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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Creators Meet With Lawmakers For Creator Advocacy Day; How to Avoid Exposure to the Cyclospora Parasite in the U.S.; Sources: Officials Asked to Turn over Phones Amid Leak Probe; Hegseth Announces Testosterone Screening for Troops over 30; Flash Flood Emergencies, Dozens of Rescues in Texas Storms; Slavery Exhibit Replaced at Washington's Philadelphia Home; Argentina Advance to Final versus Spain. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 16, 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: Memoir in November. The book will be titled "Promise Me America" and will include his account of major moments during his presidency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, 46TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's about the challenges we face as a nation, about the decisions I made and why I made them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: In the video, Biden also said that treatment for stage 4 pancreatic cancer is going well. His book is set for release just two weeks after the midterm elections, which means we could be seeing a Biden book tour right when Democrats are trying to talk about the future.
U.S. Treasury says it's producing $1 coins with President Trump's face on them. We just got a preview of that. Generally, federal law is understood to prohibit living people from appearing on U.S. currency, but the Treasury secretary says that it is -- our treasury is calling the coins collectibles to mark America's 250th birthday. When the coins will be available and how much they will cost has not yet been announced.
Thanks for watching the first hour of The Story Is. But the show continues right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles "The Story Is with Elex Michaelson."
MICHAELSON: Coming up this hour, The Story Is President Trump's primetime address. The president expected to dedicate his televised speech on Thursday to election integrity as many of his appointees on Capitol Hill still refusing to concede the 2020 election.
The Story Is breaking ties with Israel. More than 100 Democrats vote against billions of dollars of aid to Israel.
And The Story Is parasite outbreak. We'll talk about what is safe to eat right now.
Thanks for watching The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. Tonight, the top story is President Trump preparing for a primetime address to the nation. He is calling it really big news and says the speech will deal with U.S. elections ahead of November's midterms. Sources tell CNN he will focus on the security of voting machines and alleged efforts by foreign countries to influence U.S. elections. CNN's Manu Raju asked the vice president of the United States, JD Vance, about the speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of Republicans here want him to focus on the 2026 midterms and not to relitigate his claims about the 2020 elections. Would you encourage him to steer clear of those unfounded claims that he is actually the true victor of the 2020 elections?
JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm obviously not going to get ahead of his remarks, but we can talk about a number of the American people's problems. We can solve a number of the American people's problems. That's exactly what we're going to work with our House colleagues and our Senate friends to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Those comments coming after Vance met with congressional Republicans to unveil a massive emergency funding request, which is meant to cover costs for the president's war in Iran as well as the president's plan to crack down on election laws. The speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, explained his legislative goals in the coming weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: The forthcoming reconciliation legislation sets out to accomplish two very important goals. One, to secure America's elections. We're going to pass the Save America Act into law, as much of that as possible. The Save America Act ensures, as you know, that voters have proof of citizenship to register to vote. The second objective is to protect and strengthen our homeland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: In the coming hours, the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hear from a handful of witnesses as it considers whether to advance Todd Blanche's nomination for Attorney general. Blanche was the subject of one of two high profile confirmation hearings on Wednesday. Lawmakers questioned him on a wide range of issues, including the release of the Epstein files and his previous role as President Trump's personal attorney. The other hearing was for Jay Clayton, the president's pick to become the Director of National Intelligence. Clayton offered few details about his plans for the department and repeatedly declined to answer questions about the 2020 election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Do you deny that Joe Biden won the 2020 election?
JAY CLAYTON, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Senator, I'm not -- I'm not an election denier. Joe Biden was certified as the president of the United States.
I believe he had the most electoral votes.
WARNER: So he won the election?
CLAYTON: He followed our process, had the most electoral votes, was declared the winner.
SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Who won the 2020 election?
CLAYTON: You know, I'm not -- I'm not going to do this with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Earlier, I spoke with California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla about those hearings, as well as the president's upcoming address. I asked the senator what he believes the president comments about election security will be. Here's some of that exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ALEX PADILLA (D-CA): A couple of things, Elex. First of all, from that prior role as Secretary of State in California, I can attest to the security and integrity of our voting systems. California is leading the way in making it more accessible for eligible voters to register and to vote. What I can also tell you is that for a decade now, if not more, Donald Trump has been spewing lies and conspiracy theories about the integrity of our election, going back to his first race in 2016, when we all first learned the term foreign interference. And so he's peddled with this. He -- when he's anticipating an election where he's going to lose or the people he's supporting is going to lose, he starts setting the stage to call into question the results.
