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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Sources: Trump Yet To Make Final Decision On Iran Strikes; Verdict Expect In Ex-South Korean President's Trial; Meta CEO Grilled On If Instagram Designed To Be Addictive; Bernie Sanders Pushes for Billionaire Tax in California; The Legacy of the Little Rock Nine; Interview with San Diego City Council Member Marni Von Wilpert. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 19, 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: Shiffrin is the youngest and oldest woman to win Olympic alpine gold. Thanks for watching this hour of The Story Is. The next hour starts right now.

[01:00:09]

The Story Is in Iran, as the U.S. President weighs the benefit of diplomacy over arms. A source tells CNN the U.S. military is prepared to strike as early as this weekend.

The Story Is in South Korea, the former president is facing the death penalty after his attempt to impose military rule in the country. We'll take you there live.

The Story Is wealth tax, I go one-on-one with Senator Bernie Sanders as he pushes Californians to tax the rich.

And The Story Is The Little Rock Nine. Almost 70 years ago, nine teenagers showed up for school in Little Rock and sparked one of the defining moments of the U.S. civil rights movement. CNN's Elie Honig sits down with one of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Alex Michelson.

MICHAELSON: Our top story this hour is in the Middle East, where the U.S. military is prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend. Top national security officials met Wednesday in the White House Situation Room.

Sources say President Trump is yet to make a final decision, and that he has been privately arguing both for and against military action. He's talking to all of his different advisers and polling them what should he do. According to new satellite imagery, Iran is rapidly fortifying several of its nuclear facilities.

Photos show concrete and large amounts of soil being used to bury key sites in recent weeks. White House press secretary says diplomacy is their first choice, but all options are on the table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, there's many reasons and arguments that one could make for a strike against the -- against Iran. The President had a very successful operation as commander-in-chief with Operation Midnight Hammer, as you know, as you just said, totally obliterated Iran's nuclear facilities.

The President has always been very clear, though, with respect to Iran or any country around the world, diplomacy is always his first option. And Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, President Trump is expected to convene the inaugural meeting of his board of peace on Thursday. U.S. officials says the President will run it like one of his cabinet meetings. But the details still unclear. Officials from dozens of countries are expected to be there, either as members or observers, but several major U.S. allies have already rejected membership. They're not going to be there.

President Trump has previewed big announcements for the meeting, including billions of dollars towards rebuilding Gaza and personnel for an international stabilization force. For more on all this, let's bring in Shahin Berenji in Newport, Rhode Island. He is an assistant professor in the Strategy and Policy Department at the U.S. Naval War College. But we should point out he's here on his own to express his own opinions, not those of the U.S. Naval War College.

Welcome to The Story Is. Thanks for staying up late with us.

SHAHIN BERENJI, ASST. PROF., STRATEGY & POLICY DEPT., U.S. NAVAL WAR COLLEGE: Pleasure to be here.

MICHAELSON: What do you think is going on behind the scenes right now when it comes to Iran and the type of military action that President Trump is thinking about?

BERENJI: Well, I think ultimately this is the type of kinetic action that the U.S. would wage would be primarily an air campaign. And ultimately, the severity, the duration and intensity of that air campaign would be dependent upon President Trump's political objectives. Perhaps he could be looking at something like punitive strikes to simply punish Iran security forces like the IRGC and the besieged militia that are responsible for killing thousands if not tens of thousands of Iranian protesters.

Perhaps he's looking to just destroy Iran's whatever is remaining Iran's nuclear infrastructure and ballistic missiles and ballistic missile sites and production facilities. Perhaps he's looking at decapacitation strikes to eliminate Iran's senior political and military leaders. And finally, perhaps he's looking at prolonged intense strikes to affect regime change and regime collapse.

Ultimately, if you look at the last two options I mentioned, decapacitation strikes and regime change and collapse, those two would involve prolonged, intense air campaigns. And I think these are the types of calculations he's making at this time.

MICHAELSON: And from so far in the two terms that we've seen Donald Trump be president, those last two options are not the kind of thing that he's gone to. He has described himself as the peace president, that he likes to make deals. And most of his military attacks have been like a one day thing. He does not want to get into prolonged wars.

