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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Trump Heads To Davos Amid Tensions Over Greenland; Newsom Rebukes World Leaders Caving To Trump's Demands; Building A New Walkable And Affordable City; Building a New Walkable and Affordable City; Beckham Family Feud; Prince Harry and Others Take On Tabloid Publisher in Court; Britain Considers Social Media Ban for Children Under 16; Trump to Attend World Economic Forum in Davos; Trump Marks One Year Since His Second Term Began. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired January 21, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Prince William and Princess Kate are hitting the ice. The royal couple join Great Britain's curling team for a training session at the National Curling Academy in Scotland. They learn from the pros before gliding over the ice with those heavy stones. The vast visit comes as the team gears up the Winter Olympics in Italy next month in the Paralympic Games in March.

That's it for the first hour of The Story Is. The next hour starts with right now.

[01:00:38]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson. We start with breaking news and that story is Davos trip delayed. President Trump has now taken off for a second time for his trip to Switzerland. Air Force One had to turn back to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland late Tuesday because of what the White House called a minor electrical issue.

Everyone and everything was taken off the plane. The president boarded a backup plane. I spoke earlier with aviation safety consultant Steve Cowell and asked him what the problem with Air Force One could be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE COWELL, FORMER PILOT: Well, it could be any number of things. But you have to understand fundamentally, Air Force One is the commercial 747. So there are multiple electrical systems and they're all backing up one another. It's pretty unusual. We never really hear about Air Force One turning around, but because of the length of the trip, they're going overseas.

This isn't a situation where they're maybe taking a one hour flight or a two hour flight. I suspect if that were the case, they wouldn't have turned around.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: So when the president gets to Davos, he'll address the World Economic Forum. He'll also meet with world leaders strategizing on how to deal with his threats to take control of Greenland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I'm going to Davos. I believe it will be very successful, the trip. This will be an interesting trip. I have no idea what's going to happen, but you are well represented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Now the world's largest trading partnership between the U.S. and Europe and the future of the NATO military alliance could hang in the balance of all that. Sources tell CNN that European leaders are considering their options, hoping to provide President Trump a sort off ramp that could include an expanded U.S. military presence in Greenland, commercial and economic agreements for the U.S. Maybe barring Chinese investment in the territory. Would any of those things stop the threats? President Trump is predicting that he can work out a deal that's quote, "very good for everybody."

Let's go live now to Davos, Switzerland. Ben Bergman, senior correspondent for Business Insider, who's based here in LA, has made the long trip there.

Ben, thanks for being with us early in the morning there on Wednesday morning. What is the conversation like on the ground and how much of it is about President Trump in Greenland?

BEN BERGMAN, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, BUSINESS INSIDER: Good to be here. And yes, it was good to make the 10 hour trip here to Davos bright all the sweaters from sunny Los Angeles. And I can tell, you know, theme of this year's Davos is a spirit of dialogue, which is a very Davos thing to stay. Usually people here love to talk about the future of global warming and AI and income inequality, but that's all been very much thrown out the window by President Trump's arrival here this afternoon. He is anyone all anyone can talk about here.

Everything on the agenda has been set aside for President Trump's arrival.

MICHAELSON: And what are people saying about him?

BERGMAN: Well, you know, it's a little bit of a mix of things. What I was hearing a lot at the beginning of the week is people were thankful that he was coming here because like a lot of things, he made the event very relevant. There's the biggest U.S. delegation here in a long time and there's more business leaders and CEOs. And there's definitely a buzz that he has brought to it. But, and there's a very big but, people are now very concerned that we could be watching today hear the end of the Europe U.S. alliance, the end of NATO.

So there's a lot of fear, there's a lot of consternation. And honestly, one of the biggest things people are talking about here today and yesterday is there's talk that there could be a total shutdown of cell service. So people have been told to download everything offline just to be safe. Well, he's here.

MICHAELSON: And interesting Governor Gavin Newsom of California also made the trip from here to Davos with some strong words for folks in the region, including leaders of other countries. Let's show some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAVIN NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: I can't take this complicity, people rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of knee pads for all the world leaders. I mean, handing out crowns and handing, I mean, this is pathetic, Nobel prizes that are being given away. I mean, it's just pathetic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:05:13]

MICHAELSON: How is that message resonating on the ground?

