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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Progressive Face Key Tests In Colorado Primaries; CNN: Democratic Socialist Kiros Wins Colorado Dem House Primary; CNN: Sen Hickenlooper Defeats Progressive In Colorado; Mexico Advance to Round of 16 after 2-0 Win over Ecuador; GOP Rep. Tom Kean Says Depression Led to Monthslong Absence; Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's Wedding Celebration. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 01, 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 ANCHOR: 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.
I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. Coming up, the story is election night in Colorado. We are live in Denver with the latest results and what they mean for the November midterms.
The story is the next Democratic leader. The vice president says AOC might be the 2028 nominee, but she is not only one in the running. Brian Tyler Cohen has some advice for those on the ticket. He joins me live.
And the story is the World Cup, Team USA, England and Belgium all playing in the knockout round in the next 24 hours. But in a year with so many upsets by underdogs, will they make it through?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michelson.
MICHAELSON: Well, my favorite thing to say is that it's election night in America. We get to play my favorite music. And tonight it is election night in Colorado. A major test for the progressive movement. There it is. Hoping to replicate New York's victories last week.
And they did just that in the closest House race of the night. 29- year-old democratic socialist Melat Kiros -- Kiros defeating 15 term representative Diana DeGette in Colorado's first district. In the Democratic Senate primary. You see it there. CNN projects incumbent John Hickenlooper will defeat progressive challenger state Senator Julie Gonzales. He will face Republican state lawmaker Mark Blazey in November.
And in Colorado's race for governor, CNN projects state Attorney General Phil Weiser will advance to the general election defeating U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. That's a big upset.
Let's bring in political reporter for the Colorado Sun, Jesse Paul joining us live from Denver. Let's start with the upset. Michael Bennet, the incumbent senator with a big name ID long viewed as the frontrunner. What happened?
JESSE PAUL, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE COLORADO SUN: Honestly, you know, I think voters here just made a choice between keeping Michael Bennet in the Senate and deciding to go with kind of fresh blood with Phil Weiser. In all reality, the two men were very similar, but Phil Wiser kind of picked up the progressive darling label throughout the campaign and voters ended up going with them. I think Michael Bennet struggled to kind of make his case, had his campaign kind of failed to launch from the start, had to spend a lot of his time in D.C. in the Senate, was unable to kind of campaign in the same way and blew what was basically like a 30-point name ID lead that he started out the race with. So definitely an interesting shift in the race.
MICHAELSON: Well, and part of this there was literally a tagline to keep Bennet in the Senate because if he would have won, he would have appointed his own successor and never said who that was going to be.
PAUL: Right. That was kind of a fascinating aspect of this race. You know, Michael Bennet was asking Democratic primary voters here to basically cast two votes, one for him and one for whoever his successor was going to be. Michael Bennet never really gave voters much information on who he was thinking he would replace himself with. And I think that did factor into kind of the decision making here.
There were definitely voters who we talked to who said they felt uncomfortable kind of giving Michael Bennet that blank check to appoint a successor in the Senate, even though Colorado has a very deep bench of Democratic politicians. And Phil Weiser, you know, also kind of tapped into that outsider incumbent frustration that you've seen. You mentioned New York and of course that wasn't the only race that we had in Colorado that kind of view (inaudible).
MICHAELSON: Yes. Well, and let's talk about that race that you're talking about right now. New York last week. We saw two incumbents lose. Democratic Socialists prevail tonight.
Democratic Socialist, 29-year-old Kiros winning over a long time incumbent. I know you've done reporting on the ground. How do you read what's happening in the first district and what voters there are telling you?
PAUL: Yes, I mean, I think this is a combination of, you know, the national movement, but also some reality in terms of Diana DeGette not taking this primary maybe as seriously as she should have. There was some writing on the wall earlier this year about it. And I'm not sure Diana DeGette changed her strategy enough to kind of shift the momentum that was going to Kiros. I just saw her, you know, farmers markets are a huge thing in Denver.
Melat Kiros was that the one by my house on Sunday. And she was kind of like a rock star, right? You know, everybody wanted to get a picture with Melat Kiros. She had this like young progressive energy around her. And I think she parlayed that into a victory over DeGette who, as you mentioned, you know, been in Congress for 30 years from Denver, was kind of a staple of Colorado politics.
