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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Partial Government Shutdown Over I.C.E.; 3M+ Epstein Documents Released; U.S. Government Enters Partial Shutdown As Funding Lapses; Crowds Turn Out For Anti-I.C.E. Protests Nationwide; Trump Mentioned In Epstein Files Released By Justice Dept.; Independent Journalists Arrested After Reporting On Protest; Trump Says He Pressed Iran On Potential Nuclear Deal Deadline; Kyiv Gets a Break After Russia Pauses Strikes Until Sunday; Wuthering Heights Gets A Steamy Remake; Aired 12-1a ET

Aired January 31, 2026 - 00:00   ET

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

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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: -- accent the whole thing, and she was so outrageous, yet so lovable and human in the most over the top farcical job that there is. And so, I mean, so much love for Catherine O'Hara, and she's great in the studio too, which just came out last year, which she was nominated for an Emmy 4.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Oh my god. Well, we still love her, and we love your show. It's coming up, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Have a great weekend, Laura. "The Story Is" starts right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

MICHAELSON: And we are following three breaking stories, live pictures right here from Washington. The U.S. Federal government is now partially shut down as of this minute, also breaking tonight. Anti- I.C.E. protests happening in Los Angeles. These are live pictures of that, where people continue to march at this late hour. We have seen protests in streets and cities across the country today with more planned for the hours ahead.

The U.S. Justice Department releases over 3 million documents from the Jeffrey Epstein case. What we are learning as we go through them right now.

Welcome to "The Story Is," I'm Elex Michaelson. It is now after midnight, which means that the government technically shut down at least partially. The Senate approved a funding deal just hours before Friday's deadline, but that cannot become official until the House votes, and that is expected on Monday morning. The main sticking point on all this has been funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK SCHUMER, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER: Senate Democrats will not support a DHS bill unless it rains in I.C.E. and ends the violence. Some I may have thought they could ignore us, confident the news cycle would change and the public outrage would fade. Those people were wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: The spending package funds three quarters of government agencies through the end of September, except for Homeland Security. It only includes two weeks of funding for DHS. Democrats are hoping to use that time to push for changes in how I.C.E. operates following the fatal shootings in Minnesota, but some Republicans doubt that they'll be able to reach a compromise before the funding expires once again in two weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KENNEDY, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: This is not about a budget. This is about the fact that that that the Karen Wing of the Democratic Party is in control and they want to defund I.C.E.

LINDSEY GRAHAM, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: Can we find compromise? I don't know. I don't know if it's possible for them to abandon the idea that I.C.E. is the root of all evil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So depending on how long this government shutdown lasts, remember, it's not supposed to last for very long, travelers could face delays at airports. We've seen that before, many federal workers could miss paychecks and people could have trouble obtaining certain federal loans to buy homes or operate small businesses. Again, we don't expect that to really happen.

On the other hand immigration, border patrol, defense activities likely not going to be affected. Neither will the IRS or the National Park Service Social Security payments will continue without interruption.

Meanwhile, this was the scene here in Los Angeles a short time ago, police, Federal officers clashing with protesters outside a federal building. The protests are part of the nationwide demonstrations taking place around the country on Friday, demonstrators demanding an end to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations. A protest outside LA City Hall earlier today remained peaceful, but as the day went on tensions built. CNNs Veronica Miracle was right in the middle of them.

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VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These protesters were able to get onto the property. There was a skirmish line of police officers of Department of Homeland Security Officers. They were in a bit of a line, and the protesters overtook them and were able to basically push them further and further back, all the way to the loading dock, where they essentially cornered all of them and pushed them back inside. There was, you know, a bit of a skirmish. There were some pepper spray. People were throwing bottles. But ultimately, these, these protesters have overtaken this property, which I have never seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So protests swept across the country on Friday, from Washington State to New England, they march, chanted, carried signs. Students walked out of schools. Businesses closed their doors as part of this national shut down movement. Massive crowds turned out to protest in Minneapolis, which has been the epicenter of federal immigration actions in the last few weeks. The nationwide protests were spurred in part by the killings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents there. The Justice Department, meanwhile, has released more than 3 million files from its investigation in a late financer and sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

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The DOJ says the release fulfills its obligations under transparency legislation passed by Congress. CNN still going through all the information. Remember, it's 3 million pages, a lot to get through, but we can tell you about this key takeaway. The documents contain multiple references to a host of powerful figures, including President Donald Trump, who has not been charged with any crime related to Epstein and has long denied any wrong doing. MJ Lee has more from Washington.

