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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

DOJ Sent Atty. To Observe Ballot Processing In Los Angeles; Trump Visits Battleground State of Wisconsin; Trump Claims Dems Cheating In California, Without Evidence; California Still Counting Votes After Primary Elections; Top Adviser To Iran's Supreme Leader - Negotiations Deadlocked; Lebanon's President To Iran - It's Not Your Country; San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria Speaks With CNN; Putin Shoots Down The Idea Of Direct Talks With Zelenskyy; Massive Waves Surprise People In Hawaii; Aired 1-2a ET

Aired June 06, 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: The bill still has to be paid by somebody.

Singer Dua Lipa and actor Callum Turner danced in Palermo on Friday as they kicked off three days of celebrations to mark their marriage. The newlyweds got married last weekend in London after being engaged, since 2025. The couple was seen greeting guests during the festivities including Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace.

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

"The Story Is" the California elections. A new projection is called in the governor's race. The state's leading political data expert joins me live to describe what's driving voters.

"The Story Is" war with Iran. Christiane Amanpour sits for an exclusive interview with Lebanon's president. His message to Tehran, not your country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH AOUN, LEBANESE PRESIDENT: Our house is being destroyed. They are using Lebanon as a chip -- bargaining chip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: And "The Story Is" the NBA playoffs. The Spurs on the road in New York, five time NBA champion Derek Fisher, who once coached the Knicks, joins us live to break down game two.

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

MICHAELSON: Thanks for watching "The Story Is." I'm Elex Michaelson, and the top story is once again here in California as ballot counting continues after the state's primaries. We did get some news today. CNN's decision desk is projecting that Democrat Xavier Becerra will advance to the general election in the governor's race, and incumbent Karen Bass has also advanced to the general election in the race for LA mayor. It's not yet clear who Becerra or Bass will face in November. California has long had a reputation for being slow to report election results in part because of a high percentage of people voting by mail.

Friday morning, the justice department sent one of its attorney to observe ballot processing in LA. Essentially, the guy walked around, took a tour like the public did, and left. But the LA County DA's office tells CNN it hasn't gotten any complaints from the government about criminal misconduct related to vote counting or fraud.

Still, on Friday, President Trump visited Wisconsin, one of the biggest midterm battleground states. His trip was branded as fighting for American farmers. Many have been hurt by some of the administration's trade policies in the war with Iran. But Trump touched on several topics including the California election, and he claimed that Democrats were cheating because the vote count was taking so long.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You're going to be waiting weeks to get these votes. It's corrupt. Somebody said it's incompetent. I said, no. Just the opposite. It's unbelievably competent if you happen to be a Democrat politician. Because with their policies, the only way they can get elected is to cheat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Joining me now in studio is Paul Mitchell, the Vice President of Political Data and Owner of Redistricting Partners.

All right. We want to get into the races, but let's just first sort of combat what he said. I thought our friend Melanie Mason said something really smart last night on the show, which she said, if the Democratic establishment actually wanted to cheat, the Democratic establishment being Xavier Becerra and Karen Bass, the establishment choices. What they would want is to face off against the Republican in the November election because that would be far easier for them to win. So they would actually try to cheat to help them, not to face off against Democrats where it's a more unpredictable thing.

So the whole concept that they're so, in his mind, terrible at governing that they can't do anything, but unbelievably incompetent at fixing an election doesn't seem to make any sense.

PAUL MITCHELL, VP OF POLITICAL DATA & OWNER, REDISTRICTING PARTNERS: No. It's absolutely silly, and it's all -- it's very disingenuous. And there have been instances in 2022, I think you recall, Ken Calvert was behind, behind, behind a Republican Member of Congress who was behind to Will Rollins for 11 days. And on the 11th day at 2:00 a.m., he in comes a bunch of precincts from Riverside, and all of a sudden, Ken Calvert's reelected to Congress, and nobody complained. The Democrats didn't complain. The Republicans didn't complain. But now when we see these elections happen and what's normal is in these elections is that the people who vote earliest are more conservative.

