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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
DOJ Investigating Minnesota Governor, Minneapolis Mayor; Trump Threatens To Invoke Insurrection Act Over Protests; California AG Rob Bonta Opts Out Of Governor Race; New Video Shows Machado's Daring Escape From Venezuela; Trumps Mulls New Tariffs On Countries Opposed To Annexation; U.S. Lawmakers Meet With Leaders Of Denmark, Greenland; U.S., Ukraine To Hold More Peace Talks In Miami Saturday; Majority Of Americans Say Trump Focused On Wrong Priorities; Trump: I Convinced Myself To Put Off Military Action In Iran; Aired 12-1a ET
Aired January 17, 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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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta.
"The Story Is" new video of Venezuela's opposition leaders daring escape released. She pleads her case in Washington.
"The Story Is" NFL playoffs. Former NFL Wide Receiver Donte Stallworth joins us live to break down the big games this weekend.
"The Story Is" politics and basketball.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing we could do is go where the kids were. They weren't a basketball court.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A new film breaks down how political leaders use their love of the game to win support for change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles. "The Story Is" with Elex Michaelson.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: And welcome to "The Story Is," I'm Elex Michaelson and standing by live right now the Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta. We'll talk to him in a moment, but we begin in Minnesota, where the federal justice department is now investigating the State's Governor and the Mayor over possible obstruction of law enforcement.
Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are condemning the probe, which they say is an intimidation tactic. Both men have been vocal critics of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration and the conduct of federal immigration agents. The Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche spoke with Fox News' Matt Finn tonight and blamed Minnesota leaders for unrest in the state.
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TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: When the Governor or the Mayor threatened our officers, when the Mayor suggests that he's encouraging citizens to call 911, when they see I.C.E. officers that is very close to a federal crime. You cannot do that if you impede the work we're doing. You better. You better be worried, because we're coming after you.
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MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, a U.S. District Judge has issued an order barring federal agents from taking some actions during their operations in the state, they are not allowed to arrest or use pepper spray on peaceful protesters or stop people in their cars without cause, among other things, anti-ice protesters continue to demonstrate outside a federal building in Minneapolis despite freezing arctic weather moving in for the weekend. We're talking minus 20 with the wind chill. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is in Chile, Minneapolis tonight.
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SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Word of this investigation is certainly going to raise a lot of concerns here in Minneapolis. It's already a very tense time. People are afraid to leave their homes. People are worried about their neighbors. They just want what's happening here to stop, and now this investigation is only going to raise more concerns. It's not entirely clear what the Department of Justice is investigating. The Governor has certainly been very critical of federal authorities here, as has the Mayor, and so what exactly, what kind of obstruction they could be looking at is not entirely clear.
Remember, Minneapolis is, by law, not allowed to cooperate with federal authorities on immigration issues or arrests. You know, there has been a lot of concern here from the federal authorities that they're not getting enough backup or support when there are tense moments between I.C.E. officers and people who live here in Minneapolis. That has certainly been a concern that was raised by the President and other I.C.E. officials and federal authorities. But you know, the thing with this now is, for the people who live here, they're just trying to get to a point where things calm down and they can try, try to live their lives, which they are really finding it very hard to do right now. Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, Minneapolis.
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MICHAELSON: All right. Thanks to Shimon. Joining me now live is the Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta. He leads the largest Department of Justice other than the Federal Department of Justice. Mr. Attorney General, welcome back to "The Story Is."
ROB BONTA, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CALIFORNIA: Thanks for having me, Elex.
MICHAELSON: What do you make of what's happening right now in terms of the investigation into your Democratic colleagues? BONTA: It's a very dangerous escalation that we're seeing from the Trump administration. It's seemingly an attempt to bully, intimidate, silence, leaders who don't do the bidding whenever the Trump administration wants them to. And this is an administration that has no trust on this issue. Trump had an enemies list. He asked U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after them, James Comey, Tish James. I mean, now we're seeing Jerome Powell, and now we're seeing the Mayor and the Governor. It seems like more of the same. And, you know, I'm always open to the facts, but it looks like political weaponization and intimidation.
MICHAELSON: I know the democratic attorneys general are in constant communication with each other. Are you coordinating with Keith Ellison, the Attorney General of Minnesota, in terms of the way to respond to this.