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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: He is in these files with some frequency. His name is mentioned in a bunch of different contexts. But one thing that was noteworthy from what we learned from these batch of files that were released today is that there appears to have been internal discussions inside the FBI as recently as last summer, where they were discussing allegations of abuse leveled against Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.

We are talking about this one document where FBI officials are compiling a list, basically of allegations of abuse leveled against Donald Trump that came in via an FBI tip line. Something that we saw for the first time related to Donald Trump in these documents is an FBI complaint form, where one woman says that she was raped by Donald Trump when she was 13. As you noted, though, and importantly, these are allegations that are mirrored in this Jane Doe's allegations in previous lawsuits from 2016 and those lawsuits, we should note, were dropped, and Trump, of course, has vehemently denied these allegations. Previous statements, repeated statements from the President, calling all of this a hoax, basically trying to say there's nothing to see here about me.

Well, there are certainly a lot of references about Donald Trump, and you can certainly get a better picture of why he and those around him wouldn't have necessarily wanted these kinds of details to come out into the public light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: MJ Lee, there. Let's talk about all three of these breaking stories right now with Republican Congressman, Cory Mills of Florida. Congress Member, welcome to "The Story Is" for the first time.

Thank you so much for having me.

MICHAELSON: So how confident are you that the government is going to be back open Monday morning?

CORY MILLS, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: Well, again, I have a little bit of reticence with regards to whether or not the SAVE Act was going to be a part of this. And it's a big thing for election integrity, and very important to, you know, every American. And so I think that looking at the DHS bill, I mean, this is nothing surprising to see a defunding the police type of rhetoric and movement from fellow Democrats, and especially from Chuck Schumer.

So I'm hoping that we can come together and we can find a solution. Here, we're looking at funding out of the one big beautiful bill that had funding for DHS, but also in our single point appropriation bills that allows us to continue the government's funding so they can carry out the duties responsibilities. No one is furloughed and that everyone gets their benefits on time.

MICHAELSON: So the deal that most likely is going to be voted through on Monday basically is punting on the big question of what to do about DHS to buy two more weeks to negotiate that? How do you resolve that in two weeks? What does a compromise look like when on the one hand, Democrats say they want to defund DHS and impeach Kristi Noem?

MILLS: Well, again, this is going to be where we have to look at what the negotiations are, as well as for what the whip count votes are. But I know there's a lot of Republicans, myself included, that if election integrity isn't included one of these bills as either a rule or otherwise, as my colleague from Florida, Aunt Paulina Luna has talked about. Then a lot of us won't essentially go ahead and get in onto this vote.

So then we're looking at potentially punting it with another continuing resolution, and then potentially even doing a clean resolution, if leadership and others want to try and come together on this, but I think there's a lot of negotiation to be had, but the one thing that we don't support is defunding our law enforcement officers.

MICHAELSON: Is there any sort of changes in terms of I.C.E. that you would support? Maybe not wearing masks, or having to identify themselves, or some of the provisions that are being put out. Is there anything that you could get behind?

MILLS: Well, look, I mean, this is up to DHS Secretary, as well as for Tom Homan and others, as far as what their actual protocols and security platforms are. What I will say, however, is that if you watch, even in your local county, SWAT teams covering and masking up, so you don't expose the identity or docs yourself, where your families could potentially be at vital risk, is a very important thing.

So keeping that secrecy of privacy, I do think, however, whether it's wearing a badge exposed or otherwise, to make sure it's self- identification, I think that would be fine. And looking at potential options or trying to find a compromise, but this is why every single officer should have body cams. This is why investigations are so important, and I certainly don't like to get ahead of things.

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I like to go ahead and allow the rule of law to run its course, and not try and place my fingers on the scales of justice with my personal opinion. But there's always, every single time I was -- I'm a U.S. combat veteran. One of the things we do after every operation is what they call an after action review. So of course, we always look to improve in any way we can to try and carry out our operations.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, there are going to be protests around the country this weekend, people in the streets. What's your message to them?