[01:05:06]
So, a really big shift here. I think the next thing that's going to be interesting is, you know, Colorado has a really competitive congressional race north of Denver that the Democrats want to win. And you're already seeing Republicans trying to say that every Democrat in Colorado is like Melat Kiros and I think it's some trouble.
MICHAELSON: And you're talking about the 8th district, where we know right now that every district could matter because the margins in the House are so close. Talk to us about -- about that race. And you're saying that -- that Kiros may actually hurt Democrats in that race.
PAUL: I think Republicans certainly hope so. So the 8th congressional district is kind of Denver's northeast suburbs, stretches up into Greeley, Colorado. It's only been around for two years as part of population expansion in the north -- northeast part of the state. It had one Democratic representative, one Republican representative. And both times the race is have been really tight. And Democrats and Republicans have basically signaled that they're willing to empty their wallets completely to win this district.
It's seen as kind of a national bellwether. And you know, there was a Democratic primary there, here in the 8th district as well. Tonight, Manny Rutinel won that. Has kind of -- he was a progressive. Has tried to kind of moderate himself. But now Democrats or Republicans are already starting to gear up to say Manny Rutinel, Melat Kiros are the same person. Which is going to be an interesting thing to play in this district, which is like a complete 50-50 Kamala Trump district. It is the truest toss-up district, I think, in the country.
MICHAELSON: Well, that's going to be a lot of fun. I hope to be able to report from there and to meet you in person. Jesse Paul, thank you for your great work on the ground, and appreciate you staying up late with us tonight.
PAUL: Thanks so much. Have a good evening.
MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, President Trump is rallying Republicans ahead of the midterm elections that Jesse just talked about. He wrote on his Truth Social quote, "For the first time ever, the Republican Party will hold a midterm convention. It will be in Dallas, Texas, one of my favorite places in the world." Trump says, "The convention will be held in September."
And it comes as his administration tries to do everything it can to boost turnout in races and keep control of Congress there. Not just stopping there. Vice President JD Vance is looking at who he thinks might be the leading Democratic presidential candidate in 2028.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL KNOWLES, THE MICHAEL KNOWLES SHOW: The leading Democrat for '28.
JD VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I think it's got to be AOC. I know that's probably conventional wisdom, but --
KNOWLES: Well, no, I think the conventional wisdom right now is Newsom.
VANCE: No, no. I don't -- I don't buy that. The AOC versus Ossoff thing, I guess the question would be, who do you think really has the power in the Democratic Party? And if you think the answer is like Wall Street and the left-of-center business community, then it would be Ossoff. And if you think it's the universities, it would be AOC.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: My panel is back with us. CNN political analyst and Bloomberg opinion columnist Ron Brownstein and Lynn Vavreck, a Hoffenberg professor of American politics at UCLA:
All right, we'll talk about 2028 in a moment, but let's talk about the immediate thing that they just announced. What is this idea of this midterm convention, Ron? What's that about?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: First of all, I remember there was one before, wasn't there one in 1978? I think. Look --
MICHAELSON: With Reagan there.
BROWNSTEIN: No, I was not there. But maybe I'm wrong. So, you know, Republicans have the problem that the party in the White House has had in midterm elections since time immemorial. Their side is less engaged in the election than the party that's out of the White House, which is enormously and in this case, I think turbocharged, frustrated over what the President is doing. So they're clearly looking for a way to energize Republicans.
The fact that they're choosing Dallas.
MICHAELSON: Yes. What does that say? Why -- why Texas of all thing?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I mean --
MICHAELSON: What's happening in Texas?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, I mean, poll today? New York Times, tell Rico and Paxton the Senate candidates --
MICHAELSON: The Senate race there.
BROWNSTEIN: At 47-47, still an uphill climb for Democrats. But the fact that they're talking about doing this in Texas is almost by definition an indication of why they have to do this in the first place.
MICHAELSON: Right. Meaning that you're in a defensive home. If you're having to defend Texas as a Republicans --
BROWNSTEIN: Exactly. MICHAELSON: -- that's not necessarily a great thing. So it was interesting what JD Vance just said there about Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, who has not said that she's interested in running for President, but clearly people are potentially interested in her running for President.