BONTA: We are in constant contact. AJ Ellison and I have talked recently, and we're looking, of course, the whole world is the whole nation is at Minneapolis and Minnesota to see what happens next.
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Could that come to California a question I must ask myself, as a responsible leader of the California DOJ. So yes, we're in contact.
MICHAELSON: To that point. Could it come to California Governor Newsom put out a tweet tonight offering his reaction to all this. We want to put that up on the screen. He says, Donald Trump corrupted. DOJ will stop at nothing, including ridiculous theories unsupported by facts and pursuing his revenge agenda. No one safe from his abuse of power. It's sick. I'm curious, if you, as the Attorney General of California, do you go to bed at night wondering, will I wake up and be indicted or investigated tomorrow by the Trump DOJ? Is that something you're actively thinking about?
BONTA: I always thought that that was possible based on the way this administration is abusing power, weaponizing the U.S. DOJ, really a disgusting abuse of the use of its criminal prosecution powers. It is political persecution, not criminal prosecution, and they go after their enemies. If you lead a blue state, if you're from a blue city, it's red and blue. It's trying to own the libs and get the Dems, and that's it. It's not based on facts and law like it's supposed to be. It's not prosecuting without fear or favor and going with the law and the facts take you.
MICHAELSON: So the President has been talking recently about something called the Insurrection Act, saying that he may invoke that in Minneapolis. We want to put up on the screen a bit of an explainer for folks in terms of what the Insurrection Act is. This allows the President to deploy the military inside the U.S. and use the military against Americans to do certain forms of law enforcement, which they're usually prohibited from doing. This was sort of started back in 1792 it's been invoked 30 times in U.S. history.
I'm curious, are you actively preparing for that to happen? Is that something that you are thinking about potentially happening here, and what is the plan if the Insurrection Act is invoked?
BONTA: We are prepared for this. We've been thinking about this possibility since before Trump was elected, after he was elected, before he was inaugurated, and every day since. We thought when he deployed a National Guard of Marines to LA that might be based on the Insurrection Act, it ended up it was based on another cited authority that we was wrongly relied on, and we won. And after six months of fighting tooth and nail, but yes, we're prepared.
The key is right in the title of the Insurrection Act, there needs to be an Insurrection. And there is nothing coming close to an Insurrection in Minnesota, in California. But that doesn't mean that the Trump won't try to invoke it because he wants the powers that it gives him, but it will be based on a lie. It will not have a factual foundation for invoking the Insurrection Act, and if it isn't invoked, we are ready now to go to court within minutes to file and get a court order blocking the improper, illegal invocation of the Insurrection Act.
MICHAELSON: But ultimately, that could be something that goes to the Supreme Court, and the question on that would be, how quickly does a court act? Because that sort of thing, you would need to move fast. And sometimes courts don't always move fast. Another thing that made headlines today, while we have you, involves X, formerly known as Twitter, and their AI software called Grok.
BONTA: Yep.
MICHAELSON: And that it's been interesting that people have been using Grok and asking it to remove the clothes of certain people in pictures. So essentially, it's digitally undressing you against your own permission. You are now investigating this. What can you do as a California DOJ, on this front?
BONTA: We can stop these practices. We announced an investigation earlier this week. Today, we sent a cease and desist letter saying that these practices, to the extent they're illegal must end immediately, and we're asking for confirmation by the end of the day Tuesday, the fact that Grok can non-consensually create sexually explicit material of kids and of women that leads to harassment and obviously is improper and dangerous is wrong, and it needs to end. And Elon Musk and ex-AI need to end it immediately.
MICHAELSON: And lastly, last time you were here, you were thinking about running for California Governor. You announced that you were not running for California Governor. The breaking political news tonight was that Rick Caruso announced he's also not running for California Governor. Are you surprised by that?
BONTA: No. Interesting in the end, no.
MICHAELSON: Yeah, why is it that you're not running? Senator Elex Padilla is not running. Vice President Kamala Harris isn't running. You're the Attorney General of the State. This is the biggest job in the biggest state in the union. Why nobody want to do it? What is that when there's a -- I mean, clearly there's a lot of people that are running, but why not go for this job when clearly, the polls show there's an opening to potentially win this race?