[01:05:23]
And that's what we see. Again, I don't know exactly what he's going to say in his primetime speech, but I can assure you it's going to be full of lies and conspiracy theories. Because whenever he's failing, which is often these days, prices are up, he's losing in Iran on and on and on, he has to pivot. He has to try to distract from his record. And in this case, with less than 112 days to go till the election, here we go again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: President Trump's primetime speech will take place as the U.S. is ramping up strikes on Iran, hoping to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command says it has now completed its second wave of strikes on Iran for the fifth consecutive night, targeting Iranian military assets. Iranian media reports that explosions were heard in cities across the country, including the capital of Tehran.
Meantime, Jordan's military says its air defenses took down eight Iranian missiles that were headed to the country. Iran claims they were targeting the U.S. military's communications systems and fuel shortage -- storage facilities.
Sources say the president has also been receiving options for expanding military operations to undo Tehran's hold on the critical waterway. CNN's Kevin Liptak has details from the White House.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHIRE HOUSE REPORTER: We have seen over the last several days the U.S. intensify its efforts along the strait to try and loosen Iran's grip on the waterway and to bring them back to the bargaining table. Behind the scenes President Trump, we understand, is weighing escalatory options in that country. He met with advisers in the Situation Room on Tuesday evening to discuss some of how he may do that. And publicly and privately, the president has talked about, for example, bombing picks -- Pickaxe Mountain, where Iran is believed to have nuclear facilities. He's also talked about trying to take Kharg Island, that critical Iranian export facility.
But he has talked about that previously and stopped short of following through on his threats. And so we don't know at this point where the president sees this heading precisely. But it is clear that the U.S. is trying to find options to break what has essentially become an impasse. And when you talk to American officials behind the scenes, they do acknowledge that this Iranian asymmetric ability to fire relatively inexpensive drones on commercial vessels that are transiting the strait has allowed the country to essentially close that waterway and will require negotiations to come to a final resolution. We heard that from the vice president, JD Vance, in a very lengthy interview on the Joe Rogan podcast that he taped earlier this week, saying that even as the president is ramping up these strikes on Iran, that eventually all of this will have to be resolved around the negotiating table.
Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.
MICHAELSON: Democratic lawmakers are becoming more and more divided over support for Israel. Nearly half the Democrats in the U.S. House voted to block billions of dollars in military aid to Israel on Wednesday. The amendment proposed by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie ultimately failed. But some progressive Democrats are celebrating the massive shift in their party. Two years ago, only 37 Democrats voted to block aid to Israel in a similar vote.
Jasmine Crockett is one of the Democrats who shifted her vote this time to block the aid. She explained why a little earlier to my colleague Laura Coates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): In this particular circumstance, every single issue situation that we've had as it relates to Israel have been a no. Whether it was defund the IRS and give money to Israel, I was no. When it was just give money to Israel, I was a no. So typically when it's been an omnibus.
I think that right now, you know, there were a lot of things that amendment, if it had survived, was going to actually have to be cleaned up because it was spelled out to be one thing. But there were actually some issues with the actual language of it. And for me, because I know that people right now are hurting domestically, it's the idea of it. And I just didn't want people to say, well, there's more money because they give us the scarcity attitude. And the reality is that we don't have scarcity.
If we do, it's because the president is putting money in his pockets. But I don't want people who are already hurting, especially as we're heading into these significant midterms, to look at the Democrats and say, you know what, we can't afford gas, we can't afford food, yet you guys are still sending money elsewhere.
[01:10:00]
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: So for you, it was not a philosophical dispute with the policies of Israel. It was about --
CROCKETT: Oh, well, don't --
COATES: -- the prioritization of domestic policy here.
CROCKETT: For sure. But let's be clear about something. I have never been a Netanyahu fan. Netanyahu is like a more intelligent version of Trump. But to be clear, I've never had an issue with the people of Israel.
My issue has always been with Netanyahu and his lawlessness. And unfortunately, he ended up with the right fool in the White House to follow him down this trail. And that is why we are in an unlawful, illegal war. That is why I don't think I'll ever have the benefit of being just a single issue voter, because I understand how complicated things can be. And I think that the people of Gaza are in a worse situation because Donald Trump is in the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Jasmine Crockett on "Laura Coates Live" earlier tonight.
