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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Election Night in Colorado; Trump Made Billions of Dollars in First Year Back in Office; Millions Face Dangerous, Potentially Record-Breaking Heat; Latest World Cup Action; Justice Uphold Birthright Citizenship for All Born in U.S.; Justice Uphold State Bans on Transgender Athletes; Lebron James Leaving Lakers; Sources: Madison Square Garden to Host Wedding Celebrations of Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired July 01, 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: Your show tonight.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: We got all sorts of stuff including what's happening in Colorado and more on LeBron James with two great basketball experts as well, breaking down where he's headed to next. They have a really strong suspicion where it is. So we'll be talking about that.
COATES: Really? Oh, I cannot wait to hear about this. All right. Bye, Superman.
MICHAELSON: All right. Bye, My Fair Lady.
Let's start THE STORY IS right now.
THE STORY IS election night in Colorado. Votes still being counted, but CNN is able to project the winners in some key races. We'll break down the results and what it could mean for the midterms.
THE STORY IS cryptocurrency and the White House. President Trump reveals he made more than $1 billion from crypto deals in his first year back in office, but he insists there's no conflict of interest.
And THE STORY IS LeBron James leaving L.A.. After eight seasons as a Laker, one of the greatest athletes in history now looking for a new team. We've got insight into where he may be going.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles. THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: I'm Elex Michaelson. Thank you for watching THE STORY IS.
And our top story is the Colorado primaries and a major test for the progressive movement, hoping to replicate New York's victories last week. In the closest House race of the night, 29-year-old Democratic socialist Melat Kiros is leading 15-term Representative Diana DeGette in Colorado's First District. But in the Democratic Senate primary, CNN projects that incumbent John Hickenlooper will defeat progressive challenger, State Senator Julie Gonzales. He will face Republican State Lawmaker Mark Blassie in November.
And in Colorado's race for governor, this is quite something. CNN projects that State Attorney General Phil Weiser will advance to the general election, defeating the incumbent, United States Senator Michael Bennet.
Now, President Trump made millions of dollars last year through cryptocurrency, royal payments and property investments. That is according to his 2025 financial disclosure document, which was more than 900 pages long. It shows that Trump earned more than $526 million from sales of crypto tokens tied to a firm managed in part by his sons Eric and Don Jr.. The earnings are unprecedented for a sitting president and include hefty royalties and licensing fees as well. The White House says there aren't any conflicts of interest in all this.
Joining us now to talk about a busy night in politics, CNN senior political analyst and Bloomberg opinion columnist Ron Brownstein, and Lynn Vavreck, a Hoffenberg professor of American politics at UCLA.
Welcome to you both.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey.
MICHAELSON: Ron, let's start with you.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And start with a headline that you recently posted in terms of one of your columns, which described this night, in Bloomberg, "Colorado's primary will test the socialist wave." Did they pass the test, Ron?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I think we saw -- the Democratic primaries are unfolding on a two-track story, I believe, this year. I mean, the Republican primaries are one story, right? Donald Trump is dominating everywhere he gets involved. On the Democratic side, you have two tracks, and they are both evident tonight in Colorado. On the one hand, in urban, solidly blue districts, particularly those with a lot of college graduates, the left is showing real strength.
The Diana DeGette district, where Kiros is in a very strong position to win, is prototypical of the kind of places where they are winning.
MICHAELSON: And when you say the left, you say the far-left.
BROWNSTEIN: The far-left. The far-left, right. Because DeGette is not a moderate. I mean, she's a single-payer, abolish ICE Democrat. But look, this is a district where Harris won three quarters of the vote, where three quarters of the white voters have a college degree. It's urban based. It's younger. And there is a lot of frustration at the current leadership of the Democratic Party in those kind of places and really anywhere that fits that profile.
There are a lot of Democratic seats that do. Candidates are going to face pressure to -- incumbents to face pressure to move left or face a primary challenge, or both. But at the same time, in the two seats in Colorado that Democrats are actually hoping to flip, that Republicans now hold Colorado Five, which is out in Colorado Springs, Colorado Eight, which is north and east of Denver suburbs and rural areas. There they nominated candidates who are much more moderate than Kiros.
And that really is the story. The left is showing strength in blue places, but in the places that Democrats actually have to win to get control, they're still relying mostly on much more centrist nominees.
MICHAELSON: We've got some breaking news, Lynn. We want to bring up the results, and we can now make a projection that Kiros is going to win this seat, which means that the Democratic socialist is defeating this longtime incumbent and will now move on to the general election.