MILLS: Well, look, you have your absolute right to protest, a free freedom of speech, your ability to have a peaceful protest is fine, but not when it's going to be any type of an obstruction of justice, seditious or otherwise. And I think that making sure that we're not putting one another at risk, making sure we're not putting our law enforcement officers who are trying to conduct and carry out their jobs at risk, I think, is the most important thing.

But having your voice heard is exactly what your constitutional right is. So I'm all for those peacefully protesting, so long as it's not trying to impede or obstruct any type of justice that needs to be carried out.

MICHAELSON: You voted to release the Epstein files. Are you satisfied at the level of transparency so far, has anything that's actually come out surprised you?

MILLS: Well, as you talk about in your monolog and very rightfully pointed out, it's over 3 million pages, so I can't say that I've gotten through much of it, but I think that once we've been able to go through it and see what level of transparency there is, I'll be able to get a little bit better topic. I'm not one to try and get ahead of my skis on this, but certainly, I think it's important that we protect the victims who do not want to be outed. We do actually go after the accountability that's necessary, and I'm happy to see there's transparency for the American people. It's something I've always called for.

So whether it's transparency with the Epstein files to hold those accountable who are purveyors of the flesh and was doing things that were horrendous to young women, or whether it was actually allowing for peaceful protests, or whether it was actually trying to maintain funding for our law enforcement, these are all three topics that are very important that you covered tonight.

MICHAELSON: And lastly, you brought up the issue of election integrity a few times. What's your red line on that? What specifically do you need to see be done when it comes to election integrity, to get your vote, to fund the government? MILLS: Well, look, I think if you look at the SAVE Act, I was a co- sponsor of this bill with my colleague from Texas, Chip Roy is running as Attorney General. It's really important to try and look at voter scrub registration, making sure that we actually have the ability to use picture ID, whether it be the real IDs that have come out in the individual states, whether it be a passport or even a birth certificate, so long as it has an actual picture on there to be identified as.

So I like this. I also like Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who has the SAVE Act plus, which really goes after targeting registration, online registration, making sure to have the same level of validation and print and proof. So for me, it's just about election integrity. I mean, whether it's 0.01% of fraud, or 1% of fraud or 10% of fraud, we want to continue to work that down to zero, because one of the things we want to protect is every single person's voice and every single vote that matters.

MICHAELSON: Cory Mills, Republican from Florida, appreciate you staying up late for us on a Friday night. Thanks so much for being with us, and thanks for sharing your views, and thank you for serving our country.

MILLS: Thank you so much. God bless.

MICHAELSON: Now to this former CNN Anchor turned Independent Journalist, Don Lemon vowing to fight federal charges brought against him related to a protest at a Minnesota church. Lemon was released from custody after appearing in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday. Lemon, who often shares his opinions on stories with his followers, says he will not be silenced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless of other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them, and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Lemon, and Independent Journalist Georgia Fort were live streaming as dozens of anti-I.C.E. protesters interrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota earlier this month. Federal prosecutors allege the journalists participated in a "Takeover style attack of the church and intimidated congregants." Journalism groups say the Trump administration is trying to chill press freedom. LA Mayor Karen Bass actually showed up to support Lemon inside the courtroom today and joined CNN live tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN BASS, LOS ANGELES MAYOR: Now all of you are at risk, and this is just unacceptable. This assault on our democracy has got to end, and you all journalists play such a critical role, and I just want you to know, and I think I could speak on behalf of this crowd, we are all going to fight every day for your ability to tell the truth, for your ability to cover this story and any other story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: The white. House on Friday, issued its first response to the arrest of Don Lemon, sharing an image announcing the journalists arrests and quipping when life gives you lemons.

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The post also included a chain emoji. CNNs Chief Media Analyst, Brian Stelter has more on the case.

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BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: This is shaping up to be a major First Amendment battle in the U.S., now that journalist Don Lemon and Georgia Fort have both been charged by the federal government in connection with that church disruption back on January 18. Both Lemon and Fort say they were there only as journalists bearing witness, filming the protests by anti-I.C.E. demonstrators so that everybody else could see what happened inside the church. But there's been tremendous pressure coming from the right, from President Trump's base, to take action, particularly against Lemon, who has been an adversary or an antagonist of Trump for many years now.