The FBI is making new allegations in the shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. The Mexican national was killed by ICE agents last week in Houston, Texas. An FBI affidavit now claims that drugs were found in the van driven by the victim. Latino rights group says the allegations smell of a smear campaign and a cover up. The Mexican immigrant community in Houston is paying tribute to Salgado Araujo with memorials and vigils.
CNN's Carolina Peguero spoke with his sons. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is the last time Lorenzo Salgado Araujo left home. One week ago, an ICE agent shot and killed the father of three in Houston on his way to work.
PEGUERO: It's been a week since your dad's passing.
RONALDO SALGADO, LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO'S SON: A hard week.
PEGUERO: Everybody wants to know how you guys are doing.
R. SALGADO: We're worried about my mom first and foremost. She's now left without her best friend and partner of 40 years. You know, this responsibility has been brought upon me and I took charge because I am the oldest. And it's something that my father would have wanted for me to, you know, essentially be the head of the household, man of the house. It's a responsibility that I did not want, but it's a responsibility that I'll undertake.
So I'll be OK. I'll be OK. I have to be for my dad.
PEGUERO: What is the message that you want to tell to those young adults that are in the same position as you, where you're from here and you're also from there, but you want to be a representation of what it truly is to be a hard working American, Mexican-American.
LORENZO SALGADO, LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO'S SON: I think in terms of the American story, ours is a very common American one. The idea that here is the land of opportunity, once you get here and you put in work, hours of work, you will get paid off what you do, off what you make. For us, it was education. That's what our parents really stressed and just showing us what it takes to instill that work ethic in us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I son of Houston.
MULTIPLE SPEAKERS: I son of everywhere.
PEGUERO (voice-over): The Salgados aren't grieving alone. Hundreds packed a city council meeting this week demanding accountability.
PEGUERO: All over Houston, all over the country, and people with just wanting answers, wanting to show you guys support, but seeking justice, something that you've been very vocal about, Ronaldo, how are you going to bring that forth?
R. SALGADO: Justice is of course, something we want. First and foremost, we want to continue pressuring for a full, independent, transparent investigation to be able to get the full story. One day I want to live in an America where we don't have to look over our shoulder. We don't have to worry about whether we're coming home or not, that we're guaranteed life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
PEGUERO (voice-over): The family spoke out, hoping this wouldn't happen again. But the death of another father in Maine by ICE agents has only compounded that grief. L. SALGADO: It's truly heartbreaking. It really should not have happened again. The fact that there's another family out there that lost a son, that lost a brother, that lost a father. That three-year- old girl, she can't speak to her father's character the same way that Ronnie and I can speak to our father's character. And it's heartbreaking.
R. SALGADO: I want to tell the family, you know, that we have millions of people supporting us and millions of people are going to be having their backs, that they are not alone. And again --
L. SALGADO: Everyone.
R. SALGADO: -- enough is enough. That -- may that be the last one. May this week be the last week that anything like this happens.
[01:15:00]
REV. DR. COLIN BOSSEN, SENIOR MINISTER, FIRST UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF HOUSTON: I'm the Reverend Dr. Colin Bossen, Senior minister --
PEGUERO (voice-over): A week of grief, a week of crowds turning out for a family they'd never met. And two brothers now carrying a responsibility, neither one asked for.
Carolina Peguero, CNN, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: The family of Nolan Wells have met with prosecutors handling the teen's death investigation in Mississippi. Their attorney says the D.A. told them that she will turn the case over to a grand jury once the investigation is complete. Authorities found the 18- year-old dead after he went missing from a remote barrier island during a Fourth of July trip with his friends. Wells mother says funeral services will be held next week.
Still ahead, Britain announces a new phase of its social media ban for kids, this time with a curfew for older teens. Plus, digital creators and social media influencers pushing for a seat at the table, meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill hoping to shape the future of that industry. We'll discuss with my next one of the organizers. She joins me live after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:30]
MICHAELSON: One month after Britain's prime minister announced plans to ban social media for kids under 16, the U.K. has unveiled a new social media curfew for older teens. The government says 16 and 17 year olds will be blocked from using social media apps by default between midnight and 6:00 a.m. unless they manually change that setting. Sure they'll figure out how to do that. The U.K.'s technology minister says the curfew is meant to help young people get more sleep, focus on school and spend more time with family and friends. The government says tech companies will be legally required to put that curfew in place.
