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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Damage Across Iran After Second Night of Strikes; Graham Platner Suspends Campaign for U.S. Senate; DHS to Investigate after ICE Agent Fatally Shoots Man; Trump Suggests Patriot Missile Defense Systems Could Be Made in Ukraine; Ukraine's Strategy in Crimea; Workers Install Shoring, Beams to Stabilize NYC High-Rise. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired July 09, 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: Right now and wondering what the full shirt looks like, because I'm getting a lot of text about it. So I'm going to stand up for you guys. OK?
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: OK. I was wondering --
COATES: Here is all the glory, all right? It is fabulous. It has even like little bows. OK? People --
MICHAELSON: What was -- what's the inspiration for this? Who made this shirt? Tell me more about this shirt.
COATES: I am always my own muse, and who made the shirt? It's Laura Coates. Made it fashionable. You may not agree, but here you go, America.
Have a great show, Elex.
MICHAELSON: I can't top that. But I'm going to do the best I can, Laura. Have a great day. And you look fabulous, by the way.
THE STORY IS starts right now.
I'm Elex Michaelson, dressed boringly in Los Angeles.
Coming up, THE STORY IS damage across Iran after a second night of U.S. strikes. This time, President Trump says the cease fire is over. Or is all this just one negotiation tactic?
THE STORY IS suspend and deny. Graham Platner ends his campaign for the U.S. Senate, but says this does not mean he's guilty of any of the violence he's accused of.
And THE STORY IS making nice with NATO. President Trump is returning from a summit with allies where he tried to patch things up after lashing out. What all this means for Ukraine and the war with Iran.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson. MICHAELSON: At this hour, President Trump is in the air on Air Force
One, headed back to Washington from the NATO summit in Turkey as we're watching an escalation of hostilities in Iran. The U.S. unleashing a new round of strikes after President Trump said that the ceasefire is, quote, over.
U.S. Central Command just released this video and announced it has completed those strikes, hitting about 90 Iranian military targets. President Trump has warned that the strikes would get much worse if Iran attacks more ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported explosions in several cities.
This video appears to show the aftermath of one U.S. strike on a maritime control tower in a port city on Iran's southern coast. In the north, Iran says a U.S. strike hit a railway bridge overnight. This would mark a rare case of key infrastructure being targeted. Iran's parliament speaker posted reaction on X, saying in part, "If you strike, you'll get hit. The Strait of Hormuz will only open with Iranian arrangements, not American threats."
And just like last night, Iran is retaliating, saying it once again struck U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Earlier aboard Air Force One, President Trump claimed that Iran wants to make a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly. I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal. That's the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: If they want to make a deal, why do you think they attacked commercial vessels?
TRUMP: Because they're sort of crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Joining me live from Washington is retired General Wesley Clark, a former NATO Supreme Allied commander and founder of Renew America Together.
General, thanks for being with us. I'm curious what we should read into what the U.S. is targeting and what they're not targeting, what Iran is targeting and what they're not targeting.
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Well, I think right now it's still in the stage of, let's call it control. So there are strikes going on, but the military strikes are going principally after the Iranian assets that could threaten ships in the Gulf. And to me, this is the right way to go. It's a smart way to go because Iran's control over the Gulf is its leverage in these negotiations.
And so by taking out their means to control the Gulf, you're reducing their ability to use that leverage. And at the same time, you're holding most of their infrastructure assets in hostage. This would be the energy assets, the Kharg Island, it would be the desalination plants and the other infrastructure things that could be struck. But Iran knows that if it retaliates against its neighbors in the Gulf, then the United States is going to come back and strike its infrastructure. So I think it's a smart way to go. And bit by bit, bit by bit, strike by strike, the United States is eroding the capacity of Iran to threaten ships in the Gulf.
Can we get all the way there and completely annihilate the threat? That remains to be seen, but there's a lot happening, I suspect, underwater that were not seeing and not hearing about. So I'm very encouraged by the controlled escalation, by the way that Admiral Cooper is pulling this forward and I think it's a smart way to go.
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MICHAELSON: You know, at the start of this war, it was so much talk about Iran's nuclear program. Now we hear so much talk about the Strait of Hormuz, which of course, was open at the beginning of this war and is not anymore. What can the U.S. do militarily, if anything, to keep the Strait of Hormuz open at this point?