[01:05:00]

BERENJI: Yes, I think that's quite true based off past experience. But I would also add that at this point and at this time, Iran's regime is very weak economically, but also militarily. Its proxies are weakened, have been systematically weakened and degraded over the past few years. And its air defenses have not been totally rebuilt and reconstituted.

So I think if you're looking at options three and four, the time may be right from some U.S. officials perspective to do something like that.

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, we've got this Board of Peace meeting that's happening in the next few hours. We've never seen anything like it before. What are the big challenges facing the Board of Peace? And do you think that this this whole idea could actually work?

BERENJI: Yes, so the Board of Peace, the inspiration behind it was originally to move forward and stabilize the situation in Gaza. And I think the meeting that will be held tomorrow in D.C., the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace will primarily be talking about Gaza.

But here's the problem that the Board of Peace is going to encounter moving forward. To move forward, to stabilize the ceasefire and to move forward with the reconstruction and rebuilding of Gaza, Hamas has to agree to disarm.

Hamas will not do that unless Israel withdraws. Israel would not withdraw unless Hamas agrees to disarm and agrees to an international stabilization force. And so this is a roadblock right now. I think this is an obstacle right now that the Trump administration is trying to wrestle with.

And the international stabilization force, this is something that the Board of Peace is trying to organize and put together. And that is a very important objective because you need a third-party force there to monitor the terms of an agreement to ensure Hamas doesn't demilitarize, to prevent smuggling of weapons, and so on and so forth.

But the question is whether you can kind of affect that change and whether Trump administration can do that.

MICHAELSON: And we'll see if they can. Shahin Berenji, joining us live from Rhode Island, thank you so much for sharing your perspective.

BERENJI: Thanks for having me.

Happening now, a lot of focus on South Korea. Right now, court proceedings are underway in Seoul. We are expecting a verdict in the trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. He's accused of masterminding an insurrection in 2024 where he declared martial law. That carries a maximum sentence of the death penalty or life in prison.

Remember, this is a head of state who could be sentenced to death. Yoon also faces charges of abusing his power by ordering troops to storm parliament and jail his opponents. CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is following all this live from Hong Kong. Ivan, welcome back. What is the former president saying in court?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, you know, he's saying that this is not fair, basically. He's calling the prosecution against him a charade and a political conspiracy. He is admitting to the fact that he declared martial law on the night of December 3rd, 2024. But in his defense, he has said, "This was the shortest martial law in modern Korean history, and it cannot be distorted into an act of insurrection."

He has argued that there was political gridlock in the South Korean legislature, and that his declaration of martial law was to wake up the populace and to what was going on in politics. That's not how it's been viewed, certainly by the prosecutors, and I'd say by a significant chunk of Korean society, as well as lawmakers who, on that very night, pushed past police and soldiers that were deployed to try to stop them from getting into the National Assembly.

And they ultimately, a majority of them, voted down martial law within hours of that declaration of martial law. So, it was a very dramatic standoff. And I think that critics of Yoon, of which there are many, would argue that South Korean society and its political elite rejected his attempt to subvert decades of Korean democracy on that night.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And when we've seen live pictures from what's happening right now, that there have been both supporters and opponents outside that courtroom as we await the verdict. Here's a live picture from that. You see a lot of activity happening right now in Seoul, as everybody there is awaiting to see. There's a look at the supporters there. What are the chances that South Korea could actually execute a former president?

[01:10:12]

WATSON: I think experts would argue slim, because there hasn't been an execution since the 1990s, really. But according to the criminal code, if former President Yoon is convicted of leading an insurrection, and that's the charge he's facing today, along with a number of other defendants, and they're all seated in court right now as I speak, he could face, according to the criminal code, three possible sentences. One is the death penalty. Another is life behind bars with labor.

And the third is life behind bars without labor. But the assumption would be that if he was, in fact, to get the death sentence, that that would be mitigated and would amount to basically life behind bars. But it would send a very powerful signal, some argue, to his supporters, of which there are still supporters of President Yoon, and to future leaders never to try to attempt something like this again.

