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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
U.S. Army Veteran Searches For Her Deported Husband; Moms Advocate For Mental Health Safeguards On Social Media; Jury Selection Underway in Landmark Social Media Trial; Trump Targets California Fire Rebuilding Efforts; TikTok Pushes Back Amid Accusations of anti-ICE censorship. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 28, 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: That image I think plays very differently depending on where you're looking at it from. Thanks for watching. Stay with us. The next hour of The Story Is starts right now.
[01:00:11]
The Story Is changing of the guards. President Trump tries to de- escalate the tension in Minneapolis with a change of leadership. How people in Minneapolis are reacting.
The Story Is lost in the system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNAH SILVEIRA, WIFE OF DETAINED IMMIGRANT MATHEUS SILVEIRA: No one has any answers. I don't know where he is. I don't know what state he's in. And nobody will tell me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: An American citizen had been documenting her husband deportation journey, but now she doesn't know where he is. She joins me live.
And The Story Is executive order. President Trump says he's taking over LA's rebuilding after the fires. It's a story Joel Pollack of the California Post broke after his Oval Office sit down. He's with me live tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson. Tonight the top story is in Minnesota where President Donald Trump says he plans to de-escalate the tensions over his immigration crackdown. The borders czar, Tom Homan, is now in the state. He met with the state's top Democratic officials and says their discussions were a quote, "productive starting point," though they don't agree on everything.
The White House is trying to distance itself from the controversy over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents during the Minnesota operation. Here's what President Trump told Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, we have Tom Homan there now. We put him in there. He's great. And they met with the governor, the mayor, everybody else, and we'll -- we're going to de-escalate a little bit.
I don't think it's a pullback. It's a little bit of a change. Everybody in this room that has a business, you know, you make little changes. You know, Bovino is very good, but he's a pretty out there kind of a guy. And in some cases that's good.
Maybe it wasn't good here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Top Border Patrol official Greg Bovino, who was talking about there and some of his agents were expected to leave Minneapolis on Tuesday and return to their respective sectors following the shooting of Alex Pretti by an ICE agent. The president is calling for a honorable and honest investigation into Pretti's killing. The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz spoke about what he would like to see happen next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM WALZ, MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: The end of this is not Greg Bovino leaving. The end of this is a sane policy on how you do immigration reform and stop an attack by the federal government on a state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, also calling his meeting with Tom Homan, quote, "productive" but reiterating his desire to see Operation Metro Surge come to an end. CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild in Minneapolis once again tonight.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Here in Minnesota, a major shift is underway. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino is leaving now Border czar Tom Homan is coming to the city. We spoke with multiple Minnesotans today to find out how they feel about the shift and if they're confident that with Tom Homan coming here, things will begin to change in a meaningful way. Here's what they told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I think it relieves a lot of stress. I think it helps. I just kind of a weight off our shoulders. But obviously we were the testing ground, I believe, you know, what they could get away with, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's a great start. But I think they all need to leave. And as ICE used to operate in the past before the Trump administration, they need to cooperate with our local law enforcement officials to do the work that they're meant to do according to the laws and the Constitution ultimately.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to hope that, yes, things will get better, but it's not going to happen by just praying and hoping. It's going to happen by action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and his police chief Brian O'Hara met with Homan today. Mayor Frey saying that he told Homan that Operation Metro Surge has to end and it has to end soon. And he reiterated that the city of Minneapolis will not enforce federal immigration law.
Whitney Wild, CNN, Minneapolis.
MICHAELSON: As Minneapolis mourns the loss of Alex Pretti, some of his colleagues held a moment of silence at the Minneapolis VA Hospital on Monday. Hospital workers, fellow ICU nurses linked the hallway -- line the hallways with their heads bowed. His parents said in a statement that Pretti was a, quote, "kind hearted soul who cared deeply about his family, friends and the U.S. Veterans that he treated."
