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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Democrats Demand Reforms to ICE Enforcement; Sidelined Bovino Tells Agents 'I've Got Your Back'; Democratic Mayor Matt Mahan Running for California Governor; CNN Speaks with Iranians at Tehran's Grand Bazaar; Mexico's Sheinbaum Pushes Back Against FBI Director's Claims on Wedding Bust; Chinese Video Game Mimics Dangerous World of Scam Centers. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired January 30, 2026 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:07]

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you all for watching. THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson starts now.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson, live in Los Angeles. THE STORY IS starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON (voice-over): THE STORY IS a potential government shutdown in less than 24 hours. Why there's optimism it won't last very long.

GREGORY BOVINO, BORDER PATROL: I'm very proud of what you, the mean green machine, are doing in Minneapolis right now.

MICHAELSON (voice-over): Top border official Greg Bovino emerges at Mount Rushmore after losing his power in Minneapolis. A look at what's next for immigration.

And THE STORY IS, all too real? A Chinese video game mimics a gang kidnapping and torture. But all this is no game for many in Asia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.

MICHAELSON: Welcome to THE STORY IS. Twenty-four hours from this very moment to the minute, the federal government will shut down unless lawmakers agree on a last-minute spending bill.

There are signs of significant progress. People still working at Capitol Hill at this hour. It's now after midnight there.

The top Senate Democrat says a bipartisan compromise has been reached, but the top Republican just said his whole caucus is not quite there, not ready to support it yet.

If and when the bill passes the Senate, it still has to go through the House. And that's unlikely to happen, because the House is unlikely to vote before Monday.

So, we're bracing for, at a minimum, a partial shutdown this weekend. That doesn't impact all that many people, because a lot of stuff is shut down over the weekend anyways. But if it goes on beyond that, it could be significant.

Now, this whole thing will technically, at least, be the second shutdown of President Trump's second term. We know the last one lasted for 43 days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Hopefully, we won't have a shutdown, and we're working on that right now. I think we're getting close. The Democrats, I don't believe, want to see it either. So, we'll work in a very bipartisan way, I believe, not to have a shutdown. We don't want a shutdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: The president also posted on Truth Social that he hopes both sides will give a very much needed "yes" vote.

Democrats demanding changes to ICE enforcement tactics. And they have threatened no funding whatsoever for the Department of Homeland Security unless that agency is stripped from the proposed spending bill.

DHS would get several weeks of temporary funding, while the two parties then debate reforms. Essentially, everything else is funded except for DHS. They punt on that issue, so they don't have a shutdown.

More now from CNN's Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In just a matter of hours, the government is set to shut down for the second time in Donald Trump's term.

But things are much different than the first shutdown, which lasted for 43 days last fall, the longest ever in the history of the United States.

And in this case, if there is, indeed, a shutdown, it will be a very short-lived one because of the -- an agreement that was reached between seven Democratic leaders and the White House over how to proceed.

Now, the reason why there has not been a vote is that, in the United States Senate, it requires all 100 senators to reach an agreement for an actual vote. What's called a time agreement. That has not been reached yet, because certain senators want certain things, want votes on certain amendments. They go back and forth, back and forth.

It ultimately came late Thursday night. They decided it was time to just punt and regroup on Friday.

Now, the timing, though, is an issue because the deadline is 11:59 p.m. to avert a government shutdown. Saturday and Sunday, most agencies are closed, so presumably, it wouldn't have much of an impact if the government is shut down over the weekend.

But Monday is when the House would have to come back into session. It's already planning to come back into session after its weeklong recess that it had this week and will have to give final approval to the bill that ultimately passes the United States Senate. So, there could be a very short lapse in funding.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Manu Raju for that report earlier today.

President Trump usually takes a lot of questions during his cabinet meetings, but not today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The last time we had a press conference, it lasted for three hours, and some people said he closed his eyes. Look, it got pretty boring.

[00:05:01]

No offense. I love these people. I love these people. But there's a lot of people. It -- it was a little bit on the boring side.

But I didn't sleep. I just closed them, because I wanted to get the he'll out of here. Some of them -- I didn't sleep, by the way. I don't -- I don't sleep much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: We've all kind of been at meetings at work like that, don't we?