BERGMAN: You know, it's funny that Governor Newsom came here because he was criticized heavily for being a so called Davos Democrat when he was San Francisco mayor for coming here five times. And, you know, this is a gathering of the richest and wealthiest people in the world, many of whom come here on private jets. So he was seen as out of touch. So he stopped coming here as governor. And now he's back because Trump is here.

And he came here before Trump's visit and he went to, you know, Secretary Bessent's speech yesterday and in a way like gently heckled him. And he seems here to be an international foil. But I think, you know, people here from all around the world are a little bit confused at this very domestic political battle is going to play out here on this very public world stage.

MICHAELSON: Well, it is going to be fascinating to watch. I know you are going to be in the room for President Trump's speech. So hopefully we can stay in touch with you this week. Ben Bergman from Business Insider, thank you so much for joining us live from Davos.

BERGMAN: Thanks so much.

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, Canada's prime minister, he's already there. He addressed the World Economic Forum on Tuesday and appeared to take a thinly veiled shot at the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: It seems that every day we're reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry, that the rules based order is fading, that the strong can do what they can and the weak must suffer what they must. The middle powers must act together because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Earlier, I spoke with U.S. Democratic Senator Alex Padilla of California and I asked him about President Trump's push for the U.S. to take over Greenland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: The U.S. having some sort of acquisition of Greenland, does that make us safer?

SEN. ALEX PADILLA (D-CA): You mean going against our own allies internationally? No, that doesn't make us safer. That undermines our word and the relationships that have been so important to protecting our national security since World War II. This is nothing but yet another tantrum by Donald Trump.

MICHAELSON: So what's happening behind the scenes on this front? Is there a push by some Republicans to try to restrict President Trump's war powers when it comes to Greenland? Is there stuff that the Senate is actively working on to try to stop a potential war in that area?

PADILLA: So, yes, there is. Democrats are obviously vocal. There's some Republicans who wish would be a little bit more vocal. But I'm encouraged because some of the war powers resolutions that have gone through the Senate have obviously been on a bipartisan basis because the Republicans are in the majority. So all Democrats plus just enough Republicans in a couple of instances. I'll also point to several of my colleagues who were in Europe this last weekend meeting with leaders not just of Denmark but of other countries --

MICHAELSON: Right.

PADILLA: -- on a bipartisan basis saying, hold on, we as members of the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, you know, support NATO, support the alliances that we've had, and we're going to figure out a way to pass this administration.

MICHAELSON: Have you been in contact with leaders in other countries? And if so, what are you saying to them?

PADILLA: Well, I haven't traveled to those other countries --

MICHAELSON: Right.

PADILLA: -- but when ambassadors from those countries here in the United States or foreign dignitaries come to Washington to visit, yes, absolutely.

MICHAELSON: And what do you say to them?

PADILLA: I say, look this -- that -- they need to be reminded that the United States government has three equal branches of government. The president will come and go, but Congress remains firm on a bipartisan basis in upholding these important relations. MICHAELSON: The president will come and go. It was exactly a year ago that President Trump was inaugurated for the second time. I actually was with you the next day interviewing you, looking ahead at what would happen. Have you ever seen a president that has done more in a year? I mean, you think about the pace of what we have seen over the last year.

I mean, can you remember anything like it?

PADILLA: I cannot. I cannot. But I do know that it is absolutely intentional to try to exhaust the heart and minds of the American people while so much damage is being done along the way. Like we could talk about the corruption, the grift, et cetera. But this much I do know from an economic standpoint, more families across the country are hurting today because of the bad policies by this administration, right.

Housing prices are still going up. Grocery prices are still going up. Cost of health care is absolutely still going up. That is the year one legacy of this administration with no end in sight. And second, you know, we've been talking about immigration, the way they've chosen to try to go about enforcing its cruel violation of the law. That's the second --

[01:10:05]

MICHAELSON: But I mean, somebody say they shut down the border, though, and that illegal border crossings have gone way down. Is that something to celebrate?