All this comes as CNN is also learning new details about this shooting of Pretti. A warning, the video you're about to see is disturbing. An initial DHS report claims two officers fired their weapons during the incident over the weekend. It remains unclear if bullets from both guns hit Pretti. This video was recorded by an eyewitness.
[01:04:58]
Her name is Stella Carlson. You can see her wearing a pink jacket in the background of the deadly encounter. She sat down with CNN's Anderson Cooper tonight to help shed light on what happened on the day Pretty was killed. It's a CNN exclusive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Kristi Noem said this looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement. Is that at all what was happening?
STELLA CARLSON, EYEWITNESS TO ALEX PRETTI'S SHOOTING: Absolutely not. And the most offensive thing you could say about somebody who has done so much for our country and which I didn't even know at the time. But what I did know is this person was calm and was handling it with grace and consistency and definitely without threat.
COOPER: One of the things that's shocking about the number of shots is that the last five shots or so are actually from a distance where he appears already lying on the ground, not moving. Do you remember that? Again, this is happening in five to 10 seconds.
CARLSON: I mean, honestly, Alex being shot is the most memorable part of it. The agents are not a part of that, I think because I watched him die. I mean, I watched him die. I remember him arching his back and his head rolling back and he looked, it was so fast moving and -- but not for me like when they left, when they fleed, which now I see that after the shooting they decided to just scatter and save themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That full of interview available on cnn.com it is quite something.
A federal judge ruled that a five-year-old boy and his father cannot be imminently deported. Liam Canejo Ramos was taken away from his family's suburban Minneapolis driveway last week after federal agents apprehended his father. They're being held at an ICE detention facility for families in Texas. Homeland Security says that Liam's father is in the country legally, but the family's attorney says he committed no crimes and was doing everything he was supposed to do legally seek asylum in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today is my husband's birthday. I have not heard from him at this point for over 40 hours. No one has any answers. I don't know where he is, I don't know what state he's in and nobody will tell me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: A U.S. Army vet and attorney in Minnesota is searching for her husband, saying she hasn't seen him since he was detained by the Trump administration. Department of Homeland Security confirms that Hannah Silveira's husband, Matheus, was detained in November. Hannah joins me live right now from Minnesota.
Thank you so much for being here. Have you heard from your husband? Do you have any idea where he is now?
SILVEIRA: Hi. Thank you for having me. No, I have still not heard from him since he was taken out of the Otay Mesa Detention Center two days ago.
MICHAELSON: And if you can sort of walk us through the backstory of what happened here.
SILVEIRA: My husband was detained at our green card interview. We were at our last stage to obtain lawful permanent residency for him on the basis of our marriage. We got married in August 2024. We were at the last stage, were at our interview, when four ICE agents came in to our interview, took him, arrested him, and hauled him off to Otay Mesa Detention Center on the border of the United States and Mexico. And that is where he's been held since November 24th.
MICHAELSON: So we reached out to DHS, and they gave us this statement. I want to put up on the screen. "On November 24, ICE arrested Matheus, a criminal illegal alien from Brazil who overstayed his F-1 student visa. He was previously arrested for driving under the influence. Any application for green card does not confer status. Depaula will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings." Can you walk us through what happened between the visa expiration and the green card?
SILVEIRA: Yes. So he did overstay his visa. He came here on student visa originally to study English before he was going to go on to become a pilot here. And during that time, he did get a DUI. I think it's important to note that that does not make you ineligible for a green card in the United States.
We were at all times able to remain and continue to pursue his green card when we decided to voluntarily depart. But he did overstay his visa. We got married in 2024, which under previous administrations, would have absolved that issue and still allow him to gain lawful permanent residency here. And instead they came in with a warrant and arrested him on the basis of the visa overstay, not at all pertaining to the DUI. Simply for overstaying his visa, along with many under -- other individuals that were arrested the same week, even the same day as him in November.
[01:10:09]
MICHAELSON: I mean, they may say it sounds harsh, but that he broke the law in overstaying his visa and he broke the law by driving under the influence. Don't they have the right to not have him in this country?