CLARK: Well, I think that the actions that we're taking are all productive in terms of getting the strait open. I think we've got assets there. We're able to strike when Iran strikes. We're able to retaliate, take out more of their, let's say, installations that are missile installations or radar installations, targeting installations, control centers that are commanding the Gulf. And that's not only in the Gulf, but it's on the southern coast, in the Arabian Sea and also up in areas like Bushehr. All the way up into the northwestern part of the Gulf.
All of these had defensive installations that could have threatened shipping. So the more Iran threatens, the more it loses in this. And I think this is the appropriate method for the United States to go after. As far as the nuclear matters are concerned, we're going to have to get through the Gulf and get that open before we really are able, I think, to engage on the nuclear.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Such an important moment right now. And we're grateful to have your insight with us.
Wesley Clark, thanks so much for joining us, and thanks for your service to our country.
CLARK: Well, thank you, Elex.
MICHAELSON: Oil prices are surging now that President Trump says that the ceasefire with Iran is over. Of course, all this has to do with the strait that the general was just talking about. Brent crude posted its biggest single day gain since April, rising above $80 a barrel at one point today. You can see the latest numbers for the global and U.S. benchmark. Still nowhere close to over $100 that we were at just within a few months.
The Dow is looking to recover from its worst day in nearly a month. The blue chips fell 577 points today, more than 1 percent. These are the latest numbers for the U.S. futures markets. Futures looking good. All in green.
THE STORY IS breaking news from Maine. Graham Platner is suspending his campaign for the U.S. Senate. The Democratic primary winner is stepping aside in accusations -- amid accusations of rape from one woman and physical violence from another. Platner released a lengthy video statement just a few hours ago, forcefully denying those claims, calling them all politically motivated. He also took aim at establishment Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM PLATNER, SUSPENDING U.S. SENATE CAMPAIGN: Accusations are supposed to be the beginning of things, not the end. I think it's really important to understand why this is happening in the timeline, why this is happening right now. Much like October, when the first attacks started, much like the news that was created the week before the primary, there is a reason that this is happening now.
I only have until July 13th until I am officially the nominee. This was the last week to try to get me off of the ballot and that's why this is occurring. It's not the false allegations, though, that have brought us to where we are. It's the fact that they are being used by the political establishment to put structural pressure on us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Joining me now live from Portland, Maine, is Billy Kobin, a reporter with "The Portland Press Herald."
Billy, welcome to THE STORY IS for the first time.
BILLY KOBIN, REPORTER, THE PORTLAND PRESS HERALD: Thanks so much for having me.
MICHAELSON: What are you hearing from voters in Maine tonight?
KOBIN: Yes. I think it's, again, a surreal feeling. They're thinking back to August and last summer when this guy, an oyster farmer, military veteran named Graham Platner, entered the race out of nowhere. Really not many people had heard from -- heard about him before. And he seemed to capture, you know, that anger that populist, anti-establishment sentiment that a lot of people in Maine were looking for in terms of a challenger to Susan Collins, you know, a senator who's been in office since the mid-'90s.
It felt like Graham had all the momentum over these past few months. And then hearing from voters, even -- not even just today, but in the past few days, it felt like they were resigned to the fact that the accusation of sexual assault that came out against him in the "Politico" story Monday was the last straw for a lot of them.
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They don't feel like they could keep supporting somebody after all the other controversies that he made it through largely unscathed to win the primary last month decisively. It just felt like all of a sudden, you know, again, there's this feeling of shock that the candidate that they supported, or at least if they were a Democratic primary voter, many of them supported, is no longer in the race. So it's -- again, it's that kind of strange feeling where people are probably still trying to process what happens next.
MICHAELSON: Well, let's talk about what happens next because there's only a few weeks now for the Democrats to figure out who their nominee is going to be. What are we hearing in terms of a process?
KOBIN: Yes, all the final details are still in the works. It was interesting earlier today feeling like, you know, I was calling candidates, calling potential contenders who wanted to throw their, you know, throw their hat in the ring. And they were saying that, well, we don't know anything else, you know, and we know about as much as you do at this point. So Maine Democratic Party leaders started to release more details, though, as the afternoon went on.
They held a call with about 100 state committee members. And apparently they agreed to hold a nominating convention at a yet-to-be- announced date in a yet-to-be-determined place. It sounds like from what my colleagues have heard, too, in talking to people tonight, that this is going to have hundreds of delegates. You might have 600 people again coming back into a convention setting, which we thought had happened, you know, in May, right? When you nominate or you meet as a party.