PADILLA: How you do it also matters, Elex. How you do it also matters. And when it comes to something as complex as immigration, I am the first one to say our immigration system and laws need to be modernized. They are outdated. Everybody wants a safe, secure, orderly and humane border, number one.

Number two, we should revisit. Not everybody who wants to come to the United States should automatically be able to come. But the works -- the work visa, the student visa, the tourist visa, you know, all these mechanisms for coming need to be updated. But let's also not forget the millions of people at this point that have been in the United States for years and years, in many cases decades, that don't have criminal convictions, don't have violent felonies on their record, otherwise, law abiding, paying taxes, raising families, contributing to the vibrancy of our economy, they deserve better than to continue to live in the shadows. They need a step towards legalization and eventual path to potential citizenship.

MICHAELSON: So if you had to, in like a sentence or to describe the first year of the Trump presidency, how would you describe it?

PADILLA: Chaos and cruelty. And has been very intentional.

And look, I'm not disappointed or surprised, frankly, at anything that comes out of Trump's mouth because we know him for who he is. And I'm not really shocked by anything his cabinet says or does because they're all a reflection of him. But I am really disappointed by my Republican colleagues who maybe behind closed doors will say they disagree or the administration's going too far, but they have yet to stand up consistently and in sufficient numbers to hold him accountable.

MICHAELSON: Do you think that's coming soon?

PADILLA: I pray that it's coming soon.

MICHAELSON: Senator Alex Padilla, thank you so much. Great to see you. Appreciate you coming on. Serious heavy topics, but it's important conversation.

PADILLA: Thank you, Elex.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Well, we just talked about the one year anniversary. And across the U.S. protests mark the one year anniversary of President Trump's second term. In the nation's capital, hundreds walked off their jobs in protest of his policies. Here in Los Angeles, protesters zeroed in on President Trump's immigration crackdown. They could be heard chanting ICE, ICE out of L.A.

In New York, demonstrators gathered across the street from Trump Tower. They could be seen holding signs saying impeach Trump, with several calling for his removal from office. One protester said the protest was part of a broader walkout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEEANNE GORMAN, NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT: The playbook to undermine the courts, to undermine real news and distance us from our allies in Europe, and basically attack citizens who are either here looking for a better life or who are here legally as Americans standing up for their rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Minnesota's Democratic leaders say they will not be intimidated into silence by the Trump administration. This comes after the Department of Justice issued subpoenas to at least five of the state's top officials. Sources say it's part of an investigation in whether they obstructed federal immigration enforcement in the state. Federal Border Patrol officials say protests are making their work in Minnesota difficult. Governor Tim Walz has repeatedly urged protesters to demonstrate peacefully, but a top CPB official is blaming him and Minneapolis mayor for anti-ICE demonstrations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL OFFICIAL: Leaders like Tim Walz or Mayor Frey have relied on heated rhetoric and accusations that distract -- that distract from the facts. And what we do is legal, ethical and moral. Everything we do every day is legal, ethical, moral, well grounded in law. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: State officials dispute the Trump administration's narrative that protesters are provoking violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TINA SMITH (D-MN): What you see from the mayors and from the governor is just a very solid, calm response saying we are focused on keeping our communities safe. We are focusing on standing up for Minnesota values, and that's where we're going to continue to be focused. And I really applaud that. I mean, people coming out of their homes to stand up for folks that are literally being drug out of their cars, it's really incredible to see that, and it makes me really proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Turn now to Japan, where a verdict has been handed down in the trial of the man who assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Tetsuya Yamagami had already admitted to the killing, and not long ago, the court sentenced him to life in prison. Back in 2022, he had been immediately arrested at the campaign event where he had fatally shot Abe with a homemade gun. CNN's Hanako Montgomery comes to us live now from Tokyo.

Hanako, welcome. What else do we know about this ruling?

[01:15:04]

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Elex. So as you just said, we know that Tetsuya Yamagami has been handed down a life in prison sentence. And the court case is actually still ongoing. We're still seeing the judge read out his judgment. But as you mentioned, Elex, Yamagami has always said that he committed the crime.