Think about your friends or family members, the ones that get the bill, write the check, mail it in right away versus the others that leave things laying around on the kitchen counter. Young people, renters are slower to return their ballots. Maybe they have other things going on in their lives.

MICHAELSON: Well, I'd also think about this particular election. I mean, for Republicans, for governor, there basically was two choices. In the final days, it sort of looked like there was really one choice.

MITCHELL: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: And in terms of the mayor's race in LA, there was clearly one choice if that's your perspective. So you weren't waiting until the end. You hadn't just seen the front runner drop out because of a sex scandal. You hadn't gone through all the rest of the whiplash that came from that. You weren't spooked out by you warning everybody that there were going to be two Republicans in the fall, which changed people's behavior, and all the rest of it.

[01:05:00]

So there's that that too. OK. Let's talk about the governor's race. Xavier Becerra, now we know he's going to be one of the two. The question is, is he going to be running against Steve Hilton or Tom Steyer? Talk about what we're seeing in terms of the numbers for Steyer, and is he getting enough right now, to put him potentially in the second place?

MITCHELL: What's interesting is how similar position we're in as on election night. On election night, we were talking about the fact that Democrats were doing really well. You know, Xavier Becerra and his lead in those early numbers, but also there was this separation between Hilton and Bianco, the Republicans. There's a 15-point separation. And what we've seen going forward is that 15-point separation is still there. We're seeing Becerra now in the lead and now called by CNN as the winner of the top two.

There is this question about can Steyer catch up, not to Becerra anymore because that's a given, but can he catch up and pass Hilton? And it's really a challenge. It's a steep hill he has to climb, and he's not hitting the marks yet, and we're running out of runway.

MICHAELSON: So it's looking increasingly likely based off of the numbers right now that Hilton probably ends up in number two, unless something totally dramatic happens in the next couple days.

MITCHELL: Unless something significantly changes in the later ballots, but the reality is that he just at no point in this ballot counting process has he hit the numbers he would need to in order to change that outcome.

MICHAELSON: That is not necessarily the case in the LA mayor's race, right?

MITCHELL: No.

MICHAELSON: So we know that Karen Bass is advancing. The question is, is it going to be Spencer Pratt or is it going to be Nithya Raman? You've talked about the numbers that Nithya Raman needs to hit in order to potentially pass Spencer Pratt.

MITCHELL: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: Not only did she hit that today, she exceeded it, right?

MITCHELL: Yeah. It was actually really -- so now what's interesting is when we're talking about this race, what's more important, we know that Spencer Pratt is going to be losing shares of the vote because his early vote was so heavily Republican. It was really like a Spencer Pratt crowd mailing in their early ballets.

Now the question was, the voters that come in after, we knew they'd be more democratic. Were they going to be more establishment democratic voting for Karen Bass, or were they going to be more DSA type progressive democrats, younger democrats voting for Nithya Raman? In the first two sets of releases, it looked like a good argument that Karen Bass was going to hold on and face Spencer Pratt. What came out today showed him probably a much younger, more progressive portion of the electorate, and the rate of advancement Nithya Raman made today would signal that she's going to surpass, Spencer Pratt.

But the question is, when we do we hit that inflection point? When do we hit that point at which she overtakes him? And then if she does overtake him, does she maintain that?

MICHAELSON: So still too close to call.

MITCHELL: Still too close to down.

MICHAELSON: Probably goes down to the wire, but Pratt, Ramin's got momentum. And I'm just going to note this. We don't have to expand on it. We talked about this Council District 6, Congressional District --

MITCHELL: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: -- which there was some fear that the democrats could be locked out. This was one of those races that you drew to advantage the democrats, try to get a democrat in there. Richard Pan, the State Legislator, moved into the top two today and looks like he's going to stay there.

MITCHELL: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: So it's probably going to be Richard Pan versus Kevin Kiley, an Independent. So, technically, no doubt Republicans are going to be in that, right?