By the way, it's worth noting the president did not call on Kristi Noem today during that meeting. He didn't even mention her.

Of course, she is the controversial head of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.

In a few hours, there will be protests across the country of the president's immigration policy, including Kristi Noem. Organizers call it a national shutdown. They are urging people to not go to work, not show up for school, not spend money at businesses. They're demanding an end to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement at operations happening across the country.

The national protest movement was spurred, in part, by the killing of two citizens by federal agents in Minnesota in recent weeks.

And now the Trump administration is changing its strategy in Minnesota. White House border czar Tom Homan held his first news conference in Minneapolis on Thursday since taking over the immigration operation.

He says he has ordered authorities to work on a, quote, "drawdown plan" for federal law enforcement in the state. But he says the key to that would be increased cooperation between local jail systems and federal immigration authorities.

The Trump administration is considering new guidelines for federal immigration officers in Minnesota, which includes plans to avoid engaging with people they called agitators and only focusing on immigrants with convictions or facing criminal charges.

Here's Tom Homan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: President Trump and I, along with others in the administration, have recognized that certain improvements could and should be made. That's exactly what I'm doing here.

We will conduct targeted enforcement operations. Targeted. What we've done for decades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So, while on the red carpet for Melania Trump's new Amazon movie, President Trump said that his administration is not pulling back at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you be pulling back immigration enforcement agents out of Minnesota?

TRUMP: No, we want to keep our country safe. We'll do whatever we can to keep our country safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, not pulling back?

TRUMP: No, no, not at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: If you notice there, he didn't really get specific about the tactics. He was sort of talking more broadly about the concept of immigration.

Meanwhile, the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, who we've been talking about, is defending her statements around the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents last week.

She was among the top U.S. officials claiming, without providing any evidence, that Pretti was a domestic terrorist. She accused the ICU nurse of posing a threat to law enforcement when federal agents shot him multiple times.

Here's what she told FOX News on Thursday night, talking to Sean Hannity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: You know, was that statement premature?

KRISTI NOEM, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Well, Sean, I'm -- I know you realize that that situation was very chaotic and that we were being relayed information from on the ground from CBP agents and officers that were there.

We were using the best information we had at the time, seeking to be transparent with the American people, and get them what we knew to be true on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Noem is under growing scrutiny for her initial statements around the circumstances of Pretti's killing and her job performance. Democrats, some Republicans in Congress are now calling for her to be impeached, if President Trump doesn't fire her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOVINO: I'm very proud of what you, the mean green machine, are doing in Minneapolis right now, just like you've done it across the United States over these past tough nine months.

And I want you to know that you're the modern-day equivalent. Turn and burn. Makes me very proud. I also want you to know that I've got your back now and always.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: That is DHS commander at large Greg Bovino, breaking his silence. He released that video, recorded in front of Mount Rushmore.

His time leading the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis came to an end this week. The Trump administration took away his social media access. So, we took that from a reporter, Allie Bradley, who got that video from him, because he couldn't post it on his own.

And he is no longer in Minneapolis and is now standing near the rocks of the president at Mount Rushmore, which is also not too close to the border.

So, there's a lot to get into this -- with all of this. Joining me now is Melanie Mason, senior political reporter at "Politico" here in California. And Peter Hamby, a founding partner at Puck News and host of Snapchat's "Good Luck America."

Welcome back to you both. A lot going on. Let's start there with Greg Bovino. What do you make of that video, Peter?

[00:10:02]

PETER HAMBY, PUCK NEWS: I don't know what to make of it. My first thought was he's in Minneapolis. He gets relieved of his duties. He's coming back to California.

Is he taking, like, a cathartic solo road trip across the country and just pull over?

This won't be the last we see of Greg Bovino, though. I think there will be investigations into both shootings. Maybe he'll get called to testify on Capitol Hill by some Senate or House Oversight Committee.

He has been relieved of his duties. A bizarre video. We should note that's Kristi Noem's home state, South Dakota.

MICHAELSON: It is Kristi Noem's home state, and it is clear, Melanie, that both Kristi Noem and -- and Greg Bovino have at least been temporarily demoted in a very public way. President Trump not happy with them.

MELANIE MASON, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER, "POLITICO": I mean, just look at the body language that we saw from that clip from Secretary Noem tonight on FOX News, speaking to Sean Hannity.