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Lynn, I mean, it's been quite a week. This is the third incumbent for the Democrats in one week to lose their seat, two of them in New York last week and now this one.
LYNN VAVRECK, HOFFENBERG PROFESSOR, AMERICAN POLITICS, UCLA: Yes, yes. And I think that a couple of things we should keep in mind. The first is that when you see things like this happen, you're right to say this is an interesting moment and we should think about why. But I think the other thing is we want to remember these are very particular places with very particular kinds of voters, the kind that Ron just described. And we want to be careful not to extrapolate that to a nationwide movement that is changing the shape and tenor of the Democratic Party.
MICHAELSON: But in terms of that, because we're in a moment now where it's described as all politics is national. You know, it used to be where most people got their information from their local newspaper or their local news station, and then they, you know, watch cable news sometimes. And -- but now most people are getting their information from their phone and they're seeing a lot of information that goes to an echo chamber, which is often the most extreme version of the parties, or they're watching the cable news channel of their choice.
Can you do this? Can the Democratic Party do both of these messages at the same time or is it hard to -- does it get confusing for voters?
VAVRECK: Well, I think we want to take what Ron just said very seriously. Districts where people have more moderate views are electing moderates to run in the general and the places where people have more liberal views are electing more liberal candidates. That is representation. That is democracy. That should be good news for everybody. But your question is the party needs to be thinking about a national agenda in 2028.
MICHAELSON: Right. And a statewide agenda for Senate races as well that are bigger than just --
VAVRECK: Sure. Sure. And other places, too.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
VAVRECK: And so what is that going to be? And I think that is a really interesting question. I hope we have lots of time to talk about that.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, to your point, right, so any -- as I was saying, to your point, any place that looks like this demographically, a challenge like this is possible. I mean, what you saw is that this was not confined to New York City. It didn't need Mamdani behind it. Right? Kiros, it just needed the same kind of voters who responded to this message in New York. There's going to be another challenge like this in Detroit, I think, in -- this summer and clearly coming out of this are going to be more challenges like this going forward in '28 and beyond in the Democratic primary.
But, at the same time, if Democrats win the majority, by definition, they're going to have to be electing more centrist candidates in more of these swing districts. And so what you're probably going to see in the next Democratic conference is both poles getting stronger. There will clearly be more candidates on the left from the safe urban Democratic districts. But if they get to 218, by definition, they're going to elect people like Jessica Killin tonight, you know, in Colorado Five or the nominees in Iowa and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Not very, very few of them. There are a couple, but very few of whom are moving in the same direction as these candidates in the safe Democratic seats.
MICHAELSON: We see some national Democrats really sort of aiming on the message of corruption. This is something that Jon Ossoff especially has been talking about, getting a lot of attention recently as he runs for senator in Georgia. This headline of President Trump making over $1 billion while in office, regulating an industry that he's given a green light to, and then reaping the rewards of that.
Does that actually -- do voters care about that based off of everything that you look at? Does that actually hit home for people?
VAVRECK: People do care about this. People are telling pollsters vast majorities of Americans think that elites are out of touch with regular people, that political institutions have been captured by the rich and powerful. This is exactly what this story is about, and that people with ordinary backgrounds would do a better job of representing them than elites. And when I say vast majorities, I mean these numbers are up, pushing 80 percent of the population.
MICHAELSON: Wow.
VAVRECK: That means people in both political parties. So this is part of the moment that is happening right now. This is why we're seeing incumbents getting -- anybody who is part of the establishment is being held to account.
MICHAELSON: Right.
VAVRECK: It's a performance evaluation and you have not delivered for me. And it means different things in the two parties. But the sentiment is the same. You're not delivering and so we're kicking you out. MICHAELSON: And that's why you could have a situation where a sitting
senator maybe doesn't get elected, where you have incumbent members that are getting knocked out.
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People who are in their 20s winning. Somebody like Graham Platner having a shot, right?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. No, look, I mean, I think people -- strategists in both parties believe corruption is different than the other arguments about Trump threatening democracy because people attach the corruption to a core view about his first two years. I mean, the core problem Trump and Republicans have heading into the midterm is that people elected him to solve their cost of living problem, and too many voters feel that he is not focused enough on that, and instead is focused on his own causes, you know, his own grievances and enriching himself and enriching his friends. And this is just an incredibly powerful anchor to attach that argument to.
MICHAELSON: We're so grateful that you guys are hanging out with us over the next two hours. We've got a lot more to get to, including a historic day at the Supreme Court. So we'll be talking when we see you guys in a little bit.