The Republican Party and the Democratic Party both met in different cities. Augusta for Republicans, Portland for Democrats. And they, you know, rallied around certain people. But now we're going to do this again, obviously, for the Democratic side. It sounds like we're still needing to see the rules for who could step forward, you know, and say, I officially want this nomination.
Just so that it doesn't turn into, of course, the wild, wild process of anybody stepping forward at this meeting with hundreds of people and saying like, well, I want to be, you know, your next choice. So I want to be, you know, and having like 15 people throw their hat in the ring.
MICHAELSON: Sure.
KOBIN: So it sounds like it's going to be a little more controlled, of course. And we've already gotten a sense of who wants to seek.
MICHAELSON: Sure.
KOBIN: To replace Graham on the ballot.
MICHAELSON: And so just to be clear, it will be the folks at that convention that make the pick, not voters largely having another opportunity to have some sort of primary vote, but it will be that group there, as far as we know.
KOBIN: Correct. The delegates are going to have the power in this case. Obviously, they're coming from, you know, all parts of the state.
MICHAELSON: Sure.
KOBIN: They're going to probably hear from a fair number of people in these next few days to try to gauge interest, but we don't even know, you know, the full list of who's running. We've heard obviously from a few former Maine Senate president Troy Jackson, who ran for governor last month, lost the primary.
MICHAELSON: Sure.
KOBIN: Nirav Shah, the former Maine CDC director during the COVID-19 pandemic. you know, said he's been fielding calls, talking with donors, to try to get set up.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
KOBIN: We have, you know, Jordan Wood, who ran in Maine's Second Congressional District race for a U.S. House seat.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
KOBIN: Did not win. We have Paige Loud, who ran in that same Second District race, fell -- came in last place. So we have some names that if you live in Maine, you'll definitely recognize them and then other names that are definitely not as recognizable, but they're starting to get involved.
MICHAELSON: Yes, well -- yes, I think the entire country is getting really familiar with these names in Maine really fast. It's going to be very interesting to watch over the next few weeks. We appreciate your insight in helping us understand it.
Billy, thank you so much.
KOBIN: You bet. Thanks for having me again.
MICHAELSON: Attorney general in several U.S. states are said to be finalizing a lawsuit challenging Paramount's looming acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN. Sources tell us the antitrust suit could be filed next week, arguing the deal would harm competition across the entertainment and news industries.
The Justice Department approved the acquisition last month, despite criticism over the Trump administration's close ties to Paramount's leadership. The company says the takeover does not violate any competition laws and will actually expand consumer choice.
We'll continue to follow that breaking news out of Maine. Democrat Graham Platner suspending his campaign.
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Our panel is here next to discuss this video and the competition already underway. Plus, growing calls for transparency after an ICE agent fatally shoots a Mexican immigrant, a husband and father of three in Houston. That and other top stories with our panel next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Welcome back. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The U.S. military says it has now completed a second day of strikes against Iran. U.S. Central Command says about 90 military targets were hit and that the action was meant to, quote, "further degrade" Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
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In retaliation, Iran says it again struck U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Maine Democrat Graham Platner is suspending his campaign for the U.S. Senate. He released a video message just a few hours ago denying allegations of rape and violent behavior. But Platner says he will step aside so the people of Maine can choose a different candidate to challenge incumbent Senator Susan Collins.
Department of Homeland Security is investigating the fatal shooting of a Mexican immigrant by an ICE agent in Houston. The family of 52-year- old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo says that he was shot during a traffic stop involving unmarked vehicles. An ICE spokesperson says that he tried to evade arrest, rammed into a law enforcement vehicle, and that the agent fired in self-defense.
For more on the day's top stories, let's bring in our panel. Joining me now is Fabian Nunez, the founding and managing partner of the consulting firm Actum. And Matt Klink, Republican strategist and owner and president of Klink Campaigns Incorporated.
Gentlemen, welcome. Good to see both of you.
FABIAN NUNEZ, FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER, ACTUM: Great to see you, Elex.