I mean, her body language was just so different from what we've seen over these last couple of days. And I think that's because she's been chastened.

I think she really kind of got out over her skis in the narrative that she and other members of the administration were trying to lay out. And clearly, the blowback has been focused primarily on her, primarily on Greg Bovino. And she seemed a little rattled, quite frankly, by what she's gone through over the last couple days.

MICHAELSON: And as we know, Peter, being bad on TV is not good for Donald Trump.

HAMBY: No. And by the way, Kristi Noem has -- one of the reasons I think Donald Trump likes her and has liked her in the past is she is good on TV. She is telegenic. She cares about that very much.

But I'm actually -- I didn't know, Elex, until tonight that she went on "Hannity." Given Donald Trump's posture toward her today and his behavior in the cabinet meeting, where he didn't take questions, as you pointed out, he wanted to talk about anything other than immigration.

He talked about housing. He talked about energy. He talked today about an addiction initiative that they're launching at the White House. At one point, he looked toward Kristi Noem; didn't acknowledge her at all.

Remember when Pete Hegseth was under fire for that group chat on Signal? He -- he brought him into a cabinet meeting and said, you know, we're still with this guy.

MICHAELSON: Right.

HAMBY: That was the expectation, I think, that going into this meeting, that he would defend her.

Back to the FOX thing, though, I am surprised that she went on FOX tonight. And I'm curious if the White House pushed that or if she herself is doing her own damage control and trying to get her voice out there today and get into the news cycle because she was completely erased from it today.

MICHAELSON: And it also seems that, because of some of those statements on immigration, Republicans lost a little bit of the narrative, which lost some leverage on these shutdown negotiations.

What do you make of where we're at right now in terms of this government shutdown? And -- and what should we expect 24 hours from now?

MASON: Well, no one's going to make any predictions, particularly when it comes to the U.S. Senate.

But look, the -- what -- what we're hearing from President Trump about this potential shutdown or likely shutdown versus what we heard about the prior shutdown, the tone could not be more different.

I mean, he kind of took the -- the posture before of, like, I'm going to sit back and let you guys wait it out. And then there was a point where I think it became clear that Democrats weren't suffering as much politically as perhaps he had expected.

This time, that doesn't seem to be the case at all. If anything, he's out ahead of Senate Republicans, urging for a deal.

And, you know, I think, of course, you know, President Trump likes to say he's the "Art of the Deal" guy. But I think a lot of times, he doesn't necessarily want to be the one that is first at the table. This is an interesting position for him to take.

MICHAELSON: I mean, do you think a deal gets done?

HAMBY: Yes, I do. Like you mentioned, I think the House has to come back and vote, probably Monday.

I think we get -- and political media twists it up by shutdown politics sometimes. The last shutdown was a big deal, the longest in history. The government will probably be open next week or partially shut down.

What's interesting to me is the larger backdrop of what we're talking about, which is Donald Trump and John Thune saying we have -- admitting, basically, we have a problem here on immigration and ICE, and we need to negotiate with Democrats here.

People are all in. Even Lindsey Graham today tweeted, I've got problems with DHS. We need to address masks. We need to address body cameras. We need to address investigating ICE officers who are alleged to have done misconduct.

That's interesting to me, too.

But what's going to be very interesting is, once they get past this shutdown fight, there's going to be a couple-week window, I think, where Democrats and Republicans are going to be negotiating --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

HAMBY: -- over these, you know, reforms to ICE. And that's going to be a pretty high wattage debate over a pretty narrow two-week window.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

HAMBY: And I think that's what's more interesting than will the government be shut down on Monday or Tuesday?

MICHAELSON: And speaking of that, Lindsey Graham sort of made some news tonight on what he wants to do during that two-week window. Here's him on FOX News channel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I don't mind trying to make ICE better. I don't mind having some reasonable reforms and learning from the mistakes.

But here's what I'm telling my Democratic friends. That's a Band-Aid. The cancer is the sanctuary -- sanctuary city policy adopted by 12 states that creates chaos for the rest of the 38.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

GRAHAM: So, here's some news. I just concluded a deal with the White House to come up with a sanctuary city bill that would end sanctuary city policy forever.