Lynn, Ron, see you soon.
We want to get some other news now, including developments in the Middle East, where Qatar's prime minister sat down with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to discuss U.S. and Iran talks and the ceasefire in Lebanon. They did not meet with Iranian officials. On Wednesday, delegations from the U.S. and Iran are expected to participate separately in technical talks with mediators.
Sources say Oman recently delivered a proposal to the U.S. and other allies on the future of the Strait of Hormuz. A regional diplomat says that plan calls for shipping companies to pay service fees to use the strait, but the source says disagreements remain. The proposal is expected to be discussed during talks in Doha this week.
Officials in Iran are planning to hold funeral ceremonies for the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei months after his death. The ceremonies will be held across Iran and be across Iraq as well, and will span several days beginning on Saturday. Khamenei was killed on February 28th, on the first day of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
The U.N. Refugee Agency is warning of a dramatic surge in relief needs in Venezuela as the country struggles to recover from two deadly earthquakes. Wednesday marks one week since the quake struck back to back. The death toll has climbed to more than 1900 people. The port in La Guaira, one of the hardest hit areas, has turned into a makeshift morgue where families are trying to identify their loved ones among hundreds of coffins. Rescue efforts continue, aided by crews from around the world.
This video shows a crew from Los Angeles helping local volunteers try to save a group of young girls from a collapsed building. Officials say nearly 16,000 people have been affected or displaced by the disaster. The government has opened dozens of temporary shelters, but some people are staying on the streets, too scared to go back into their homes. Search and rescue efforts continue across the country. Charities on the ground providing aid to those affected.
For more information about how you can help the earthquake victims, please go to CNN.com/impact or you can scan the QR code on your screen right now.
Still ahead on THE STORY IS World Cup results from the Mexico-Ecuador showdown that just wrapped up moments ago. Live pics here of Mexico fans in Los Angeles. They are ready for a fiesta. Good night for them. Two more European teams booked their tickets to the round of 16. We talk World Cup, plus preview the American match tomorrow. Stay with us.
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MICHAELSON: The British government says it is likely to challenge Paramount-Skydance's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The U.K. culture minister says she is, quote, "minded to intervene" in the $110 billion merger, citing a public interest concern over media diversity.
This is a live look from outside our window here at the Warner Brothers lot.
Lisa Nandy goes on to say that she has written to both Paramount and Warner Brothers, CNN's parent company. Even though the U.K. government has not made a final decision, an intervention would be a significant hurdle to that takeover bid.
Dozens of wildfires are burning across several western U.S. states as hot, dry and windy conditions fuel the flames. The Aspen Acres Fire in Colorado has burned nearly 30,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders in two countries.
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has the latest forecast.
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DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We have several major weather topics to follow along on this Wednesday. Check this out. This heat dome continues to bring in oppressive heat for the eastern half of the country, but right around the periphery of this high pressure and the heat dome is the potential for some stronger storms today, particularly across the Great Lakes in the upper Midwest.
Mainly a wind threat. But we want to keep an eye to the sky and weather aware from Green Bay into Traverse City, Michigan. But there's also a critical fire risk across the four corners that continues basically from this past weekend, right through the week. We have dry conditions. They're also being fueled by strong winds out of the southwest, helping ignite additional fires. Look at these high temperatures, 98 degrees for Washington, 98 for
Nashville. But of course, we all know it's the humidity that makes it unbearable as we step outside. The heat index values where the feels like on your skin as you step outdoors will feel like 110 degrees in many locations along that I-95 corridor, right through the busy holiday weekend as this ridge of high pressure or a heat dome settles in and just migrates across the southeastern U.S.
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MICHAELSON: Derek, thank you.
Weather was a factor in the World Cup tonight. The Mexico game started about an hour late. It didn't stop Mexico from advancing to the World Cup round of 16. The final whistle blew just moments ago. Mexico, which is co-hosting the tournament, defeated Ecuador two-nil in Mexico City. Ecuador drawing a late red card in stoppage time before getting eliminated.
In New Jersey, France breezed through the round of 16 after a three- nil victory against Sweden, and the Le Blue are now one step closer to their third consecutive men's World Cup final. They will face off against Paraguay on Saturday. And a late goal from who else, Erling Haaland. It was enough to see Norway through to the next round after a thrilling match against Ivory Coast,. Norway will play five-time champion Brazil on Sunday. That will be something.