MITCHELL: Yeah. That'll be an Independent versus a Republican. Now what the --

MICHAELSON: Versus Democrat. MITCHELL: I'm sorry. The Independent versus the Democrat, Richard Pan. And now the challenge for Kevin Kiley is he get needs to go back to all those Republicans and say, oh, no, no. I'm a Republican. And then also try to go to Independents and Democrats and say, I'm not MAGA.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. So that's going to be an interesting challenge for him if he's able to win that. And you put him in quite a box by designing the map the way he do.

MITCHELL: I put him in one box, and he jumped into that box so.

MICHAELSON: OK. There you go. Paul Mitchell, thank you so much for all the insight. Thank you for being here with us election night and helping us all through the week. It's been really, really insightful, and your job's still not done quite yet.

MITCHELL: Great to see you.

MICHAELSON: Thank you. Now to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I have five interviews, and we'll have a very good person watching things, Bill Pulte. But I have, five interviews.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: President Trump there addressing who may become the next Director of National Intelligence. He appointed Bill Pulte to the role earlier this week, but says it's a temporary capacity. Pulte is currently the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He has no experience in national intelligence and didn't even have security clearances before being appointed to the top intelligence job in the country, an issue that some lawmakers, including some Republican lawmakers, have been concerned about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN FITZPATRICK, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: The guy's got no national security experience. I've had zero interaction with him, and that's a concern.

JOHN COMYN, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job.

THOM TILLIS, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: Yeah. I think you know of any national security experience he has.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: U.S. military says it struck surveillance radar sites on Iran's coast after shooting down four attack drones that Tehran aimed towards the Strait of Hormuz.

[01:10:00] U.S. forces also intercepting a wave of ballistic missiles fired towards Kuwait and Bahrain, which triggered air raid sirens. Iran says it targeted, "enemy bases in the region." Nearly 100 days since the war began, President Trump is insisting that he is moving very fast. But in an exclusive interview with CNN, the Senior Military Adviser to Iran Supreme Leader said negotiations are at what he calls a deadlock. Lebanon's President says his country has had it with the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel has been conducting military operations against the group in Lebanon since March, which have left over 3,500 people dead. 3,500 people.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, President had a blunt message for Iran and its protege.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm standing here on the balcony of the Presidential Palace in Beirut. Over my shoulder is the suburb of Dahiya. It has been a target of the Israelis for the last several weeks, and it is destroyed in parts, but also up to 800,000 people maybe more have evacuated. It is a ghost town. It's symbolic of what's happening in many parts of this country during this fighting and during this war.

We can hear Israeli drones overhead. I've just had an exclusive global exclusive interview with the President, Joseph Aoun, and he has said very, very clearly that Israel needs to abide by a ceasefire. He's also said very clearly that Iran needs to stop empowering Hezbollah. He rejected a recent statement by the IRGC in Iran that says it doesn't accept the ceasefire. He told them in no uncertain terms that this is not their country. This is what he told me about it.

JOSEPH AOUN, LEBANESE PRESIDENT: IRGC is the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps that this they don't agree with this. They don't approve this agreement, what's happened. It's not your country. It's our country. It's our obligation. It's not your job to interfere into our country. I reject the statement totally because our people being killed, our people being -- our house is being destroyed. They are using Lebanon as a chip -- bargaining chip in their negotiation with United States. It's unacceptable. And here also, Hezbollah must understand that. Hezbollah must understand that no other way, but to sit and talk. No other way to solve this problem and to save what's left except through negotiation and diplomacy.

AMANPOUR: President Aoun has been a Military Commander for eight years. He's been head of the army here, and he's had a four decade long army experience. He's been in combat. He still carries the shrapnel in his body of having been wounded. He has sworn as President to uphold and protect the territorial integrity of this country. And for a man who's been to war, he really means it. He's a very charismatic communicator. He knows that his power is limited. Not only is his mostly a ceremonial position, he can authorize and engage in negotiations, but he doesn't have as much executive authority because of the different ways the sectarian factions are aligned in this government. It's not a presidential system, in other words. But he said he's going to use every power that he has to make this war end. And he says that it really takes two to tango. Israel has to stop, has to move back, and Hezbollah has to stop. Both sides need to live in peace. The war needs to end. And then he says there might be another further negotiation towards eventually normalization of relations. But the first step is an end to this war, and he says he's working on it as hard as he possibly can under very, very difficult circumstances and realities.

