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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
U.S. Forces Complete Latest Strikes Against Iran; Veteran Accused of Throwing Incendiary Device at Federal Building; Andy Burnham Sets Ambitious Goals on First Day as New Prime Minister; Tate Brothers Appear in Court After U.K. Extradition Request; Democratic Socialists Spark Intra-Party Struggle; Andrew Yang on His Future in Politics; Nolan Wells Laid to Rest as Family Searches for Answers; Flavor Flav Hosts Las Vegas Celebration for Women Athletes; Inside China's Village Super League. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired July 21, 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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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE WONSLEY, MOTHER OF NOLAN WELLS: Be the light that brightens the lives of those around you. Be the warmth for those who may be feeling the coldness of the world. Love deeply, protect fiercely, and welcome others with kindness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles.
Coming up, THE STORY IS the Pentagon saying nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured over the last two weeks. Why President Trump may not be ready for a new ceasefire with Iran.
THE STORY IS targeting ICE. A suspect in custody after setting a fire outside a New York federal building. What we know about the motive.
And THE STORY IS Flava Flav. The rapper made good on his recent promise to celebrate female athletes and Olympic stars. He'll join me live from Las Vegas to share the best moments from "She Weekend."
ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: Welcome to a new week here. The top story is retaliation by President Donald Trump against Iran for the recent deaths of U.S. service members in the Middle East. Earlier, U.S. Central Command announced the completion of the 10th consecutive night of strikes.
Iran's state media reported explosions in the country's southern region along the Gulf of Oman and near the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the Pentagon confirmed that nearly 100 U.S. service members have been injured in the past two weeks. That announcement comes after CNN reported that the U.S. military has been slow to disclose injuries to troops in the war. Mediators between the U.S. and Iran have floated a 10-day ceasefire in
an effort to get the two countries back to the negotiating table. The White House wouldn't say if it would accept a pause in fighting, but acknowledged that diplomatic efforts are ongoing.
For more on all this, I'm joined by former NATO Supreme Allied commander and retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark.
Welcome back to THE STORY IS, General. You say that a lot of people on TV are getting it wrong when it comes to this war. What's the most important thing that the American people need to know right now?
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMERCE EUROPE: I think there is a strategy that can be applied to bring this to a successful set of negotiations, and maybe a conclusion, and that is you've got to go after the most important asset that Iran has. And that's its control or its ability to disrupt traffic on the Strait of Hormuz.
So if you can go after that militarily, you take out the radars, the missile sites, the control centers, the harbors, the boats, the roads that let them replace these assets and so forth, you isolate that coastline from Iran's own ability to reinforce it, you've got something there that's got real leverage.
The Iranians know this because that's why they've escalated. They can't defend it so they're going after their neighbors across the Gulf and our bases in some of those countries, because they can't protect their own coastline from us. So you have to keep --
MICHAELSON: Yes, because a lot of the reporting --
CLARK: -- on them.
MICHAELSON: A lot of the reporting is that the United States is escalating.
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAELSON: I'm sorry, you say a lot of the -- reporting is that the United States is escalating, but you say the Iranians actually are escalating. And we were just looking at video of a lot of the U.S. military actions. You say that those are slowly but surely helping when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz.
CLARK: Absolutely they are. You know, we're watching it like hawks. So we've got reconnaissance over it all the time. Whenever they shoot, we're on them. Whenever they get set up to shoot, we're on them. They've got to be able to operate in a 30-minute window or less to get away with anything right now and we're moving to close that window. So they know that this is a losing battle for them.
The only way they can -- the only thing they can do is try to drive us away from finishing the job. And they're trying to do that by striking our friends and neighbors in the region and our bases in the region. MICHAELSON: And they're also getting some help from Russia and China
as well. I know you're frustrated by that. What are the U.S. options at this point to get Russia and China out of this?
CLARK: Well, I think obviously we'd like to ask these countries please don't reinforce. But, you know, Xi Jinping told President Trump he wasn't going to help. But that wasn't correct. There were ships from China providing rocket fuel at the very time that President Trump was in China.
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So you've got to simply eliminate the access. You do that by taking out the railroads, the bridges, the tunnels, the way that these countries move goods in and out. You also put an air embargo over Iran so you don't let the Russians land high technology stuff at airfields in Iran.
Can we do it? Well, we can do it. Takes a lot of aircraft to do it, a lot of attention. And like all of these plays, the squeeze takes some time. So you have to be patient. As far as Pakistan is concerned, and that's about money. And so the Iranians have a financial deal with the Pakistanis apparently. Well, we ought to buy off the Pakistanis and tell them we'll give them more or take other actions to stop that flow of contraband, of weapons, of missile parts, of technology from Pakistan into Iran.
You have to isolate the theater of operations in a military campaign if you're going to succeed militarily. You leave the door open to Russia and China for everything, we attack. They bring in more missiles, more fuel and so forth. It's an endless cycle. That is an endless war. You know, in Afghanistan, we never could isolate Afghanistan from Pakistan. That was one of the sources of failure.