Take a listen to what one lawmaker from the opposite side of the political divide in Korea has to say about this trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHO KUK, REBUILDING KOREA PARTY LEADER (through translator): At the very least, Yoon Suk Yeol should get a life sentence because he tried to destroy South Korea's democracy. There are many places where democracy is faltering. South Korea's experience shows the power to protect and recover democracy lies within the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: It's important to note, Elex, in the last couple of weeks, Yoon's former prime minister, Han Duck-soo, he got 23 years in prison on insurrection charges. And his former interior minister, Lee Sang- min, he got seven years for his role in this insurrection plot.

And an independent counsel leading an investigation came to the conclusion that Yoon, he accused him of plotting with his inner circle for a year to set this plan into motion, and that that plot included transferring different leaders of the military, firing a defense minister, all to try to make this take place, and also provocations into North Korea to help justify the declaration of martial law. And he's facing trial on these charges as well in separate trials.

MICHAELSON: What a story. Ivan Watson, live for us in Hong Kong. As soon as we get word of a verdict, we will break in and bring it to you live. Ivan, thank you.

From one high-profile trial to another, Mark Zuckerberg has been facing tough questions under oath about whether Facebook and Instagram are dangerous for kids. The Meta CEO vehemently defending his company's youth strategy. The tech billionaire grilled for more than five hours here in Los Angeles in a courtroom over whether Instagram is intentionally addictive. And the outcome of this case could set the tone for hundreds of other similar lawsuits. CNN's Clare Duffy in New York to explain. Clare?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, Elex, huge day in this trial today with some testy moments as Mark Zuckerberg tried to make the case that he and the company have not put profits ahead of the safety of young users on the platform. And really at the heart of the questioning that we heard today were these questions about what Meta has known about the risks to young people from its platforms and whether it has done enough to mitigate those risks.

Mark Zuckerberg was asked, for example, about users under the age of 13 accessing Instagram in violation of its policies. He was also asked about beauty filters on Instagram, which Meta's own experts have argued could be harmful to young users. And Mark Zuckerberg talked about the need to balance safety with other considerations like privacy and freedom of expression. He also argued that ultimately his goal is to make a platform with long term appeal to users and that he doesn't want to create something that short term hooks users and makes them feel bad about themselves.

Now, Meta has denied the claims in this lawsuit. It argues that the 20-year-old woman who filed this suit, Kaley, that she experienced a difficult childhood and that that is responsible for her mental health challenges rather than Instagram and social media.

And interestingly, Elex, Kaley was in the courtroom today for this testimony at the end of her lawyers questioning. He rolled out this big banner. It took seven people to hold it, and it had hundreds of little pictures that Kaley had posted on Instagram, really just trying to hammer home what they're calling her compulsive use of this platform.

And finally, the other thing to note here is that there were families, parents in the courtroom today who say their children were harmed or died because of social media. Many of them flew from around the country, and some of them were also in the audience back in 2024 on Capitol Hill when Mark Zuckerberg turned around and apologized to families for the harms that their children have experienced on social media.

[01:15:11]

Those families now two years later, certainly hoping that this trial will lead to more changes to these platforms. And much is going to depend on what the jury thought of Zuckerberg on the today. Back to you.

MICHAELSON: Clare, thank you. We expect that trial to go for several more weeks.

Now to Russia, where the country is pledging to provide assistance to Cuba as the U.S. tightens its economic chokehold of Cuba. That promise after Cuba's foreign minister met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. Russia says it is opposed to any naval blockade of Cuba, which the U.S. is considering, according to Politico. The White House says Cuba has to change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAVITT: Of course, that's in the United States best interest to have Cuba be a truly free and prosperous democracy. Unfortunately, right now, that is not the case. They are a regime that is falling. Their country is collapsing. And that's why we believe it's in their best interest to make very dramatic changes very soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: The U.S. has largely shut off the flow of oil to Cuba in an attempt to force political and economic reforms. It's caused pumps at gas stations to run dry and lights to go dark across the island. Some analysts say the country is being pushed to the brink of an economic collapse. One U.S. lawmaker had a blunt message for Cuba's communist leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): It's time that we topple the regime. The regime is toppled. Look, I look at it as a cancer patient. The cancer is the regime, all right? And we have to get rid of the cancer. Now, the cure is going to hurt. It's not going to be easy. But the patient has to go through the cure in order to get rid of the cancer. And believe me, the cancer is the regime. They destroyed the island. This used to be, you know, the jewel of the Caribbean. They used to have the second highest standard of living in the Western Hemisphere. And now it has a standard living that's below Haiti. So yes, it's going to be tough. Yes, it's going to hurt. But at the end, Cuba will be cured once and for all when this regime is toppled and we have free and democratic Cuba, a friend of the United States, an ally of the United States, not an enemy of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez.