He confessed to actually murdering Abe in court. But what was still disputed was whether or not he should receive a life imprisonment sentence or whether that sentence should be, in fact, lighter. Now, prosecutors argue that this crime was extremely unprecedented in post war Japan. It was a heinous act of political violence. And they also warned that they didn't want copycat crimes for people to copy Yamagami and actually take out their anger and target politicians, which is why they were asking for such a hefty sentence.

Now, his defense team did argue that Yamagami came from a very tumultuous family background in which he saw his family go bankrupt because of huge donations that his mother gave to a religious organization formerly known as the Unification Church. But as we're hearing from local media reports, that isn't really a sufficient reason to go out and kill a former Japanese prime minister in broad daylight.

And, Elex, that case -- I mean, that crime was extremely shocking for Japan, of course, because gun violence is extremely rare in the country. We have some of the toughest gun laws in the world, but also because of who was targeted. I mean, Abe was a hugely influential political figure. Even after he retired in 2020, he was still, of course, as you see from videos of the day of -- the day he was murdered, he was going around different prefectures and participating in campaign speeches to really boost the election and boost the popularity of his fellow party members, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Was there any thought of pursuing the death penalty?

MONTGOMERY: Yes, so the death penalty was briefly mentioned, but in Japan, we only see individuals getting the death penalty when they've committed extremely heinous acts of violence. Perhaps, for example, serial killings, and also just really, really gruesome killings. So the defense at this point in time, they didn't ask for the death penalty, they did ask for life in prison. But again, of course, life in prison is still an extremely heavy sentence, but they feel it's justified. And of course the court feels it's justified, given who was a victim in this situation.

Abe was massively influential in domestic politics. He really impacted the Japanese economy with a policy he called Abenomics helping target deflation. We also saw under Abe's premiership, better ties with the U.S. with other Asian allies. And he was also the one to pioneer this concept of a free and open Indo Pacific.

And I just want to note here that Abe was also the longest serving prime minister in Japan. So he had a huge, huge political standing in the country. And when I was covering his funeral less than three years ago, Elex, I remember thousands of people lining the pavements to watch his hearse go by. And people of all ages, young and old, were crying and also clapping, just mourning such a massive figure in Japanese politics, in Japanese society being killed with, again, a homemade gun, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Hanako Montgomery, joining us live in Tokyo. Thank you so much.

To Spain now, where they're dealing with a second deadly train accident, just a matter of days. At least one person, the train operator, was killed and 37 others were injured Tuesday after a commuter passenger train derailed near Barcelona. Authorities say the derailment happened after a retaining wall fell onto the tracks following heavy rain. This incident coming two days after two high speed trains collided in southern Spain, killing at least 41 people.

President Trump says he would like to get Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado involved in her country's leadership, but he did not say what role she would actually play. Trump's shift in position comes as Machado met with a group of U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Several House Republicans praised Machado, saying she has what it takes to lead Venezuela. Machado also planned to meet with members of the Venezuelan diaspora in the U.S. in hopes they will eventually return to her home country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Because our objective, and I want to insist on this, is we want the Venezuelan people that were forced to leave to come back home. And that's going to happen once we have democracy in Venezuela, millions will come back home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: The U.S. has seized another Venezuelan linked oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. U.S. Southern Command announced Tuesday's seizure of the sanctioned tanker on the social media with this video. The U.S. has now apprehended seven ships in President Trump's ongoing campaign to control Venezuela's oil production. Military officials say the seizure demonstrates their resolve to make sure an oil leaving Venezuelan is done properly and lawfully.

[01:20:12]

If your Amazon orders seem more expensive now, you're not alone. What's to blame for the higher prices, that's ahead. Plus, a real estate entrepreneur will join us live in a few minutes to tell us how he's working to make his dream of building a new affordable city in California come true. He's about to make some news with a big announcement. It's happening exclusively here on The Story Is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: If your next Amazon order seems more expensive, President Trump's sweeping tariffs could partially be to blame. CEO Andy Jassy said tariffs have started to creep into some of the prices. That's a shift from Jassy's comments last June when he said the company had not been seeing prices appreciably go up. Other retailers like Walmart, Target and Home Depot have publicly said that tariffs are making products more expensive.