How? I will make it a federal crime for a state or local official to defy federal law on immigration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:15:08]

MICHAELSON: So, interesting. So, let's just define what sanctuary policy is for people that may not keep track of it. It's in place here in California. It's in place in Minnesota.

Basically, it's the state or the city saying, We are not going to cooperate with the federal government when it comes to federal immigration. They say the law doesn't require cooperation from local. They're not saying we're going to get in the way, just we're not going to cooperate.

MASON: Right. They're saying it's federal law, so federal agents can enforce it, and that they are going to focus on state law or local law.

I think the thing that's interesting about this, this seems to be the talking point that the Republicans are galvanizing around. And I think that there's an intuitive sense to that. Right. Because I think that you're able to -- most people would say like, yes, if we're talking about targeting the most dangerous people, then why isn't local law enforcement cooperating?

I think the thing that's worth remembering, though, is that sanctuary policies are not new to this Trump 2.0. I mean, some of them have been in place for decades.

And so, when the conversation is happening about why these particular ICE enforcements seem to be so chaotic compared to what we've seen in the past, it's not like the sanctuary city policies are brand-new.

In a lot of cases, places like here in Los Angeles, that's been sort of the way that we've operated for -- for decades now. And so, it's a great talking point, I think, but when you scratch the surface factually, it gets a little iffy.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

HAMBY: I mean, stepping back, looking at polls, most voters, when they look at what's happening in Minneapolis or Los Angeles or Chicago, blame ICE agents being there for causing the violence and disruptions, primarily; the No. 1 cause.

But I actually think this is a smart tactic by Republicans and Lindsey Graham. If you look at polling, Democrats have the edge right now on masks. A majority of people actually support removing masks from ICE agents.

Ninety percent of voters, according to YouGov, think ICE agents should be wearing body cameras. They support investigations into misconduct, extending their training period. By huge majorities.

But most voters -- and Melanie's right; depends on how you phrase the poll question. But most voters actually oppose local officials interrupting federal law enforcement, federal immigration officials coming in and blocking immigration enforcement.

So, Lindsey Graham, I think, has that on his side. I think a lot of Americans oppose sanctuary city policies in the broadest sense. Polls show that. Again, you can slice and dice it. But that's an interesting --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

HAMBY: It'll be an interesting bargaining tactic, I think.

MICHAELSON: And a lot of immigration folks are very frustrated that they can't work behind bars with a lot of folks, and they say that's part of the reason they have to go out into the streets.

Here in California, you're one of the main go-to people when it comes to California politics. We had a big breaking news story today in that space, which is that Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, is running for governor.

For folks watching around the world that may not be that familiar with Matt Mahan, who is he and why does that matter?

MASON: So, Matt Mahan is the mayor of San Jose, California, the heart of Silicon Valley. And he's -- look, he's an up and comer in the Democratic Party. He's very telegenic. He's very well spoken.

He's carved out an interesting lane for himself within the party, which is, you know, less focused on the red -- red meat based, you know, talking about Trump.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

MASON: More focused on things like tough on homelessness, supporting things like Prop 36, which was a tough on crime measure that voters in California approved last year.

And so, I think that he hopes --

MICHAELSON: And criticizing Gavin Newsom --

MASON: Yes.

MICHAELSON: -- who could be the Democratic nominee in a very public way that almost nobody else is doing.

MASON: That's right. I mean, he is -- he is absolutely to Newsom's right.

And so, I think that the question, both for Californians and then more broadly, is like, is there a lane for that in the Democratic Party right now writ large.

Like, where is the energy? Is the energy for sort of the -- the resistance folks, the folks that are going up against Trump? Or is the energy for the, you know, so-called back-to-basics folks that want to talk about quality of life and affordability and homelessness?

MICHAELSON: And there's so many candidates in the governor's race already. But -- but he saw a lane for himself, especially when Rick Caruso, who was an entrepreneur, similar politics, decided not to run.

HAMBY: I -- I think this is why he ran. There -- there is a lane. I think he's right.

MICHAELSON: And Caruso has already basically endorsed him.

HAMBY: Basically. And by the way, that's good for Matt Mahan, because he's -- you know, San Jose is the third biggest city in the state of some million, 2 million people. You guys know better than me. You live there.