She was asked today about who she thinks the nominee would be. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: I mean, you know, I hope he is. That's what I'll say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he's the Republican nominee.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So what do you make of him choosing AOC? You think there was some, maybe some strategy in that?
LYNN VAVRECK, HOFFENBERG PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN POLITICS, UCLA: Yes Clever girl there, huh? Throws it right back at him. You know, that's his wish, is that he's the Republican nominee and she's the Democratic nominee. He'd love to run against her.
Paint the Democratic Party as being so far to the left that those, you know, there are some swing voters left in this country. They are deciding election outcomes. And so, he's hoping that he can tell those swing voters, like, she's not for you. But her response to him is that, well, I hope you're the nominee of your party, buddy, because guess what? Those same swing voters, they might not like someone that is coming out of the Trump administration either.
[01:10:25]
MICHAELSON: Yes, well, she's clearly a Democratic socialist. We know that Bernie Sanders is a Democratic socialist who ran for president multiple times and got really close, and the Democratic establishment worked to stop him. That is a fact.
And I remember, I'm sure you remember this, at the Democratic convention in 2016, when Bernie Sanders supporters were delegates, and Hillary Clinton was the nominee, and the party did whatever they could to pretend that they weren't there. They had giant American flags that they would stretch over them when they were protesting. They had people on earpieces and walkie-talkies looking for protesters that would do something rogue to try to hide them or kick people out. It was a whole thing to say, we're unified. But in reality, if you were there, it was clear. There's this whole other thing.
The question is, does that thing now have critical mass?
BROWNSTEIN: That thing has critical mass in the sense that it can now win districts like Colorado, won the get seat and the seats in New York. And as I said in the last hour, I think there are going to be more Democrats in urban districts with a lot of college graduates that are going to face these kinds of challenges. Among younger Democrats, socialism is gained in esteem unquestionably over the last 20 years. Is it a majority of the party?
Is it capable of electing a presidential nominee? That's a very different question. I think if AOC runs, she can coalesce this energy in a formidable way. If she doesn't run, it's not clear to me that anybody else.
Ro Khanna might be the other one who tries to do it, can really take this as far as she might. But don't forget, in 2020, when it looked as though Sanders was in position to win the nomination, black voters in South Carolina coalesced behind Joe Biden, as did a lot of the other candidates.
MICHAELSON: And as soon as they did, then the rest of the party establishment put out the warning, and Pete Buttigieg got out and Amy Klobuchar got out. And I remember being with Bernie Sanders that day, and he felt like the world was literally like a house was going on top of his head.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, the Trump presidency is such an existential threat to so many things that Democrats care about. I still believe the center of gravity in the party is finding someone who is the most electable and thus the most capable of slowing what Trump is doing, rather than someone who will deliver on a checklist of, you know, kind of wish list items for the (inaudible).
MICHAELSON: There's no question, Lynn, though, that AOC would have the biggest crowds and have the most clicks online and be able to communicate to a younger voter in a way that nobody else can.
VAVRECK: Yes, there's an authenticity to that. I think Mamdani is also very good at this.
MICHAELSON: He can't run for president, though, because he wasn't born here.
VAVRECK: True, true. But that authenticity, the familiarity with the media that they -- that young people use, this is all true. And I want to just bring this back to the midterm convention question from a moment ago when Ron was saying that there are these two things happening in the Democratic Party and all the stories that you've just told about 2016, when they have that midterm convention like, this is not a crazy idea. They need to generate enthusiasm. But it's also an opportunity to say, we are one party.
We know. We know what kind of world we want to build, and we're going to show you that we all are on board. Come on board with us. Those guys infighting. They can't figure themselves out.
And I think it's depending on what they do with it, it's potentially a good strategic move.
MICHAELSON: And that convention may act like the Democratic socialists are already running the party. Right?
VAVRECK: Could be.
MICHAELSON: But don't forget the other party -- the other inexorable consequence of that convention is to more firmly attach the party to Trump at a time when he is under 50.