[01:25:18]

Netflix now has revised its offer to part of Warner Brothers Discovery, which is CNN's parent company. The streaming giant says it's prepared to pay all cash for Warner Brothers and HBO rather than a mix of cash and stock. Netflix and WDD hope the new plan will help fend off Paramount's hostile takeover bid for all of WBD, which was an all-cash offer.

A millennial from the Czech Republic is trying to realize his dream of creating a new, affordable and walkable city in California. Real estate entrepreneur, Jan Sramek, is working now with officials in semi-rural Solano County, located in between Sacramento and San Francisco. These are the renderings of what that potentially would look like. He's got support from tech billionaires. He's geared up to build a city called California Forever, which would not be saddled with problems facing older cities.

Jan Sramek is the founder and CEO of the California Forever. He joins me live here on set for the first time.

Jan, welcome to The Story Is. I know you've joining us with an exclusive announcement that you're making. JAN SRAMEK, FOUNDER AND CEO, CALIFORNIA FOREVER: Yes, it's great to be here. And so today we are adding some hard hitters to the lineup and we are announcing a historic labor agreement where American business and labor have come together to build the next great American city. And so we've signed a construction agreement with all of the California construction unions, the building trades and the carpenters that covers the entirety of the 110 square miles that we own. That's an area that's about two and a half times the size of San Francisco. It's bigger than Washington D.C.

And it says that over the next 40 years the majority of the work will be union to make sure that we create these generational jobs so that generations of Californians can find their California dream in Solano County.

MICHAELSON: How many jobs are you talking about?

SRAMEK: In terms of construction, the estimates are we would create about 16 and a half thousand jobs full time, nonstop over the 40-year build out of the shipyard, the advanced manufacturing park and the city. But more broadly today, the Bay Area Council Economic Institute is also putting out a study that's studying the impact of the city overall. And the city overall is a $220 billion investment in California's future, that's going to create 530,000 jobs over the next 40 years.

MICHAELSON: Wow. And so that news that we just made here is that there is now a deal in place with the unions to build this city. Now you got to get approval to build the city.

We're looking at renderings. What is this city for people that have not heard of it before? What makes it different from any other city that you would see?

SRAMEK: I think it's a combination of being different and being the same in that the two futuristic aspects of the city is what we calling the Solano Foundry, which would be the biggest advanced manufacturing park in America, really capitalizing on the onshoring of manufacturing that's coming into America, but that California has lost out on. And so we see these multibillion dollar investments going into places like Texas and Florida and Arizona. And we believe that they should be coming to California, particularly because they are being driven by companies that do R&D in California, but they don't have anywhere to build the stuff. We also have a place for what could be the biggest shipyard in the world. And so there's been a huge bipartisan support for shipbuilding in America.

China --

MICHAELSON: (Inaudible) you're not by the ocean.

SRAMEK: We are at the edge of the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River on the deepwater ship channel. You have ships that are the sizes of destroyers or battleships going straight by our property every day. And China builds a thousand ships a year. We built five. And there's basically nowhere in America to build ships. This is the largest remaining site to do that. So those are the futuristic aspects. What is traditional about the city is that the city itself, the residential part of the city, is a throwback to many great American cities. Places like Charleston and Savannah and West Village and the old parts of San Francisco.

MICHAELSON: Meaning it's very walkable, which is not something that is true in many places here in California. There has been some opposition to this, especially right away. It was very controversial. There was some talk of putting a ballot measure on the proposition for voters to vote on this, to expedite this. You ended up pulling that back.

There have been protests against this. You've done community town halls and dealt with that. How are you dealing with the opposition? How do you get this thing through?

SRAMEK: Look, taking a step back, we haven't built a new city in America in 100 years. We've built a few in the last 60 years, but really, in terms of building a major city, we haven't done it in 100 years.

[01:29:41]

And so there's no playbook. And of course, we made our share of mistakes when rolling it out. But I think the key thing is we've come into the community and it's a huge change that we think is going to be for the better.