Some people who create and produce the content we see online met with lawmakers and industry leaders on Capitol Hill for the first ever Creator Advocacy Day. The social media influencers, digital creators and their allies are trying to make their voices heard on top issues affecting their industry, which includes AI, intellectual property, creator rights, health care, small businesses, other matters. And there is a lot of money at stake as the creator economy is expected to continue to grow rapidly. One report from February estimates it will expand from more than $323 billion this year to more than $820 billion in 2030.
Let's bring in Shira Lazar. She's a creator and the founder of the Advocacy group Creators 4 Mental Health. She put together the first Creator and Advocacy Day. She joins me now from Washington at the end of that very long day.
Shira, welcome to The Story Is.
SHIRA LAZAR, FOUNDER, CREATORS 4 MENTAL HEALTH: Yes, thank you so much for having me and for putting attention on this important conversation and topic.
MICHAELSON: So you all went on Capitol Hill, you met with lawmakers. I know there's a lot of folks that you work with that probably appreciate to be, frankly legitimized and to be respected when sometimes they're not. What did it mean for you to be there and to literally have a seat at the table?
LAZAR: Exactly. That was the whole goal of it, to be heard, to share our lived experiences, stories and to understand one another, to create that bridge and literally have a seat at the table. And it was huge. I mean, already so many creators are posting about their experience, how they had never had that type of access. They didn't even know it was possible because in the past, of course, creators were looked at as, you know, TikTok dancers or, you know, funny videos of animals online. But this is, as you mentioned, a legitimate business.
We are small business owners now. And so the fact that even there's a Congressional Creator Caucus that came up a year ago and while they've worked with tech platforms, major tech platforms in the past, the fact that they welcomed us in as an independent creator advocacy group was just huge and very historic.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
LAZAR: Also the platforms we met with, YouTube and TikTok, these are companies again that typically do this on their own. But they said, we trust you, we want to bring you all in and we want to open up that access to hear from all of you.
MICHAELSON: And we just saw Ro Khanna, one of the people you met with, who of course is the congressman who represents Silicon Valley. So you get that --
LAZAR: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- you get the seat at the table, you're in the room where it happens. What's your big ask? What's the number one thing that Congress can do for you?
LAZAR: So there's a lot around AI protections around our IP and likeness right now. This is a very big hot topic as AI is just growing so rapidly and what happens around that. And of course Representative Beth Van Duyne, I'll give her a shout out because she's the co-chair of the Creator Caucus who really helped us was that first domino in us building this day. She introduced the Creator Act with Adobe. That is one way to support visual artists.
There's the No Fix Act that's right now being pitched and endorsed by TikTok and YouTube and unions like SAG. But I think it's definitely hearing from us when it comes to that.
We also want pathways towards monetization. We create so much content, we're not paid. This is unpaid labor. We don't have benefits, discounted health insurance as a big group, portable benefits and even customer service. We rely on these platforms.
They've told us that we should be working there and we're making money and building communities and yet those accounts could get shut down without even telling us. And we have no one to talk to. So these are really --
MICHAELSON: Wow.
LAZAR: -- important things as we professionalize this industry.
[01:25:00]
MICHAELSON: Do you think there's going to be a union?
LAZAR: Well, there are unions that we work closely with, like SAG. We had freelancers union there as well as --
MICHAELSON: Wow.
LAZAR: -- the Creators Guilds of America, which I'm an advisor for. So we're fragmenting and growing industry. We all have different needs, so it'll be interesting --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
LAZAR: -- to see what ends up landing. And I also want to give a shout out to Congressman Ro Khanna, who I built the Creator Bill of Rights with, who's doing such amazing work and really validating the space and my work as well.
MICHAELSON: And I know you spend so much time in the mental health space. There is this effort around the world with different countries looking at potential bans for social media for kids. The U.K. making news on this front today. We've seen Australia already move on this.
LAZAR: Yes.
MICHAELSON: We've seen California looking at this as well. How do you see that and how does the group see that when you all are so reliant on social media for your business?