MICHAELSON: Graham Platner defiant in his video. Let's watch some of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRETCHEN CARLSON, JOURNALIST AND CO-FOUNDER, LIFT OUR VOICES: That was a disgusting --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: This was -- OK, so he was defiant. Gretchen Carlson was frustrated in her response as somebody who was a sexual assault victim herself. Here's how she responded on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: That was a disgusting display of hubris that every woman and man in America should be incredibly upset about. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: He never said he did anything wrong. He just said, basically, I'm getting boxed out. Your response to his strategy and his tone?
NUNEZ: Well, he couldn't have left this race soon enough. The fact of the matter is that somewhere in the vetting process, the folks who selected him to run for this seat forgot to do oppo research clearly, because in the oppo research, this stuff would have surfaced. And anybody who does a video like the video that he did just tells you has guilty spelled all over it.
MICHAELSON: Really?
NUNEZ: He doesn't deserve to do that. And I don't know, I think for him personally and his family, it was a mistake to do that video. It was horrific. It doesn't come across as sincere. It makes me think that not only did he commit those crimes against those women, but I'm sure there are others.
MICHAELSON: And it was interesting. I want to put up a response from David Axelrod, the sort of legendary Democratic consultant who is a CNN contributor as well, who basically said, "In the end, Platner chose as his closing act a page right out of President Trump's tawdry playbook. Denied, deflect, refused responsibility, play the martyr, slime your accusers. Platner built an admirable movement, but there was nothing admirable about the way he said goodbye."
You agree with that?
MATT KLINK, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It took David Axelrod about one sentence before he mentioned Donald Trump. Look, the only vetting that Graham Platner went through was that he polled better than Susan Collins did early in this race. And the Democratic Party would so desperately wants to retake control of the Senate that they didn't properly vet this guy.
I agree with Fabian that even a cursory top line vet, you knew that there -- where there's smoke, there's fire. There was more. Look at Swalwell. Platner is the same thing. People that you see a candidate that is attractive to the most progressive elements of the base, they get excited and the rest of the party says, he's our guy. Let's go.
MICHAELSON: Well, Swalwell was a guy who had been in Congress for years, who had run for president before. Platner really kind of came out of nowhere. So there wasn't even the long history that Swalwell had.
NUNEZ: Yes, but in these kinds of races, you know, you're running -- the stakes are so high. You're running for the U.S. Senate. If you're on the Democratic or the Republican side, because both parties have made this mistake, what they do is they look for a candidate that fits a certain profile. In this case, it was someone who, OK, they gave money to Bernie Sanders. The guy has his own business. He looks like a real American. Let's drag him into this race because he's going to be the perfect candidate.
And we forget about the fundamental reason why people should be running for office in the first place, which is you got to believe in something greater than yourself. And the act of running for office isn't a self-serving endeavor. It's really about contributing to the community, contributing to the country that you live in. And I think we've lost touch with the real fundamental reason why people should be running for public office.
MICHAELSON: Chuck Schumer didn't want him.
KLINK: No.
MICHAELSON: He wanted Janet Mills, who was the governor of Maine.
KLINK: Correct.
MICHAELSON: Who the voters there did not want at all. And now, Matt, you have this very interesting situation where there's going to be this convention, apparently, of delegates from around the state who are going to come together in a matter of weeks, and all these people are throwing their hat in the ring. Troy Jackson, the former state Senate president, already has a picture up on his X with the campaign logo.
KLINK: I know.
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MICHAELSON: I mean, this -- he's in this already. There it is. Troy Jackson for U.S. Senate. He's got the campaign going already. How -- as a consultant, as a strategist who advises people on campaigns, how would you advise somebody like Troy Jackson or these other folks who now have three weeks to win this race?
KLINK: Pivot quickly. It's an insider's race. You've got 600 voters at max to reach out to. It is not going to be a popular vote. Ironically enough, they chose Graham Platner because he was a progressive populist, and the party mainstream said, we don't like your choice. Democracy didn't work. We will tell you who you're going to pick. So any candidate who's running now, they have a 600-person voter universe that they can reach out to, to get their votes. It is the ultimate insider's campaign.
MICHAELSON: People pay you a lot of money for your campaign advice. What would your advice be in this situation?
NUNEZ: I mean, I got to tell you, I agree with this advice, but there's another thing. There's another piece here that's really, I think, important to unpack, which is Susan Collins, right?
MICHAELSON: Yes.