But the community was rightly skeptical in the beginning when a guy with a funny accent comes in and says, were going to build a huge city and it's going to have a shipyard and a manufacturing plant, and walkable neighborhoods. People are skeptical.

But what's happened over the last two years is they've seen that this is the work of a lifetime for me. I've dedicated the last ten years of my life to this. We've built an incredible team of the best urban planners, business development people, transportation planners -- you name it -- to bring all of this investment there.

And we've been able to build trust, and people have started to see us deliver and the labor agreement today is just another component of the trust.

MICHAELSON: And that's something you'll be putting out tomorrow. I'm sure there's going to be a big rollout plan for that, and it'll be interesting to see.

I know you want to break ground this year. It may be a couple of years from now, but we'll see what California regulators do on this.

Jan, thank you for coming in. And thanks for making the announcement here.

SRAMEK: Thanks for having me.

MICHAELSON: Still to come, the Beckham family feud spilled out big time online. What David and Victoria Beckham's oldest son is saying about the relationship with his celebrity parents.

Sandro Monetti here live to break it all down next.

[01:31:20]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Britain's Royal Mail is releasing a new stamp collection honoring the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the Concorde. It was the first turbojet-powered supersonic airliner to fly passengers across the Atlantic at two times the speed of sound.

Royal Mail says the collection pays tribute to the aircraft's innovation, elegance and engineering excellence.

Well, the oldest son of soccer star David Beckham and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham says he doesn't want to reconcile with his parents, ever. Brooklyn Peltz Beckham took to social media and posted a lengthy note, seeming to confirm a long-rumored family rift.

He says his famous parents repeatedly disrespected his wife, American actress and heiress Nicola Peltz, and have tried to split them up for years.

Sandro Monetti joins me to discuss this and more. He's editor-in-chief of "The Hollywood International Film Magazine". He's also a film producer, writer and director, making his first appearance here on THE STORY IS. Sandro, great to have you here.

SANDRO MONETTI, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "THE HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL FILM MAGAZINE": God save the King.

MICHAELSON: Yes, there we go. Well, you've often said there are two royal families, right?

MONETTI: Yes, the Windsors and the Beckhams.

MICHAELSON: Yes. So were going to actually talk about the Windsors in a second. Let's start with the Beckhams. What's sort of the backstory here?

MONETTI: David and Victoria Beckham have very carefully controlled their brand for years. I remember as soon as Brooklyn was born, his images were sold for a lot of money. And he has decided to take back control in spectacular fashion.

Talk about a family feud. He's dropped a bomb on Brand Beckham by launching a six-page rant against his parents, which really shatter their carefully controlled media image.

MICHAELSON: And basically, he's alleging that they only care about their own fame and wealth and notoriety, that they tried repeatedly to try to break up his relationship with his girlfriend. And were basically emotionally abusive to her for years.

MONETTI: This is the kind of accusation that happens in millions of families around the world. But given the profile, this one has really hit the headlines.

I'm intrigued by so many details. His claim that at the wedding, his mother, Victoria, was dirty dancing with him, grinding on him in a humiliating moment.

Elex, I want to see that video. I urge anyone who has it to send it to CNN. We'll put it on after our next commercial.

MICHAELSON: Yes. Before and before -- stopping him from getting his first dance with his wife.

MONETTI: Yes.

MICHAELSON: Which was part of it as well.

MONETTI: You and I have been to some wacky weddings, but this one sort of -- everybody had to sign an NDA. No one was allowed to have a camera apart from Victoria, interestingly.

And so I'm not sure if that video is going, going to come out, but yes, I mean, this feud has been bubbling under the surface for a while. But it's been rumored.

But now Brooklyn has really sort of taken the initiative. And for the first time in his life, he's started the narrative.

MICHAELSON: And interesting, you point out, his wife's family, his in- laws have more money than the Beckhams.

MONETTI: So the Beckhams are worth about $500 million or $600 million. And Nicola Peltz's family three times as much, $1.6 billion made from investment and corporate acquisitions.

