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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Trump - Iran Exit Strategy Could Be Military Or Diplomatic; U.S. Appears To Pause Attacks After 13 Nights Of Strikes; Trump Meets Advisers As He Weighs Escalation In Iran; South Carolina To Hold First Dem. Primary Of 2028 Election; Trump Lobs Insults At WHCD, Attacks Press And Familiar Foes; Trump Delivers Hour-Long Speech At Rescheduled Press Dinner; SpaceX's Starship V3 Rocket Makes Successful Test Flight; Aired 1-2a ET

Aired July 25, 2026 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Thanks for watching the first hour of "The Story Is" on a busy day of news. The next hour starts right now.

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

MICHAELSON: I'm Elex Michaelson. Coming up, "The Story Is" a widening war. President Trump considering a massive escalation in the war against Iran, even as he says that Iran is "More serious about talks."

"The Story Is" the show must go on. President Trump delivers a marathon speech at take two of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, roasting allies, insulting journalists, and taking aim at political foes. We'll talk to somebody inside the room.

And "The Story Is" King James. The reign of LeBron James over the world of basketball isn't over yet as he heads to the city of brotherly love for one more chapter. Rachel Nichols is here.

But the top story is after 13 straight nights of U.S. airstrikes against Iran, the bombing appears to have paused tonight. That's the big headline, no airstrikes. President Trump though is reportedly weighing whether to ramp up attacks on Iran or keep pushing for diplomacy. A source telling CNN that the President met with top advisers and cabinet officials on Friday to discuss a potential escalation of the war.

He says the U.S. is still actively negotiating with Iran after their ceasefire agreement crumbled earlier this month, but he also suggested that the U.S. military could press on with its campaign and even expanded. All this comes as President Trump says that Iran is getting "More serious in ongoing talks."

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There's a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are, and we can even make it a heavier dose, and it's knocking out everything they have. Or there's a smarter strategy that's you make a deal, and they want to make a deal. I just don't think they're ready yet.

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MICHAELSON: Joining me live here in Los Angeles is NPR Reporter, Arezou Rezvani, who's reported on Iran extensively for many, many years. Welcome back to the show. The President is considering an escalation. What does that mean? What would that look like?

AREZOU REZVANI, NPR REPORTER: Well, he could order the U.S. military to go after structures like roads, bridges, desalination plants, power plants. It's a tricky thing to do, however, those are the kinds of things that civilians rely on. And as we know, humanitarian law prohibits the U.S. military and any military to go after any kind of structure object that civilians use. But as we know, President Trump is one to shatter norms, so it's definitely going to be a space to watch.

MICHAELSON: Now if the U.S. escalates, Iran could escalate as well. Iran could escalate even without the U.S. escalating. What would an Iranian escalation look like?

REZVANI: I've been talking to a lot of former, Pentagon officials, a lot of former state department officials, and what they have told me is that they're looking for possible developments on three fronts. They haven't seen a lot of activity on the cyber front. Iran has a very sophisticated cyber army, and so that might be a front to watch in the days and weeks to come. They haven't yet seen, the proxies activated like we saw during the height of the war. Of course, the Houthis in Yemen, which is an armed group aligned with Iran, have been very active. But there's a whole network across the Middle East, and they could order them to start getting involved to a greater degree. And then, of course, Iran has a record of terrorism, and so they could order certain operations against interests in the region.

MICHAELSON: So you you've talked about the fact that President Trump sometimes escalates, then deescalates, then escalates. That's kind of his vibe. Sometimes hard to know what exactly he's thinking, changes his mind a lot. You say the Iranian leaders think differently and process information in a very different way. What do you mean by that?

REZVANI: I don't think the Trump administration has fully appreciated and recognized the ideology and the psychology driving the ruling establishment. This is a ruling establishment that is not afraid of escalation. They're not afraid of assassination as we've seen a number of their leaders be assassinated. Martyrdom is a key pillar of the theology and the political thinking there. And so when you have that kind of belief system on the other side, the conventional kinds of carrots and sticks that might work in any other setting don't really work here. They're not as effective. And so I think that the Trump administration might need to reconsider the way they're approaching this group of negotiators on the Iranian side and really kind of slip into their shoes a little bit more if they want to find an off ramp.