Now Wednesday offers yet another stacked lineup of must-watch matches. England's Three Lions take on the Leopards of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Belgium will face off against Senegal, and the United States men will try to advance past Bosnia and Herzegovina in a primetime showdown.
CNN's Coy Wire is traveling with the team.
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COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: This will be the first knockout match that Americans have played ever in the primetime. The story is no longer, can America get out of the group. The story is now, will this become the summer America fell in love with its team? It's a big emotional narrative. Had a practice behind me a bit ago. A few players told me they're fully aware of the magnitude of this moment.
It isn't just survive and advance. It's more like inspire and advance, embracing how America is rallying around them, and they know how tough this match with Bosnia and Herzegovina will be. Listen to this.
SERGINO DEST, U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: It's a knockout round. And if you want to win this trophy, the World Cup, you got to beat everyone, you know, and be able to beat everyone. So if it's from Europe or Africa, it doesn't matter. We just want to win.
FOLARIN BALOGUN, U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: We know we're going to need to be creative. We know we're going to need to be intense like we have been, you know, so far. And, you know, there's no doubts we can go out there and win.
GIO REYNA, U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: We have very high expectations for ourselves for the rest of this tournament. And, yes, we don't want this to be over.
WIRE: Now the U.S. hasn't beaten a European opponent since 2021. It's been 12 matches since they beat, guess who? Bosnia and Herzegovina in a friendly. Now this is a huge coaching moment for Mauricio Pochettino. He's won big club matches. Can he now guide America deeper than anyone has in 24 years?
He got annoyed with a line of questioning about their loss to Turkey. They won their group and he's had to make some strategic decisions. Christian Pulisic, the engine that makes this American attack hum, coming off an injury, he played about 30 minutes on Thursday against Turkey. And now Pulisic would probably play 180 minutes if they'd let him. Pochettino's job is making sure he doesn't have to.
All right. Whoever wins this match will advance to the round of 16. America is favored to win. They're looking to move one step closer to their first quarterfinal since 2002. For Bosnia and Herzegovina, a win in front of a massive pro-American crowd, would be legendary. Nothing says we've arrived quite like knocking out the host nation. We'll soon find out whose dream continues and whose comes to an end.
Back to you.
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MICHAELSON: Coy, thank you. And Coy will be live with us tomorrow right after that match. So look for that coverage here on THE STORY IS.
But up next, the U.S. Supreme Court has delivered another round of pivotal rulings, including a major blow to President Trump's immigration agenda. But our panel says that's maybe not the right way to look at it.
Lynn Vavreck and Ron Brownstein with some interesting takes, when we come back.
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MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
A newly filed disclosure statement shows that President Trump earned billions of dollars last year. The filing says Trump netted more than $526 million from sales of crypto tokens tied to a firm managed in part by his sons Eric and Don Jr.. His profits also included hefty royalties and licensing fees. The earnings are believed to be unprecedented for a sitting United States president.
The United States Supreme Court dealt a major blow to President Trump by upholding birthright citizenship in the U.S. In a 6-3 decision, justices argued that under the Constitution, children born in the U.S. become citizens at birth, even if their parents are not citizens. They also ruled that the Trump administration could not use executive power to end that status.
The high court also upheld state bans on transgender athletes playing on girls' sports teams. The conservative majority reasoned that the bans were permissible under the Constitution's 14th Amendment. In a separate unanimous decision, the court also ruled that the state bans do not violate Title Nine, which is meant to combat sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.
Lots to discuss there with our panel. Let's bring them back, Ron Brownstein and Lynn Vavreck.
Lynn, let's start with you. You wrote an entire book about the idea of identity in politics. You've talked about how this immigration issue for President Trump is so core to that appeal.
VAVRECK: Yes.
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MICHAELSON: How do you read this ruling? Is it more about the fight or about the outcome?
LYNN: Yes. Well, we want to talk about the outcomes and how that may change lives -- people's lives.
But the fight, I think, is important. And Trump's core issues in two of his campaigns and both of his presidencies have been these identity-inflected topics.
And sure, maybe one of these decisions is not what he would want. The other one is. We can talk about some others that have happened.
But the key thing is it keeps these topics top of mind for people, for voters, for candidates. And it demonstrates that he can say, when I fight for you, when I say I am going to fight for you, and I go do it, things happen. And we're going to keep fighting on the ones where we haven't achieved our goals. We're going to keep fighting.
And that's kind of gold for candidates. That's what they need.
MICHAELSON: So, you're saying that these issues -- immigration and, certainly, transgender rights -- are issues that animated his voters in a personal way, that some of this tax issues or other things don't necessarily do.