VAVRECK: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Pretty much everywhere. And I will just say again, in his first term, Susan Collins was the only Senate candidate, incumbent or challenger, who won in a state where his approval rating was underfit, was net negative. And right now, he's net negative in just about every place they have to win.
And this convention is going to further tattoo his stamp on the party.
VAVRECK: It doesn't have to, but you know it will.
BROWNSTEIN: It will. It will
VAVRECK: We know it will.
MICHAELSON: But Republicans love him.
BROWNSTEIN: They do.
MICHAELSON: and they go out often when he is on the ballot in a way that we haven't seen before as well. We'll see if they do that.
VAVRECK: Yes. But the midterms are going to be about the swing voters.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
VAVRECK: Yes, yes.
MICHAELSON: All right.
VAVRECK: The Republicans love him, but the swing voters.
MICHAELSON: Well, thank you both for all your insights and hanging out with us all night. It's been a joy to have you here, and we'll have to have you back a lot more as we continue to look at that, maybe cover that convention.
But we now want to move on to some other news happening 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. That's key.
[01:15:09]
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. It's not something that was happening before.
But the source says disagreements remain over that plan. Of course, big question of that would be who gets the money.
Ukraine is increasingly trying to take the war onto Russian soil, ramping up large-scale drone attacks in addition to targeting the Kremlin's oil refineries. Kyiv is again claiming it hit one of Russia's largest satellite communication centers near Moscow. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more on Ukraine's expanding drone assault inside of Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN'S INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voiceover): Hell is still nightly for Ukrainians. Here are drones slamming into Zaporizhzhia where strikes killed one, injured five. But again, Monday night, while Ukraine was dragging its injured from the rubble, they fired about 250 more drones back at Russia than were fired at them.
419, 60 of them at Moscow. This video apparently showing the moment a drone impacted near where Russian officials said a six-month-old baby was among the two Russian dead that night. Very few images of the damage to Moscow emerged, where a space communications center was struck in Dubna. A lot of video actually came from Ukraine's president flaunting the damage. The Kremlin has instructed its law enforcement to hide. Russian city skies blighted more and more like Ukrainian cities, and scenes like this devastating attack on a Moscow oil refinery two weeks ago, shattering the sense in the capital of Putin's war of choice being something far away that others fought.
Now forced to admit more times than he would ever like in the last month to the problems Russians already know about, like gas shortages.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (voiceover): You are well aware that problems persist for both drivers and businesses. It's not always possible to find the required grade of fuel at present.
WALSH (voiceover): Ukraine released footage Tuesday of drone units who said they had targeted Moscow's specific anti-drone defenses, making the route to the capital easier. But it is not just Moscow under pressure. The peninsula of Crimea battered hard, its isolation a key Ukrainian goal achieved through blowing bridges, trains, roads, blackouts, and more gas queues. The frontline brutal battles remain, but the story has changed.
Ukraine less the victim, more the disruptor. Hoping to keep Moscow off balance long enough, it falls. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Thanks to Nick. The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a major blow to President Trump's immigration agenda.
Coming up, a closer look at the landmark ruling on birthright citizenship. Plus, a big question about where does the Democratic Party go from here?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:22:42]
BROWNSTEIN: President Trump and GOP leaders are calling on Congress to pass legislation to limit birthright citizenship. That would need to be a constitutional amendment. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could not use executive power to end that status.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE JOHNSON, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: It certainly is time for us to do everything that's possible. I think it's clearly an issue that merits the attention of Congress. I don't know what the remedy is, how to define it, or the timeline. It would be premature for me to project that.
But I will tell you that it's a big concern with the American people because it's been abused.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: 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. Despite the ruling, the Justice Department is directing all U.S. attorneys to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of so-called birth tourism schemes. The president argues foreign nationals intentionally travel the U.S. to give birth in order to secure their children's citizenship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TYLER COHEN, HOST, "NO LIE WITH BRIAN TYLER COHEN" PODCAST: I've been asked what is the first thing that the left needs to do when it takes power again? And I have said the first thing that needs to happen is, is court reform and court expansion.
GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CAL): Yes, look, you're getting me closer to your point of view.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That is a clip from California Governor Gavin Newsom's podcast where he interviews political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen about Brian's new book. It is called, "The Day After How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World." Brian Tyler's first book was the New York Times number one bestseller. We'll see how his next book does when it comes out next week.