SILVEIRA: I think it's open to interpretation. I think everyone has their own opinions. For me, I personally and I think a lot of people would agree, that we know a lot of United States citizens who have done similar things. This was a DUI. He did not hurt anyone.
He did not -- he got arrested for an illegal U turn. It was one bad choice of moral turpitude and it did -- you know, he has complied with every single court order, done everything the court has asked, paid the legal fines. He has been upstanding ever since. He is just here like everyone else, trying to contribute to the society he lives in and he is great to everyone around him.
MICHAELSON: So we asked DHS, do you know where he is? Is he in Louisiana? What's going on with this case? And we got no answer back from them. What are the next steps for you all?
Where do you go from here?
SILVEIRA: So you would be in the same boat as me then? Because they have also not given me any answers. I called Otay Mesa Detention Center and they have said that they do not know where he is. And the Brazilian consulate even showed up to the Otay Mesa Detention Center looking for him to get some answers and organize his travel plans. And he was then told the person who went on behalf of the Brazilian Consulate he went and they said he's no longer here.
He is currently in Texas, which nobody told me. They said he didn't know where he is. To which I say if you are going to operate as if you are the most organized federal agency, then you should be in alignment with that at all times and know where your people are or your line and I don't know which one's worse.
MICHAELSON: You've been documenting this journey on TikTok. There's been a lot of people following it around the world. Why is that important for you and what is the main message you're trying to get out to the world about this?
SILVEIRA: Yes. So I have a great passion right now, as does my husband. We have decided, despite all of the negative information that might come out and all of the opinions that might surface, we are trying to bring awareness to the fact that these are still real people that we're talking about. Do we think that someone deserves to be treated this way in any regard, by any measure? Is this how we are treating people?
At the end of the day, these aren't immigrants. That's not their title. They're people. These are real people that this is happening to. And it has become a passion of mine to spread awareness that there are so many people just like us, families like us, that their lives are being affected, if not ripped apart, every single day.
So we have decided to continue sharing our story despite everything else, and bring awareness to a very serious issue because families are being ruined because of these things, because of these policies, because of the way they're being carried out. It's not right. And I will continue speaking on it for as long as I can.
MICHAELSON: Well, I hope that this story and doing this with us in some ways helps to get some answers or increase public pressure for, at a minimum, understand where he is. And so I hope that we can stay in touch and get you the answers that you're looking for.
Hannah, thank you for joining us live tonight. We appreciate it.
SILVEIRA: Thank you for having me.
MICHAELSON: Out of this, a man is charged with third degree assault after spraying an unknown substance at Democratic Congress member Ilhan Omar during her town hall in Minneapolis tonight. Watch it here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) (BLEEP).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Woo, woo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, woo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Omar had just finished calling for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem when that suspect approached the podium and sprayed that substance at the congresswoman. Security quickly tackled the man, escorted him out. Omar told CNN tonight that she's OK, that she will not be intimidated. In fact, she kept speaking to the crowd right after the assault. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have since released statements condemning that attack. Well, President Trump barely mentioned Minnesota in his latest address. His focus was on the U.S. economy, and this time he largely stayed on prompter. The president told a crowd in Iowa that he is making America affordable again. He has blamed what he called the crooked Joe Biden administration for the lingering economic anxiety. He also repeated some of his other familiar talking points.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This has been the most dramatic one year turnaround of any country in history in terms of the speed. I really thought it would take us two or three years to do what we're doing. You know, we're the greatest -- the number one country anywhere in history, in the world. Anywhere in history for investment coming into the country. And it's amazing.
[01:15:13]
And it's because of tariffs. And it's also because of the fact that we had such a tremendous November 5th. That November 5th brought spirit back to our country. Came back --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Of course, November 5, 2024, is the day that President Trump won reelection. In reality, the economic picture not quite as rosy as he claims for a lot of folks. U.S. consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest levels in 12 years due in large part to rising inflation that the Trump administration hasn't contained in the way that it's promised, as well as nerves over geopolitical tensions, the president's trade war, some of the tariffs.