VAVRECK: Oh, always.
MICHAELSON: But by even challenging the status quo, when he probably knew he was going to lose anyways --
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
VAVRECK: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- just the fight itself is a political win.
VAVRECK; Yes. And not just his voters. That doesn't just animate his voters. All -- voters on both sides.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
VAVRECK: And that's a little bit -- there's this tension here. Everybody talks about affordability. We can't afford what we want. That seems like why aren't politicians talking and fighting about that?
Because the minute one side goes to these identity-inflected topics, the other side has to come to that fight. And then that's what we're fighting over. And it animates both sides.
MICHAELSON: And this transgender issue has been especially complicated for the Democratic Party.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Yes. Look, I think both things are true. Like, the vast majority of the electorate is motivated by these identity issues at this point.
But because the two sides that are motivated by that are so evenly balanced, the balance of power often, really, is the last 8 or 10 percent of voters who really are not as engaged in that fight and are voting on performance. And they are the ones who put Trump over the top in '24 and are the threat to Republicans this year, either by switching to vote for Democrats or, more likely, not voting at all.
The transgender, I mean, first -- by the way, on the -- on the birthright citizenship ruling, yes, they ruled in favor of birthright citizenship. Four Supreme Court justices determined -- ruled today that the 14th Amendment did not mean what it plainly said, and were willing to say there is no constitutional right to birthright citizenship, which is a measure of just how far, you know, this court has shifted the legal debate.
And on the transgender decision today, I think it was really revealing of what I call situational federalism. I mean, what we have seen over and over is this court act, this Roberts court act in a way to prevent blue states from infringing on rights that conservatives prize, whether that's gun rights, religious liberty, exemptions to civil rights laws.
But they are letting red states infringe on rights that liberals prize. So, abortion, voting rights, LGBTQ rights. They took up a -- you know, the same day that they put down this decision on transgender kids in sports, they took up a gun control case to challenge an assault weapon ban in a blue state.
So, in many ways, the Supreme Court, I think this Supreme Court majority is providing fuel for the unraveling of America, for allowing red and blue states to pull apart to a degree we really haven't seen since Jim Crow. MICHAELSON: And this Supreme Court is, of course, led by the chief
justice --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- John Roberts, who is often in the majority, depending on which way the majority is.
Last night, we had Senator Adam Schiff on our show, and he said something fairly provocative, Lynn. He said that he thinks that -- that Roberts is one of the greatest enablers of President Trump.
He says, yes, he votes on certain things like birthright or, you know, the mail-in ballots or things like that. But on the really biggest, most important case, which he said was this idea of giving him criminal immunity, giving all presidents criminal immunity, that he sided with President Trump.
And that has opened the floodgates for everything, including the billions of dollars that President Trump has made in this second term.
VAVRECK: Yes, I can understand that argument, for sure. And I think it's tempting to take each one of these cases and try to, you know, pick apart this justice this way and that.
But really, if you -- if you take the wider angle view, there are a lot of patterns here. And the pattern you just described is one that we have seen with regularity. And yes, I think it probably changes all of the decisions that are being made in the White House right now.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, just the overall pattern, clearly, is to expand presidential power; to enable him to act, even -- even if at times they -- they pull him back.
But the immunity decision, the decision this week on, basically, ending the independence of independent federal agencies by allowing him to -- to fire commissioners.
[00:35:06]
I would say that where they have drawn the line against him are on places where I think the -- the six Republican-appointed justices are still in the mainstream of Republican opinion, if not necessarily Trumpian opinion. Tariffs, maintaining the independence of the Fed.
I mean, those are things that most Republicans were a little leery. Even ending birthright citizenship.
MICHAELSON: And, you know, especially with Republicans.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Big business.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, exactly.
MICHAELSON: Because that stuff costs donors.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And so, that -- that lines up with that, as well.
And so, you know, now there's a question of the future of the Supreme Court itself. There was this false report by Nina Totenberg of NPR today that Samuel Alito, the justice, is retiring, which was, you know, terrible journalism that she apologized for as the worst mistake of her career.
That being said, there's a reason why there was, like, a pre-writ done because there's been some speculation about whether he will retire. Because if he doesn't retire now, it could be a long time before a conservative justice comes through.
BROWNSTEIN: I -- I think after Mitch McConnell and Merrick Garland, no Supreme Court justice will be confirmed by a Senate of the opposite party than the president in our lifetime ever again.