Throughout the day on Friday after these arrests happened, we heard from press freedom groups and civil rights organizations who denounced the government's actions. Pen America, for example, said it's part of a growing pattern of government overreach that threatens press freedom and Amnesty International said, "Arresting journalists for their reporting is a clear example of an authoritarian practice."

Both Lemon and Fort were released later in the day on Friday after initial court appearances, and lawyers for both have vowed they will vigorously fight these charges, and the actual charges they have to do with conspiring to violate someone's constitutional rights and violating what's known as the FACE Act, which prohibits the use of force or threats to intentionally interfere with someone who is expressing their First Amendment right to practice religion.

After all, the First Amendment does correct the right to report, but also the right to freely worship. Now the burden of proof is on the government and legal experts say these will be hard cases for the government to win.

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MICHAELSON: Brian Stelter earlier today, "The Story Is" the weather more than 27 million people under winter storm warnings that's quickly gaining strength, set to hit parts of the Eastern U.S. with massive snow, damaging winds, dangerous coastal flooding all in the coming hours. The storm known as a bomb cyclone, will begin with snow and hurricane force winds, possibly whipping a blizzard conditions along the coasts of Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Before moving north to coastal New England and East Massachusetts later in the weekend. Still ahead, President Donald Trump says he has communicated directly with Iran as potential new military strikes hang over the head of the Islamic Republic. CNN spread plight in is on the ground in Tehran. We check in with him next.

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MICHAELSON: President Trump is ramping up pressure on Iran as he weighs a potential military action over Tehran's nuclear program. On Friday, he said he communicated directly with Iran about setting a deadline to reach a nuclear deal, but he didn't say that any kind of deadline has actually been given. Now all that happening as the U.S. is accelerating its military buildup in the Middle East. Iran says it's open to talks with the U.S., but not under just any circumstances. CNNs Fred Pleitgen is reporting from inside Tehran this week, operating with the permission of the Iranian government,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Iran is ready for what it called meaningful negotiations, however, not under duress and certainly not under the threat of military force. That's what Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said when he was on a visit to meet Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Now we know that the U.S. side has said that they want negotiations with Iran, but not just about the nuclear issue. They also want to talk about Iran's ballistic missile program and proxies here in the greater Middle Eastern region, Iran's foreign minister saying they're willing to talk about their nuclear program, but certainly not about those other matters.

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (translate): I should also state unequivocally that Iran's defense and missile capabilities and Iran's missiles will never be the subject of any negotiations. If one side wants to impose its demands in advance, this is no longer in negotiation.

PLEITGEN: President Trump has threatened what he called massive strikes against Iran, while the Iranians have said that that would have catastrophic consequences for the entire region. Several Iranian officials have told me that after their recent 12 day war with Israel, Iran actually changed its military doctrine and would now consider a large scale attack against Iran to be existential for the Islamic Republic, meaning they wouldn't just retaliate against those attacking them, but it could also mean massive chaos for the greater Middle Eastern region.

President Trump continues to say that he's willing to use massive military force, but the same time, also says he hopes the Iranians will make a deal. Fred Pleitgen, CNN Tehran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Thanks to Fred for his reporting all week long. Meanwhile, the tensions over Iran could affect the next rounds of peace talks on Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the trilateral talks he set for Sunday in Abu Dhabi could be delayed or moved to a different location. He blamed the U.S. standoff with Iran for that. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Capital didn't take any fire overnight into Friday. That's after Russia agreed to pause strikes on Kyiv until Sunday, following a request from President Trump. He made it because of extreme cold gripping much of Ukraine, but the President Trump at least requested a week long pause, which President Zelenskyy pointed out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (translate): The American side spoke about refraining from strikes on energy infrastructure for one week, and the countdown began last night. How this proceeds depends, of course on our partners, primarily the United States, Ukraine, is ready to mirror this restraint, and today we did not strike Russian energy facilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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MICHAELSON: With the next round of trilateral talks, uncertain. Sources say a Russian envoy will hold a separate meeting with U.S. negotiators in Miami on Saturday.