The key to note is that the majority of the Lebanese people, including the Shiites, who, of course, Hezbollah claims to represent, they want an end to this. They want the sovereign state to be in charge, not a non-state actor. Christiane Amanpour, CNN in Beirut.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Christiane. Up next, talk sports. A thrilling game. Two of the NBA championships broke some hearts in San Antonio. Game two did. The New York Knicks have taken a two game lead over the Spurs. NBA legend, five time champion, new radio host, Derek Fisher, live in the house. De Fish breaks down what we just saw next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Big night for New York after the Knicks won game two of the NBA Championship series over the San Antonio Spurs. New York led for most of the game, but San Antonio's furious comeback in the second half saw the Spurs tied up in the fourth. Despite their comeback runs, it was the Knicks who ended up coming out on top. They solidified their two games to none lead. Final score, 105-104. Here's Knicks Head Coach, Mike Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE BROWN, KNICKS HEAD COACH: We could have folded a few times, but our guys just kept fighting. They just kept uplifting one another throughout the course of San Antonio's runs. So that connectivity that we started with had during the season and continue to have now paid huge dividends for our group.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: In the final seconds of the game, Spurs star Victor Wembanyama missed a last ditch shot that would have put his team ahead, breaking some hearts and stands in San Antonio.

[01:20:00]

Here's what Wemby had to say after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VICTOR WEMBANYAMA, SAN ANTONIO SPURS CENTER AND FORWARD: I think we need to put ourselves in better conditions. We're digging ourselves a hole. That's been the theme so far. That's the most frustrating thing to throw it away after putting in all this work. And what did I think? I mean, urgency at this point is like body reacts quicker than mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Five time NBA champion Derek Fisher joins us tonight. He's an analyst for the NBA on NBC, former coach for the New York Knicks, and he is cohost of LA's De Fish and Decker, the best new radio show we've got weekday mornings from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on the new 97.1, The Fan LA on radio and YouTube at The Fan LA. Derek, welcome back.

DEREK FISHER, FMR. HEAD COACH FOR NY KNICKS & LA SPARKS: Thank you. Elex, appreciate you, man.

MICHAELSON: What a game.

FISHER: Yes. What a game.

MICHAELSON: I mean, what did you make of this and the run that the Knicks are on right now?

FISHER: Yeah. I mean, I first saw the score at the end of the first quarter, because I was also coaching high school basketball earlier this evening. And --

MICHAELSON: Your 18th job.

FISHER: Yes.

MICHAELSON: You're doing the same time.

FISHER: At the end of the first quarter, it's 34-25 San Antonio. So on my drive home, I'm like, OK. The Spurs have responded well, et cetera, et cetera. And then I get home, and the Knicks are basically up at the half. And it's just sometimes it's your time, and the Knicks are playing basketball like a team that recognizes and feels internally like this is their moment. This is their time. New York Knicks fans are obnoxious as you want to say they are, but also in a very loving way as well. Because I'm telling you, like Knicks fans, I want them to be happy. Like, they deserve everything that they're experiencing right now.

MICHAELSON: Let's talk about that fan bases for a moment. Because you obviously felt the Laker fan base at the height of the whole Laker era. You felt the fan base in Oklahoma City where they really love that team. That's such a big part of the culture. You felt the fan base in New York City for good and bad.

FISHER: Yeah. The fans were always great to me. Sometimes things don't work out, but it's OK.

MICHAELSON: What's sort of the craziest fan base in the league, and how does New York compare to that?