MICHAELSON: I mean, that President Trump sort of views everything in, like a real estate deal, transactional, maybe amoral. And if you're ideological and willing to die for a cause, that's a whole different way of going about things.

REZVANI: Exactly.

MICHAELSON: Arezou Rezvani, you can check out her work on NPR. Thanks so much for coming in. Really appreciate it.

REZVANI: Pleasure.

MICHAELSON: Live pictures now just outside our window here. The Warner Bros. Discovery building here in Burbank, California as the takeover by Paramount has been delayed possibly into next year.

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In a court filing on Friday, Paramount agreed not to complete the mega merger with WBD, the parent company of us here at CNN, until an antitrust trial takes place or until next June, whichever comes first. A lawsuit filed by 12 states Attorney General argued that the merger would reduce competition and hurt consumers.

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ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Let me just say this is a significant setback for Paramount and Warner Bros. Obviously, it's a major development in the case in the favor of the states, and this is what we always sought, a block of the merger until a judge, the court, could decide on the legality of our case. We're going to make a request for when we think trial should be. Paramount Warner Bros. will make a request when they think trial should be. We are likely to make a request to have trial in 2027, which is very appropriate based on the expert discovery that needs to happen, the fact discovery that needs to happen, before a trial can and should go forward.

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MICHAELSON: Joining us now from New York is CNN's Brian Stelter. Hey, Brian.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Hey, Elex. Yeah. One of the biggest media mergers in history is now on hold for a while. Paramount's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery will be delayed for many months and potentially well into 2027 due to those pending lawsuits that we've been covering from the state attorneys general in 12 U.S. states as well as from the Writers Guild of America.

Now this delay does not preclude all the parties involved or the lawyers involved from striking a settlement deal that would clear the path of the merger, but there are no indications these cases are heading in that direction. Instead, all the parties involved say they want their day in court. They want their weeks in court. They want to get to a trial as quickly as possible. But people have different definitions about what quickly might look like. Basically, the reason for this Friday afternoon announcement has to do with the scheduling of the legal process behind the scenes. The judge in this case had ordered a preliminary injunction hearing on August 3rd. That's almost like a mini trial where arguments are heard and a judge could make a ruling that would freeze the deal for months. Paramount lawyers believed they would probably lose at that preliminary injunction stage. So they have decided they want to get to an actual full blown trial as soon as possible. They struck an agreement with the lawyers for the writers and for the states, in order to skip the preliminary injunction stage and move on toward a trial.

But as anybody who's watched a court case unfold in the past knows, it takes a while to get ready for trial. You have to go through the discovery process. You have to prepare witnesses and pour through all the evidence. So the states are going to suggest and propose to the judge that this trial not begin before sometime next year in 2027. I'm told Paramount is going to push for a much faster timeline, maybe a November trial date where all the arguments will be heard by the judge presiding over the case.

So we'll see what the timeline brings, but this is a major setback for Paramount. The company wanted to take control of Warner Bros. Discovery today or actually yesterday. The goal was to close the deal this week, and if not this week, then very soon, in the coming weeks here in July or August. After September, this deal gets much more expensive for Paramount. The price of Warner goes up. So Paramount's now facing that reality as it looks months into the future before this deal will be complete.

An analyst for Forrester Research I said to the Wall Street Journal tonight, "The deal may still close or it may not. What we know is that the path to either outcome just got longer, messier, and likely more expensive." Now those are words media executives almost never like to hear. Elex, back to you.

MICHAELSON: No doubt about that. Brian Stelter for us in New York. Brian, thank you.

South Carolina will once again hold the 1st democratic presidential primary for the 2028 U.S. presidential election. The Democratic National Committee's rules panel chose that state over 11 other locations. Supporters say the choice reaffirms the party's commitment to black voters. The state also held the first democratic primary in 2024, which wasn't really a primary because it wasn't that competitive, and we know how that worked out for the democrats.