NUNEZ: Susan Collins, as a U.S. senator, in some ways, she's done some stuff that's admirable, but she's aligned herself with President Trump one too many times in so much so that I think the people of her own state are distancing themselves from her. I think if we -- any Democrat who is able to galvanize the support of the political insiders, because I think the insider class is ultimately who's going to fund this campaign.
Once you get that insider class to support any Democrat I might pick, I would choose a woman. Certainly I would choose a woman to run against Susan Collins. I think Susan Collins is still beatable. Her negatives are so high that I think anyone with a D next to their name could beat her.
MICHAELSON: Well, she's the only senator who's a Republican who is now in a state that Kamala Harris won.
NUNEZ: Exactly.
MICHAELSON: So she should be the most vulnerable. And yet election after election, it's always this is going to be the time that Susan Collins loses. And she continues to win.
KLINK: The list is long of candidates who have underestimated her.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Including women that have gone up against Susan Collins.
NUNEZ: I will say, though, on this occasion, if Democrats, if we don't win that seat, it's of our doing.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
KLINK: Hundred percent.
MICHAELSON: And this should be the year that she should be most beatable. But we'll see what happens there.
Let's talk about the issue of immigration, which again, a reminder on what we saw in Texas. A vigil tonight for this Mexican American who's been here -- Mexican national who's been here for decades, has a family in Houston. ICE alleges that this guy drove his car at agents, and then they shot him in self-defense. We have not seen the body cam video yet. We have seen some disturbing images of him sort of grasping for life right afterwards. That's some of this video right here. That's disturbing video that we're looking at.
A reminder, Fabian, that this issue of immigration, even though ICE is not as in-your-face as it was when Kristi Noem was in charge, a lot of this stuff is still happening.
NUNEZ: Yes, yes. A couple of things I would say about it. First of all, I was looking at it down on my phone to look at his name, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. Mexican immigrant, a father, a husband, a worker with no criminal.
MICHAELSON: Worked in construction for years.
NUNEZ: Worked in construction, zero criminal record. If you're ICE and you're conducting these operations and you are alleging that he tried to run into an ICE officer because we've already seen there's been eight deaths of immigrants who have been killed in the hands of ICE already, 52 that have died in ICE custody and another two protesters that were killed, including Alex Pretti.
In this instance, if you're going to claim that Lorenzo ran his car into an officer, you need to show the video. You need to show the video because the facts are not on your side when you're making these kinds of cases. You have ICE agents who don't get the proper training, who go out there and believe that they act with impunity, that they don't need to conduct themselves in accordance with the laws and the Constitution of the U.S. and think that it's OK to violate someone's constitutional rights and human rights.
And people's lives are at risk here. So yes, ICE needs to prove that Lorenzo was driving into an officer. They have video footage. Where is that video footage? Because in the court of public opinion, you cannot hide. That needs to be shown right away. If the facts are on their side, they need to put the pudding in the proof as soon as possible.
KLINK: I agree. I agree, share the video. The part you didn't mention is that he had been in this country illegally, and he was still illegal. He didn't deserve to die. But before we convict the ICE officers, let's at least give them the benefit of the doubt until we see the tape.
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAELSON: Well -
[00:30:00]
FABIAN NUNEZ, FOUNDER/MANAGING PARTNER, ACTUM: But wait a second. Hold on a second, man.
KLINK: No.
NUNEZ: The fact that he was in this country illegally means nothing about how --
KLINK: And if he drove his car at the officers, that doesn't factor into it?
NUNEZ: Well, that does. That's what we -- that's we're saying.
KLINK: That's why I say let's -- let's see what the video looks like.
NUNEZ: But the question about whether he -- But if he was here in this country illegally or not, doesn't matter. That's beside the point.
KLINK: Let's see. No, that's added to the story that you told that you forgot to mention.
NUNEZ: No, no, no, no, no, no.
KLINK: No, no. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
NUNEZ: No, no, no. Not at all, because it's not the point.
KLINK: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
NUNEZ: The point here is --
KLINK: No, it's part of the story.
NUNEZ: -- he's a human being who was killed. He's a human being who was killed.
KLINK: Let's agree, and let's watch the video.
NUNEZ: The fact that he may or may not be illegal is secondary to why he was killed.
KLINK: Let's watch the video. I'm just saying it contributes to the story.
ELEX MICHAEL, CNN ANCHOR: You said to give them the benefit of the doubt. And unfortunately, there was a period of time where we were not always getting the facts from ICE, especially from what Kristi Noem said.