And that means that, if Democrats win the Senate this fall -- which is still an uphill fight, but it's no longer outside the realm of possibility, with positive polls in places like North Carolina, Alaska, Ohio, and Texas -- that Thomas and Alito are marooned on the court in their late -- in their late '70s.
And so, I would not be shocked at all if one of them does retire before November, both to help gin up Republican turnout, but also because of the risk that, if Democrats win back the -- the Senate, it could be a long time until the -- there's a confirmation.
MICHAELSON: Yes. That will be fascinating to see in the months ahead. And that would be a crazy battle that, of course, that we would see right away in the United States Senate, which right now is kind of quiet.
Ron Brownstein, Lynn Vavreck, thank you both. We will see you in our next hour, talking more about the breaking news out of Colorado.
But up next, a historic day in the world of sports. King James is searching for a new kingdom. The NBA legend leaving Los Angeles as a free agent.
I'll have two top basketball insiders in the entire NBA. We're going to be here live on set with some interesting news on where LeBron could be ending up.
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[00:42:11]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of me's really sad, but I think it was time. I think it's time to build around Luka and -- and hopefully, this offseason goes well. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was hoping he'd stay in L.A., but the fact that
he's going somewhere else is pretty cool. But LeBron is one of the greatest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it was nice having him, and I think he should just retire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, he won a championship. It was in a bubble, but he won. So, I guess -- I guess it would be all right. But in Lakers' standards, it was -- it was a bust. It was a waste of money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope he could have done more, but I guess appreciate -- appreciate what he has done for Lakers. And I think one championship is good enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Winning a title is not a bust. And by the way, did that guy who thinks he should retire see the first round of the playoffs? That guy did not look like somebody ready to retire.
LeBron James will be playing in a record 24th NBA season, but he will not be doing it with the Lakers. His agent confirms that James will enter free agency and leave Los Angeles, where he's played for the past eight seasons.
In a post on X, the Lakers called James one of the greatest athletes in history.
He led the team to a championship back in 2020 when there was a bubble, so there was no parade. Now the rumor mill is already swirling about where King James may end up next.
Here's two guys with some actual insight in real-world reporting. Jovan Buha is an NBA reporter and host of the "Buha's Block" podcast; and Grant Liffmann is an NBA insider and courtside reporter for NBC Sports, "The NBA on NBC."
All right. Jovan, let's start with you. You're the Lakers insider. You've spent all these hours with LeBron James and everybody behind the scenes.
What happened here? Why is he leaving?
JOVAN BUHA, NBC REPORTER: I think it was time. It was time for both sides. My understanding is this was a mutual decision between the two sides.
For the Lakers, they are ready to fully move into the Luka era and build around him and Austin Reaves. And they had a lot of success last season with those two guys when LeBron was out of the lineup.
So, they're looking at that and saying, can we get younger? Can we get more athletic, better defenders and build the next era of this team?
And for LeBron, I think things have grown a little stale. I think this had become a marriage of convenience between the two sides.
And the big thing over the last 24 hours has been -- coming out of his camp, has been looking for happiness and joy and kind of recapturing that in a new situation.
So, I think, just based on the way the last couple of years had gone, LeBron was ready for a new team, and the Lakers are ready to move on to a new era.
MICHAELSON: Although the month of March, they were 15 and 2.
BUHA: It was an awesome month.
MICHAELSON: It seemed -- seemed happy. Right?
BUHA: Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves went down, and then everything --
MICHAELSON: It wasn't so happy after that, unfortunately.
All right, well, Grant, you spent years as the guy for the Golden State Warriors, hosting so many different shows with Steph Curry. You know that team backwards and forwards.
And the rumor is that LeBron James could be headed to Golden State to team up with Steph Curry, his friend, who he played Olympic basketball with.
[00:45:03]
How real is that? What are you hearing?
GRANT LIFFMANN, COURTSIDE REPORTER, NBC SPORTS: So, it's real. But I also want to put a caveat here.
No one actually knows anything, including the Golden State Warriors. There has been no implication that LeBron is saying, hey, I want to go to the Golden State Warriors.
It's really just an assumption at this point. And there are reason to assume it. And it's mostly relationally, right? You have Steve Kerr, who coached him with the Olympic team. You have Steph Curry. They've really bonded over the last few years, especially with their -- just their greatness. And there's so many years of playing against each other.
And then you have Draymond Green, who's also very close to LeBron James. So, there's been plenty of reasons why it makes sense. Also keeping him on the West Coast, you know, close to family, et cetera.