FISHER: Yeah. I mean, craziest as we know is very subjective.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

FISHER: But to me, Knicks fans represent what being a sports fan kind of is. It's like you have a passion for a team that hasn't won a championship in 53 years. Yet you carry the passion as though you're the best team we've ever seen before. You're the best organization we've ever seen before. And that's New York City. And I think a lot of the players on this team are representative of that energy. A lot of players on the Knicks right now, they aren't a list guys. They're not all stars. They're not hall of famers. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns might be. But the rest of these guys are kind of hard hat, blue collar guys were kicked off of or cut from NBA teams, started from the bottom and worked their way up.

And so they're kind of representing New York City in a way that is New York City, and I think that's why the fans are also enjoying this ride.

MICHAELSON: And the way you describe Knicks fans kind of also sounds like Dallas Cowboys fans.

FISHER: True. I'm a retired Dallas Cowboys fan.

MICHAELSON: Similarities between those two.

FISHER: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Well, let's talk about Jalen Brunson. As a left handed point guard, a thing or two, about what he's doing. Describe what makes him so special. Why is he able to stand out?

FISHER: Well, I think as a point guard, similar to a quarterback in football or a pitcher in baseball, like you have to have an ability to almost, like slow the game down in your mind so that you can make proper decisions. And Jalen Brunson is one of those players that even though he's smaller than everyone else, his heart rate never goes up. And so when it's time to execute the proper footwork to get the right shot off, when it's time to make the right basketball decision, he doesn't have to calm himself down from being erratic and irrational to then make a good basketball decision.

And it's why he's so effective in the fourth quarters and in some of the biggest moments. He's one of the most impactful clutch players we have in the NBA today because his heart rate just it stays the same all the time.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. So you know what it's like to be a point guard. You also know what it's like to be a coach. Talk about what Mike Brown is doing and how the schemes, especially some of the schemes going through Karl-Anthony Towns and some of the adjustments he's made, have really taken them to another level.

FISHER: Yeah. Mike Brown, man. He's a great example of so many things, about what we all experience.

[01:25:00]

I played for Mike Brown here in LA when he coached the Lakers. He has a tremendous coaching history. He also was fired from the Lakers. He was fired from the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was fired from the Sacramento Kings. And here he stands two wins away from leading his team to the NBA finals. And many people at home know what that's like. You've been let go from your job. You've been told that you weren't good enough. You've been told by somebody else that you're not quite the right person for the job here. But his ability to basically do what he asks his players to do every day is to keep standing up, have resilience, come back from some adverse situations. That's what he's doing.

He's always coached great defensive teams, and that's what the Knicks are. But he's also evolved offensively over the course of his coaching career. He was an assistant coach in Golden State with Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors. He's been an assistant coach in San Antonio for Gregg Popovich. So he knows basketball, and this team is responding to his voice and his leadership style. And, again, they're two wins away from being champs.

MICHAELSON: Sweep, do you think?

FISHER: It's so hard to imagine that this could be a sweep, but the Knicks give me no reason to think it won't be at this point.

MICHAELSON: Feel the same way. Like, tonight was the night. It was either going to be like a six or seven game series or a sweep, and it feels like we're headed towards a sweep.

FISHER: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: Derek Fisher, thank you.

FISHER: Thanks, Elex.

MICHAELSON: You can check him out on the radio 97.1-FM, 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Coming up, mayors from across the country meeting in Long Beach this weekend. After the break, we'll talk to the new head of the U.S. conference of mayors. Todd Gloria is with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: U.S. conference of mayors is currently underway in Southern California. More than 200 mayors from both sides of the aisle have gathered in Long Beach to discuss their challenges and ways to find solutions. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria formally takes the reins of the group during this conference. Governor, Gavin Newsom appeared on stage with him Friday and addressed the crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAVIN NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: Values matter, and they're part of the economic proposition that I think define not just the best of California, but the best of the work you do in cities and metros, which are the economic engine of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: The former mayor of San Francisco likes to say once a mayor, always a mayor. San Diego Mayor, Todd Gloria, joins me now live from Long Beach, the site of the conference. Mr. Mayor, congratulations on the new gig. What does that mean to you?