LAZAR: Creators 4 Mental Health started because of that, because Creators 4 Mental Health is an entryway to even policy and creating a more sustainable, healthier space for us as workers and also then for our communities. It goes hand in hand. So it is so key, especially for the younger generation as we see the impacts of social media and our brains and behaviors and how do we not just talk about these things but create action around it. And I think we're seeing that now, right? We're seeing these tests basically happen, whether it be with making it illegal for under a certain age to use social media or no phones at school, et cetera.
These are all things that we'll see what happens as we look at the data and figure out where do we land on this. But definitely it is a huge priority and an entryway to make these platforms better for all of us as we live and work on these platforms 24/7. What does that actually mean for the future?
MICHAELSON: I mean it's amazing when you start talking about all of these issues, all the things that we may not even think about day in, day out. We watch the videos all day long, we're constantly scrolling, but we don't think about the business behind it, the individual behind it. Everything that goes with the economy and the idea of a hundred or three hundred or eight hundred million dollars economy is crazy as well.
Shira Lazar, thank you so much for your advocacy and thank you for staying up late for us. We really appreciate it.
LAZAR: So appreciate it. Hope to be back. Thank you.
MICHAELSON: We will do that for sure.
U.S. troops over 30 years old will now have to undergo a new, controversial screening. We'll have the details when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:54]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
Let's take a look at today's top stories.
Keir Starmer heads to Ukraine on Thursday for his final trip as Britain's prime minister. Last month, he announced that he will resign as PM less than two years after a Labour Party landslide electoral victory. He's been pushed out by his own party after a series of policy missteps. President Trump is preparing for a primetime address to the nation on
Thursday. He's already said he has, quote, "really big news" and plans to talk about U.S. elections. Sources tell CNN he's expected to focus on the security of voting machines and alleged efforts by foreign countries to influence elections.
President Trump has overturned a temporary pause on vehicle stops by immigration enforcement officers. It comes just one day after ICE agents were directed to suspend stops after they shot and killed two people in their vehicles.
President Trump says the pause would mean giving up one of ICE's most important and effective tools.
An outbreak of an illness caused by a parasite is surging across parts of the U.S. More than 3,000 cases of it have been reported in Michigan and Ohio. Nationwide, the CDC says more than 7,000 cases have been confirmed or are under investigation in 34 states since May. That parasite causes an intestinal illness that can lead to diarrhea and other symptoms.
CNN's Jacqueline Howard has more on how to protect yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN MEDICAL REPORTER: The outbreak of diarrhea that's happening right now caused by the cyclospora parasite, it has so many people wondering what is safe to eat.
And health officials in Michigan, they're zeroing in on lettuce or salad greens as being possible sources of this outbreak. But they haven't completely ruled out other food sources, too.
So here's what you should do to stay as safe as possible. You should buy this instead of this. With whole heads of lettuce, you can remove the outer layers that may have been exposed to germs. And then you want to wash the inner layers and use those to eat.
When washing your fresh produce, you don't just want to rinse it under water. You physically want to scrub either with your hands or a brush. The friction from you scrubbing can help remove potential germs.
Some foods, like raspberries and basil, they are more difficult to wash, and they have been linked to previous outbreaks.
All of these steps are helpful, but they're still not 100 percent effective at killing the cyclospora parasite. To do that, you really have to use heat. Cook your food to at least 158 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
So while these tips are helpful for everyone to be safer, they are particularly important for people with weakened immune systems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Jacqueline Howard reporting for us there. Thank you, Jacqueline.
Former vice president -- former president, Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will release his presidential memoir in November. The book will be titled "Promise Me America", and will include his account of major moments during his presidency.
[01:34:52]
JOE BIDEN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's about the challenges we face as a nation, about the decisions I made, and why I made them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: In that video, the former senator, former vice president and former president also said that his treatment for stage four pancreatic cancer is going well.
"Promise Me America" is set for release just two weeks after the midterm elections.
Sources tell CNN that President Trump's chief of staff and the FBI Director led a security investigation inside the White House. Susie Wiles and Kash Patel were reportedly looking to find who leaked information about the Qatar-gifted plane that President Trump wanted to use as the new Air Force One.
Apparently, that included asking everyone there for their cell phones. The sources say not every official who was asked to turn in their phone actually did so.
President Trump has been touting the new plane, which was rebuilt and redesigned, but its defense capabilities aren't as secure as older versions, according to reports. That forced the president to change his travel plans while in Europe last week.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth says that he is rolling out a new program to test Americas troops for low testosterone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Today, I'm authorizing a new screening program for testosterone deficiency for our service members, ensuring you have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Secretary Hegseth said troops over 30 years old will be screened every year and then will get testosterone replacement therapy if they choose to get it. It appears he is planning to test only men for hormone irregularities.