But he doesn't have a profile down in this part of California. So, Rick Caruso can walk around town and introduce him to people.

But going back to the polls, it is just wide open. And I think there is a hunger from Democrats for someone who feels, with all due respect to the Democratic candidates, serious. Like who can raise a lot of money, who can offer plans to fix affordability in this state, housing in the state, homelessness in the state.

Because if you look at some of the advertising, some of the messaging from the candidates who are running, they're doing what Melanie is talking about, it's just the throw mud at Donald Trump, the resistance Democrats.

And no one's breaking through with a message about expanding the housing supply, abundance. That he's going to be the abundance guy in the race. Shout-out Ezra Klein.

[00:20:09]

So, by the way, he'll be able to raise a ton of money.

MICHAELSON: Yes, yes.

HAMBY: And that's very important coming out of Silicon Valley.

MICHAELSON: We will see. Melanie. Peter, thank you very much. And we will hear his message next hour when Matt Mahan joins us live for his first national TV interview, right here on THE STORY IS.

But up next, we're going to Iran. Simmering tensions there between Iran and the West have residents of Tehran speaking out. Our Fred Pleitgen is in the capital, the only American journalist there. He visits the Grand Bazaar to get reaction on the ground.

Plus, Mexico's president is speaking out about the high-profile arrest of former Olympian Ryan Wedding in one of the craziest stories of the year. The critical details she [SIC] claims the FBI director, Kash Patel, left out. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:25:46]

MICHAELSON: President Trump says he's been speaking with Iranian leaders as he considers military action against that country. Here's what he told reporters on Thursday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, I told them two things. No. 1, no nuclear. And No. 2, stop killing protesters. They're killing them by the thousands.

You know, I stopped 837 hangings two weeks ago. But they're going to have to do something. Nobody's -- nobody's seen anything like it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, Iranian officials have announced that they have added a thousand strategic drones to their stockpile, and their naval forces plan to stage live fire exercises next week in the Strait of Hormuz.

An Army spokesperson says if the U.S. attacks, Iran could target U.S. military bases, aircraft carriers, and other naval assets.

And the European Union has voted to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard corps as a terrorist organization. The E.U. foreign policy chief says any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working towards its own demise.

Iran calls the move irresponsible and spiteful, threatening to unleash hazardous consequences directly on European policymakers.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Iran this week, reporting today from Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where protests started in late December.

Thousands were killed, at least 40,000 arrested in the subsequent crackdown, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency.

Faces are blurred in this report for their protection. And by the way, CNN operates in Tehran only with the permission of the Iranian government.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in the area around Tehran's Grand Bazaar. This is where the protests started several weeks ago that, then, of course, spread throughout the entire country.

Then, ultimately, leading to that crackdown where even the government acknowledges that thousands of people were killed.

We spoke to some folks around here, and at least some of them said the despair continues. And they said they have very little trust that the government will be able to resolve the issues.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): In general, the situation is volatile in a way that the prices are crazy high. And for instance, just yesterday there was a 20 to 30 percent hike in prices.

PLEITGEN: Are you confident that the government can solve the economic issues?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Definitely not. We're certainly sure the government cannot solve it. This is something that I can say for sure. Maybe it is dangerous. I feel this is the end of everything.

PLEITGEN: How deep is the trauma after the crackdown on the protests?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): In this situation, no one is able to do anything, because you either have to go to the streets and be killed by weapons, or stay at home and die of hunger.

PLEITGEN: When the protests first started here at the bazaar in late December, it was especially the carpet sellers and jewelers who first walked out. Now, we did speak to some people here who claimed that the situation is now under control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Of course, the Islamic Republic can solve the problem. Actually, it's done so. Ninety-nine percent of it is resolved.

PLEITGEN: All this comes as President Trump continues to weigh his military options here in this region. Iran's leadership has said that any attack on Iran will be met with very strong resistance. But they've also said they're willing to negotiate, however, not under duress.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Fred.

Abbas Milani is the director of Iranian studies at Stanford and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. Thanks so much for being with us.

ABBAS MILANI, DIRECTOR OF IRANIAN STUDIES, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: I mean, one of the big questions at this hour: is President Trump bluffing? We know he -- he talks a lot. Some of it's truthful, some of it isn't. How do you separate the bluster from the -- you know, in all of this?