For the first time since the October 7th terrorist attack, by the way, in Israel, the hostage square clock there is no longer ticking. For more than two years, the digital stopwatch in Tel Aviv counted every minute, hour and day since 251 Israelis were abducted by Hamas. But after the remains of the last hostage was returned on Monday, Israel turned off that clock, symbolizing the end of this very dark chapter in the country's history. Hundreds gathered to count down as that clock finally stopped on day 8:43.
Meanwhile, some Palestinians are leaving their homeland in the West Bank, and they say they are being uprooted by Israeli settlers. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This isn't just the sounds of a home being taken apart, it's an entire community being erased. Mattresses are gathered and piled high before being packed into cars. Security cameras that failed to deter Israeli settlers are removed.
After decades on this land, the last family in this Palestinian Bedouin community is being forced out. And the uprooted take stock of all they are about to lose. And why. Suleiman Gawanmeh (ph) points out the four Israeli settler outposts that have made life here impossible. He is besieged, and not just by settlers.
We didn't get displaced because a shepherd or a settler attacked us. No, the issue is bigger than that. The shepherd is a tool, a means of the occupation, he says.
For years, residents and activists say these settlers have carried out a campaign of intimidation with impunity. We saw some of them here two weeks earlier. Goats and camels brought to graze on privately owned Palestinian land. Israeli soldiers standing idly by.
Palestinian residents say settlers have stolen hundreds of sheep, cut electric cables and block their access to water.
DIAMOND: This is all that's left of what was once a thriving Palestinian Bedouin community here. More than 100 families, some 700 people all together. And now they've had to abandon this area. This is what is happening across the West Bank. Dozens of Bedouin communities have been displaced over the course of the last two plus years. And activists say that this is what could happen to all Palestinian herding communities in the West Bank should those actions by Israeli settlers continue to go unchecked.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The impact on those being uprooted is difficult to put into words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's gone.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Pieces of lives lived still scattered all about. Standing in what was once his home, Suleiman begins to explain how difficult this all is. Enough, he says. That's about all he can muster. He is overwhelmed with emotion.
Suleiman's brother and sister in law's house has also been stripped down. Kitchen, living room, her children's bedroom, Muntaha (ph) can still see her home as it once was. All my memories are here, she says. I've been here since I got married.
DIAMOND: So we're driving up to this settler community now, which is part of the group of outposts that have been harassing this Palestinian community of Ras Ein al-Auja. We're going to see if we can ask them a few questions.
Shalom (inaudible).
DIAMOND (voice-over): We introduce ourselves to the first settler we see. We don't accept journalists, he tells me before ushering us away.
DIAMOND: You can't tell us what happened? We just want to understand why the Palestinians here are being forced to leave. (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) That's it? No answers to our questions?
[01:20:13]
DIAMOND (voice-over): But the next man isn't any more willing to answer our questions. He starts filming us and then they call the police. DIAMOND: Obviously they're not interested in giving us their point of view or explaining what the Palestinians say have been attacks on them over the course of the last two years.
DIAMOND (voice-over): In what remains of Ras Ein al-Auja, the departing residents are setting fire to what they are leaving behind. A final act of defiance for a community overpowered but unbroken.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN Ras Ein al-Auja, the West Bank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Thanks to Jeremy for that powerful report. A historic trial against Meta and YouTube is now underway right here in Los Angeles. What this case could mean for the future of all social media platforms as well as young people's mental health. One of the top advocates in this space is with us when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:25:29]
MICHAELSON: A historic case is now underway here in LA that could change social media as we know it. Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial against Meta and YouTube. It marks the first time they will have to defend against claims that their products harm people's mental health. It's happening before a jury in a court of law. The trial had also included TikTok and Snap, but TikTok has now reached a last minute settlement with the plaintiffs.