Cuba has declared an international emergency in response to recent threats made by the U.S. The order mirrors one made by President Trump on Thursday. In that order, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on any country importing oil to Cuba. In turn, Cuba has declared that the U.S. poses a "Unusual and extraordinary threat to it." This recent escalation of tensions is creating diplomatic hurdles for many, especially for Mexico. CNN's, Patrick Oppmann has the latest from Havana.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the U.S. attack on Venezuela to capture Nicolas Maduro. Over 100 people were killed, among them, 32 Cuban soldiers operating there in secret. Now, Cuba's closest ally and more importantly, its biggest oil supplier, appears to be under de facto American control, and this is sending a chill through Cuban society about what may be next.

Cuba is really a nation that's very close to failure. It is a prediction many U.S. presidents have made, but the revolution founded by Fidel Castro has endured. I've been a Foreign Correspondent in Cuba for 14 years, and I want to find out what the operation in Caracas means for the future of 9 million Cubans who live in this island nation.

The Cuban Government received the remains of their fallen soldiers from Venezuela with a hero's welcome after decades of denying their presence there. 1000s of people lined the streets that day and waited hours to pay their respects. This direct confrontation between the U.S. and human soldiers. That's not something we've seen for decades, and it's left many people here wondering the loss of their ally in Venezuela. How is that going to impact them?

Outside in the line I meet Iliana Medrano, what would happen if there was an invasion of Cuba by U.S. troops.

ILIANA MEDRANO, CUBA RESIDENT (translate): We would confront whatever comes. We don't know what will happen, but we are willing to die.

OPPMANN: Cubans are no strangers to economic hardship. Since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, they have weathered America's embargo and their own government's disastrous economic missteps. After the Soviet Union collapsed, Venezuela emerged to Savannah's lifeline. Cuba sent 1000s of doctors, teachers, sports trainers as well as military and intelligence officials to Venezuela in return for oil.

Now with Maduro in jail and out of the picture, it's not clear Venezuela can or will continue the oil shipments that the Trump administration has vowed to block. To make matters worse, Havana's second largest oil supplier, Mexico has also reportedly suspended oil shipments. Already, we are witnessing the impacts. It can take weeks to get a spot in a gas line using an online system. Gerardo tells me he's waited 29 days.

Gerardo, Cuba Resident (translate): Things are going to get tough. I'm glad I was selected today, because I don't know if I will be next time.

OPPMANN: As night falls, many here will be left in the dark, and so longer and longer apagones, blackouts are becoming the new normal. In many parts of the island, the power is off more hours a day than it is on. The Trump administration vows the pressure will continue on Cuba. For now, the Cuban government is defiant, calling for one of the largest demonstrations outside the U.S. embassy in Havana in years.

For those of us who cover the normalization of diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Cuba under the Obama administration, there's a sense of whiplash. I've even heard from a U.S. Embassy source that diplomats there have been advised to, "Have their bags packed as a Trump administration explores new ways to stabilize the communist run government." Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

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MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Patrick. When contacted by CNN, the U.S. State Department said it would not comment on internal meetings, but that there were no indications of any embassy draw down in Havana.

There's still a lot more to come here on "The Story Is" including details on the latest batch of Epstein files released Friday by the Justice Department. What we know? Elie Honig joins us for some in- depth analysis of what's really going on behind the scenes when we come back.

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MICHAELSON: Welcome back to "The Story Is" I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories. The U.S. government is partially shut down, but it's not expected to have a big impact or last very long after the Senate approved a major spending deal hours before the deadline. The House expected to vote and likely pass that package on Monday morning.

Protests against Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts sweeping across the U.S. on Friday, from Washington State to New England, they march, chanted, carried signs. Students walked out of schools. Businesses closed their doors. The nationwide protests spurred in part by the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minnesota in recent weeks.

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The U.S. Justice Department has released more than 3 million files from its investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The heavily redacted documents contain multiple references to a host of powerful figures, including President Donald Trump, who has not been charged with any crime.

The DOJ says the release fulfills its obligation under transparency legislation passed by Congress.

CNN, Senior Legal Analyst, Elie Honig, joins me now from New York. Ellie, welcome back to "The story Is."

ELIE HONIG, CNN, SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Great to be back with you, Elex. I love staying up this late for you.

MICHAELSON: Thank you very much. Let's talk about the big takeaway for you, get all these pages of documents, what stands out in terms of the latest Epstein file drop?