Joining us once again on "The Story Is" our panel, Elisha Krauss, Conservative Commentator and Op Ed Writer for The Washington Examiner, and Will Rollins, former Federal Prosecutor and former Democratic U.S. House Candidate. Will, as the Democrat here, let's start with you and put up on the screen sort of what we're looking at in terms of the first six states. Say it's going to be South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, Virginia. But South Carolina number one, pretty significant. WILL ROLLINS, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I like it, and they made the right choice in 2020. Ultimately, it got us back to Biden, who obviously went on to win that election. I also think Nevada being up early with Latino voters is important. Virginia's a purple state. They've got Michigan going early with working class voters.

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And as we were talking about a second ago, I think also having targeted the voters that we bled in 2024 early is really important for the party getting the best possible nominee back in 2028.

MICHAELSON: Of course, for years, Elisha, Iowa was always the first caucus. And then they continuously screwed up the ability to count in this very complicated system of people showing up in high schools and standing in corners and all the rest of it. And let's be blunt, Iowa's very white in a party that celebrates minority voters, and South Carolina is not.

ELISHA KRAUSS, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: Yeah. And I also think, correct me if I'm wrong, but Iowa on both sides of the aisle doesn't always tend to pick the actual winner, right?

MICHAELSON: Well, and it's such a small percentage of people. I mean, whole thing.

KRAUSS: It can give some momentum, especially going into Super Tuesday and all that stuff. And it's like, what happens in Iowa? What happens in New Hampshire? Both sides are paying attention to. Listen, not to help the Democrats too much, but I actually feel like this is a good thing for the Democratic party, and I hope for the country to moderate a little bit, because I think them choosing South Carolina shows that even though they might be giving the microphone to the radical DSA, Democratic Socialists of America types, on social media and in mainstream media and on Capitol Hill and probably even at the podium at the DNC in 2028, they're saying, we understand that most DSA voters are college educated rich white people, and we know that we need to get back to that minority vote. And the minority voters, specifically Hispanics and African Americans, ain't down for the radicalism of the socialists that that are holding and making all of the noise right now on the progressive side of the aisle.

MICHAELSON: Although it's interesting that they're campaigning in South Carolina, a state that the Democrats have almost no chance of winning in the general election. And so these primary vote, instead of picking a state like Michigan first, which is a really important swing state or even a place like Nevada first. But let's talk about who this helps and who it hurts. On the one hand, if she gets into the race, this definitely helps Kamala Harris, right, because the biggest percentage of voters in South Carolina are black women. And she obviously does exceptionally well among that group. So this is a real plus for her. She and Joe Biden helped make sure that 2024, South Carolina became the number one state.

It's not good for Pete Buttigieg, who a lot of polls show is doing really well, and some polls show has zero percent support among Black voters.

ROLLINS: Well, I don't know yet how it's going to turn out for Pete, because he's a very, very talented communicator, and I would not underestimate his ability to win voters across party and race lines no matter what.

MICHAELSON: He has shown not an ability so far to win over black voters.

ROLLINS: Well, he's just getting warmed up maybe for 2028, right? We don't know. But we'll see. We'll see. I think, ultimately, at the end of the day, the party will consistent with that theme, pick somebody who can actually win the election in 2028. And that is going to be the absolute most important thing regardless of the structure of this initial calendar because voters in the Democratic party want a nominee who will absolutely win the White House in 2028, and that issue is also going to be decided largely by the economy.

MICHAELSON: And your favorite governor here in California, Gavin Newsom, has already made multiple trips to South Carolina, spent a lot of time with James Clyburn, who oftentimes picks the winners there. The congressman there helped to get Joe Biden --

KRAUSS: You got to kiss the -- I mean, he is the king of South Carolina.

MICHAELSON: And he's which kind of shows how much he thinks this is important. But if Harris runs, that could -- this could be problematic for him.

KRAUSS: Listen, I think the most problematic part for Gavin Newsom other than his horrific record here in the state of California he was being sarcastic, everyone.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

KRAUSS: That he just is very disingenuous. I think that he does not read as a naturally empathetic honest person. And God bless the black women of South Carolina, even though, their politics might be different than mine, I think that they actually kind of see through that a lot.

ROLLINS: He did get a very good reception when he went to South Carolina on a couple campaign trips, but we'll see. There's a lot more campaign trips coming. I don't know, friendlies in the room is very different than the privacy of a ballot box.