MILANI: I can't. I don't think anybody but Mr. Trump can.

But there is one thing I think that needs to be understood: that the Iranian regime also can't figure this out. And they're afraid. And they're clearly very afraid that some of this bluff might actually turn into kinetic action.

And because they can't figure it out, they're desperate and trying to see whether they can find someone to negotiate a deal with them, to get out of what I think is their most serious existential crisis.

[00:30:08]

MICHAELSON: Who is that? Who could -- could negotiate that deal and -- and save the regime?

MILANI: I don't think there is anyone who can, because to be honest, you have to go back 43 years.

Every promise this regime has made to the Iranian people, every promise it has made to the international community, it has cheated on. It has gone back on it, even to its allies like China. It turned its back the minute it thought it had an alternative. That's why nobody has come to the help of this regime.

If Turkey is trying to, for example, negotiate a deal, it's because Turkey has been reaping enormous benefit in the last 30 years from Iran's weakened economy, from Iran's desperation.

Part of the miracle of Mr. Erdogan in Turkey is because of the desperation of the Iranian regime. So, he doesn't want a change in Iran.

MICHAELSON: We saw in Venezuela that President Trump went in and took the leader out. Do you think a sort of strike like that is on the table, a so-called decapitation strike, where the ayatollah is no longer in charge of the country?

MILANI: It might be. Again, I certainly can't figure out what Mr. Trump will do. I think he can only figure it out.

But I don't think that will solve the problem in Iran, as I don't think it has solved the Venezuelan problem. You might have taken out a drug dealer, but a corrupt, incompetent, despotic regime stays in power in Venezuela.

And if you take Khamenei out and don't help the Iranian people who want to change the regime, change the regime, you're going to have the same problem. Iran needs to be democratic for the Middle East to be peaceful and democratic.

MICHAELSON: We know that Israel has had a lot of say in this region in terms of U.S. policy over the years. What is Israel telling the U.S. right now? What are other countries in that region telling President Trump right now?

MILANI: What the other countries are saying, like Saudi Arabia or Turkey or United Arab Emirates, what they're saying behind the scenes and what they're saying publicly are not necessarily the same thing as Senator Graham talked in one of his recent interviews.

He said, they say one thing in private and do something different in public.

But I think Israel has been very clear. Israel sees Iran as a serious threat. And Israel has been doing everything it can, from kinetic attacks to confrontation with the regime, to -- to have this regime go away.

And when we talk about Israel, I think we have to also talk about the fact that this is -- this Iranian regime that has put the destruction of the state of Israel for 44 years, almost, as one of its top agenda items.

So, if Israel is trying to destroy the Iranian regime, it is returning a favor.

An increasing number of people in Iran are saying, who the hell decided that the destruction of Israel is the public interest of Iran? Iran had very close relations with Israel under the shah, and Iran had

fairly good relations with the Palestinians. And Iran was demanding the right of Palestinians for a state during that period, while having very close relationships with Israel.

I think that is a wise policy in the long term that any democratic government in Iran will take.

MICHAELSON: Well, Abbas Milani leads Iranian studies at one of the great universities in America, Stanford University. Thank you so much. Really appreciate your insight. It's important to hear from you tonight.

MILANI: Thank you very much.

MICHAELSON: We head to Spain now, an emotional scene there where the king and queen attended a memorial mass for the victims of last week's fatal train crash.

The service, held in the city which was a destination for one of the two trains involved in the collision. Forty-five people died. More than 150 others were injured.

Relatives of the victims gave emotional speeches, demanding to know why the tragedy happened.

Authorities have said that a rail fractured on the track just before one of the trains derailed into the other.

The crash had one of the highest death tolls from a train collision in the history of Europe.

Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is pushing back against claims that Mexican law enforcement worked closely with the FBI to arrest former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding. She says the alleged cocaine kingpin gave himself up and was then handed over to U.S. authorities.

[00:35:05]

CNN's Valeria Leon has the latest from Mexico City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No joint operation with the U.S. in the Wedding case. That's the line Mexico is pushing.

LEON (voice-over): President Sheinbaum's morning briefing in Mexico City started two hours late today after a phone conversation with President Donald Trump. President Sheinbaum said they did not discuss the Wedding case during that call.