KLINK: Hundred -- no disagreement from you on that whatsoever.
MICHAELSON: And so, it would be -- it would be good to see the video.
KLINK: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And obviously, the idea of driving a car at somebody and trying to kill them is bad. And that would be a more understandable thing. Let's see what happened there.
KLINK: And if they -- if they're wrong, they deserve to be prosecuted.
NUNEZ: But in the court. But I --
MICHAELSON: Lastly.
NUNEZ: One of the reasons why I get -- I get a little bit worked up about this. And obviously, you're my friend, and I have nothing but respect for you.
KLINK: Yes, it's all good.
NUNEZ: But in the court of public opinion, I feel like Latinos are under siege. And -- and -- and people look at us and, like, are you here legally? And -- and does that change that? Do we not have any rights if we're -- if we're here legally or not? Does that mean that the Constitution doesn't apply to you if you cross the border of the U.S. and into the U.S. illegally?
KLINK: If you drive a car at a law enforcement officer, it does, yes.
NUNEZ: Well, if you cross -- if you drive a car into a law enforcement officer, whether you're legal or not, that's against the law. KLINK: But it's still part of the story. That's all I'm saying.
NUNEZ: That's my point.
KLINK: You left that part out. It's a relevant part.
MICHAELSON: Well, I said it before he said that. So, I mean, it was part of our conversation.
Let's keep this conversation going. In our next hour, we've got more to talk about, including Mitch McConnell and his health, and what's going on there. So, we'll get into that with our panel when they rejoin us in our next hour.
But right ahead, next, we're going to talk more about the NATO summit. The mood, at least initially, was dark. President Trump put a rosy spin on the proceedings. I'll ask a former ambassador to Ukraine about the turnaround, the takeaways, and what all this means for Ukraine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:31:54]
KLINK: The latest strikes in Iran come on the heels of President Trump's trip to the NATO summit in Turkey, where he criticized Iran's leaders as, quote, "evil, sick people."
The president also complained that NATO allies hadn't backed him up against Iran.
But he ended the summit on a positive note, praising members for what he called their tremendous unification and love. Meanwhile, Turkey's president said President Trump gave him encouraging signals about the possible sale of U.S. F-35 fighter jets, despite a congressional ban.
And during a meeting with the Ukrainian president, Donald Trump said he will give Ukraine the ability to manufacture its own Patriot missile defense systems.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That's pretty cool, right? This way you can't complain that we're not giving them enough. I say make them yourself.
We haven't informed the company of that yet, but that'll -- that'll work out all right. You know, I'm sure they'll be thrilled, but you know, they'll be able to do it. You'll be able to figure that out.
Most -- most countries couldn't do that. If I said that to most countries, they wouldn't know what I'm talking about. But this is a very ingenious group. And what I like about that, it's a defensive -- it's a defensive situation, as opposed to an offensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: William Taylor is the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine during the Trump administration, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council. He's with us live from Arlington, Virginia.
Mr. Ambassador, we know Zelenskyy went into this with asks from the other countries. We saw him there sitting with President Trump. Is he a winner in all this? Does this change the equation for Ukraine?
WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Elex, I think it does. I think it does. I think the Ukrainians' performance over the last couple of months, while President Trump was focused other where, you know, in -- on Iran, I think Ukraine's performance on the battlefield and on the technology front has -- has put them in the -- in the front. It has given them the initiative. They're on the front foot, and they've put the Russians on the back foot.
And I think President Trump has realized that. I think the Europeans realized that. And that must have come out in these conversations in Ankara.
MICHAELSON: President Trump clearly, at least in that meeting, seemed to be playing nice on Ukraine. Was in that part to get the other NATO countries to support him on Iran?
TAYLOR: That was not obvious, Elex. It's possible. It's possible that that's what he wanted.
But you're right about the support that he was showing to Ukraine. He -- he endorsed, supported Ukraine's deep strikes into Russia.
President Trump even said that these deep strikes were putting pressure on Putin to come to the table and end the war. That's a -- that's a good endorsement.
You just played his -- his comments about how technologically advanced the Ukrainians are compared to other nations that couldn't probably take on the challenge of making these Patriots.
[00:40:08]
All to say that that the support for Ukraine, strong in Europe; that is already there. But now you've got the president of the United States on board, recognizing the -- the fact that the Ukrainians are -- are kind of winning. Not just kind of. They're winning on the battlefield.