MICHAELSON: In meanwhile, there is an election underway right now in Michigan that is hugely important. And speaking of authenticity, that's one of the issues here. You've got Abdul El Sayed, a pretty progressive candidate on the left running against Haley Stevens, who's more of an establishment candidate, more in the center of the party. She is a member of congress right now. She got a big endorsement today from the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GRETCHEN WHITMER, MICHIGAN GOVERNOR: As governor, I've had one strategy, get things done. That strategy informs everything that I do. And that's why I'm endorsing Haley Stevens for the U.S. Senate. Just like me, Haley will do whatever it takes to get things done for the people of Michigan, and we need her now more than ever.

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MICHAELSON: This is one of the most important senate races in the entire country, incredibly close watch. Why do you think this is so important, and what do you make of this endorsement?

ROLLINS: Well, I'm thrilled by it, because I'm a big fan of Haley Stevens.

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Speaking of comedians, as we were in the last hour, she's funny. She's authentic. She's real. I think she also has the experience that it's going to take to translate into the U.S. senate. And I think her personality is really going to connect with voters. And this endorsement in as close of a primary as this could become, right, is going to be critical and move some of those voters, I think towards Haley at the end the day. But I really think that her personality and also her politics are the future of the Democratic party, because voters across Republican and Democratic electorates alike want people in the middle who can compromise, who are pragmatic, not far left, not far right.

MICHAELSON: Dr. El Sayed is a very good communicator. It's part of the reason he's been so successful as well, does a tremendous amount of media, and that's part of the reason people like him. And people on his side say he's authentic.

KRAUSS: Yeah, authentically horrible. I mean, once again, not like I'm going to go to Michigan and vote for Haley, but I -- for the good of the country, I think that we've really need to consider -- Democrats need to consider, like, what do you want the party to look like, not just this November, but also in 2028? And I think that that race, the main senate race, like all of the chaos that has occurred, it is good for everyone when you guys can really pare down and be like, let's maybe choose the more moderate you used the word establishment. I don't know how establishment she is. It's not like she's in Congress as long as a ton of old people have been --

MICHAELSON: Oh, she's been. She is in Congress. She's backed by the Governor. She's backed by the senator. She's by most of the party leaders there.

KRAUSS: OK. I guess that it can be deemed as establishment. But, I mean, I don't know. I kind of feel the word establishment is, like, backroom deals, and I don't know that that's necessarily hurt.

ROLLINS: I just like that she's younger, honestly, because, it sucks to lose to 70, 80-year-old people, and it's nice to get in some change in Washington, D.C. MICHAELSON: Well, either way, there's going to be generational change, because Abdul El-Sayed is also younger. But there is no path, really, for the Democrats to win back the senate if they lose Michigan and Maine. So it'll be interesting to see what happens if both would those raises.

KRAUSS: I wouldn't vote for her, even if I lived in Michigan, but I might let her drive my kids to hockey and have a beer with her.

MICHAELSON: OK. There you go. Have a great weekend. Will, Elisha, thanks for coming in.

Federal investigators are trying to figure out what happened. What caused a seaplane with 10 passengers to crash off the coast of Washington state. Up next, one of the guys who oversaw the rescue of all those folks joins us with an amazing story, an incredible video. You got to see this in a few minutes.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe these things.

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MICHAELSON: It's still unclear what caused a seaplane to make that remarkable emergency landing. The aircraft ended up beached against rocks on Thursday. The pilot and 10 passengers climbed out of the plane before it eventually caught on fire. The seaplane airlines officials say everyone was rescued and taken to a hospital, three still hospitalized and what's called satisfactory condition. Check out this crazy video here. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident. It's not known why the seaplane went down in the water near the San Juan Islands of Washington State about 45 minutes after takeoff. It was about 15 miles from its destination.

Lieutenant William Trumper is the Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Station Bellingham in Washington state. Welcome to "The Story Is" great job by your team. Walk us through what happened. We just looked at some of that video. Your team gets there. They discover this has happened. How do they get everybody out?