Brian Tyler Cohen, welcome back to The Story Is.
COHEN: Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: So this is getting a lot of attention, especially this chapter that you wrote about the Supreme Court. Of course, today, the last day of the Supreme Court's term, you say that it's time for Democrats to expand the court. I want to put up your proposal up on the screen. You say you want to have 13 justices, a reminder, there's now nine justices on the court, that they should serve one eight-year term and then go back to other courts.
They should have an enforceable code of conduct and mandatory retirement for the justices at 70. We know several of them are over that, some significantly over that over the years. Why?
[01:25:07]
COHEN: So first and foremost, I think that you can take a historical view of this. The number of Supreme Court Justices, as far as history is concerned, has always comported with the number of federal court circuits. And so, going back to 1837, there were six. Eventually, that number went up to nine.
But as these federal court circuits grew, the number of Supreme Court justices didn't. There's also more recent precedent for that. And for example, that was when Mitch McConnell held the number of Supreme Court justices to eight instead of nine because he wanted to keep Merrick Garland off of the court for nearly a year.
So that is -- that's that argument. But I think more broadly the idea of this book, the thesis of this book, its North Star, is that Democrats need to actually wield power in very much the same way that Republicans have wielded power in the past. And in doing that, what I'm -- what I'm basically looking to say is you've got -- let's say we're in a situation where we have Democratic control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. Any legislation that gets passed, any progressive legislation that's going to get passed, is going to have an automatic veto when it goes to the Supreme Court.
So as far as we're concerned, if we want any legislation to stick, if we don't just want this to be a symbolic exercise, if we don't just want this to be, let's just get caught trying but, but instead enact meaningful permanent reforms, then something has to be done about the Supreme Court, a Supreme Court that will fall over itself to help the Republican Party in the way that it has right now.
MICHAELSON: But not on everything. I mean, we saw just today the President wanted to do birthright citizenship. Some of the conservatives said no to him on that. Just yesterday they said no to his mail-in ballot scheme. I mean, some of the, you know, isn't that proof that the system is working, that you don't need to expand?
And if you expand, when does it stop? I mean, do you end up with 150 justices? If the Democrats expand, why wouldn't Republicans expand it back?
COHEN: The bar cannot be so low that we celebrate not even unanimous, but most of the Court agreeing that the plain text of the Constitution should remain the plain text of the Constitution, as was the case in the birthright citizenship case. We had four Republican justices who were willing to say that even though that says right there in the Constitution that if you're born in the United States, you're an American citizen, that that's not good enough for them. They're willing to up that. So, we can't allow the bar to be so low that we're willing to take these scraps and think that it's acceptable in any way.
As far as the second question, you know, are we going to prevent ourselves from taking action here for fear of Republicans abusing their power in the future? Are they not abusing their power right now? So, we can either make the conscious decision to entrench the status quo or we can recognize that this system is not working, that these people are basically ultra-partisan politicians in robes, and actually take steps that we need to take to make sure that any progressive legislation can withstand scrutiny.
MICHAELSON: So this book is essentially a roadmap to the next Democratic president of what you want them to do on a variety of issues, not just the Supreme Court. And you sat down with somebody who could be that person who talked about your opening chapter. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWSOM: A lot of us along for the day of that opening scene in January 2029, new President, United States, behind the Resolute desk. Donald Trump contrasts that scene. Little Hollywood here down in Mar-a-Lago, stressed, frustrated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: I wonder if he's ever thought of that scene himself.
COHEN: Truly one of life's great mysteries.
MICHAELSON: Yes, you did this over an hour and a half conversation with Gavin Newsom about what the next governor or next president of the United States should do.
COHEN: Yes.
MICHAELSON: How sort of meta surreal was that to have him be the interviewer?
COHEN: It was really interesting because the point of the book is, as you said, it's a blueprint to get Democrats to fight, to actually wield power. I mean, I talk a lot about how Republicans have abused their power, how Democrats have shied away from using their power because they've been more deferential to institutions and norms and the filibuster and processes and the parliamentarian. Republicans don't have that problem.