But it is funny. You talk about the Los Angeles Lakers and how they need to go younger and more athletic and stuff. Golden State Warriors technically need to do that, too, but they're saying, you know what? I will put that on pause for a moment here. Let's see if we can bring the king in, see what we can do with that.
And really, in truth, you start wondering: are they already set up for that? Draymond Green declined his player option, which gives them more optionality, a little bit more flexibility to bring in LeBron.
So, it's set up. The foundation is there. Do they pull it off? That's the big question.
MICHAELSON: Some big stars are known for recruiting other players to their team. What about Steph Curry?
LIFFMANN: You know, Steph is actually pretty hesitant about being that guy. He really doesn't want to overstep. And he doesn't really actually go out there and publicly, or behind the scenes, recruit very often.
I know, you know, he was part of the group that recruited Kevin Durant to the team back in the day. But he is not somebody that the Warriors' front office goes to and says, hey, will you make a call or will he go off and do it?
Now Draymond, on the other hand, you know, he's maybe a little bit more active in those type of things. But no, Steph isn't that guy.
Would I be surprised if Steph doesn't have some type of conversation with LeBron? Yes. Just also because they're friends, right? They -- they have all these years of playing against each other and the respect that they have for each other.
I'd be surprised if they don't have a conversation of some kind. But again, I don't expect to see Steph on the road, you know, pitching him.
MICHAELSON: So, the Lakers do have somebody named LeBron James Jr. on the roster.
BUHA: They do. They do.
MICHAELSON: His son still on the team.
BUHA: Yes.
MICHAELSON: How is that going to work? And what does the rest of the Lakers team look like?
BUHA: Well, the rest of the team right now is grim, although they've been linked to a couple of free agents. And they are trying to acquire one of the top restricted free agents. There's a few guys that they're looking at right now: Walker Kessler, Jalen Duren, potentially Peyton Watson.
So, they have about $50 million in cap space to spend, and they're trying to see if they can poach one of those guys in restricted free agency.
As for Bronny, his contract was officially guaranteed by the team yesterday. So, I think now he gets to just be a typical NBA player and grow and develop. And we'll see. They could potentially reroute him to whichever team LeBron goes to. Or they could also just reroute him in a trade, if they want to get off that roster spot. So, they have the flexibility to move him, if necessary. But for now,
he gets to just be Bronny James, Los Angeles Laker.
MICHAELSON: And we could have a situation if he stays there, where he could guard his father in the NBA --
BUHA: That would be fun.
MICHAELSON: -- which we've never seen anything like that before either.
Grant, so you're now doing the broadcast thing, but before that, you worked for the Atlanta Hawks in, like, sort of the general manager capacity, working on some of these front office moves.
What's it like behind the scenes these days? Not just for the LeBron situation, but what's it like on this first day of free agency?
LIFFMANN: Well, first of all, it's usually not this chaotic. Because there have been some major trades that have been going on, and it's really got -- the chaos is going.
And hey, if you're an NBA fan, you love it, right? You get all this action.
But normally, you usually set up, and you have all these -- you know, you have your board up there, and you have the strategy. And usually, things aren't flying off the shelves just like this.
The LeBron situation does bring a whole new question mark into all this. Before it was Giannis Antetokounmpo, where he was going to end up.
Now it's LeBron. And now it's like, hey, where is this going to go? And really, are all teams now calling clutch, calling rich Paul, his agent, saying, Hey, can we have LeBron James? Is he -- are we on the list?
Those are the things that are happening right now. That's what's happening behind the scenes. Because these teams don't know until they call, and that's what they're doing.
MICHAELSON: Most likely landing spot for LeBron?
LIFFMANN: Oh, you're putting me on the spot here. I'm going to say it's between probably Golden State, Miami, Cleveland. I know those are the ones out there.
I'm going to say Golden State. I think it just makes a lot of sense.
MICHAELSON: Most likely?
BUHA: I agree: Golden State.
MICHAELSON: OK. And let's just quickly get in the other big trade, which is a huge trade that would have made national news today if it wasn't for the LeBron situation.
Kawhi Leonard, who won a title with the San Antonio Spurs, won a title with the Toronto Raptors, has been with the Los Angeles Clippers for a long time in an era that has been troubled for a lot of different reasons injuries, injuries, some scandals, bad deal with Paul George, all sorts of problems.
He's now headed back to Toronto. You used to cover the Clippers before you covered the Lakers. Your thoughts on this?