The FBI director has publicly suggested that his team was directly involved, and that Wedding later ended up in U.S. custody.

Mexico's position is that, while information can be shared, no U.S. agents --

LEON: -- conduct detentions on Mexican soil.

And then, there's the central question: Was it an arrest or a surrender? Mexico's account is that Wedding had been under pressure for months, pursued by Mexican security and military agencies, and surrendered as that pressure closed in. That's how they framed that moment.

And here's what Mexico's president said about it.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I am not going to get into further discussion with the head of the FBI, but it must be made very clear that we do not accept joint operations. We always tell President Trump this, and they have seen that we are making very good progress.

We have made arrests in Mexico. Well, one person turned himself in, although he had been pursued. The Canadian, that is.

The secretariat of security, defense, and the navy were pursuing that target. They seized his assets. There were raids and so on, until he finally turned himself in.

LEON (voice-over): The FBI's public statements point toward direct U.S. involvement and custody --

LEON: -- implying a heavier American hand in the decisive phase, while the Mexican version insists the operation was led in Mexico by Mexican forces.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: It is already so cold in New York City that the Hudson River has chunks of ice. Now, people there bracing for a bomb cyclone. Details of very different weather patterns, depending on where you are. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:41:42]

MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at stories making headlines right now.

We're less than a day away from what could be the second U.S. government shutdown in just a few months. A top Senate Democrat says negotiators have reached a compromise on government spending, but that bill hasn't passed yet. And whatever senators agree upon still has to go through the House, which is unlikely to vote before Monday.

Big breaking news here. Two sources tell CNN that President Trump will nominate Kevin Marsh [SIC] to be the next Federal -- chair of the Federal Reserve after Jerome Powell's term ends in May. That announcement is expected in the coming day. Warsh -- Warsh -- is

a former governor of the Fed who served five years under former President George W. Bush.

Warsh met with President Trump at the White House on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter. But the White House announced that nothing is final until we hear it straight from the president.

Iran is warning it could strike U.S. bases, warships, and other targets if President Trump decides to take military action against Tehran. Iran's military says it has added 1,000 strategic drones to its stockpile and plans live-fire, naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz next week.

Russia hasn't yet confirmed the claims that it has agreed to pause strikes on Ukraine. President Trump says he urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to stop attacking major cities for a week because of the extreme cold, and that Putin agreed.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy thanked Trump for that effort. But when a Kremlin spokesperson was asked to confirm the pause, he says he couldn't comment.

Ukraine is experiencing one of the coldest winters in 20 years.

Speaking of cold, millions of Americans bracing for another winter storm this weekend amid already brutal cold. A low-pressure system expected to form off the coast of the Carolinas early Saturday, then rapidly intensifying into what's called a bomb cyclone.

That storm expected to bring heavy snow, strong winds, coastal flooding to the Southeast. Blizzard conditions are possible in parts of North Carolina and Virginia.

It's still unclear which direction the storm will take, but forecasters say people in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast should be prepared.

It is a completely different story in Southeastern Australia, where a sweltering heat wave has temperatures close to 122 F, 50 Celsius. The highs are close to Australia's all-time heat record, which was set back in 2022.

The soaring temperatures have fueled out-of-control wildfires in parts of rural Victoria. A state of disaster is in effect as crews fight at least five major blazes.

A koala named Kevin was rescued from one of the raging wildfires in Victoria. Farmers saw him struggling and hurried him to safety. After he was fed and hydrated, a vet gave the OK for Kevin to return to the wild.

Local authorities warned thousands of native animals are at risk as fires continue to burn in that area. Coming up, a new video game lets players experience how a criminal

underworld operates scam centers. Just ahead, our Mike Valerio is live in Beijing. He tried out this game. It's really wild. We'll show you how it works, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:49:48]

MICHAELSON: A Chinese video game is apparently not just a plaything. The game is about a large-scale criminal operation that traffics people and then forces them to commit scams and fraud using phone calls, emails, and texts.

CNN's Mike Valerio is live in Beijing, China, after seeing this game for himself. Mike, I think I prefer Madden.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I prefer Mario Kart or Super Mario 64.