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BONTA: Yeah, no. Great question. I think it's an individual decision for each person. And I think Kamala Harris, if she runs for anything, will run for President again, having run and come very, very close to being President. Elex Padilla has a great job as a U.S. senator. I have a great job as Attorney General the State of California, doing things that governors can't do, only I can do to protect and defend rights and freedoms and funding.
So Mr. Caruso had to make a personal decision. Obviously, he was very thoughtful about it. He came to his own conclusion, I respect that, and I respect anyone who wants to serve and consider running, and those who aren't running and don't have a title, they have a role to play, too, to make our state better. And I believe Mr. Caruso will be in that lane.
MICHAELSON: Rob Bonta, the incumbent Attorney General of California, running for re-election. Thanks for coming in. Great to see you. Thanks for having me. Have a nice weekend. Always an honor. Newly released video giving us an insight into the daring escape of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado as she made her way to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. She had been in hiding for months from the Maduro regime. Check this out.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maduro, hi.
MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a suitcase or a bag, or what do you have?
MACHADO: I have a bag.
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MICHAELSON: Here you can see Machado confirming her identity to the rescue operation leader Bryan Stern. Stern is the Founder of Grey Bull, which specializes in extracting civilians from all over the globe. After Stern confirms Machado's identity, the rescue mission makes its way to an island off the Coast of Venezuela, where a plane was waiting.
Meanwhile, as Machado wrapped up her visit to Washington D.C., she'd appeared at the Heritage Foundation, which of course, is a conservative think tank. She discussed the transition in Venezuela, as well as a future diplomatic relationship with the U.S., take a listen.
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MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER: The result of a stable transition will be a proud Venezuela who is going to be the best ally United States has ever had in the Americas. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: All this comes as President Trump shed some light on his decision not to back Machado to lead Venezuela following Maduro is ousting. Speaking to reporters on Friday, the President explained why he's working with Maduro insider Delcy Rodriguez, instead of Machado in Venezuela.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, why align with Delsy Rodriguez and the remnants of the Maduro regime and not with Machado, who has the support of the Venezuelan people?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, if you ever remember a place called Iraq where everybody was fired, every single person, the police, the generals, everybody was fired, and they ended up being ISIS. Instead of just getting down to business, they ended up being ISIS. So I remember that, but I'll tell you, I had a great meeting yesterday by a person who I have a lot of respect for, and she has respect, obviously, for me and our country, and she gave me her Nobel Prize. But I'll tell you what I get to know. I never met her before, and I was very, very impressed. She's a really, this is a fine woman.
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MICHAELSON: Other news involving President Trump, he may place new tariffs on countries that oppose his plan to annex Greenland. Later today, demonstrators supporting the territory will take place in Greenland and across Denmark. Meantime, Denmark's Joint Arctic Command invited the U.S. to participate in military exercises with Germany and other European allies.
Officials say the drills are focused on keeping Russia away and protecting NATO's northern flank. On Friday, Danish F-35 jets and a French tanker conducted air to air refueling training, and in the coming hours, U.S. Senators visiting the Danish Capitol are scheduled to hold a press conference. CNN's, Nic Robertson has more from Greenland.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: For the congressional delegation in Copenhagen, led by Senator Chris Coons, bringing some comfort to the people here in Nuuk, talking about the shared values between the United States Denmark and the Greenlandic people, shared values in sovereignty, territorial integrity, self- determination. And also talking about the need to have a conversation between the two countries. But very clear in the context of what this delegation was saying, that there is in this sense, a strong breakdown of trust between them and the White House.
CHRIS COONS, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: Are there real pressing threats to the security of Greenland from China and Russia? No, not today. Are there real opportunities for us to partner through NATO to contribute to arctic security? Yes. And so there is a lot of rhetoric. But there's not a lot of reality in the current discussion in Washington, and part of the point of this trip is to have a bipartisan group of Members of Congress listen, respectfully to our friends, our trusted allies and partners here in Denmark.
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LISA MURKOWSKI, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: When you ask the American people whether or not they think it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland. The vast majority, some 75 percent will say, we do not think that that is a good idea. This Senator from Alaska does not think it is a good idea. And I want to build on the relationship that we have had as I and I penned in an op ed about a year ago, Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset.
ROBERTSON: And on Saturday, the people of Nuuk also planning to send a message to President Trump a march through the town here, ending up outside the U.S. consulate. Nic Robinson, CNN, Nuuk, Greenland.