Could the Epstein files soon claim another casualty? The head of the L.A. Olympic Committee is under mounting pressure to resign. Casey Wasserman right out the uproar. A California lawmaker joins us live. Make news with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:21:58]

MICHAELSON: A growing number of lawmakers are demanding the chair of the L.A. Olympic Committee step down over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Files released by the Justice Department reveal that entertainment executive Casey Wasserman exchanged suggestive e-mails with Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. He also flew on Epstein's plane.

All of this happened before Maxwell or Epstein were charged with any crimes. The backlash prompted Wasserman to put his talent agency up for sale. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass among those calling for the L.A. 28 Committee to find a new leader. The board so far sticking with him, but 10 new state lawmakers today came out against Wasserman. One of them is Mark Gonzales. He represents L.A. at the California State Assembly. He is with us live from the Assembly in Sacramento right now.

Mark Gonzalez, welcome to The Story Is for the first time.

MARK GONZALEZ, CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY MEMBER: Hi, good evening, Elex. Thank you for having me.

MICHAELSON: Why do you think that that Casey Wasserman needs to step down?

GONZALEZ: Look, for us in Los Angeles and here in our golden state, we know that this is not a moment for eagle or personal preservation. Right now, our focus should be on protecting, protecting the very integrity of the L.A. Olympics and ensuring that nothing clouds what we should -- what should be one of the most unifying and celebrating events of our nation that we will host.

The world is watching Los Angeles to showcase that we are a city of angels, and we have to make sure that folks who are leading that are reflective of our city.

MICHAELSON: Do you have any evidence that Casey Wasserman did anything wrong? I mean, he hasn't committed any crimes. There's no evidence that he committed any crimes. What did he do? He exchanged flirty e- mails with somebody while he was married, which is obviously not illegal, years ago. Why should he lose his job over that?

GONZALEZ: Look, I'm a firm believer in due process, and everybody is given their ability to be able to present their case, give themselves due process and showcase whether or not they were right or wrong or whether they were guilty of it.

The reality of this conversation, though, is that the Olympics and the Epstein files should not be in the same sentence in the same conversation. It's a distraction. And so for us, he's already selling his talent agency where artists were already responding and saying that they would leave his talent agency.

Clients and staff were asking him to do the same. So it has become a distraction from the dollars that need to be raised to go into fundraising for this Olympics. And look, if he's not going to step down completely, he needs to step aside, handle that issue, and then come back if he's ready once he's exonerated from this and then come back to the table to have a real conversation about this. But again, that should not be part of the discussion.

MICHAELSON: Exonerated from what, though? He's not charged with a crime. There are e-mails that came out that he sent in a flirtatious manner. The board, who know him the best and know the job that he's done on this, all back him. They want him to be in charge. They don't want to get to somebody else randomly at this point. How does he exonerate himself?

[01:25:07]

GONZALEZ: The reality is that President Trump is also named in this and should and should also be somebody that should resign from being our president. But that's not the topic of conversation we're discussing here. The reality is that anybody who was named in this --

MICHAELSON: He hasn't been charged with a crime either.

GONZALEZ: But, well, he's been 30, 34 counts of, you know, as well.

MICHAELSON: Not this, not involved with this.

GONZALEZ: We knew he was on the President's side.

MICHAELSON: Yes. GONZALEZ: Well, not involved with this, but we have seen the photos. And those do tell a different story. And the fact is that our president has also been involved in the Epstein files as well.

MICHAELSON: There are no photos that show that Donald Trump was charged with any sort of crime in this. But back to the topic of Casey Wasserman.