But in any case, to be able to make the case to Gavin Newsom, especially as it relates to the Supreme Court, something he's been chilly on in the past to me, to then be able to, while speaking about this book, trying to get Democrats to fight and to exercise power, to persuade him to be able to do exactly that, is a testament to the fact that the blueprint works.
It's just a matter of getting making the case to as many people as possible.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And you're very good at making the case online. You get over 200 million views a month. That's crazy. Have billions of views on your YouTube page.
And so, you've figured out sort of the messaging that works, and you've taught Democratic politicians about the messaging that works. You talk about the art of the con is one of the chapters in here. We have this report today that President Trump made billions of dollars in office, billions, including a lot of it from crypto, which he has regulated or not regulated.
[01:29:42]
Is that a message that goes through? I mean, what is the message that is most animating the Democratic base right now, especially online?
BRIAN TYLER COHEN, PODCAST HOST, "NO LIE WITH BRIAN TYLER COHEN": Yes. I think -- I think that's exactly it. I mean, you know, we can talk about crypto. We can talk about all of the grifts that he's done, his vanity projects. Each one kind of feels like it's set like its own two-week news cycle. But all of it is a small part of a larger whole because this is somebody who came into office on this pretext that he was going to be focusing on the little guy. That he was going to deliver on an America First agenda.
He talked about housing and rent and groceries. He got so granular that he was talking about the price of an egg.
And then he gets into office and immediately launches a trade war that raises the cost of everything. Immediately sparks off a war with Iran, even though he promised no new wars in the Middle East. That raised the price of oil and gas here at home.
You know, he gutted people's health care, cut food assistance, has done nothing to help the little guy. And yet we're seeing these reports on a near-daily basis of Donald Trump's newest scheme. You know, how he's making billions of dollars in crypto, how he's encrusting the Oval office in gold, building himself a ballroom that, you know, none of -- none of us regular people are ever going to be able to step foot into, focusing on the reflecting pool.
And so individually, they might seem like, you know, insignificant, disparate stories, but in aggregate, they really paint the picture of not just a president, but a party more broadly, that does not care, that does not give a crap about regular people --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
COHEN: -- because they're so focused on delivering for the god king at the top.
MICHAELSON: And that -- but you see the juice on that online. I mean, that is where the energy is.
COHEN: I think -- I think it animates people to such a large degree because that is directly, directly antithetical to what he said he would do on the campaign trail.
MICHAELSON: Congratulations on the book, available for preorder now and comes out officially when?
COHEN: Officially July 14th. Anybody can go to BrianTylerCohen.com/book.
MICHAELSON: There you go. Got the promo in.
All right. Brian, great to see you.
COHEN: Thank you so much.
MICHAELSON: Congratulations on the book. We're proud of you.
COHEN: Thanks.
MICHAELSON: Still ahead on THE STORY IS we'll talk about the Mexico- Ecuador showdown, which some people are still celebrating across multiple continents tonight, including some well-dressed fans right there.
And this is a live look at the streets of southern California where the party is on. Imagine if Mexico wins in the next round.
We'll go live to talk more about this next.
[01:32:22]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: It is official. Mexico is advancing to the men's World Cup round of 16. Co-host Mexico defeated Ecuador two-nil in Mexico City. Ecuador, draining a late red card in stoppage time before getting bounced from the tournament.
Wednesday offers three more must-see 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 of America will try to advance past Bosnia and Herzegovina in a primetime showdown.
Max Bretos is a play-by-play announcer for MLS on Apple TV. He joins us live now from Los Angeles.
Mexico versus Ecuador. People are still in the streets here in southern California right now.
This is a Mexico match on home soil. Talk about what this means for the entire country and for their fans around the world.
MAX BRETOS, PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER, MLS ON APPLE TV: Great to join you, Elex. This is the top story in the World Cup. There's no doubt about it. And I'll tell you why.
First of all, on the field, Mexico hasn't won a knockout game since 1986. They talk about El Quinto Partido, The Fifth Game. Well they're going to get a fifth game. And the way they're going I would imagine they might get a sixth game.
They look magnificent. They're the first team since 1990 not to concede a goal in their first four games.