HONIG: Well, we now apparently have all that DOJ is going to produce over 3 million documents. Anyone can go on to DOJ 's website right now, you actually have to click a button that says I am over 18 in order to get in. And then you can enter the name, and you will get name search results. So we do have much of what the Epstein files Transparency Act is intended to give us.

But I want to highlight two major problems. These documents are both over redacted and under redacted. The bigger problem is they're under redacted. There have been victims who have come out through their attorneys basically saying that their information is being revealed in these documents. The law says that shouldn't be happening. Of course, they don't want that. That's problem number one.

And then problem number two is there's too much information that's been withheld that should not be withheld under the law. For example, the law says that information should not be withheld because it might cause personal embarrassment or political damage to people who have not been charged. That's supposed to come out, but you can see throughout these files that a lot of those names of people who might have done things that are embarrassing or might sustain reputational damage have been blacked out.

So I think there's still going to be some wrangling over this, maybe some litigation over this, but there's a heck of a lot out there now, if people want to take a look and there is some degree of transparency.

MICHAELSON: I mean, President Trump has not been charged with a crime. He's often said that this is kind of a lot to do about nothing. Is there any smoking gun or anything particularly surprising in this latest document dump about him?

HONIG: Well, the thing is, I think people can judge for themselves. There are accusations. There are quite sensational accusations reflected in these documents, but they've never been substantiated or corroborated. There's certainly never been a criminal charge. And this, by the way, Elex, I should say, is part of the reason that this whole thing is so unusual. Ordinarily, DOJ would never open up its files, investigative files from an uncharged case or a charged case that's closed for precisely this reason, because you will see dozens upon dozens of names mentioned in lights that might be unflattering in accusatory ways that have never been confirmed, that have never been the substance of an indictment, where the person has not had a chance to defend themselves through the formal venue of a trial.

However, Congress gave us this law 427, to one in the house, unanimously in the Senate, the President signed it, and this law is a departure from what we ordinarily do, and so if there is collateral reputational damage that came with the passage and signing of this act.

MICHAELSON: While we've got you, I want to get your take on another big legal story that's happening right now, which is involving Don Lemon, who, of course, worked for this network for many years. He's a friend of yours, a friend of so many people that work here. There's a case against him. So knowing your own personal bias in terms of this. What -- how do you sort of break down the merits of this case and explain what he's being charged with and is that unusual?

HONIG: Yeah, factor in the fact that I know Don professionally and personally, have known him for several years here at CNN and elsewhere. This case, to me, is bogus, and I think it's a hopeless case. The charge against Don Lemon here and others is that they violated the civil rights of the people going into the church, and that they interfered with an exercise of the First Amendment right to free religion, the people who went into that church and protested and yelled and obstructed that service, it does seem violated that statute. The difference with Don Lemon is he was covering it as a journalist. He is protected by the First Amendment.

There is a good reason why a magistrate originally refused to issue this charge against Don Lemon, but did issue a charge against three other people. There's a reason why, when DOJ went and appealed to a district judge. The district judge rejected that, and today, DOJ went to a grand jury got an indictment. I'm not quite sure how, but you've heard the expression about how easy it is to get an indictment from a grand jury. I know from my own experience that can be true, but I absolutely expect this case to be thrown out on First Amendment grounds. I don't think it ever gets to trial. I don't think it ever gets to a jury.

MICHAELSON: In the meantime, it's getting a lot of attention and a lot of eyeballs on Don Lemon's independent media work.

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Ellie Honig, thank you so much for joining us from New York. Have a great weekend.

HONIG: Thanks, Elex. Appreciate it.

Margot Robbie's last mega movie role was Barbie. Now she's taking on another classic heroin from a much different era. Just ahead, we'll talk to the man who plays her husband in the newest adaption of Wuthering Heights.

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MICHAELSON: Wuthering Heights. The latest movie based on Emily Bronte's classic gothic novel comes out in two weeks. The Warner Brothers drama, directed by Emerald Fennell, casts Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw. My guest, Shazad Latif plays her husband, Edgar Linton. Welcome to "The Story Is" congratulations on the new movie.

SHAZAD LATIF, ACTOR, WUTHERING HEIGHTS: Thank you very much.

MICHAELSON: So Wuthering Heights is in "Wuthering Heights" is the moving title that's on purpose.

LATIF: Yes.