GONZALEZ: But there are photos with him and Epstein that showcase there is a longstanding relationship, and that is also cause for concern. And if we're going to hold our president to those same standards, we have to hold those who are the focus of the World Olympics to be able to held on the same standards as well. And we have to push back against that.

Again, he may not have committed a direct crime, but if Democrats are asking across the board for these files to be revealed, and now names are starting to come out, we have to hold them to the same accountability to step aside because it is a distraction from what the Olympics stand for.

It's making folks relive those who are survivors go through this experience, and we don't need that to be the distraction for being the host city. We need to raise those dollars to go back in to put jobs and food on the table. And that's what this is about. And now this is a distraction.

Again, the Olympics and the Epstein files should not be in the same sentence.

MICHAELSON: So the picture you're talking about is the fact that Donald Trump was friends with Jeffrey Epstein, which we know. Bill Clinton was friends with Jeffrey Epstein. There's pictures of that. There is a picture of Casey Wasserman, who was also friends with Jeffrey Epstein. We know all of that.

So here's something I've heard that some folks who like Casey Wasserman have suggested, that on the board now of L.A. 2028 are a lot of Trump-friendly Republicans, people like Kevin McCarthy, Reince Priebus, and others, and that if you remove Casey Wasserman, you could actually end up with a conservative Republican running the games, and that the Trump folks could actually have more influence in the games, and that Casey Wasserman actually defends what L.A. wants in a better way. What do you say to that?

GONZALEZ: I don't personally know Casey Wasserman. I'm not in those rooms when those discussions are happening. I have heard the same thing, Elex, that he is a good person that is representing the Los Angeles State needs that are at the forefront of these conversations. I don't necessarily think that Trump, who's already trying to create this to be his own Olympics, going to not do that under Wasserman.

But again, we're talking about the immediate, you know, ramifications that we are seeing right now with having to raise those dollars. There is zero government dollars that are going into this. It has to be all raised through corporations. And so that's what Wasserman is doing and making sure that our host city is ready for that and getting those dollars.

Again, companies and folks have to reevaluate whether or not they want to have that as a representative of that. And if he can step aside now and come back and revisit this conversation, then we'll do that. But I think folks are saying, as L.A. Mayor and our supervisors, as the hosting city, we cannot have him to be the front face of the Olympics if this is going to be a distraction from what we are trying to accomplish and get our city ready.

MICHAELSON: Mark Gonzalez, member of California's State Assembly representing Los Angeles, thanks so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. Great to see you.

GONZALEZ: Thank you, Elex. Thank you.

MICHAELSON: Senator Bernie Sanders is urging voters here in California to back an emergency tax on billionaires. He spoke at a rally a short time ago here in L.A. A large health care union argues that the one- time 5 percent tax would save the state's health care system from collapsing.

But the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, is pushing back on the proposed ballot measure. He says it could actually scare away wealthy residents and businesses. And we've already seen some examples of some billionaires trying to move out of California just with the threat of all of this.

So a short time ago, I sat down with Senator Bernie Sanders and talked to him about all of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): So the issue comes down to whether or not we ask the wealthiest people in this country, many of them living right here in California, to start paying their fair share of taxes so that 3 million people mistake can get health care. And I think the answer is pretty obvious. Yes, that's what we've got to do.

MICHAELSON: But we've already seen Larry Page, Peter Thiel, David Sacks, Larry Ellison start to move out of this state.

SANDERS: Isn't that something?

MICHAELSON: No, but the --

SANDERS: Here's what the argument is.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

SANDERS: The argument is it is outrageous. What they are saying to the people of California is it doesn't matter to us. We're billionaires and we're getting richer and richer. And if children die because they can't get to a doctor, tough luck. We have the power, California.

[01:29:57]

MICHAELSON: Yes.

SANDERS: And we are going to punish you. Now, they lie a lot, these guys. When Mamdani was running for mayor in New York City, you may recall everybody -- all the rich guys were going to leave. It didn't happen.

Now, whether they do or not, I don't know. Who knows? But the idea that they are saying that it's ok for children to die, people not get the health care they need, and they're going to punish the people of California -- that is outrageous.