LT. WILLIAM TRUMPER, COMMANDING OFFICER OF COAST GUARD STATION BELLINGHAM: Yeah. No. Thank you. Thank you for having me. And, yeah, I want to say huge shout out to the crews at Station Bellingham and also our partners in the San Juan Islands, San Juan County sheriff, San Juan County fire, as well as the other air station Port Angeles. Everyone involved, phenomenal job, especially the good Samaritans who were the first on scene and were the ones that initially got them out of that, the plane and began administering first aid so.

MICHAELSON: So they -- so this is Good Samaritans get there first, help out, then you guys get there. We just saw some video of them lifting out. How does that all work and what are the conditions of the survivors when you spot them? I mean, must have been just so freaked out about what just happened.

TRUMPER: Yeah. Obviously, as we saw in the video, it's a super dynamic situation, lots of moving components. And as our crews are getting on scene, they could see the survivors on the Good Samaritan boats, already being kind of taken care of by them. And, essentially, they got on scene, got right to work, triaging them, separating them out into the most critically injured that would be medevacked, and those that would need transport via boat back to the shore. But, yeah, managing all the communications either on the radio or on the cell phones. Yeah. Just phenomenal teamwork all around.

MICHAELSON: Seaplane something pretty common in that particular area. Unfortunately, in other incidents like this, people die. I mean, just how lucky are all these people, the fact that everybody survived?

TRUMPER: No. This is -- it's a fantastic outcome. Obviously, the best that we could hope for in -- in an accident such as this. And, yeah, our -- we're just super fortunate that everyone got out of a plane like they did, and those Good Samaritans really stepped up when they needed to and answered that call to serve and help them out.

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And then our crews and our other partners, through the San Juans were able to deploy, get resources and people on scene, and really affect that rescue.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. I mean, some just incredible work by all of you. We thank you for helping to save those lives and hope you have a great weekend. Lieutenant William Trumper, thanks for being with us.

TRUMPER: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: You're watching "The Story Is." For our international viewers, Quest's World of Wonder is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back with Jeff Mason, who just attended that White House Correspondents' Dinner. He'll take us inside the room. And later, Rachel Nichols will be with us to talk about LeBron James heading to Philly. She's got some new insider reporting. She'll share that when we come back.

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MICHAELSON: President Trump lobbed insults and attacked familiar foes during lengthy remarks at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Friday night. He also said some nice things as well. It was rescheduled after a shooting incident in April, and the event saw a lot tighter security along with a much smaller guest list. The President appeared to doze off periodically while some of the awards were presented to people, including some for some negative stories about him. But they then delivered a speech that ran for an hour and four minutes. It was very Trump. We talked about his ballroom, declared as a joke his intention to run for President again and took aim at some perceived enemies, including singers, other politicians, and some of the journalists in the audience.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: But Karoline may have one of the hardest jobs in the White House. She has to deal with all of you all of the time, and you could be very difficult. You could be very, very difficult people, but I'm probably being a little bit oversensitive. Sometimes I really do think that some of you don't like me. In fact, I read a report. I get 93 percent negative publicity. 93, and so how the hell did I win the election by so much? Think of it. I don't think that's true. I can't believe it's 93. In the 80s, maybe, but not 93. But this place is the really the largest group of Trump derangement syndrome people ever put together at one time, I suspect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Jeff Mason is Bloomberg's White House Correspondent. He's the former President of the White House Correspondents' Association, which means he has run these dinners in the past. He joins us live from Washington after attending the dinner. It's late at night now. Thank you for being with us. You've been to a lot of these, Jeff. What was it like inside the room and how was it different from some of the others that you've attended?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG: Well, it was different because President Trump attended, and he did not attend any of the dinners during his first term, including the one that I presided over in 2017. So it was just that alone was different because this is a President who has been used such vitriolic language about the press during his first term and now during his second term, certainly during both of his campaigns, and as part of that brand, has boycotted the dinner.

So he came tonight. He stayed on brand, he used a lot of insults in his as you referenced in his very long speech. He mixed that with a few things that were not insulting, but he certainly stayed on brand for that. And otherwise, what was it like being in the room? I mean, it was the whole history of this dinner being the second version of the one that was supposed to have happened and partially happened in April certainly hung over the night.