TODD GLORIA, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA MAYOR: It means a lot. I am a huge fan of U.S. conference of mayors. It's been a tremendous resource for me and my leadership of San Diego. And it allows me to interact with mayors from all across this country and find bipartisan solutions to get things done both here in San Diego and across the country. So I'm thrilled to be able to take on in this historic role. First time San Diego's had this opportunity, and I couldn't be more proud to take it on. It's an important time for cities to lead in our country.

MICHAELSON: I know you've said that the number one issue that that you need to deal with really across the country is housing affordability. What's the biggest thing that you all can do together to actually make a difference on that?

GLORIA: Right now is to push a bipartisan comprehensive federal legislation, known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Elex, this is legislation that has had overwhelming bipartisan votes in both houses of Congress, yet has not gotten to the president's desk yet. I believe that our conference under my leadership is going to make this our number one priority and get this signed into law. It would reauthorize many of the programs that cities count on, things like CDBG and home programs, but it also updates, as the title suggests, for the 21st Century and really provides some innovative solutions and some incentives for cities all across this country to build more homes that people can afford.

It's not surprising the Mayor of San Diego cares a lot about this. Obviously, California Coastal California is very expensive, but what I find is all of our mayors, over 1,400 cities across this country represented by this conference, all have identified this as being their top concern, and I'm really hopeful that Congress will listen to our voices and pass this law this year.

MICHAELSON: But President Trump hasn't met with you all, which is the first time that's ever happened with the President. Why is that, and is there any plans to change that?

GLORIA: Well, our doors are always open. I certainly intend to keep that policy. This can been under my predecessor and will continue under me. Mayors are pragmatic solution advancers, and we are interested in solving problems, particularly housing is one. Our door remain open to the president, and like many issues, we will certainly disagree with him, and we'll make that known when it happens.

But I believe that this President, who obviously made his fortune in real estate development, should understand and want to make a difference on housing, and so we remain hopeful. But, yes, we would like a more productive relationship with our federal partners. That said, we have had extraordinary progress with the Congress. Again, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, is something that members of the senate and house have met repeatedly with myself and many of my mayoral colleagues. That's why we've got it as far as we have, but we haven't got it done yet.

President has signaled his support for this legislation. So I think working together, we can get this signed into law and provide some real, rate, cost relief to Americans all across this country.

MICHAELSON: Well, somebody who's clearly thinking about running for President, is your guest yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom. Here's some of what you guys talked about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAVIN NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: I worry about our republic. I worry about what's going on in this country.

[01:35:00]

I worry I know we were saying, just in a moment ago, we're supposed to be celebrating the best of the Roman Republic, Greek democracy, coequal branches of government, popular sovereignty, the rule of law, not the rule of dawn. The democracy question and the issue of the economy, it's the same fight. If we don't democratize the economy, we cannot save our democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: There's Governor Newsom speaking there, but I know so much of the push of this is really bipartisan. How is it different sort of being a mayor versus being a congressperson or a senator or something like that? What makes mayors different? And how is your gathering because of that different than maybe when Congress members get together?

GLORIA: I think the first thing that's different is that we're held directly accountable by the people. Elex, Members of Congress are hundreds, if not thousands of miles away from their constituents most days of the week, and the votes that they take and the statements they make, they may not ever hear from a constituent directly about it. I, as mayor, can hear about it as soon as I leave City Hall. If I go to the grocery store on my way home from work, I surely will hear about what I've been doing, and that's not unique to my city. All of us experience that.

I'll tell you the one thing that's great about the conference is that we have hundreds of mayors here today, in Long Beach meeting, and most folks have no idea what each other's parties are. It doesn't come up. It's not relevant. There's not a Republican way to put up a stop sign. There's not a Democratic way to fill a pothole. Mayors are just expected to deliver, and we will do whatever it takes to serve our residents. And I think that's what brings us together and why this conference has been a truly national policy moving force for nearly 100 years now.