And by the way, that is why I will be introducing a national wealth tax. Where are they going to run then? Maybe they'll run to Saudi Arabia.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

SANDERS: I suspect that's where they'll go. But, you know, you got to -- at some point you got to stand up to these guys.

MICHAELSON: But that's the Newsom argument that we should do it nationally.

SANDERS: I understand.

MICHAELSON: But if we do it just here --

(CROSSTALKING)

MICHAELSON: -- it's going to hurt California's revenue.

SANDERS: Well, I'm going to introduce the legislation. It isn't going to pass right away.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

SANDERS: And if California can do it, this will be a message, by the way, not only to America it will be a message to the world. Because this oligarchy is taking over countries all over the world.

So, this is a big deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Our full interview with Senator Sanders tomorrow here on THE STORY IS.

But up next, a living witness to history. We sit down with a member of the Little Rock Nine to reflect on one of the defining moments that changed America forever.

[01:31:05]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

The U.S. military is prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend. But sources say that President Trump is yet to make a final decision on the issue and that he's privately argued both for and against military action.

Mark Zuckerberg testified before a jury for the first time in a landmark social media trial. For more than five hours, the Meta CEO defended how his company navigates the safety of young users.

Meta and YouTube accused of designing their apps to be addictive and harming children's mental health. YouTube also denies the lawsuit's claims.

Fresh off his appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show, the rapper Bad Bunny is set to be the lead in a new historical drama about the island where he was born.

Residente, fellow grammy winner from Puerto Rico is set to direct the film, called "Porto Rico". Also expected to star Hollywood A-listers including Viggo Mortensen, Javier Bardem and Edward Norton.

Well, almost 70 years ago, nine teenagers showed up for school in Little Rock, Arkansas and sparked one of the defining moments of the U.S. civil rights movement. The Little Rock Nine were African-American students trying to integrate the city's main white high school.

President Dwight Eisenhower ordered U.S. troops to protect them. Melba Pattillo Beals was just 15 years old, facing mobs, violence and death threats. She says without those troops, she would not have survived.

CNN's Elie Honig sat down with her to hear her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: When Melba Pattillo Beals and her black classmates first tried to enter Little Rock Central High School, they were blocked by an angry mob.

MELBA PATTILLO BEALS, MEMBER OF THE LITTLE ROCK NINE: "You're dead. You know, you're not going to live. You might as well put your books down. You're not going to live to study."

HONIG: In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a historic ruling, Brown versus Board of Education. In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the court prohibited racial segregation in public schools and declared an end to so-called Jim Crow separate but equal laws.

Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, it would be three years until Arkansas high schools would integrate. Melba Beals, then just 15 years old, would be part of the first group of black students at Little Rock Central High School.

PATTILLO BEALS: Now, originally, there were 116 African-American children set to go to Central High School. A man -- a white man, came to our house and knocked on the door. "This is not going to be good for you. We're going to kill you and your relatives."

HONIG: And there was physical violence directed at you and your family as well?

PATTILLO BEALS: Physical doesn't begin to explain it. Shooting in the window.

HONIG: The intimidation did deter some students. Only Melba and eight others ended up attending. Together, they would become known as the Little Rock Nine.

PATTILLO BEALS: My grandmother said, "Look, you're born on this earth to do certain things. And if that's what you're here for, then you have no choice."

HONIG: The first time they tried to enter the school, Melba and her black classmates were met by an angry mob. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus had activated the Arkansas National Guard to block the black students from entering the school.

Later that month, President Dwight D. Eisenhower invoked the Insurrection Act to deploy the military, the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, to escort the students into Little Rock Central High School.

DWIGHT EISENHOWER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have today issued an executive order directing the use of troops under federal authority to aid in the execution of federal law at Little Rock, Arkansas.

HONIG: What would have happened if President Eisenhower never utilized the 101st to protect you?

PATTILLO BEALS: I wouldn't be sitting here. I would be very dead -- not a little dead, very dead.

HONIG: What was your time at Little Rock Central like?

PATTILLO BEALS: It was a horror movie. Put acid in my eyes. I see, for example, the liquid, that light, floaters go across. Pulling my hair, cut off my -- try to cut off my ponytail. I would go to the bathroom, and they would drop lit pieces of fire -- paper with matches and drop them over.

