point.
Matt.
KLINK: Yes, exactly. Thank you.
MICHAELSON: You have to usually come up with the Republican talking points.
KLINK: Yes.
MICHAELSON: But if you were doing the talking points for Karen Bass, what would your strategy be for her, given the cards that she's dealt?
KLINK: Yes. I mean, look, she -- she has -- I mean, it's a tough one, because support for incumbents, irrespective of Karen Bass or not, is not good, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat.
But what she has to play up is you can't run a city of 3.8 million people without having some experience. And her experience at the state and the federal level and her last four years, even though it hasn't been great, it's certainly better than someone who's never held elected office, and a Democratic socialist who, who knows where they would take the city when we've got the Super Bowl, the World Cup, and the Olympics coming online very, very soon.
[00:45:00]
So, it's a tough argument for her to make. But you've got to play the cards you're dealt, and that's what she has to play with.
MICHAELSON: And they literally put out a post about welcoming Myles Garrett to L.A.. The new Rams -- who's coming in. Kind of a reminder to everybody that the Super Bowl is going to be in L.A., as well.
There's so much to talk about in politics tonight that you guys are sticking around for another hour. So, in our next hour, you both will be back to talk about the governor's race, the interview we just did with Tom Steyer, your time running for governor. There's a lot to unpack there.
So, thank you for being here. We'll see you guys in about 15 minutes or so.
But we'll be back with more news right here after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:50:23]
MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
Talks between the U.S. and Iran are back on, according to a regional source. Iranian media reported earlier that negotiations had been suspended over Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
President Trump says the talks are continuing at a rapid pace, and an agreement could be reached over the next week.
Rescue crews in Laos have exhausted another pair of leads in the search for two men trapped in a flooded cave network, now looking for other ways to access the cave as they face flash flooding from monsoons.
Five others have already been rescued and are recovering at a hospital. The men have been trapped for nearly two weeks.
Serena Williams is making her big return to the tennis world. The 23- time Grand Slam singles champion, set to appear in the doubles competition at the HSBC championships in London next week.
It's been almost four years since her last match, but Williams never officially announced that she was retiring.
Florida is suing OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, accusing the company of misrepresenting the safety of ChatGPT, which the lawsuit says has harmed children.
The suit claims that ChatGPT is addictive and has provided information about school shooters and offered guidance on self-harm to young users. Florida's attorney general explains why the state decided to file this suit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES UTHMEIER, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: For endangering our kids and deceiving parents into believing that this application is safe for use. It's clearly not. People are getting hurt. Parents are getting deceived, and they need to pay for it.
They need to pay for it by opening up their checkbook and changing the program to ensure that there are parental controls, and that we are not endangering our kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The lawsuit is seeking billions of dollars in damages, plus a court order directing the company to change how its technology interacts with young users.
Doesn't that music get you pumped up? Here in Los Angeles, anticipation is ramping up ahead of the World Cup, and so are the city's security measures.
Tens of thousands of soccer fans are expected to descend upon L.A. as it hosts the eight matches of the tournament. Officials are laying out their public safety plans and say there will be an increased police presence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHAN HOCHMAN, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Between the dates of June 11th all the way through July 19, you will -- if you are a criminal, this is a terrible, terrible time to commit a crime.
Because you will see a law enforcement presence the likes of which you do not see on the average day in Los Angeles. But they are committed to ensuring that, if you do commit these crimes, they will arrest you. The district attorney's office will prosecute you, and you will be punished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Well, the World Cup kicks off next -- next week in Mexico on Thursday. Los Angeles will be hoping the opening match for team USA against Paraguay on June 12. And we'll be covering it live here on CNN.
Colombia faced off against Costa Rica in the team's official send-off to the 2026 World Cup. The two held a friendly match Monday in Bogota. Stefano Pozzebon was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The FIFA World Cup is less than ten days away. And what are they doing here in Colombia? Well, they're printing their names and the sponsors on the T-shirts of their beloved national football team.
You can see the crowd coming here for the final game of the warm-up, before Colombia heads to the World Cup on June the 4th. Tonight we are here in Bogota because Colombia's playing against Costa Rica.
Not really many people around here believe -- like care too much about the results. Although I think that Colombia (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Colombia is going to win tonight. They believe. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) How is Colombia going to do in the World Cup? (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
The best. They really hope. It's the first time that Colombia is back at the World Cup since 2018. They missed 2022 in Qatar.
And here, Colombia has made history, actually, because the Colombia, Portugal match on June the 27th is believed to be the most expensive World Cup match of the pool stage.
Julian here is one of lucky Colombians who was able to travel to Miami on June 27th to see Colombia against Cristiano Ronaldo. The tickets were more than $2,000. What made you believe that it was worth paying that much to go to see Colombia?
JULIAN, WILL ATTEND WORLD CUP GAME IN MIAMI: Because I don't think I'm going to see a better match in the history of football. I'm going to see Hermes, Lucho, Cristiano, Bernardo Silva. So, I think it's the best match I'm going to see in my life.
POZZEBON: How do you think Colombia will do at this World Cup, Julian?
JULIAN: I think we are going to -- champions. Yes. Final champions.
POZZEBON: Nineteen years old, first World Cup coming to the United States, to believe that Colombia can be pushed all the way to the final.
Yes, it is expensive. Yes, of course, there are issues at play, especially with migration and entering the United States. But for these people, they say this is the best chance they are seeing for their loved ones to triumph.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: By the way, Colombia won 3-to-1 against Costa Rica.
We'll be right back with our top stories after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