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MICHAELSON: Thank you, Nic. In the coming hours, leaders from the U.S. and Ukraine will meet in Miami. The Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. says they're going to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and its economic development. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the deal is about 90 percent done, and if the two sides agree on everything else, a peace agreement could be signed during the Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland later this month. But that last 10 percent that isn't done includes the toughest issues, like potentially conceding territory to Russia.
Just one year into his second term President Trump facing some slumping poll numbers. Up next, new numbers from CNN. What they reveal? Plus big, big weekend for the NFL playoffs, divisional rivalries. We're going to break it all down with Former NFL Wide Receiver Donte Stallworth, who knows most of these guys very, very well. He joins us with a preview next.
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MICHAELSON: A new CNN poll suggests a majority of Americans believe that President Trump is focused on the wrong priorities. 58 percent of voters say the first year of his second term is a failure. President is under water across nearly every major political policy issue that includes the economy, which voters picked as their main concern, 55 percent of those polled say that President Trump's policies have hurt the economy. Just 32 percent say they've made an improvement.
Meanwhile, tonight, there are still many outstanding questions about what exactly happened in the critical moments leading up to the killing of Renee Good by an I.C.E. agent last week in Minneapolis, as additional videos of the shooting continue to surface. The New York Times is out with a new analysis, syncing up multiple camera angles, going frame-by-frame, and creating the fullest picture yet of what actually took place. Here's a portion of their analysis that's sending around the position of the vehicle and the officer in relation to where Good is driving.
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DEVON LUM, REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES VISUAL INVESTIGATIONS (voice): The cell phone is focused squarely on Renee Good, she looks down, shifts into drive and begins turning to the right away from the agent. Cut to this high angle and zoom in, we can make out the agents body and his arm filming. We can also see at the same time he's beginning to lift his other arm. On these cameras we can see what's happening around agent Ross. The other agent is yelling orders and reaching into Ms. Good's SUV. Her front tire spins as she continues turning right. Agent Ross is at least a few feet away from Ms. Good's SUV. He does not appear to move out of the way.
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MICHAELSON: Let's bring in CNNs law enforcement contributor, retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Steve Moore, back with us live on a Friday night. Steve, welcome back to the show.
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: You've watched this. Everybody can watch this at newyorktimes.com. What did you see? Did seeing this synced up frame- by-frame? Did it change your perspective at all?
MOORE: It didn't change my perspective that this is probably going to be judged a shooting within the deadly force policy. A couple of things were clarified. I saw that he was standing, the agent was standing, leaning against the car, you know, 30 degree angle of his body, trying to, trying to stay in front of the car, keep her from moving. And I -- it just, it just clarified some things. It's not conclusive, but I didn't see anything in it -- that changed my opinion.
MICHAELSON: Even though it may be legal, what he did was it the right thing to do? Should he have moved out of the way? Should he have maybe shot at the tires instead of her? Are there other things that he could have done that maybe an average officer would do in that situation that would have been a better decision?
MOORE: Well, first of all, you can't shoot at cars, first of all, it's not a good it's not within policy. Second of all, that won't stop the car very quickly. I mean, you've seen on these chases, cars can drive without oil, without tires, but I think whether or not it was a good idea, you know, he's not required to get out from in front of the car, especially if she's not moving towards him. His job is to in effect, an arrest.
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What they were doing there is they had somebody who they suspected of obstruction, which is a felony, then they --
MICHAELSON: Pointing her car just literally stop --
MOORE: 90 degrees to --
MICHAELSON: -- could stop other cars from get going on.
MOORE: Yeah, and everybody says, well, cars got around her. Well, it doesn't matter if she didn't do a good job. You know, if I went into a bank with a pellet gun, tried to rob it, and they said, said, we won't give you the money. I'm still guilty of a bank robbery. Just because she didn't obstruct very well doesn't mean she wasn't attempting to. So here she is being told to get out of the car, and now she flees. So you have all sorts of felonies going on at that point, he is trying to stop her, stop her from leaving, whether you agree with the decision or not. He has the right to do that, and he has the obligation as a law enforcement officer to enforce what's going on.