HONIG: While Melba knew her role was important, the burden and the sacrifice were almost too much for her to bear.

[01:39:48]

HONIG: But when Martin Luther King Jr. visited the Little Rock Nine, he made it clear that their mission was much bigger.

You met with Martin Luther King. PATTILLO BEALS: I did. And he said, "Melba, you're not doing this for yourself. You're doing this for generations yet unborn."

HONIG: This was hardly the first time she'd face challenges. As a black child born in 1941 in the segregated South, Melba Pattillo Beals faced racism in every part of her life.

PATTILLO BEALS: We'd go in public, and they'd call us the N-word all the time. So what it was like? It was a living hell, because from the beginning, my little spirit said, hey, you don't treat me that way.

HONIG: As a child, Melba witnessed unspeakable acts of violence.

PATTILLO BEALS: Five years of age, I'm sitting in a church. And so, all of a sudden, this backdoor opened, and there were probably, I don't know, a hundred -- more than a hundred people, and in walked these dudes in their white sheets, and I know what that meant. That's Klan, right?

They went right after this man, and there were rafters in this church, and they strung a rope over the rafters. I was too little to look up to his face, but I could see his feet dangling as they were hanging him, and I could hear the "argh" in his throat, you know? I have never forgotten that.

HONIG: In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded Melba and the other members of the Little Rock Nine the Congressional Gold Medal for their role in the civil rights movement.

Given her own lived experience, Melba worries about what she sees unfolding today.

PATTILLO BEALS: Sending troops is not the answer. Eisenhower sent in troops because Faubus was not in compliance. And so I think that, in the end, will we regret what's going on now? Let's wait and see.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: What a story. Our thanks to Elie Honig.

And our thanks to you for watching.

For our international viewers, "WORLDSPORT" is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back.

We'll look at one of the most competitive House races in the country.

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MICHAELSON: Live picture from Washington right now. The White House says President Trump has not spoken directly with any Democrats to try and end the partial government shutdown. But press secretary Karoline Leavitt says that doesn't mean he's not willing to hold talks. Democrats blocked funding for the Department of Homeland Security last

week, the only agency which is impacted by this shutdown. They're demanding new regulations to rein in federal immigration officers.

Joining me now is Marni Von Wilpert, a two-term San Diego City council member and labor attorney in the Obama administration. She now is running to unseat Republican Congressman Darrell Issa in the newly- redrawn California's 48th district.

Welcome to the issue -- or THE STORY IS for the first time.

Let's talk about the issue of immigration. You, on a local level, are trying to do things to try to stop some of what ICE is doing. What are you working on?

MARNIE VON WILPERT, SAN DIEGO COUNCIL MEMBER: Yes. So I am a San Diego City council member, and I know from governing one of the largest cities in the nation, it is our job in government to keep people safe. And what we're seeing Donald Trump's ICE do and federal agents on the streets of Minnesota is not law enforcement, it's chaos. It's terror in our streets.

And so I led a vote with the San Diego City council to join the lawsuit with Minneapolis against ICE to push back on what they're doing in our communities.

I know that our communities are actually safest when we actually stand up for our shared American constitutional rights, you know, the right to life, liberty, dignity, due process under law. That's what I'm fighting for on a local level.

MICHAELSON: But you also don't have a right to be here without documentation. So how should immigration be enforced if somebody is here illegally?

VON WILPERT: You know what we're seeing in Minneapolis is not basic immigration enforcement. Trump told us we were going to see the criminals taken out of our country. I don't think a five-year-old boy is a criminal. I don't think people working 12 hours a day and dropping their kids off at daycare are criminals.

What we need to see with our immigration system is an actual, functioning immigration system.

I grew up in San Diego. I'm a San Diego native. I'm on a border region. We know what it means to have a strong border that allows students and health care workers in economies to thrive, while keeping our border secure from bad actors and guns and drugs. This is not what Donald Trump is doing.

So what we're doing here in San Diego is actually promoting law enforcement where we believe in trust between government and police.

But, you know, before this, I was actually a prosecutor, a deputy city attorney and a civil rights lawyer in Mississippi. And so I know what it means to stand up for the rule of law. And Donald Trump is not the rule of law.