So normally the Beckhams are very not used to encountering anybody richer than them because they are kind of the king -- the unofficial king and queen of England. When they got married, they even sat on thrones.

MICHAELSON: Well, let's talk about the actual king and queen of England. And interestingly, their son, who clearly has a complicated relationship with them too.

MONETTI: It happens a lot to us.

MICHAELSON: Prince Harry, with a complicated relationship with his father and his stepmother, is in the headlines for being back in the U.K. and suing some of the tabloids to try to change the rules, which is not the first time he's gone after the tabloids.

MONETTI: Listen very carefully, Elex, and you can hear the queen turning in her grave. She would be horrified because the idea was the royals just don't go to court. You don't handle it like, like this. You send in your press teams to deal with it.

MICHAELSON: But is he -- is he really a royal, though? MONETTI: Well, he's out of it. He is -- he is the Brooklyn Beckham of

the -- of the royal family. You know, he's taken himself out of there. So, you know, he only seems to go to England these days to go to -- go to court.

[01:39:47]

MONETTI: So he's suing the publishers of "The Daily Mail" together with some other high-powered famous people, including Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley. And the claim is that reports about his personal life were obtained through unlawful methods.

"The Daily Mail" coming back with a claim that, no, so many people around you are have got loose lips and they're selling stories on you.

Now, having been a royal reporter in that environment, I can say that is certainly true. There are certainly plenty of people always willing to sell out the royals.

But it's up to the judge to decide you know what's going to happen here? Is this, you know, a case of the press going too far or acting within the means?

MICHAELSON: And that could be big change for British journalism going forward.

Meanwhile, the U.K. now considering doing something that's already happening in Australia, which is a social media ban for kids. Good idea, bad idea?

MONETTI: The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, currently has an approval rating lower than the prince formerly known as Andrew and therefore he needs a vote-winning policy.

He's seen what they've done in Australia. The British public can't agree on anything at the moment, but they pretty much agree, this is great. Because, in my opinion and that of many others, social media has been the worst thing ever happened to youth mental health in the world.

The test case in Australia is being watched by the rest of the world. And the Brits think, yes, we'll do it too. And hooray.

MICHAELSON: Sandro, hooray to having you as part of our family here. Great to see you.

(CROSSTALKING)

MICHAELSON: First of many appearances.

And thank you for watching us. For our international viewers, WORLDSPORT is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back with Maeve Reston and some really interesting political analysis on the ground here in America.

Stay with us. [01:41:37]

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MICHAELSON: Our breaking news. President Trump is on his way to Davos, Switzerland, where he'll join the global leaders at the World Economic Forum. European allies are already making some pointed statements about his recent tariff threats as the U.S. Ramps up pressure to assert control over Greenland.

Before his departure on Tuesday, the president marked the one-year anniversary of the start of his second term. His rare appearance at the White House briefing room focused on what he considers some of his successes since his reelection -- on the economy, national security, foreign policy and more.

Joining me now is Maeve Reston, a national political reporter for "The Washington Post" and former CNN vet as well. Welcome to THE STORY IS for the first time.

MAEVE RESTON, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": So glad to be here.

MICHAELSON: So talk to us about the stakes of this Davos trip. President Trump going there in the midst of all these European leaders raising real questions about his leadership.

RESTON: Yes. And, you know, it just seems like so many world leaders and particularly European leaders are completely on edge, hoping to de-escalate this week.

So it was interesting that, you know, he was delayed in even getting over there. But also it's, you know, a year -- a year into office, it just feels like we are still in this moment where the president's behavior is just so unpredictable.

And, you know, I'm sure that every single nation over there is bringing their Trump whisperers to try to de-escalate the situation and make sure that the stock market isn't in turmoil.

So it will be really interesting to see what happens there.

MICHAELSON: I mean, it really is remarkable, as we think of this one- year mark --

RESTON: Yes.

MICHAELSON: -- that it was like an entirely different world a year ago. I mean, we have never -- certainly in our lifetime -- had a president that was as consequential, love him or hate him, in sort of changing almost every aspect of American life so quickly.