And he referenced that in a in a positive way and so did the others, who spoke including, the current President or the outgoing President. So that that was, that part was uplifting, I would say, but certainly a lot of the other things that the President talked about were quite negative with regard to the press.

MICHAELSON: So traditionally, the President, has a bunch of joke writers that come up with a lot of one liners that the president reads. And this president read some of them, including one about Nicki Minaj. Watch.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: After hearing the gunshots, many people yelled. Get down. Get down, which caused Nicki Minaj to start twerking. Do you believe it? Get down. She's the only one that really understood what that meant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: It is hard for me to believe that President Trump came up with that joke on his own, but there are several other moments where it was very clear that he went off of the prompter. Would do one of seemed like he'd do, like, a joke or two and then go into one of his rants. It seemed like that was the theme of the night.

MASON: Which, by the way, is how President Trump gives speeches. I think that what was probably unusual about tonight is that the room was not a room full of supporters. And so some of the energy that he probably got back from those of us who were sitting in the ballroom was not what he's accustomed to when people laugh at his jokes or accept the insults or accept some of the things that he says that that I guess are more acceptable in a rally or in a room with people who are who are Trump supporters.

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This was a room largely of journalists. He certainly got a smatterings of applause, because he had some of the members of his administration who were guests of news organizations in the room. But it was certainly a different vibe for him, and I think he picked up on that. But I think broadly to your point, yeah, he had some jokes. One of the ones that people did laugh at was at towards the beginning of his speech, he said that, he was glad people could eat their beef, and he joked that RFK Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, had run over the beef himself or run over the animal himself, and that was sort of a dig at RFK.

But most of the jokes were as you say, he went back and forth from joke to going off script, which is his MO.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. That, it seemed like that room was very happy to laugh at RFK Jr., read whatever into that. But he also talked a lot about the press, some of it positive, but much of it negative. Here's some of that.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I always find that when you don't speak to the press, you always get a bad story. When you do speak to the press, you have a shot at getting a good story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: And this gets to Trump, which is something you've seen up close and personal. He talks more to you guys certainly than any other president you've covered, right? I mean, some people may say it's not always transparent what he says, but Donald Trump loves interacting with the media.

MASON: He absolutely does. And he is certainly the most accessible President that I have covered. And I think they're proud of the fact that he can, I think, plausibly claim to be the most accessible transparent is a different word, but accessible president in modern history. I think that's absolutely true. I mean, the man takes phone calls from reporters from all over town in addition to holding multiple Q&A's at the -- in the Oval Offices and in the White House. That does not excuse calling press fake news or enemy of the American people or some of the other very pejorative and negative things that he says about the press. But it is absolutely accurate to say that he is very accessible. He certainly is, and he referenced that tonight too.

MICHAELSON: Jeff Mason, staying up late for us. Thank you so much for being with us, and now hopefully you can have a drink.

A huge announcement from NBA superstar LeBron James. We'll take a look. At his next chapter as he announces his move to the 76ers. Rachel Nichols, who knows the NBA as well as anybody, is going to be with me live next to talk about what really happened in LeBron's mind. Stay with us.

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MICHAELSON: LeBron James is heading to the city of brotherly love announcing Friday that he'll be joining the Philadelphia 76ers. And Philly is already rolling out the red carpet ahead of his record extending 24th season in the NBA. The 41-year-old LeBron said he had been considering retirement, but that he isn't ready to walk away from the game he loves just yet. Also saying he believes he can help bring Philadelphia and the 76ers a championship. Fans in Philadelphia, ready to believe.

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HONG XIE, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS FAN: I'm excited. Like, I'm excited because this team is going to be a cheat code. It's going to be like a 2K 27 video game.

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MICHAELSON: That's a good way to put it. Pennsylvania governor and self-proclaimed diehard 76ers fan Josh Shapiro proclaimed July 24th LeBron James Day in response to the news. For more, I want to bring in Rachel Nichols, analyst for Fox Sports who's covered the NBA as well as anybody for a long time. You've known LeBron for a long time, interviewed him many times.

RACHEL NICHOLS, FOX SPORTS ANALYST: Senior of your high school. So this journey is it keeps on going.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. Some people online say that he's "ring chasing."

NICHOLS: I love that term, right?