MICHAELSON: Do you think this strategy for the Democrats is working? Because some critics would say that ICE is largely funded for years, and this is potentially actually hurting other agencies in Homeland Security like TSA. And it's unfair to those people who are now going without a paycheck.

VON WILPERT: What Democrats should be doing in Washington is requiring federal agents to abide by the same constitutional protection our local law enforcement does.

You know, refrain from excessive force, don't wear masks when doing raids. Make sure that you abide by constitutional requirements and deescalation. They can do that now by putting those conditions into the funding bill which is what I'm glad they're doing.

You know, when I actually served as a civil rights lawyer in the Deep South in Mississippi, I fought hard for the American values that we count on, our voting rights, our right to due process under law. And we're not seeing that with Donald Trump's administration.

MICHAELSON: You've talked a little bit about your background, but for some people, this is an introduction to you. Tell us a little bit about your biography and how that shapes your worldview in terms of how you would be as a member of Congress.

VON WILPERT: So I am a San Diego native. I grew up there, and I served in the United States Peace Corps in sub-Saharan Africa during the AIDS crisis. And so watching Donald Trump crush U.S. aid and our foreign diplomacy has been firstly heartbreaking for me.

I then returned home to America. I became a lawyer. I went to law school in New York City and served as a civil rights lawyer in the Deep South before working for the Obama administration as a labor attorney.

I know what it's like for working people to not be able to get a fair shake on the job because I enforced labor rights around the country under President Obama.

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VON WILPERT: When Donald Trump won the White House, I knew I couldn't work for him. So I quit my job, came home to San Diego, and I said, let's get more young women into government. And I ran for office, and I flipped my district from red to blue in San Diego.

When I won my election, everybody told me, oh, you can't be a strong Democrat. You're in such a purple district. You have to hold on to your seat. And I said watch me.

We had a horrible mass shooting in the San Diego gas lamp district right when I got elected, and I found out the shooter used a ghost gun. And so the prosecutor in me said, let's write a law to solve this. And I wrote the first law in California banning the sale of

untraceable ghost guns and the parts of guns people were using to make guns at home and use them in crimes.

And Elex, I got sued immediately when the mayor signed my law by the gun lobby and the NRA, and I honestly thought about giving up.

Facing a federal lawsuit as a first term city council member is pretty intimidating --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

VON WILPERT: -- but then I got an email from a father in the city next door to mine. And he sent me in a selfie of himself in front of his 12-year-old son's grave. And he said, Marni, I have to tell you what happened to my son. And I could tell the grave was fresh because the flowers were still blooming and the candles were still burning.

MICHAELSON: Right.

VON WILPERT: And he said, my 12-year-old son Max was shot and killed by a ghost gun two weeks ago. And I'm writing to you because you're the only politician doing anything about this.

MICHAELSON: Wow.

VON WILPERT: And so that's what made me go to court.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

VON WILPERT: And I did. And guess what? We won. The federal court upheld my law. Los Angeles passed the ghost gun last year. San Francisco passed it. Oakland, the state of California took action.

But the way I did this --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

VON WILPERT: -- in my district is I didn't divide people over this issue. I brought people into the conversation at my press conferences. I had moms demand action. I had high school students who were sick and tired of hiding under their desks with active shooters.

MICHAELSON: Sure.

VON WILPERT: -- and I had uniform law enforcement because police officers also don't like being shot on the street by illegal guns. And when people saw that, they said, wait a minute, police are on your side with this gun law? And I said yes.

MICHAELSON: Yes. Right.

VON WILPERT: And it brought people into the conversation and guess what, I got reelected with no opponent in my purple district.

MICHAELSON: There you go. Thank you so much for coming in and sharing your views. You're running in a very competitive district, one that we're going to be following all across the country. Thank you very much.

We'll be right back with more of THE STORY IS right after this.

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MICHAELSON: We end with major breaking news. The former president of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol, was just found guilty of leading an insurrection during his short-lived imposition of martial law in late 2024, which plunged the country into political chaos, threatened to unravel decades of democracy.

We are still awaiting his sentence.

That's it for me. I'm Elex Michaelson. I'll see you tomorrow.

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