RESTON: Yes. And I mean, when you and I were on the campaign trail in 2024, did we think we would be like discussing, you know, imperialism and --

MICHAELSON: Buying Greenland or starting a war in Greenland?

RESTON: Exactly. And, and --

MICHAELSON: Which was thought of as a year ago, right when the president was talking about it, it was thought of as a joke, right --

RESTON: Right, exactly.

MICHAELSON: -- in the first days of the administration. And now it's not -- not a lot of people are laughing.

RESTON: I mean the whole -- the slogan on the campaign trail, you know, America First. people thought that he was going to be much more focused on the economy and some of the things he promised during his -- during the campaign.

But it's just -- it's so interesting that he has spent so much of this year focused on foreign policy in ways we did not expect.

MICHAELSON: And interestingly, you just are back from a reporting trip to Arizona where you talked to a lot of --

RESTON: Nevada.

MICHAELSON: -- or Nevada, where you talked to a lot of voters about what they think of him. What did you hear?

RESTON: Yes, I mean, I think it's so interesting because Democrats are trying to drive this issue of affordability as hard as they can in all of these midterm races.

And there were a lot of voters that I talked to in Nevada where we -- we obviously saw these huge shifts among Latinos, working class voters.

A lot of people that I talked to are really dissatisfied with, you know, this year, not turning into what they expected. Prices still going up, still being really frustrated about inflation.

I talked to multiple people who, you know, are still working two to three jobs. Some of them who voted for Trump and say, you know, I used to love him and now I can't stand him.

And it's really interesting the way that the ICE issue is playing out because there are -- people still seem very divided on that. A lot of people feeling sort of sickened by what they're seeing on social media and in these clips.

And others, even immigrants that I spoke to and day laborers who say, you know, he's getting the bad people out, are still firmly taking in the message.

MICHAELSON: And interesting you've pointed out that in Nevada, which is a swing state, which has a lot of Republican leaders, we don't see the sort of enforcement from the federal government that we have seen in these very blue areas like Los Angeles, like Minneapolis. RESTON: Yes.

[01:49:45]

MICHAELSON: And so maybe the reaction -- Chicago -- the reactions are a little different because of that, because it's not literally in their community in the same way.

(CROSSTALKING)

RESTON: Yes. And it's so true that, you know, everyone sees the clips, these like searing moments, the shooting in Minneapolis.

But it is a different reaction in states where people are not seeing as many raids around them all the time.

And I'm really -- I know we're both watching this this year in the midterms, like really interested to see how that plays out. If people will feel it as much in these swing states.

MICHAELSON: And last question, just one word if we can, you did a whole piece on what states most likely to win the first primary for the Democrats, what state's most likely to get it?

RESTON: I think right now its feeling like a huge battle between Nevada and New Hampshire -- the old guard, the new guard.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

RESTON: Nevada being what they claim to be a testing ground, a microcosm of America.

MICHAELSON: You can read more about that in "The Washington Post", where you can see Maeve's work.

Thank you so much for coming in. We appreciate it.

RESTON: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

MICHAELSON: We'll wrap things up right after this.

[01:50:46]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Second lady, Usha Vance and U.S. Vice President JD Vance are expecting baby number four. The couple shared their news on social media, saying mom and baby are doing well. They are expecting a boy.

He's due in late July, marking the first time a sitting second lady will give birth while in office.

And finally, this hour, Carlos Beltran and Andrew Jones, two of the greatest outfielders of their generation, have been elected to baseball's Hall of Fame. Both received more than the threshold 75 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. They'll be inducted at Cooperstown, New York in July, along with

former second baseman Jeff Kent, who was voted in last month.

Beltran and Jones were named All-Stars several times during their career and both won the Golden Glove Award multiple times. In 1996, Jones at 19 years and five months, became the youngest player to hit a home run in a World Series game.

Thank you all for joining us here on THE STORY IS. we had a whole lot of stories here tonight and a whole lot of guests.

We appreciate you being with us for all of it. We'll be back tomorrow for more news right here from Los Angeles.

In the meantime, have a great day and we'll see what happens in Davos tomorrow.

[01:56:27]

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