Snap settled the lawsuit last week under undisclosed terms. Earlier here on The Story Is, I spoke with CNN tech reporter Clare Duffy about this case. She was in court today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: This lawsuit was brought by a California 19-year-old known by her initials KGM, accusing the big tech platforms Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat of creating these platforms knowingly addicting her and causing her mental health harms that led to suicidal thoughts and self-harm. There are more than thousand other similar cases that have been filed by families across the country with very similar claims here. So this is an important case because the outcome of this trial in the KGM case could have ramifications for how all of those other cases are resolved.
It's interesting because both Meta and Google and I mean we've heard as much from TikTok and Snap publicly, these companies deny this idea that their platforms harm the mental health of young users. They have pointed to the features that they've rolled out in recent years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Joining us now is Julie Scelfo, a former New York Times reporter who cofounded Mothers Against Media Addiction, a national group pushing for changes in how kids interact with social media. Julie, welcome to The Story Is for the first time.
JULIE SCELFO, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MOTHERS AGAINST MEDIA ADDICTION: Hi, Elex. Thank you for having me.
MICHAELSON: What does this case mean to you as a mother?
SCELFO: You know, this case really is just a landmark trial. We have been waiting for so long for these tech companies to be held accountable for the harms that we all know have been happening. And finally, as a result of the discovery in this case, we have seen the documents that show that these companies knew exactly what they are doing. So we are really grateful that there's finally going to be accountability. And really what I'm thinking about as this case begins are all of the parents whose children are no longer with us because they lost their lives due to social media harms.
MICHAELSON: I mean, in some ways does this kind of remind you of the cases against Big Tobacco in the '90s? And this idea of when you actually see the data that they knew for years, but we just didn't ever see?
SCELFO: You know, it is a lot like Big Tobacco, but unfortunately, I think it's a lot worse. And I think if you read some of the documents that come out, they would have made Big Tobacco executives blush. Over and over again these companies have just relentlessly targeted our kids with hidden algorithms and commercial messages that exploit their emotions for profit. And the more time our kids spend scrolling, the more money these companies have made and they just don't care about the harms to children. And we've seen that over and over again.
So we're sick and tired of social media companies deciding that their profits are more important than our children's well-being. And we're glad there's finally going to be some accountability.
MICHAELSON: What do you make of the fact that TikTok and Snap have already settled in all of this, Meta and Google are going forward and saying, let's go forward with the trial?
SCELFO: You know, this lawsuit is a mass tort case, and what that means is that it combines hundreds and hundreds of complaints. And these are all separate individual cases from parents, from school districts, from state attorneys generals, and they all claim that companies knowingly designed social media algorithms in a way that caused young people to use the product compulsively and caused depression, self-harm and other mental health conditions. So, you know, I can imagine if I was a CEO of one of these companies, I would absolutely not want to have to face parents whose children were harmed because of my product. And I think that may have something to do with why they settled. And I guess I wouldn't be surprised if we also saw more settlements before they actually had to face the jury.
MICHAELSON: But if this goes forward and if Google and Meta say let it ride, we're going to say this is up to a jury. And if a jury says, you know, gives them the middle finger essentially and says, you guys are guilty and there's a big price tag associated with that, how does that change history and how does that potentially change the look and feel of social media social media for your kids and kids around the country?
[01:29:48]
JULIE SCELFO, FOUNDER, MOTHERS AGAINST MEDIA ADDICTION: This case matters because the documents that came out show that these companies knew how the design of their products was hurting kids all along.
I mean, we all suspected it for a long time, right? But now it's going to be facts and the damage can't be undone. We can't bring back the lives of children who are gone. But now we can absolutely make sure that the evidence, that the documents get to the people who need to see it, and lawmakers can finally force these companies to ensure that their products are safe by design.
It doesn't have to be this way. You can have social media that doesn't have so much harm baked into the design.
MICHAELSON: Julie Scelfo, thank you so much for joining us from New York and sharing your perspective. I know you're passionate about this and so many other people are across the country and the world as well. Julie, thank you.
SCELFO: Thank you for having me.