MICHAELSON: How close is it to the book?

LATIF: I think it's -- well, Emerald has been saying is, it's her imagined version of what she felt as a 14-year-old when she first read it. So that is the version she's giving.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

LATIF: So that's, that's what the quotes is about.

MICHAELSON: How close is it to the version of when you first interacted with it? LATIF: I'm -- my first interaction with Wuthering Heights was my nan. It was one of her seven VHS that she had. It was, it was El Cid, now Voyager, Once Upon a Time in America, One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest and like great expectations on that. And we would just watch them on a loop. And my mom and my auntie Yvonne would just always be talking about Heathcliff. Heathcliff. So it's so strange that it's come round. And now I'm in --

MICHAELSON: And this is the 1939.

LATIF: This is 1939 (Inaudible). David Niven, it was, it was -- so, yeah, I mean, stepping into David Niven shoes.

MICHAELSON: And now you're there, and you're playing Edgar, who is married to Margot Robbie's character, who's at the same time in love with Jacob Elordi's character. Sort of a man in the middle. What is this story sort of taught you about love?

LATIF: Well, Edgar, I think has taught me, he's a very mature about the situation that goes down.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

LATIF: Because he lets a lot and lets a lot fly as it were. Yeah. He doesn't go down the classic sort of angry, jealous root, in a sense, until it till it's too late for all of them. Is, I suppose, this sort of chaos or destroys all the order in the house. But, I mean, loves a mystery. I suppose it's -- they don't figure out. We're still trying to figure it out.

MICHAELSON: Would you be as patient and understanding as Edgar?

LATIF: I'm trying, I guess I could learn a lot from him. I will try as each time to get better and better. It's tough, especially with someone like Jacob Elordi. He's, he's very attractive man. He and he steals my wife, so.

MICHAELSON: But you guys have become good friends right off camera.

LATIF: Yeah, he's a great man, great human being. I love him very much.

MICHAELSON: I mean, obviously that Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi to the biggest stars on the planet, to the most attractive people on the planet at the same time. There's so much written about them. What's something surprising about them that you learned working with them that the rest of us might not know.

LATIF: I lived in Australia on the Gold Coast filming for a good couple of years, and it's where Margot grew up. And there's, there's just a chillness about the Aussies. They just realized they're just, and I love it. They're just two very chill people who love their craft.

MICHAELSON: And are they surprisingly sort of down to earth for being that attractive? LATIF: Completely. Completely. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah it's a very nice thing to be around.

MICHAELSON: Let's talk a little bit more about you. So you've talked about this fact that you started off as a kid watching old movies. And this was your grandmother was really into this, right? Your dad was involved in the movie business.

LATIF: He was a film real changer. One of his first jobs, when he came over from Pakistan was he's thinking 15-years-old, some guy took him into a movie theater, and he was a film. He became a film real changers assistant, projectionist assistant.

MICHAELSON: And what was it about, sort of the magic of movies, even as a kid that you connected to.

LATIF: I guess. I mean, I was out playing, playing football or watching movies. That seemed to be what my childhood would be. We grew up pretty poor, and so that was sort of what I did. And it was an escape. And it was, it was gives you a sense of hope and a dream and what you can do one day. And so it sort of just became what I wanted to do? Yeah.

MICHAELSON: You're about to head to Paris. Then you're going to London. In London, the premier, your family is coming.

LATIF: Yes, yes.

MICHAELSON: They get to watch you.

LATIF: I know.

MICHAELSON: In the movie that you all watch together on the big screen, describe that moment. What that means to you.

LATIF: I mean, my nan is 91 so she won't be able to make it up there, but I'm going to try and get it get done. She's from just outside of London, but my mom will be there, and my brother and my niece and nephews, and they can't wait to see Jacob.

MICHAELSON: Nothing to do with you. They're just focused.

LATIF: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah but I can't, yeah, it's one of those things that it's I can't wait for my mom to see it, and my brother, it'll be, be a big moment.

MICHAELSON: And you also were part of Star Trek: Discovery back in the day as well. So that has quite a rapid fan base. How do you compare the fan base experience of the Wuthering Heights people and the Star Trekies?