The Pentagon did not respond to questions about what research or academic studies are behind this move. Dozens of active wildfires are raging in Canada. Take a look at flames
that engulfed a train. Imagine being on this train as it tried to evacuate people from the dangerous flames.
Just ahead, a rail worker describes that nightmarish scene.
[01:36:52]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Turkey has marked the 10th anniversary of a failed military coup. The events included a drone show in Istanbul that recreated the image of a person standing up to a tank.
Turkish officials say rogue members of the military tried to seize power back in 2016, leading to nearly 250 deaths. But the attempt failed after President Erdogan appeared on our affiliate, CNN Turk, and urged people to take to the streets and fight back.
We have this just in to CNN. The Trump administration is slapping new tariffs on Brazil, alleging unfair trade practices. The announcement of 25 percent duties on most goods comes from the Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
U.S. relations with Brazil have soured since the election of Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva as president in 2022. Rubio says he and his government have negotiated in bad faith.
President Trump was a huge supporter of the previous president, Jair Bolsonaro. He was convicted of attempting a coup to overturn his election loss.
A crew member there -- well, let's talk about this. We've seen some hellish scenes outside a train that was halted by a wall of flames in Ontario. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. You all need to hurry up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That train had been evacuating areas affected by wildfires. A spokesperson for the Canadian National Railway says the crew safely escaped the area, but did not offer any details. The union representing the crew criticized the railway for allowing a train to travel through the region.
More than 100 active wildfires have forced mandatory evacuation orders in northwestern Ontario this week.
Another round of slow-moving storms is causing life-threatening flooding in parts of Texas already drenched by rain. Up to 16 inches of rain has fallen in some places. That flash flooding has led to dozens of water rescues.
Tens of thousands of people are under the highest level of flood warning, while others are under mandatory evacuation orders. The threat of catastrophic flooding will not ease until Friday.
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Believe it or not, flash flooding wasn't the only concern out of west Texas.
Look at this screen right here on my left. That is a tornado that ripped through the suburbs of San Antonio earlier this morning. All associated with the same storm system that is bringing the flooding that you see on the screen here to my right.
Just an incredible amount of water, a half a year's worth of water in such a short period of time. No matter we've seen these swift water rescues, we have seen multiple vehicles getting swept away by the flood waters. It has been quite the day and you can see why.
Look at these rainfall totals. They are over 17 inches. This is, of course, radar-estimated totals across the area. But it's the Medina and Uvalde counties across West Central Texas.
We're talking about the Edwards Plateau into the hill country of Texas. That Highway-90 corridor that is just getting hammered with some of the heaviest rainfall as we speak. The radar lighting up like a Christmas tree.
You can see the flash flood warnings that are underway. There was flash flood emergencies issued in Boerne, Texas earlier today. That was part of the video I showed you a moment ago.
And here it is. The level four of four risk from the Weather Prediction Center. This is their highest alert level for the potential of flash flooding. Only issued about 4 percent of the time, but it accounts for, get this, over a third or roughly 33 percent of all fatalities during flash flood events. So we still have a moderate risk as we head into tomorrow.
Finally, we start to clear things out as we go into the early parts of the weekend. But boy, we've got a rough next 12 to 24 hours across West Central Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Derek Van Dam in Atlanta, thanks for that.
[01:44:42]
MICHAELSON: Now to a dispute over how American history should be presented. Exhibits were removed on Wednesday morning from President George Washington's home in Philadelphia that told the story of the nine enslaved people who lived there during his presidency. They were replaced by new displays that critics say downplay Washington's ownership of enslaved people.
The panels were updated after President Trump issued an executive order last year directing historic sites not to display information that quote, "disparage Americans, past or living".
A lower court ordered the new panels be removed after they were installed earlier this year. But this month, a federal appeals court cleared the way for the Trump administration to reinstall them, ending a lengthy battle with the city of Philadelphia.
Still ahead, Argentina and Lionel Messi are headed to the World Cup final for the second consecutive tournament. We'll have reaction and highlights from Argentina's semifinal match. Plus, talk to the coach of LAFC about what all this is going to do for the MLS.