MICHAELSON: Still to come, President Trump issues a new executive order on rebuilding efforts from the California wildfires. He signed that in the Oval Office in front of my next guest, Joel Pollak of the brand new "California Post" -- Joel and his branding. Standing by live to take us "Inside the Room" next.
[01:31:27]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
Let's take a look at today's top stories.
Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is sprayed by an unknown substance at her -- during her town hall. Omar says she's ok following the attack. That suspect is charged with third degree assault.
Top House Democrats are threatening to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The statement follows widespread backlash over the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti. Some Republicans have also criticized Noem. The Senate now debating how much funding DHS is going to get going forward.
The U.K. prime minister is turning towards China and away from the U.S. to help boost the British economy. Keir Starmer is leading a delegation of executives from dozens of corporations to Beijing, where he will hold talks with the Chinese president. During the four-day visit, they are expected to sign deals to deepen their countries' economic cooperation.
President Trump has signed a new executive order aimed at speeding up recovery from major wildfires in California last year. But rather than just offering assistance, he's taken aim at state and local officials, accusing them of approving only some permits required for rebuilding. The guidance says the Department of Homeland Security will now oversee the process.
California governor Gavin Newsom is pushing back against any allegations of wrongdoing. He says Californians didn't need an expedited permit process. They need money to rebuild.
President Trump signed that executive order while in the Oval Office with Joel Pollak of the brand-new "California Post". You see a picture of that there.
After breaking that story, Joel Pollak, opinion editor at the "California Post", joins me now with his brand-new hat, which looks familiar. And the copy of the "California Post", which just launched yesterday.
JOEL POLLAK, OPINION EDITOR, "CALIFORNIA POST": That's right.
MICHAELSON: Congratulations on the brand-new venture. What is the executive order?
POLLAK: The executive order essentially takes over the permitting process, especially where any federal money is involved at the state and local level, with the goal of speeding up the rebuilding process, not just in Pacific Palisades, but also in the area of the Eaton fire.
And there's a separate section of the executive order that looks at $3 billion that the federal government gave to the state of California for spending to prevent or mitigate wildfires. And they want to look at what happened to the money and how it was spent.
MICHAELSON: And so he's suggesting that Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, is now going to oversee all this?
POLLAK: Yes. We asked him who he thought would be in charge. And he said, Lee Zeldin, because Lee Zeldin, the head of the EPA, managed to clear the hazardous waste out of Pacific Palisades and the Eaton fire zone in 28 days.
Originally, they were supposed to do it 90 days. Then Trump said, that's not fast enough. He gave him a deadline of 30 days, and Zeldin and the EPA did it in 28 days. So Trump has a lot of confidence in him.
MICHAELSON: And we know there have been -- there was a lot of widespread praise in terms of FEMA, how they did it. We know there's been a lot of residents frustrated by the pace in terms of the permitting.
Governor Newsom didn't like the way that this all went down.
POLLAK: No.
MICHAELSON: His press office put out on X, "Legitimate journalistic integrity question. Why did the president sign an EO in secret with one Murdoch outlet -- yours -- present, then allow it to be buried for five days because we didn't even know about this until yesterday, until that outlet launched its new money-making product. That's not reporting, that's propaganda."
What's your response to that?
POLLAK: You know, I used to get irritated as a California resident and especially as a Pacific Palisades resident who saw my neighborhood destroyed, I used to get irritated when Newsom and the press office account would say things like that.
But it hit me today as I was thinking about this executive order, that one of the reasons President Trump acted was precisely because Newsom and his press office were being so rude, so provocative, trolling him all the time.
I think he just decided to step in and say, ok, I'm going to show you that I can do your job better than you can. And again, that annoyance that I had, turned into surprise and maybe even appreciation for Governor Newsom, because if he hadn't been such a jerk, Trump never would have acted.
[01:39:40]
MICHAELSON: Well, I mean -- the thing that Newsom says and not just Newsom, a lot of even some of the Republicans from this state says that the region needs federal money because you can't do this alone. California doesn't have enough money to pay for all of this.