MICHAELSON: Wow. You have worked for -- for President Trump. You have a sense of sort of how his mind works, what the strategy is.
He went into this meeting with all sorts of grievances that he was talking about: Greenland, wanting to retake that; that Spain wasn't spending enough money.
And then he gets into this meeting with the leaders, and they say he didn't bring any of that up to their faces. And -- and it seemed sort of kumbaya-like. What do you make of that as -- as a strategy and sort of the way that President Trump wheels and deals?
TAYLOR: I am no expert, Elex. I -- I'm not able to analyze that, and I'm not sure there is a great strategy there.
I think he was willing to listen to others as they described other nations, other nations' leaders, as they were describing what they've been doing, both for NATO, as well as for Ukraine. and he must have been impressed.
This has happened before. At an earlier NATO summit. President Trump came out saying, actually, the -- the NATO allies are doing pretty well. And that's really what happened this time, as well.
He went in with the concern about whether or not they were pulling their weight; came out with a recognition, a new understanding, perhaps, that they were -- and providing support to Ukraine.
He may also have heard from them, Elex, that -- that they understand the threat of Russia being closer than we are. and that that's why they are now stepping up, both because the Russians have demonstrated that they're willing to invade their neighbor.
But also, as you say, because President Trump has indicated, with his comments on Greenland and others, that they may not -- that the United States may not be there in the same way they were. So, the -- the Europeans need to step up.
And I think he got that message.
MICHAELSON: William Taylor, former ambassador to Ukraine and the best voice of any ambassador. You need a podcast.
Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
TAYLOR: Yes.
MICHAELSON: From a vacation hotspot to a place some residents describe as apocalyptic, Russian-occupied Crimea has been under a state of emergency for weeks. Fuel is in short supply, and power outages have become a part of daily life.
Ukraine says it has escalated its military strikes on the peninsula, and the hardships are the result of a carefully calculated operation.
Nick Paton Walsh explains what Ukraine wants to accomplish.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine is hitting Russia hard where it all began: occupied Crimea. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: It's gonna be (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
WALSH (voice-over): Taken first in 2014, it is a peninsula, and that makes it very vulnerable to being cut off.
There are two ways in or out. First is the Kerch Bridge, which Ukraine has been hitting for years, and it's now beset by queues of thousands of anxious Russians, trying to get out.
Second is the land bridge through occupied Ukraine. Many saw this as a big strategic gain --
WALSH: -- from Russia's invasion in 2022, a way to cheaply and permanently connect --
WALSH (voice-over): -- Russia to this tourist mecca, the jewel of the Soviet past.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coast of the Crimean peninsula, a national resort.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: Crimea, sacral importance for Russia, like the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
WALSH (voice-over): Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive tried to break through here, but failed, hitting huge Russian defenses.
WALSH: Now they're flying over them.
New mid-range Ukrainian drone capability --
WALSH (voice-over): -- striking the road along the land bridge and Crimea's air defenses, leaving it vulnerable.
And then the actual bridges to Crimea and the Russian trains and the roads. Now they're hitting ordinary infrastructure: refineries, power stations, meaning power cuts in the cities.
Queues at gas stations, thick black smoke on the skyline. So, yet more Russians are leaving.
WALSH: Zelenskyy recently claimed that Russia --
WALSH (voice-over): -- has had to prioritize air defenses in Crimea and around Moscow, as well. Putin has recently accepted economic challenges and indeed gas shortages, as Ukraine's drone strikes increasingly cause chaos in ordinary Russian life.
WALSH: So, what's the goal here? Make Crimea hard to live in: a place without tourists, gas, power, affordable food, and the land bridge to it, already itself a tough place to live in, seems less worth the cost.
[00:45:06]
WALSH (voice-over): And this is the wider point for Kyiv. Seize on the growing questions inside Russia --
WALSH: -- as to what the war is even for. If Crimea is effectively uninhabitable --
WALSH (voice-over): -- and the only gains they can claim, a tiny bit of land, usually rubble, in Donbas --
WALSH: -- turn Crimea from a jewel in Putin's crown to leverage for Ukraine, perhaps, in any future peace talks, or even into a damaging thorn in Putin's side as he tries to navigate growing dissent about his war of choice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Nick Paton Walsh. We'll be back with more of THE STORY IS right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:50:18]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY NEIMAN, ATTORNEY FOR THE KIRK FAMILY: The Kirk family believes strongly that if the evidence is being admitted in this preliminary hearing, it should be made public for the world to see. No redactions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: A lawyer for the family of Charlie Kirk is asking a Utah judge to play a key piece of evidence in full.