BUHA: I thought it was an incredible haul for the Clippers to get two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a couple swaps for Kawhi Leonard. They -- the Raptors actually gave up more for Kawhi now than they did back when he was 27 years old, entering his prime.
[00:50:11]
And obviously, he delivered at that time with a championship. It will be interesting to see how they fill out the rest of the roster.
I think they are now in that east contender mix. I wouldn't put them at the top. I still would put New York and Boston ahead of them.
But yes, it's a well-timed reunion for Kawhi. I think that Clippers situation, with the Aspiration scandal looming over everything, I think it was time for both sides to move on, as well.
So, Toronto takes another shot on him, and we'll see how he delivers.
MICHAELSON: And we saw last year that, when he is healthy, Kawhi Leonard is still unguardable. Amazing, amazing player.
LIFFMANN: When healthy. When healthy.
MICHAELSON: But we'll see if that's going to be able to continue for the Toronto Raptors.
Gentlemen, great to see both of you. Keep up the good work. Proud of both of you, all your success.
BUHA: Thank you for having us.
MICHAELSON: And it'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow, which is the first full day of free agency. You got a half day today. And we saw all of this.
All right. Well, sources have revealed the details of one of the most anticipated events of the year. Details on what Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have planned for their wedding celebrations.
And speaking of basketball, what it has to do with the Mecca and the New York Knicks. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:56:02] MICHAELSON: We have live pictures right here from Southern California as Mexico fans are celebrating their team's victory against Ecuador.
As we have seen for many years in Los Angeles, Mexico has an extremely large fan base in L.A., who like to party every time they win.
Mexico moves on now in the World Cup.
Now we go to New York. Sources have revealed to CNN the location of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's highly-anticipated wedding celebration, as we look live at the Statue of Liberty -- no, I'm sorry, the Empire State Building.
The event will be held at the world-famous Madison Square Garden later this week. Plans have been shrouded in rumor and secrecy, as Gloria Pazimo [SIC] explains -- Pazmino explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. You know, there had been so much speculation since last August when the couple got engaged about where the wedding would be. Would we get to see it? Who would get to attend?
But more and more clues have emerged over the past few days that the location, the celebration is going to be right here in the heart of Manhattan, inside Madison Square Garden, the world's most famous arena, where Taylor Swift has performed eight times.
Now, here's what we know. The celebrations are expected to begin on Thursday with what sources are describing to us as a rehearsal --
PAZMINO (voice-over): -- that will include about 100 guests. Then the big celebration, a wedding celebration, is expected to take place on Friday.
PAZMINO: That will kick off in the afternoon, as most weddings begin. And it will go on until late, very late into Saturday morning at 4 a.m.
Now throughout the day on Tuesday, we saw a lot of activity outside the Garden --
PAZMINO (voice-over): -- equipment being moved in and out of the loading docks. And one specially telling clue, a worker who was wearing a T-shirt that read "Taylor Swift Carpenters."
PAZMINO: I do think it's worth perhaps a word of warning about all these clues and Easter eggs and little breadcrumbs, perhaps meant to throw us off the scent. It's been done before. We're talking about Taylor Swift here.
But our sources familiar with the plans tell us these two events are set to happen Thursday and Friday. The last important point about this major event, which, you know,
people are describing as America's royal wedding. It's going to be taking place over July 4th weekend, the nation's 250th birthday, which is also going to be happening during what could be a historic heat wave in New York City, inside a very famous venue that is located in a very busy intersection of Manhattan.
Madison Square Garden is right on top of Penn Station. And of course, the World Cup is still underway. So, this is going to be a very busy stretch of New York City, at least for the next few days.
Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: I mean, it's basically busy all the time. Gloria, thank you for that.
Another big part of America's 250th birthday celebration happening in New York is in the Harbor. About 80 seafaring vessels from around the world will take part in Sail 250.
The U.S. Coast Guard's cutter, Eagle, will lead Saturday's celebrations. The flotilla will enter the harbor in waves this week.
It will include more than 40 tall ships with huge white sails that look like they could have been around when America was born.
The ships will be joined by nearly 200 military aircraft overhead.
And don't forget: you can start celebrating Americas 250th this Friday, July 3, with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. They'll count down to midnight for an historic ball drop honoring the nation's birthday.
Independence Eve, live with Anderson and Andy, starts at 8 p.m. Eastern on CNN. Or you can stream it right here on the CNN app.
And right after that show is our show, THE STORY IS, which we'll be celebrating together, as well.
Thanks for watching the first hour of THE STORY IS. The next hour starts right now.