MICHAELSON: And it was interesting also, when you watch it, you know, frame by frame that I hadn't really seen before, the impact of maybe an icy road, how it's possible he may have slipped a little bit. How he's trying to brace himself. And also just the fact of -- the fact that it looks like he probably, to me, it looks like he's probably hit, but she wasn't intending to hit him, and that he wasn't run over in the way that some people are describing it, but, but the other thing is, he's holding his cell phone, and then you see the cell phone go down. So he's holding his cell phone, going for a gun. The ground is icy. The car is coming at him. He's got probably some PTSD from the fact that he had been run over before and all that's happening. Now, he wouldn't have needed to hold a cell phone if he had a body camera.
MOORE: Oh, my God.
MICHAELSON: So now, one of the questions is, do you think that people that are federal immigration officers should have body cameras?
MOORE: Yeah, I absolutely do. I mean, I can tell you that even when they first came out, I thought it was a good idea, because I think a great number of reports of police brutality, police misconduct, they can be cleared up by those cameras and the officers cleared. But if it doesn't clear the officer, my gosh, what great information that is. It will -- it will, I just, I just can't say enough about why I think we should have them.
MICHAELSON: And for you as somebody in law enforcement now, if you were there, you'd want a body camera on all the time?
MOORE: Absolutely, absolutely, because I had confidence in myself that I knew the deadly force policy that I didn't, you know. I just trusted myself. And so it's kind of like people who drive on the freeway with cameras in their car. They got to know that somebody who's driving recklessly doesn't want to have that camera on.
MICHAELSON: Yeah. Steve Moore, always great to talk with you. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend.
MOORE: Thanks so much. Bye-bye.
MICHAELSON: The man accused of killing right wing commentator Charlie Kirk appeared in a Utah courtroom on Friday. Lawyers for Tyler Robinson want the entire prosecutorial team dismissed due to what they say is a conflict of interest. According to the defense, a family member of one of the prosecutors was at the September event Kirk was speaking at when he was shot and killed. Preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 18th. Tyler Robinson has not yet entered a plea in that case. Protesters reportedly take fire on Iranian streets as security forces try to end anti regime demonstrations still ahead. CNN gets a firsthand account a brutal crackdown there. Stay with us.
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MICHAELSON: It is a big weekend in American football. Eight teams left facing off in the NFL, starting Saturday in the divisional playoffs. First up, Buffalo Bills will be taking on a rested Denver Broncos team, and it's a West Coast battle with the San Francisco 49ers at the Seattle Seahawks. Sunday, the Houston Texans face off against the New England Patriots and the evening game the LA Rams traveling to what's expected to be a very cold Chicago take on the bears. Can the Chicago cardiac bears pull out another amazing win? Join me now live with that and more is Former NFL Wide Receiver, Donte Stallworth. Dante, welcome to "The Story Is" for the first time.
DONTE STALLWORTH, FORMER NFL WIDE RECEIVER: Elex, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
MICHAELSON: So you know what it's like to play in the playoffs? You know it's like playing the Super Bowl? How is the playoffs different than the regular season for the players? Like, what are going through their mind right now?
STALLWORTH: Well, right now, Elex, you have to look at it from a perspective of the regular season is 18 weeks long. That means they play 17 games, and they have one bye week. So for 17 games, these guys have been giving it their all once a week, grueling, hard, painful hits they have to take during the game. A lot of attrition. The attrition at this point in the season is real. This is week 20 for these guys, and there are eight teams left. And so this is, this is for all the marvels. And you put no one's, no one's healthy at this point Elex in the curtain, in the season. Everyone's dealing with some kind of an injury. But this is the playoffs. You give your all. Everything's faster. The game speeds up. And you know, this is you win and you win and you advance and you lose and you go home.
MICHAELSON: So the game that you're most looking forward to is the Los Angeles Rams versus the Chicago Bears. Two of the best coaches in the game. It'll be very cold there. What are you looking forward to most? How do you see this one going down?
[00:35:00] STALLWORTH: Yeah, I'm a little biased. As a former wide receiver. I like to see a lot of points. I like to see great offense. I don't like to see those defensive games, those 13 to threes, or those three to nothings, or six to three games, I like the big games where the -- where there's going to be point stored, where there's going to be a lot of excitement. And these two teams are two of the most exciting teams. Their play callers are two of the most, most creative genius play callers in the NFL. And they've, they've been able to, you know, do it all year, show it consistently. So the game is going to be cold, is I don't know what in Chicago, it's going to be probably snow, and it's going to be that this is, this is where, this is where players are made in the off season.