I'll tell you, Elex, this game took my breath away. It stops you in your tracks because I don't think people know, especially if you live in North America outside this corner of the world.

Regardless if you live in California or China, there's a sizable chance that, if you get a cleverly worded DM, if you get a scam text to your cell phone or something in your Facebook messages, there is a sizable chance that it is coming from somebody locked in one of these compounds in Southeast Asia who is threatened to send these messages under the threat, I should say, of torture.

So, we played this video game, looked into, really, the social mores behind it, did some reporting. Here's what we found. Take a -- take a watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIO: I started playing this video game, and it is wild.

VALERIO (voice-over): In the trailer for the new Chinese full-motion video game Blood Money: Lethal Eden, you're a victim of a scam center. You have a cloth put on your face. You wake up in a cage, hands tied. There's a gang kingpin in a white suit, and somebody is about to be executed.

VALERIO: And that is just in the first few minutes.

The goal is to survive. And every decision that you make sends the game in a new direction.

But this isn't just fiction. This is an intense reflection of a huge problem here in Asia.

VALERIO (voice-over): There are giant criminal scam centers, sometimes looking like fortresses, found across Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and a growing number of countries around the world. People are often duped or tricked by gangs, and under the threat of torture, they're forced to call, email, text, and scam people out of their money.

VALERIO: Why choose this topic?

WEI WEI, DIRECTOR OF BLOOD MONEY: LETHAL EDEN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: No one in this industry had done a theme like this before, so there was a scarcity. And we also felt that doing this theme could raise people's awareness of fraud prevention.

VALERIO (voice-over): It's an issue increasingly showing up in successful entertainment offerings. The Chinese blockbuster "No More Bets," which follows characters trying to navigate their way out of a scam center, made more than half a billion dollars at the global box office. A potential gauge of how powerfully the crisis is resonating.

JASON TOWER, SENIOR EXPERT GLOBAL INITIATIVE AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME: At present, you have over 300,000 people that are effectively trapped inside of large-scale compounds.

VALERIO (voice-over): China has made strides in prosecuting gang kingpins, and countries globally have gotten involved in combating the problem. But it may be too late.

As experts say, scam compounds have spread from Southeast Asia to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and into the Pacific.

TOWER: And you hear senior African diplomats, based in countries like Thailand, talking about this as crimes against humanity, because the level of torture, the extreme conditions in which a lot of these victims are being subject to, I mean, it really is that.

VALERIO: This game was developed by a small Chinese startup, and its developer says this is a careful balancing act between real suffering and fictional elements of entertainment, with huge commercial appeal.

WEI: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: The message we want to convey is that you must not do evil; if you do, you will inevitably be punished by the law.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: So, Mike, what are countries doing to stop this around the world?

VALERIO: I think that governments are certainly fighting back. And I mean, from our perch right here in Beijing, the news peg of this story we learned yesterday, Elex, that Beijing sentenced 11 members of one of these notorious crime families to death.

So, to repeat that, 11 members of the notorious Ming crime family that ran some of these notorious scam centers, the likes of which you saw in the video that we just played. You know, China is saying that its citizens are not going to be duped and put in these compounds against their will anymore. So, I think that's certainly one extreme of how governments are

reacting in the United States, as well as the United Kingdom. Their respective Justice Departments have sanctioned some of these criminal gangs running these scam centers, so that the money can't exactly flow as easily into their coffers.

But there's a lot of action, even though these scam centers have spread around the world.

MICHAELSON: Mike Valerio, live for us in Beijing, where it is Friday afternoon. Mike, thank you so much. Eye opening. I never would have known that if you hadn't brought that story --

VALERIO: Thanks, Elex.

MICHAELSON: -- to our attention.

Coming up, President Trump and his wife, the first lady, Melania Trump, attend the premiere of her new film. When we come back, details on the new theatrical release, featuring the often elusive first lady, and scenes from the black carpet. That was her pick. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:59:43]

MICHAELSON: President and the first lady hit the red carpet. Actually, the black carpet -- that's how the first lady wanted it -- at the newly rebranded Kennedy Center for the premiere of "Melania."

The film details a period of about three weeks around the couple's return to the White House. The notoriously private first lady is an executive producer and had editorial control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY: Everyone wants to know, so here it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)