They're doing this. They're doing it with style and they're easing through.
You're talking about the fans in L.A. There's over a million people out on the streets at the Angel de Independencia in Mexico City.
This is a host nation. I mean, we have the blinders on because we're looking at the U.S., it's a lot of new fans. In Mexico, soccer is in the blood.
And the only thing that comes close to a host nation in this euphoria was when Brazil hosted in 2014 in modern times.
This is truly something that is snowballing. And we've just got to stop and take notice. With the Mexican communities in the U.S., I think this is just something that brings us into a -- brings this World Cup into a whole new light.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And it's after midnight in Mexico City. But as we look live at the live pictures there, there's still a party that is going on there as well.
And listen to this sound from the Dodgers Game. They were taking on the A's in Sacramento when Mexico scored a goal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Confirmed it in the post-game interview, which is you play with these guys in your video games. He confirmed it in the post-game interview.
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MICHAELSON: I mean, right. People are watching these things -- the way people watch games now on their phone, you're kind of happening everywhere. But it shows what a big deal this this is, right?
BRETOS: It's amazing. You know, I think of COVID and these Mexican fans are unbelievable. If you're not Mexican and you roll up to a party, they will welcome you in so you can enjoy with the song and the dance and indulge in whatever else.
[01:39:43]
BRETOS: This just enliven the senses about what this World Cup is all about. And Mexico and their fans on both sides of the border enjoying the ride and spreading the news. And the best part is there's games in Mexico City. If there's another
World Cup co-hosted, there's got to be more games in Mexico.
There's one game remaining. They're going to be in it. It's the round of 16. It will be July the 5th. And it will be against England or the Democratic Republic of Congo.
If it is England, that is going to be a Mount Rushmore, all-time World Cup game because of the interest, because of the absolute volume of fans and because of the history of England.
England was in Mexico in 1986. They were part of Diego Maradona's Hand of God. So there's so many subplots intertwining.
MICHAELSON: Wow.
BRETOS: It is a huge, huge story
MICHAELSON: So we've got that. Mexico's fan base is obviously great.
We love Norway's fan base. They're now known for, you know, all their rowing. They've got this, you know, Viking man Holland who has taken over, who had another goal today. It was amazing to see him.
We also saw France dominate over Sweden today. Mbappe becoming the all-time leading goal scorer in the knockout stages of the World Cup. Next up, Paraguay for them.
And you know, you see the stars really delivering in on the biggest stage.
BRETOS: Indeed. I'll start with Norway and the biggest fan base stories other than Mexico have been Scotland. They have gone home. The Netherlands they have already sent home.
Norway remains. So I don't know how these fans are going to stay here another few days. Maybe they have to take a second mortgage out because they're going to have to remain because they have this huge game.
They haven't been in the World Cup since 1998. They rested their players when they played France. It paid off against the Ivory Coast today. They're darling. There's no doubt about it.
As for Kylian Mbappe, he now has 19 goals in three World Cups. He's caught Lionel Messi. We celebrated him not too long ago about setting the record. But with France, they are the favorites. Clear cut.
And I will add this. It's not just Mbappe. Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise that trio up top are historically good. Olise say leads the World Cup in assists. Mbappe leads it in goals.
Now this is a team that's going to be hard to stop, although I would have thought that before watching Mexico. Maybe Mexico has plans to get there with the French.
But this team has made two World Cups. I wouldn't put it against them to make a third World Cup final.
MICHAELSON: All right. Max, we're pretty much out of time. But in like a sentence or two, break down U.S. big game tomorrow. Most important thing to look out for.
BRETOS: They just have to be in their own skin. Bosnia and Herzegovina is going to want to spoil it. So the U.S. get the players like Pulisic and Flo Balogun (ph) to playing.
And I would add this, Elex, be inspired by what Mexico and Canada have done. They're in the round of 16. Puff your chest out. Our part of the world can play soccer. Let's make it a North American party in the round of 16.
And I'm predicting one of these three teams will make the quarterfinals, maybe two. I predict the U.S.A. to win. It's going to be hard. It's going to be tough and physical, but they'll get the win.
MICHAELSON: Well, we'll have complete coverage of it tomorrow night right here, including live coverage from the Bay Area where they're playing.