And so as a kid, you start thinking back to all the games you watched when you were little, and you start thinking about, you know, what I want to be that guy. I want to be that Jerry Rice. I want to be that Deion Sanders. And that's what these kids now that are playing. They know they're playing for all the marvels. And this is, this is where you -- this is where your legacy is made in the playoffs.
MICHAELSON: Yeah. And Josh Allen, speaking of legacies in the playoffs has not been able to get over the hump because of Patrick Mahomes over the years, he's out of the playoffs. Josh Allen going to take on the Denver Broncos and a young Bo Nix. How do you see this one?
STALLWORTH: Elex, if there's any year for the Buffalo Bills to win the Super Bowl without Patrick Mahomes, without Lamar Jackson, without Joe Burrow, this would be the year for that to happen. The Buffalo Bills have come in on a tumultuous season. They went down to Jacksonville in a hostile environment, and they took care of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Josh Allen a superman, but he's going to need some help the playoffs. He can't do it all by himself. He's been able to do it all by himself throughout the course of the season, obviously, with a lot of help from their amazing running back. But Josh Allen is going to have to be the super man that he's been all year in order for them to go down and in Denver against that really good defense and beat them.
MICHAELSON: So you'd say those two games are probably going to be close. You not so much necessarily in the other games of the weekend 49ers, Seahawks. You think Seahawks because the 49ers are just too hurt, right?
STALLWORTH: Yeah. I think the 49ers have been decimated with injuries all year, and it's a big testament to them, to the team, to the coaching staff and to the organization, that they're even in this position. I mean, they were one game away, 60 minutes away from having the one seat in the NFC despite all their injuries. I think it just catches up to them at this point. You know, the Seahawks have played them a couple weeks ago, and they really handled that game. The score was only 13 and three. But it didn't -- it was, it was not indicative of how that game went. They handled the 49ers. They ran the ball down their throats and that's in the playoffs. If you can run the ball and the other team can't stop the ball, you're in a world. You're in a world of hurt.
MICHAELSON: I'm out of time. But Texans, Patriots one sentence analysis on that one.
STALLWORTH: I'm going with Mike Vrabel, he's been there before. DeMarco, DeMarco, I love him. He's a great coach. Looking forward to seeing him, but I got to go with the Patriots.
MICHAELSON: All right. Donte Stallworth, thank you so much for staying up late for us. Have a great weekend. And I know so many of us are going to spend most of this weekend watching NFL, football.
STALLWORTH: Thanks, Elex. Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: Back to the serious news now President Trump says he alone convinced himself to put a military action against Iran on hold. He was asked on Friday, of U.S. allies in the region, persuaded him to put off potential military strikes, but he said it was his decision, partly because Iran said it had stopped the executions of 800 protesters. White House said Thursday that all options remain on the table, and a source told CNN, a U.S. carrier strike group is headed to the region.
Meanwhile, the Son of Iran's Last Shah, who fled the country after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 spoke in Washington on Friday, he has pitched himself as a potential transitional leader if the regime falls. He now says the collapse of the theocratic regime is imminent.
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REZA PAHLAVI, SON OF IRAN'S LAST SHAH: The Islamic Republic is close to collapse. Ali Khamenei and his thugs know this. That's why they are lashing out like a wounded animal, desperate to cling to power. The people have not retreated. Their determination has made one thing clear they are not merely rejecting this regime. They are demanding a credible new path forward.
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MICHAELSON: Almost 2,900 protestors have been killed in more than two weeks of anti-regime demonstrations. That's according to a U.S. based activist group, which says more than 22,000 have been arrested. Iran Security forces are only acknowledging about 3,000 arrests. The country has been under Internet blackout for more than a week. So information is hard to come by, but CNNs Ben Wedeman got a firsthand account from one Iranian, who recently fled to Iraq.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The snow covered mountains separating Northeastern Iraq from Iran are cold and forbidding, but just days ago, it was over these peaks that one desperate Iranian activist fled. We met 34-year-old Farzad. Hello Farzad how are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, Mr. Ben. WEDEMAN Not his real name, in the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, requesting we disguise his identity for fear of retaliation, he told us what he saw in Karaj, a city north west of Tehran. In one small street, he recalls, the security forces killed at least six protesters, as well as a young woman who was shot and killed as she chanted from her balcony.