MICHAELSON: So I did a whole post myself about this, because I find this isn't not who isn't ring chasing? Isn't that the point? The whole point of the job is to chase rings, right.

NICHOLS: Yes, absolutely. Look, that expression came on in sports with the idea of, oh, once free agency really kicked in in professional sports, you're going to a team that's already won a championship and you want to catch on the train to win your own ring.

MICHAELSON: Kevin Durant.

NICHOLS: Or that is certainly someone people have used as an example for sure.

MICHAELSON: Right. With the warriors.

NICHOLS: But the idea that this is a team that wasn't even talked about as being in championship contention until he went there today. That's not ring chasing. That's ring elevating.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

NICHOLS: You're supposed to want to win in sports, and that's really what he talked about when he made his social media post today.

MICHAELSON: So there had been a lot of speculation that it was all about happiness. It seems like ultimately what makes him happiest is the concept of winning. I mean, how good is this team?

NICHOLS: Well, it's super interesting. I want to get you in two parts here. So the happiness part, I think, is super insightful because I heard him after the Olympics. I was over in Paris, and he was so joyous. And we were like, oh, wow. You've won gold medals before. Like, what is with this? And he said, it's so great to be playing for something again. The Lakers haven't been to the finals since they won it in 2020. That was six years ago. This is a guy who in his 23-year career had gone to the finals 10 times.

MICHAELSON: Right.

NICHOLS: That's more than half the times. He's finished a season. It's been in the NBA finals, but it's been six years. So I think the idea of happiness was about getting to a team where he could be in contention. And that leads to the second part of your question, which is this is a team that is definitely in contention. We heard your fan over there on the street say this is a cheat code. It's a cheat code on paper. We'll see what it looks like actually once they all get on the court. But it sure looks good.

MICHAELSON: I mean, the big questions are, can they stay healthy?

NICHOLS: Yep.

MICHAELSON: And there's only one basketball.

NICHOLS: There is.

MICHAELSON: So how do you share that around? And is there a bench.

NICHOLS: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: When you've got that much money on the first five guys? No question that they are going to get good ratings.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: It was interesting that Adam Silver was pretty candid. The NBA Commissioner recently said, we have not released the TV schedule because LeBron James hasn't made his decision yet.

[01:45:00]

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: I mean, is this now the marquee team for the NBA for all the national games.

NICHOLS: You have to know where LeBron's playing because he's got to be there in opening week. You got to be there on the Christmas day games. You got to be there on the big holidays for the NBA. And I think what people don't realize is, this one move from this one man is going to raise television ratings, because he is moving from the Western Coast in the western conference team, to the East Coast. And that means he is back in that 7:00 P.M. Eastern Time zone.

And the difference between having him playing games where the whole country can watch versus games that most people weren't getting Lakers games until 10 o'clock at night on that side of the country, that's a big difference. And also separating him from a team like the Lakers, you would have thought when he left Cleveland for LA, it would be like man ratings bonanza. The NBA must be thrilled. Lakers LA is a huge market. That's the problem. The Lakers and the LA already draw ratings. They didn't need LeBron to go there. All of a sudden, that consolidated the people who wanted to watch games.

Now, there weren't a lot of people who were watching 76ers games last year outside of Philadelphia. And everyone's going to watch. It's going to be a show.

MICHAELSON: And the Lakers still have Luka Doncic who's a ratings draw in himself. There was a lot of reporting in the last few days that he was either going to go to Cleveland or Miami, two cities where he's beloved because he's won championships before. But did this long sort of drawn out thing that became like decision 2.0, does that hurt him in those places?

NICHOLS: I really can't wait to find out because it's not his fault that in a vacuum all of these reports sprung up. And you had responsible journalists. I was on TV every day saying nobody knows. Anyone who tells you they know something, they don't know. They kept the circle so tight. It was like three or four people who knew. And if you listen to his agent, Rich Paul, they had a conversation last night into the early hours to really reach this decision. So not even LeBron knew. So the idea that all of these people in Cleveland and Miami were being told by their local radio hosts and people who said, I know. He's coming here. There was a lot of excitement in both of those cities, and they almost got let down all over again. I'm very interested to see what the cheers or boos are for him when he visits the arenas there.