Max, thank you so much for joining us. This is getting more and more fun every day. It's really amazing.
Coming up, absence explained. Republican Congressman Tom Kean is now revealing that a depression diagnosis and a long hospital stay are what kept him away from Washington for more than 100 days.
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REP. TOM KEAN, JR. (R-NJ): I am grateful That I accepted help because today I stand before you healthier, stronger and excited to return to the work that I love.
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[01:43:33]
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REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): He is somebody who cares deeply about public service, who cares deeply about representing his district and his constituents, and works tirelessly on their behalf.
And obviously, he didn't make this decision lightly. He didn't, frankly, do it willingly. It was, in many respects, outside of his control. And I give him a lot of credit for getting on the floor today.
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MICHAELSON: That was Republican Mike Lawler defending fellow Congressman Tom Kean, who just returned to Congress after a nearly four-month absence. Kean took to the floor on Tuesday to explain for the first time publicly that he had been treated for depression.
CNN's Arlette Saenz has the details from Capitol Hill.
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KEAN: This is not an easy speech for me to give. I am a private person by nature.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where have you been --
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the first time in four months? New Jersey Congressman Tom Kean stepped onto the House floor and explained his mysterious absence.
KEAN: Several months ago, due to health concerns I entered the hospital for some testing. I did not believe that this would result in a long-term stay. I was given the diagnosis of depression.
SAENZ: Kean undergoing hospital treatment for depression, a diagnosis that impacts nearly 3 in 10 adults at some point in their life.
KEAN: Now, when people hear the word depression, many people think simply means feeling sad. But depression is so much more than that. It is physical. It is emotional. And until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be.
SAENZ: But the Republican congressman has yet to answer why he kept his diagnosis secret from the public for so long.
Congressman Kean, why did you wait so long to disclose your diagnosis? Should you have told the public sooner?
Kean's reemergence on Capitol Hill caps off nearly four months of speculation about his whereabouts.
Before today, Kean last appeared at the U.S. Capitol on March 5th for votes. Over a month later, he revealed he was addressing a personal medical issue and looked forward to being back in the near future.
In mid-May, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the two had spoken as House Republicans grappled with a narrow majority.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: He sounded great. He said he was, you know, out on a medical issue, and he'll be back as soon as possible.
[01:49:48]
SAENZ: And Kean's father, former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, Sr., assured CNN his son was fine and would be back soon, saying, "This won't linger. It's not some kind of disease that's going to incapacitate him in the future."
For months, various news outlets tried to track down Kean, checking at his main and New Jersey residence and vacation home, but he couldn't be found. Both CNN and "The New York Times" finally spotted him at his Westfield home within the last week.
In all, Kean was away from Congress for 117 days, missing 142 votes and keeping his constituents and many colleagues in the dark.
KEAN: When I said I hope to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it. Those were the best estimates the doctors could provide. But as the over 48 million of my fellow Americans being treated for this illness have come to discover, there is no timeline for healing.
SAENZ: During his time away from the U.S. Capitol, Kean won his Republican primary as he seeks reelection in New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. He is set to face off against Democrat Rebecca Bennett in the fall.
But the question now is whether his lack of transparency initially will play into voters' decisions as they weigh who to vote for in the midterm elections.
Arlette Saenz, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Arlette.
New clues are emerging about one of the biggest events of the year, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's possible wedding celebration. Where is it?
Stay with us.
[01:51:25]
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MICHAELSON: Sources have revealed to CNN the apparent location of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's highly-anticipated wedding celebrations. It is the world-famous Madison Square Garden with preparations seemingly already underway there.
Sources say the first event is a rehearsal this Thursday, with a larger wedding celebration planned for Friday. Keep in mind, this information could be a decoy meant to throw the media off the scent.
We're told approximately 1,000 guests are expected to attend the festivities.
Thanks so much for watching THE STORY IS.
Tomorrow, candidate for L.A. mayor, Nithya Raman, will be here live.
And CNN's Coy Wire will be live from the Bay Area moments after Team U.S.A.'s knockout round matchup in the World Cup.
See you tomorrow.
The news continues right here on CNN after this. [01:56:28]
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