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MICHAELSON: I want to take a brief moment to issue a correction. Earlier in this newscast, we said that former president, Joe Biden is suffering from pancreatic cancer. He is suffering from prostate cancer. We wish him well. We apologize for the error.
France is a step closer to giving some terminally-ill patients an option to end their lives. The country's national assembly adopted a bill on Wednesday that would allow incurably-ill adults to receive a lethal medication if they request it.
But there are strict conditions, including that a patient must be in an advanced stage of a life-threatening condition. That bill becomes law if and when France's top constitutional court agrees that it is legal. Opponents demonstrated outside parliament during the vote.
After the bill, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, posted on social media that he was grateful that this is moving forward. It's something he's pushed for since 2022.
Now the World Cup. The final matchup for the men's World Cup is now set. European champion Spain will meet Argentina who are looking to defend their title this Sunday in New Jersey.
After England opened the score in the second half, Argentina roared back with two very late goals in the match just a few minutes apart, which clearly their fans were very excited about, beating England 2 to 1.
Team captain, Lionel Messi, who has never played against England in his entire career with Argentina, earned two assists, putting him back in the lead in the Golden Boot race ahead of France captain, Kylian Mbappe.
Marc Dos Santos is the head coach for LAFC. He joins me now to react. "Dally, Dolly, Black and Gold", welcome to THE STORY IS. Thanks for being with us.
Your reaction to the Argentina-England game and the Messi magic once again. What makes him so good?
MARC DOS SANTOS, HEAD COACH, LAFC: It's incredible how I think the players around him just pushed towards the same direction.
I was actually very surprised how England seemed to drop so much in that game and started to defend the lead so early.
And when you do that against a team like Argentina that has so many weapons in the final third I think it was always a dangerous thing to deal with.
But again, everybody knows about the quality of Messi and moments like that, he just shows up every time.
It's quite impressive that he keeps on doing it game after game. We should have a very exciting final on Sunday.
MICHAELSON: Well, let's talk about that final. Spain has only given up one goal the entire World Cup, up against Argentina and the greatest scorer in the history of the World Cup.
How do you break that down?
DOS SANTOS: Look, I think Spain looks to be the most complete team right now. Not only defensively but also collectively, the way they work together.
But I also thought not long ago that France looked like the most complete team. And then Spain beat France.
So in one game, I don't know, really. Going to the game, I think, Spain has the edge and Spain is maybe more complete. But what Argentina has shown us throughout all these games is that they keep fighting. They have that togetherness about themselves that just make me -- makes me think that maybe they have what it takes to win it back-to-back.
But if I really would have to put money in the game, I would still think that Spain maybe is the favorite going to the final.
MICHAELSON: What does this moment mean for MLS? On Friday, the MLS season resumes.
First off, are you going easier on your players that competed in the World Cup and sort of what kind of momentum does this give the entire league and soccer in the United States?
DOS SANTOS: Look, the first question -- the three players that came back and are ready to participate in the game against the Galaxy -- Son, Shaffelburg and Mathieu Choiniere -- the three want to play.
The three are excited about coming back and playing right away. And they want to be involved right away in the game on Friday.
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DOS SANTOS: So for that, they're very excited of coming back and playing.
What I hope is not only for the United States, but for Canada also, it's going to make the country grow, grow when it comes to the game.
MICHAELSON: And last question, this is a fun one. So there's going to be a big halftime show at the World Cup final on Sunday. And so here are your performers. You've got Madonna, BTS, Shakira, Justin Bieber and the composer Gustavo Dudamel. Of all of those, who are you most excited to see?
DOS SANTOS: Justin Bieber.
MICHAELSON: Why is that? Because he's Canadian?
DOS SANTOS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Ok. That's an easy one.
Marc dos santos, thank you so much. Best of luck to you as you start off the season on Friday. I appreciate your insights on the World Cup.
DOS SANTOS: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: Canadians sticking with the Canadian.
Check this out. You may have seen this on your social media feeds. A different look at two of the players who will go head-to-head at Sunday's World Cup final.
The adult here is the Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi. The baby is the Spanish superstar Lamine Yamal. He was six months old when this photo was snapped back in 2007.
They were taking part in a charity photo shoot in Barcelona, where Messi was an up-and-coming star. Little did they know that they would face off against each other one day for the World Cup title. That will be something on Sunday.
We'll see you back here tomorrow for more of THE STORY IS.
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