According to an eyewitness account reported by Amnesty International, one hospital in Karaj received more than 80 bodies. The protestor says Farzad are fighting back. People set fire to masks to protest the symbols of the Islamic Republic he says. They broke down the walls of the Governor's office and set it on fire.
A member of the Kurdish minority, Farzad says he was imprisoned four times in the last nine years for participating in protests. This time, he says it's different. Society will not commit suicide by accepting the poverty and disastrous life the regime has imposed on it. He tells me, the people are way beyond that. He too, heard of U.S. President Trump's vow that help is on the way for the protesters in Iran, but is skeptical.
At the last moment, Trump raised the hopes of the people, says Farzad, but behind the scenes, he could be making a deal with the regime, claiming the Islamic Republic told me executions have been suspended and all is good, but all is not good. While the internet blackout continues, some video is leaking out showing demonstrators still in the streets. Bullets from the regime Farzad told us cannot stop that. Ben Wedeman, CNN in Northeastern Iraq.
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MICHAELSON: Up next a new documentary about Martin Luther King Jr., and how he used basketball to build his movement. You see him standing by live right there. Glenn Kaino, the Director of Hoops, Hopes & Dreams joins me on set when we come back.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To know that Martin Luther King could have played their game, makes him listen, and then you can talk to him about Trump.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People tend to think of Martin Luther King saying, but he was a young man, and he really played a decent game of basketball.
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MICHAELSON: That is former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young, featured in the new film Hoops, Hopes & Dreams shows how the late civil rights legend Martin Luther King Jr., used basketball courts to reach young people and build a movement that goes beyond civil rights, a strategy later echoed by Barack Obama.
The film weaves together archival imagery animation that brings it to life and personal conversations with figures in sports, politics and the civil rights movement, and it's about to debut on Hulu. Joining me now is the Director and Producer of Hoops, Hopes & Dreams. Glenn Kaino, congratulations.
GLENN KAINO, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER - HOOPS, HOPES & DREAMS: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: It's fantastic.
KAINO: Thank you so much.
MICHAELSON: And if somebody obsessed with basketball and politics is totally spoke to me in so many different ways. The idea of this, you saw Andrew Young, who we just heard, who is a legend in himself, speaking at an event. What happened?
KAINO: Yeah, I was at a gala for the Tommie Smith Youth Initiative, and Ambassador Young was the honoree, and he got up on stage, and like a lot of people, he just took with Tommy that he tried to talk about how great he was as an athlete. And the first thing he said was, Tommy, did I ever tell you how the time that Dr. King and I used to play basketball to connect with kids in the civil rights movement. I dropped my fork, ran to the parking lot and pushed him in the parking lot and asked his permission to tell the story, and he thankfully agreed.
MICHAELSON: And he did, and he tells the story, and he tells the story about Dr. King as a basketball player and walking into a gym, taking off his jacket, but still being in a shirt and tie and shoes and playing pretty well on the basketball, and you animate this, so that people kind of get a sense of what it looks like, literally bringing it to life. How was Dr. King in terms of his jump shot in his game?
KAINO: Well, I asked Andrew Young, I said, are you guys -- were you guys any good? We were terrible. But when we were doing God's work, we could hit it from anywhere on the court trying to go. He said, If you're trying to go, you know, keep peace in the streets. Everyone becomes Steph Curry.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
KAINO: And so, but yeah, it was great. And we animated it because Ambassador Young also told us that he was the photographer for the movement. So we're like, oh, this is great. You're going to give us the photo of you and Dr. King playing basketball. And he said, no, that photo doesn't exist. I said, how do you know? He says I was on the court.
MICHAELSON: There's nobody to take the picture.
KAINO: Exactly.
MICHAELSON: But what was it about basketball that allowed them to break through to people that may not have listened?
KAINO: I think for them, it was the matter of like they got upfront at in community and they were able to show and, you know, we like to say that the film brings our heroes down to our level.
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You know, we can meet them on the court, but also paint a pathway for us to all aspire to be at their level. And, you know, it was just a great community way for them to get people together.
MICHAELSON: And you go from Dr. King to Barack Obama, who also played basketball for most of his life, and then was not shy about playing basketball on camera while he was President and after he was President. Watch this clip.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll net. He makes the shot.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: That's what I do.