[00:50:00]

LATIF: It's, I guess, I mean, Star Trek fans are just amazing. It's the -- it's the commitment, the dressing up, the passion is just amazing. I've been to San Diego, Comic Con Vegas, Comic Con Atlanta, and every time they bring in, it's just -- it was so nice to meet them and along during those couple of years. And it's just great when there's so much passion for the project you did.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, it is amazing to be part of these massive, massive events, I imagine. So we're going to end with some rapid fire questions to get to know you. First thing that comes to mind quick, okay. So we've seen the movies. What was your favorite movie as a kid?

LATIF: Favorite movie as kid? Maybe the Robinhood, Disney Animation.

MICHAELSON: Favorite book?

LATIF: There was maybe Dr. Seuss. There was some one about Cat Tobias and the Wolf or something.

MICHAELSON: Who is the actor who most inspired you?

LATIF: I mean, from young, it was classics. That's a bit boring. Your Brandos, Anthony Hopkins. I mean, it's classic. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Benicio del Toro was a big one. Sean Penn, all of those lot. But I mean, even younger would have been Van Damme, Wesley Snipes. It would have been, that was my early inspiration. Demolition Man was a biggest inspiration.

MICHAELSON: Biggest favorite TV show now?

LATIF: I still love Van Damme, Danny McBride. That's one of my favorites.

MICHAELSON: Good times and favorite quote or model?

LATIF: Using no way as way, using no limitation as limitation.

MICHAELSON: I love that. Thank you very much.

LATIF: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: Congrats on the big success. Enjoy this ride. It's going to be wild over the next few weeks.

LATIF: Thank you, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Of course, you can check Shazad Latif out in Wuthering Heights just in time for Valentine's Day. It is one version of a love story. Again check out in theaters all over the world.

We'll be back with more of "The Story Is" right after this.

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MICHAELSON: Catherine O'Hara was a scene stealing comedian behind some of film and television's most unforgettable characters. She died today at just 71-years-old. CNNs, Anderson Cooper has our look back at a life that will definitely make you smile.

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: She was, like so many greats, impossible to typecast that for millions of movie fans. Every Christmas, Catherine O'Hara was, and always will be, the frazzled mom who left her son home alone. And what turned out to be the biggest holiday blockbuster of all time.

CATHERINE O'HARA, ACTRESS: I had been from Chicago to Paris to Dallas to where the hell am I?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scranton.

O'HARA: I am trying to get home to my 8-year-old son.

COOPER: In Beetle juice. She was at her wits end.

O'HARA: If you don't let me gut out this house and make it my own, I will go and stay and I will take you with me.

COOPER: Alongside frequent co-star Eugene Levy. She was a singing dog breeder in Best in Show. One half of a faded folk duo in a mighty wind.

O'HARA: Mitch was so strong and so smart and knew what he wanted. And I just focused on Mitch. And I went along for the ride.

COOPER: And an eccentric down on her luck, matriarch in the wildly popular shits Creek.

O'HARA: Do you remember Valentina, our chambermaid in little Martinique? We all thought she had just a cold until it was too late. I'll never shake the mental image of her frothing and flailing in that water taxi.

COOPER: In her more than 50 year career. The Emmy winning Toronto native did it all sketch comedy, big budget, features, indie cult favorites and streaming TV. Most recently, O'Hara starred opposite Seth Rogen in Apple's the studio as a Hollywood executive who saw the handwriting on the wall.

O'HARA: They're influencers. Most of them don't even go inside. They just make the red carpet tick tocks and leave.

COOPER: Rogan called O'Hara the funniest person I'd ever had the pleasure of watching on screen. Canada has lost a legend, said Prime Minister Mark Carney. And Michael McKean, who with his wife Annette O'Toole, wrote the Oscar nominated song a kiss at the end of a rainbow for O'Hara and levy in a mighty wind, said simply, only one Catherine O'Hara and now none. Catherine O'Hara was 71-years-old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: All right. Thanks to Anderson more on Catherine O'Hara and the next hour of "The Story Is" which starts right now. He is in these files with some frequency. "The Story Is" 3 million documents from the Epstein files released.

Critics say both too much and too little is redacted.

The American people are demanding Congress step up and force change.

"The Story Is" the federal government is partially shut down right now. What does that mean for you this weekend?

And "The Story Is" loss of a legend celebrating the life. Actress, Catherine O'Hara.

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