There is a supplemental that some Republicans in the House are asking to help fund recovery. Did you ask President Trump about that and is he going to agree to it just like so many presidents have in the past?
POLLAK: You know, I asked White House officials early last year, right after the fire, what they were planning to do. And their attitude was the president always lets this money go through. We're just going to give the state of California whatever they ask for.
As Newsom began suing Trump over every policy in court and trolling him on social media, that attitude changed. People felt that the relationship between the state government and the federal government had been destroyed, and now I think there are going to be conditions.
And one of the conditions you can start to see in this executive order where there's going to be monitoring, there are going to be certain benchmarks the state has to hit.
Basically, the federal government wants to make sure that California is spending the money properly and that taxpayers aren't throwing good money after bad. So I do think there's going to be a special master or some monitoring mechanism.
MICHAELSON: But did you get the sense that President Trump actually will send money at all, even under the --
(CROSSTALKING)
POLLAK: He didn't say no, I did ask him about it. I said, is Newsom the obstacle to the $34 billion or to more money coming through? And he just sidestepped that question. He really wanted to focus on the rebuilding and the permitting.
What was also interesting was that he and Gavin Newsom had a friendly conversation at Davos in Switzerland. Even though Newsom is out there attacking the president and president fighting back. It makes you wonder how much of the confrontation is political theater.
MICHAELSON: And we know that in the past, both of them have gotten along well. So you can read about all this and more in the brand-new "California Post", which you can buy at newsstands and also on your Web site, "California Post" as well.
Congratulations, Joel.
POLLAK: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: The new opinion editor -- it's a big deal to invest in journalism at a time when not many people are.
Thank you so much for watching THE STORY IS. For international viewers, Rory's return is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back with a deep dive on what's happening at TikTok.
Stay with us.
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MICHAELSON: TikTok is pushing back after some users accused the company of censoring their anti-ICE videos. A number of users say they tried to share videos critical of ICE and the Trump administration, but they say the videos wouldn't upload.
Notably, the complaints began shortly after a majority American-owned joint venture took over TikTok's U.S. assets from its original Chinese owners.
You'll recall the Trump administration brokered that deal.
Tech expert Lori Schwartz is the CEO and founder of StoryTech. Welcome to THE STORY IS for the first time. Great to have you here live.
LORI SCHWARTZ, CEO/FOUNDER, STORYTECH: Thank you. Great to be here.
MICHAELSON: So the magic sauce with TikTok has always been its algorithm --
SCHWARTZ: -- which sort of gives you information, gives you videos. The algorithm is now different for people here in the U.S. because of this. How so?
SCHWARTZ: Yes. Well, what folks are finding is that when they try to upload videos that are sensitive to the, say current administration, that the videos are either not loading or that the views that they were enjoying, you know, they're -- the fact that people were getting exposed to their content has been cut down tremendously.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
SCHWARTZ: So something funky is going on.
MICHAELSON: Because the algorithm now is controlled here in the U.S. instead of being controlled in China, which it has been for so long.
And the thought always was that the reason we don't want China to be control of this, because it could be Chinese propaganda that they're spreading. But now some are concerned, could it be U.S. propaganda that's being spread?
SCHWARTZ: Right.
MICHAELSON: Is there any evidence of that, though?
SCHWARTZ: I think -- this is what I think is going on. And as someone who worked in advertising for a while, there are brand safety issues going on, which means there's software right now on the platform that is tweaked so that if I am a Marriott who's also under fire in this world, too, and I'm posting an ad on TikTok, I want to make sure that I don't have controversial content next to it.
So there's an A.I. algorithm at play that any time something is uploaded is going against that brand's safety software.
And so I'm sure a lot of these videos and a lot of these users are going against that as well, because this is how the platform makes money. It has to keep advertisers happy.
So the data is now being stored by Oracle, which is a big American company run by Larry Ellison, who is buddies with Donald Trump, who we've seen him at the White House.
SCHWARTZ: Yes.