MICHAELSON: It's interesting. When I spoke with Nancy Pelosi about a year ago, she told me that most voters know two people in politics and two people only. They know the President of the United States, and they know the mayor of their city. And it was interesting talking to voters this week even about the governor's race and the mayor's race here in Los Angeles. And the mayor's race was so much more personal for people than the governor's race, which felt very distant. There is something about that job of mayor that connects in a way that, no other job does, and it's going to be interesting to see your leadership now as you lead the nation's mayors over the next year.

Mr. Mayor, thanks for being with us. We appreciate it. Have a great weekend.

GLORIA: Thanks so much for the opportunity, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Strong gains in the U.S. labor market are good news for the economy, but it could also mean higher interest rates for longer periods, which is bad news for the stock markets. U.S. markets fell into the red for the week as Wall Street wrestled with weakness in AI stocks. CNN's Richard Quest explains what's going on with the markets.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: It was an unpleasant end to the stock market week with the NASDAQ, the S&P, and the Dow all losing ground and in some cases the worst sessions for many months. But today's accident didn't just happen on a Friday. The warning signs had been there for several days, particularly when Broadcom announced its results and the market gave it a thorough beating up. It simply wasn't good enough. And then as the week continued, so the rot set in.

By the time you get to Friday, where we're seeing some impressive losses, NVIDIA down 6.75 percent, Broadcom down another 7.9 percent, Intel off 11 percent. And the reason is the same. The market is coming to the realization that the sheer amount of money being ploughed into AI by these companies simply will not bring the returns in the short to medium term. They are all worried that huge sums are being spent and the path to profitability whilst certainly the businesses are making money can't justify those levels of investment. But here's the conundrum.

Everybody knows that AI is the only game in town. Therefore, if you are one of those companies, you have no choice. You have to find the money and you have to keep spending and yes, the market will exact its wrath. Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

MICHAELSON: Thank you, Richard. A U.S. official attends an economic event in Russia shunned by other U.S. leaders for years. His message to Russia's leader for President Donald Trump. That's ahead.

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[01:40:00]

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RODNEY MIMS COOK JR., CHAIRMAN, U.S. COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS: I do give a good hello from your friend, President Trump.

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MICHAELSON: That was Rodney Mims Cook Jr. commending Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, at the country's showcase economic event on Friday. Cook is the first U.S. official to attend the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in nine years. In his speech at the event, Mr. Putin shot down the idea of meeting his Ukrainian counterpart saying specialists should work out a solution to the war first. President Zelenskyy, who had called for face-to-face talks to try to negotiate the end of the war.

More analysis, we're joined from Frankfurt, Germany by Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges. He's a former Commander of U.S. Army Forces in Europe. Good morning to you.

LT. GEN. BEN HODGES (RET.), FMR. COMMANDER OF U.S. ARMY FORCES IN EUROPE: Hey. Good morning, Elex.

MICHAELSON: So Putin is refusing to meet Zelenskyy until a solution is reached to end the war. What's a realistic way to end the war, especially if they don't necessarily even want to meet?

HODGES: Well, it's been clear for years that Vladimir Putin has no interest in actually winning the war. There's no incentive for him to end the war, no matter how badly it's going for him at this time. And that's been the failure of the administration's approach to the peace negotiations that is that they never put pressure on Putin to end the war. So I think President Zelenskyy was smart seeing that the momentum of this war has changed to once again make an offer to meet and expose that Putin really does not want to do that.

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MICHAELSON: Ukraine is hitting St. Petersburg just a day before this economic forum. I mean, they hit them. How significant is that? I mean, that's not exactly a sign of goodwill.

HODGES: Well, the Russians have been killing Ukrainian civilians from the beginning of the war, from the beginning of the large scale invasion. Ukraine's strikes are against industrial targets, the oil and gas export capabilities against the navy shipyard, attacking Russian navy vessels. So it's two different approaches to this war. Secondly, Ukraine has finally developed the ability to reach long range to strike with precision against targets deep inside Russia.

And I think this is going to be the path to victory for Ukraine to destroy Russia's ability to export oil and gas to China and India and Turkiye and other customers, that's how they're paying for this war. And so I think Ukraine is going to continue doing this as their ability to produce these things in improves. And as European countries begin to realize that it's in their interest that Ukraine is successful against Russia.