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MICHAELSON: That's what I do. So he's a little cocky, but I guess that's what happens after you've won the presidency twice and you work with Reggie Love, who was Obama's personal aide who won the national championship as a basketball player at Duke, and he tells the story about how basketball became part of their election day ritual.
KAINO: Yeah. Yeah. Reggie talks about how it was good luck for them to play basketball on primary days and election days when they were killing the time to figure out when the results came in. And so it was a really great part of their ecosystem, and that everybody wanted to play, and everybody wanted to play with them, and really, really, I think, grounding them in a community based campaign.
MICHAELSON: And they played on the day of the Iowa caucus, which they won. They didn't play on the day of the New Hampshire caucus, which she famously lost. And so after that, it became, we got to do that basketball every single time, which was interesting. I'm curious what it was like for people playing with Barack Obama. Does, does one want to sort of one up him and play against him really intensely and show how dominant you are, or are you afraid of injuring the leader of the free world? Take it easy on him.
KAINO: We've interviewed a bunch of people. I've heard two types of stories. One people, one group of people was like, oh yeah, we were, I was bodying him up, and I was trying to win the game. And other people said, yeah, they're lying to you, because they're Secret Service all over the place, and they have guns and weapons. And so it's not really a fair game. But I think either way, everyone wanted to play with them.
MICHAELSON: And another remarkable part of this, if you do the last interview with Jerry West before he died, Jerry West, of course, was so good at basketball that he is literally the NBA logo, and then became perhaps the greatest General Manager of all time. He was a white guy from West Virginia who came to the league at a time when there was segregation, yeah, and he talks about that.
KAINO: Yeah. We really wanted to have, you know, representation from, from Jerry's generation, who was aware and who really were part of that generation that broke through, you know, the conversation about civil rights, you know, with teammates and whatnot. And, yeah, we were able to get Jerry to talk a few weeks before he passed.
MICHAELSON: Yeah, what a legend, so many legends involved in, in this whole thing. Basketball, though, it is kind of the great democratic sport, small d, right?
KAINO: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
MICHAELSON: Because golf is expensive, skiing is expensive. There's a lot of barriers to entry in some of these other games, tennis, other things, but basketball, pretty much anybody can play. You just need a basket and a hoop.
KAINO: Yeah, you just need a hoop and a ball --
MICHAELSON: Hoop and a ball. Play by yourself.
KAINO: You don't even need a friend at some point, you can just start shooting. But, yeah, I think it scales really well. You can play it by yourself, and communities rally around it.
MICHAELSON: So when can people see this?
KAINO: Monday, January 19, on Hulu.
MICHAELSON: And that, of course, is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day makes sense. Congratulations.
KAINO: Thank you so much.
MICHAELSON: And it's a good amount of time. It's only like 20 minutes.
KAINO: 19 minutes.
MICHAELSON: 19 minutes so you can get through it. Thank you so much.
KAINO: Awesome. Thank you.
MICHAELSON: Scientists are searching for Leonardo da Vinci's DNA still ahead. Why researchers are taking a closer look at the artists masterpieces in the hopes of unlocking the secrets of genetic genius. And the biggest trend of 2026 so far is 2016 including my throwback picture there. Why is everybody putting throwback pictures? That was Kobe's last game speaking of basketball in 2016 we'll take a look back at what's going on in terms of that trend in our next hour.
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MICHAELSON: You may soon see product advertising inside ChatGPT OpenAI says it will tense sponsored ads for non-paying users in the U.S. They will appear at the bottom of chatbot responses. Company says the ads will not influence ChatGPT answers or appear in regulated topics like health or politics. The move comes as OpenAI looks to grow revenue and make ChatGPT a bigger part of everyday life.
Scientists believe that Leonardo da Vinci's DNA may be hiding in his artwork. Da Vinci's DNA is hard to locate because he had no children, and there is uncertainty about his burial site and his remains. So researchers have been sampling his paintings, drawings and letters, and they say they have uncovered a matching sequence of males Y chromosomes on Da Vinci's holy child drawing and on a letter. I don't know if it's the artists and inventors DNA, but the scientists say, if the same sequence is consistently found across the items, could be key to assembling the genome of a genius.
Thanks so much for watching us. The next hour of "The Story Is" starts right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Story Is" DOJ investigation, Trump administration looking into the top Democratic officials in Minnesota.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This isn't a serious investigation. This is simply a --