MICHAELSON: President Trump helped to broker this deal -- there the two of them are at the White House. What is Oracle's connection to this? What does that mean for U.S. users?
SCHWARTZ: Well, I think it's scary for U.S. users because whenever you have a tech company having such a close relationship to the administration, with the administration already exerting control on what we can say, what we can do, that there's a lot of crossover there because technology is so much in our lives. Its controlling what we see and what we do.
MICHAELSON: Right. SCHWARTZ: So we're limited to getting all the feeds and seeing everything, because that platform is only showing us what they want to show us.
SCHWARTZ: Yes. And of course, we saw all of the top tech leaders in the country at President Trump's inauguration --
SCHWARTZ: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- many of them giving big amounts of money --
SCHWARTZ: And gold statues.
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MICHAELSON: And so --
SCHWARTZ: Yes, it's scary.
MICHAELSON: And it's interesting also. You write about the fact that TikTok is seen different depending on what generation you're in.
How so?
SCHWARTZ: Yes. That's right. So I'm Gen X and I'm a parent of a teenager. And besides already being challenged because I have a teenager. But the reality is I'm worried about what she's looking at, right.
But I'm also watching TikTok and all the other social media platforms because, you know, I'm living in this world. I want to have social currency and I want to understand what she's doing.
So I'm a little sus. And then she's alpha -- she's gen alpha. She's just watching it. She thinks it's cool. She's not aware of the politics.
And then you have the Gen Zs, the natives who are -- have had the most mental anguish over the platform, have gone through all the bans, are really concerned about the social issues.
And so each of these generations is also going to take in what's happening right now in their own ways.
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SCHWARTZ: And I think Gen Z, the digital natives, are the ones that are experiencing the most frustration about having their views cut down.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And what do us millennials think?
SCHWARTZ: I think that you are wait-and-seers.
MICHAELSON: I think that's a -- that's a fair -- that's a fair way to put it. SCHWARTZ: Yes. You're wait-and-seers. But I mean, I'm just -- I feel
like we all have to know what's going on in the world. But I will tell you that my algorithms on a lot of the platforms are so fine tuned to only what I want to see.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Which is scary in terms of the echo chamber.
SCHWARTZ: Right. And I try and make myself look at other stuff --
MICHAELSON: Right.
SCHWARTZ: -- but at the end of the day, you know, when I'm trying to chillax and I want to, you know, doom scroll for some downtime, I don't want to see the stuff I don't want to see.
MICHAELSON: Well, in a very short segment, you got chillax, sus and doom scroll all in. So you're clear --
SCHWARTZ: Six-year-old.
MICHAELSON: -- clearly very hip.
SCHWARTZ: I'm trying.
MICHAELSON: Lori, thank you so much for sharing your perspective.
SCHWARTZ: So great to be here.
MICHAELSON: We appreciate it. We'll be back to wrap things up right after this.
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MICHAELSON: Chanel designer Matthieu Blazy unveiled a new vision for the iconic fashion house in his debut haute couture collection in Paris. Models glided down the runway in weightless silks and colorful see-through fabrics.
One standout piece a transparent, floating version of denim jeans worn with a long, bright tank top.
The audience included some big names in film and fashion, including Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman and singer Dua Lipa.
Historic fashion house Dior also turned heads with a new direction under Jonathan Anderson, who took over as creative director last year. His debut haute couture show featured models adorned with orchids and bell-shaped gowns. With Dior sales in decline, the company is betting on Anderson to help revive that brand.
A new lineup of "K-Pop Demon Hunters" merchandise is now being unveiled. Toymaker Mattel is showing off its new dolls and collectibles based on the hit Netflix film. The toys are set to release globally later this year, about one year after the original release of the streaming film. The dolls will initially have two looks, with some who sing their hit
song "Golden". By the way, when the director was here, she told us Netflix and others did not believe it was going to be a hit, so they didn't have the merchandise ready.
And now they're finally getting to it after it was the biggest movie in the history of Netflix.
Thanks for watching. I'm Elex Michaelson. We'll see you tomorrow.
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