MICHAELSON: How far off do you think they are from achieving that goal? What's a realistic timeline to do that?

HODGES: Well, it's certainly not going to happen this year, but I think, we're probably closer to the end than we are to the beginning of this war. There are no positive signs anywhere for Russia. Only the support from the United States, which is astounding to me that the administration would in any way try to normalize relationships with Russia at this time. While almost all of Europe continues to have to isolate the Russians from normal, normal interactions, because they can see what happens. I mean, the pictures, that we see almost every week of Ukrainian towns and apartment buildings and civilians being killed, that's not acceptable.

MICHAELSON: No. It's not. And we're just looking at some of that aftermath pictures now. Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, thanks so much for waking up early for us. Have a great weekend.

HODGES: Thanks a lot, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Six days, no resources, on the highest mountain in the world. Coming up, how one man beat the odds in a miraculous story of survival.

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MICHAELSON: Huge waves of people nearby screaming in Hawaii. Officials say the waves were up to 6-feet high. Witnesses say they were higher than that. Big waves began on Tuesday on the Western Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Meteorologists say the strong waves generated by stormy weather systems South of New Zealand last week.

Five astronauts aboard the International Space Station were ordered to take shelter on Friday amid ongoing leaks within a lab. NASA's order came after its Russian counterpart decided to move forward with a more extensive repair to fix that leak. U.S. space agency was worried that the repair efforts could put the laboratory's structure at risk. The astronauts were sheltering aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which would have allowed them to make an emergency escape if needed. The all clear was eventually given by NASA once the Russian space agency decided to delay those repairs.

A Sherpa climbing guide has been discovered alive after officials believe that he died on Mount Everest. The guide crawled back to near base camp after spending almost a week alone on the mountain known for its dangerous conditions.

Derek Van Dam with the incredible story. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEREK VAN DAM, WEATHER ANCHOR: Missing for almost a week on Mount Everest, Nepali climbing guide Hilary Dawa Sherpa beat the odds surviving six days without food or bottled oxygen on a mountain known not only for its brutal conditions, but the number of lives it claimed. But Hilary Dawa miraculously isn't one of them. Frostbitten and exhausted, he was found alive by a cleaning crew on Thursday, crawling near the Khumbu Icefall just above Everest Base Camp.

He was airlifted to a Kathmandu hospital where he is stable and recovering. His family, thinking he was dead, had already begun funeral rights for him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (translated): At first, when we received the information, we weren't sure if it was him or not. Later, they sent the photos and it was confirmed that it was indeed him and we felt happy.

VAN DAM: Hilary Dawa's group was one of the last to descend the mountain just as climbing season came to a close. Other climbers say they last saw him on May 29th just above Camp 3 located at around 23,000 feet an area near the infamous death zone where oxygen levels are so low, it's difficult to sustain human life for any extended period. Search helicopters were deployed this week, but couldn't locate the missing Sherpa. His family says they should have begun searching when he was first reported missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translated): If he had been a foreign climber, the rescue would definitely have been organized much faster and prompt.

VAN DAM: The family has filed a complaint with Nepal's department of Tourism in a police case against Hilary Dawa's employer, the Himalayan Traverse Company, which has so far not commented.

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Not much is known about how he survived for so long alone on Everest's notoriously inhospitable slopes. That survival story for now is between him and the mountain. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, Atlanta.

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MICHAELSON: Thanks to Derek. What a story. Thank you for watching "The Story Is" on this incredible week that included the election that still hasn't ended here in California. We hope that election week in America ends with some results early next week here on "The Story Is."

On Monday, we've got a special story I went out and shot today, an exclusive interview from an oil rig with the Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, and the Secretary of Interior, Doug Burgum, talking about the future of oil in America and production. We talked about the Strait of Hormuz and gas prices, all that coming on Monday, plus some news from the NBA finals as well. Have a great weekend, everybody. I'll see you back here next week. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)