At the preliminary hearing for the man accused of killing the conservative activist, the judge has ruled that prosecutors must exclude 17 minutes of a 37-minute-long interview with a former roommate and reported romantic partner of Tyler Robinson.
That interview covers messages the two allegedly exchanged after Kirk was shot to death on a Utah college campus last fall. Investigators say those messages include Robinson's confession to the killing.
Now to New York City, where crews are working to stabilize a high rise that experienced structural damage during a massive renovation project. Construction workers have installed shoring and beams on several floors to try to reinforce that building.
CNN's Omar Jimenez is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are a few major dynamics we are following right now.
First and foremost, we have heard from city officials. They believe the building is stable, which is, of course, the most important considering this is in one of the busiest portions of New York City in the middle of midtown Manhattan.
So, the threat of either a partial collapse or otherwise was on the minds of many people here, especially as buildings were being evacuated in the surrounding area for safety.
Some of those residents have been able to get back into their buildings, but still, four of those buildings remain under evacuation warnings. So, that's one aspect of things.
The second aspect comes from the mayor in terms of wanting a rigorous investigation here to figure out what went wrong.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): To review for people, it was Tuesday morning. That was when officials first started getting reports of structural issues at this building, a former Pfizer headquarters being turned into residential units.
That's when we saw some of those images of those bent beams that, of course, prompted so much concern for people, not just in this immediate area, but across the entire city and beyond, as well.
And so, that's when crews, of course, made it a priority to come in and do some of the work that we've seen over the course of today, as well; really, just trying to emergency stabilize portions. Shoring beams, basically getting it to the point where crews can get in there safely and assess on what to do to move forward.
Now, we're also hearing from the developer of this building, Metro Loft, who put out a statement --
JIMENEZ: -- pushing back on some of the risk that's been assessed just even by people walking down the street here ==
JIMENEZ (voice-over): -- saying that this is a localized issue, a situation affecting less than 30 apartments out of over 1,600. And the statement emphasizes, at no time was the building or any portion of it at risk of collapse.
JIMENEZ: They mentioned that multiple times, saying that reports of risk of collapse were and are inaccurate, and that they've identified the issue and developed a clear plan to fix it.
But regardless, the images sent a lot of fear through many in this community.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: That's Omar Jimenez, reporting for us in New York earlier.
Much more still ahead, including a preview of the quarterfinals in the Men's World Cup. France takes on Morocco on Thursday. We'll preview that match and others in the Round of Eight. Can you believe we're there already? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:58:18]
MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS the FIFA Men's World Cup. Its quarterfinals begin on Thursday. Tournament favorite France kicks off the quarterfinals with their match against Morocco outside of Boston.
Then on Friday, it's Spain versus Belgium here in Southern California. Norway versus England and Argentina versus Switzerland will cap off the quarterfinals on Saturday.
The French squad, looking to keep their momentum going. Les Bleus have won all of their games so far, but the French coach says that they're not taking anything for granted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIDIER DESCHAMPS, FRANCE COACH (through translator): Planning for a match, Morocco's profile is not that of Paraguay, so Morocco, for those who are not familiar with them, already stepped up when we met them four years ago in Doha in the semifinals. They also made it to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.
So, they are among the very best teams with very good players. They are not here by accident. It is a matchup between two teams that like to have the ball, that like to attack, that like to score goals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Morocco's Atlas Lions are out for revenge against France after they beat them at the semifinals four years ago.
A remarkable Wimbledon run continues for an unlikely hometown hopeful: world number 114, Arthur Fery, who is from Wimbledon, has just booked his place in the semifinal.
He defeated Italian ninth seed Flavio Corbellini in straight sets.
Fery is the lowest ranked men's singles semifinalist in 25 years and received a wild card to enter the championships. He will now place [SIC] second seed Alexander Zverev for a place in the final.
The nominations for the 78th annual Emmy Awards are out, honoring the best in television. It's a good day to be a cast member on "The Pit."
The medical drama scored 25 nominations, the most of any.