MICHAELSON: But he has a lot of goodwill in both of those cities.

NICHOLS: He does.

MICHAELSON: Over a lot of years, especially in Cleveland.

NICHOLS: Yeah.

MICHAELSON: But it'll be it'll be fascinating to watch.

NICHOLS: We got whole new show Elex.

MICHAELSON: Good for the NBA.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Who could use it? Rachel, great to see you. Thank you. Having a great weekend.

One month after a pair of earthquake struck Venezuela families, they're still searching for answers. Next, a family's plea to reunite two sisters after their mother was killed.

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[01:50:00]

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MICHAELSON: A month after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, thousands of families are still searching for loved ones. Officials say over 5,000 people have died. The International Rescue Committee says tens of thousands remain missing. CNN's Carolina Paguero spoke to a family in the U.S. who lost loved ones in the disaster and is still coping with the heartbreak.

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CAROLINA PAGUERO, CNN MIAMI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just weeks ago, Antonella Narvaez was celebrating her high school graduation surrounded by her friends and family, her mother, and her sister, never thinking that would be the last time she would see them.

ANTONELLA NARVAEZ, MOTHER DIED IN EARTHQUAKES: I want to honor my mom in the way that just to make my sister happy. That's all. Because my mom, she will always make my sister happy, so that will be the way.

PAGUERO (voice-over): Antonella shares it was just a normal day on June 24th. She had spent the day talking to her mom, Cleovis, and her younger half-sister, Isabela, who both had decided to move this summer back to La Guaira.

NARVAEZ: Just chatting with my mom through, WhatsApp, and then I sent her one last message hoping for her to reply. She never replied. I don't really know how to feel or how to manage this whole situation.

PAGUERO (voice-over): Things rapidly took a turn when she didn't hear back from any of them after the earthquakes struck the nation. Hours later, the family back home in Tampa were notified her mother and her husband had died under the rubble while Isabella had been rescued by neighbors, but had suffered several injuries.

NARVAEZ: My sister and I were always together. We were always, we always have, like this really strong bond. And, of course, right now, we're not together, and that makes it really tough for me to be there for her.

NOEL NARVAEZ, FATHER OF ANTONELLA NARVAEZ: We are trying to do the best that we can do with the tools that we have.

PAGUERO (voice-over): Antonella's father, Noel, commits to providing a stable home, support, and love to 12-year-old Isabela that lost both her parents and that has been in Venezuela since then under the care of extended family.

NARVAEZ: We are here for her. If she is listening or if she is watching us, we are here willing to provide all the support that she needs.

PAGUERO (voice-over): Aunts and uncles back in the States have also offered their help in raising their nieces together like they promised their mother.

MARIELA GARL, AUNT OF ANTONELLA NARVAEZ (translated): She told me if she was no longer here that I will become Antonella and Isabela's mother and wow. Although it's a difficult challenge and big shoes to fill, I will do everything in my power to help raise them.

PAGUERO (voice-over): And as the family gathers around Antonella and she checks in on her sister and her recovery, they plead to the Trump administration to help them make a sister's dream come true of being together once again.

NARVAEZ: We really would like to have some support from the government with a visa or any other kind of relief that let us, reunify this family.

[01:55:00]

PAGUERO (voice-over): Carolina Peguero, CNN, Tampa.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one.

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MICHAELSON: A Starship V3 rocket from SpaceX launched successfully on Saturday from Texas. All 33 engines lit up perfectly on the pad, contrast to the last test in May, which had a series of engine outages. Test flight ended an hour later when the rocket made a controlled splashdown, soft but faster than expected in the Indian Ocean. Starship also deployed 20 Starlink test satellites and made contact with each of them. SpaceX called it a dream scenario.

Friday marked what would have been the 129th birthday of heroic aviator Amelia Earhart. She went missing in 1937 along with navigator Fred Noonan while attempting to fly around the world. Another expedition to find her lost plane is now set to begin later this year. Team will head to the South Pacific where authorities believe Earhart and Noonan may have been stranded. Researchers say the theory is supported by the letters from time of their disappearance.

Thanks for watching. "The Story Is" all week. I'm Elex Michaelson. Have a great weekend.

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