In Vietnam, where I was an infantry captain 50 some odd years ago, we still couldn't control the infiltration from the North. We didn't take it seriously in early -- in the mid-'60s when we could have stopped it. We thought, well, you know, we've got the Soviets, we've got the Chinese.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
CLARK: We don't know what's going to happen. Let's just work it inside Vietnam. In the end, we did try to stop it. 1971, with this disastrous operation called Lamson 719. It was too late.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
CLARK: And the historical lesson on this, Elex, is this is a real conflict for the United States. You shouldn't take it as anything else. A defeat here is a real defeat for the United States. It doesn't have to happen, but it will happen if we don't take it seriously. And that means isolating the theater of operation, getting a strategy and staying with it.
MICHAELSON: General Wesley Clark, who served the United States for 38 years in military uniform and --
CLARK: (INAUDIBLE). A lot of people think this is about punishing Iran.
MICHAELSON: Real quick.
CLARK: We're going to punish them. OK. But, you know, that's not the way to use military force in this case. You've got to use it in a way that takes away their military capabilities. And if you can't do that, you've got to use it in a way that takes away their greatest leverage. So we're trying to go after their missile sites and their air defense and their radar and their early warning. And we're trying to isolate the country so that the assets we take out can't be replaced. And we're trying to keep the strait open.
Is it a doable do? I think it is if we're patient, stay with it, reinforce as necessary. Stay focused on what we have to do.
MICHAELSON: Wesley Clark, who knows a lot about all of this after serving for 38 years, a retired four-star general. Thank you so much for your insights. Really appreciate it.
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating an incident outside a federal government building in Manhattan on Monday. Authorities say a U.S. Army vet threw an incendiary device at the building, which houses the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE. Investigators say the man was carrying a sign that read "ICE off our streets," along with other weapons and items in a cart.
CNN's Brynn Gingras has more on the suspect now in custody.
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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One federal authority calling Andrew Arrabacca anti-American and anti-government extremist, in police custody after they say he staged an attack right here outside of 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, a federal building that houses ICE as well as New York headquarters of the FBI and other government agencies.
Arrabacca, a Army veteran, according to the video that authorities say they have of this incident, came to this area in the morning and essentially fired off an air pistol several times at this building, and then proceeded to take a gas -- can of gasoline, poured over the front steps of the employee entrance of the building, and then light it on fire, quickly apprehended by authorities. And has said some things to investigators throughout the investigation and while he's being questioned, including bringing up some anti-ICE sentiments.
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Authorities also say he had a anti-ICE sign on a cart that he was carrying that was filled with a number of weapons, including a hammer and knives and a machete. So lots to be collected for this investigation. Authorities also saying that they found his car and that they are going to have a search warrant to go through it. At this point, Arrabacca has not been charged. But of course this investigation still very much active as the night goes on.
Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
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MICHAELSON: The fatal shootings of two men by ICE agents have renewed scrutiny of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. More than three dozen U.S. senators are demanding significant reforms after the deadly shootings in Texas and Maine. In a letter to Secretary Markwayne Mullin, they're calling on DHS to follow through on its earlier commitment to equip every ICE team with at least one body camera within the next 60 days.
The senators also want to know how new ICE recruits are vetted. Both fatal ICE shootings happened during traffic stops earlier this month, and the agents involved were not wearing body cameras.
Here's what border czar Tom Homan had to say.
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TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: I'm a supporter of body cameras. You know, I know that body cameras exonerate officers almost 90 percent of the time. I want the American people to see where that ICE agent sees. You know, you can have cell phone cameras from across the street or cameras from the side, or city cameras. I want the American people to see what that ICE officer sees when he takes action.
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MICHAELSON: To Europe now, Britain's new prime minister is hitting the ground running. Andy Burnham officially has accepted the position after meeting with King Charles. He wasted no time making bold promises to the public and pledging to make politics work better.
CNN's Max Foster has details on Burnham's first day, and outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer's last day.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Britain's new prime minister, the seventh in just over a decade of political turmoil, arriving at Downing Street on Monday with a promise of change.
ANDY BURNHAM, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I know people at home are fed up with politics. I hear you and I want to be honest with you. We have not been good enough and we need to be better. We will be. We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years.
FOSTER (voice-over): Doing away with the traditional Downing Street speech lectern, Burnham pledged to restore faith in government, bring down the cost of living and end rough sleeping.
BURNHAM: I will put the care of people at the heart of everything I do. FOSTER (voice-over): It came after a warm goodbye to the former
leader, Keir Starmer, earlier on Monday.
KEIR STARMER, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: My work is done.
FOSTER (voice-over): His resignation making him the shortest serving Labour prime minister in history.
STARMER: I go with good grace. I go with a smile and I go proud of everything that we have achieved.
FOSTER (voice-over): It was less than two years ago that Starmer led his party to its biggest majority in parliament this century, but the British public soon soured on him and ultimately it was pressure from within his own party amid lagging poll ratings that led to his exit and this moment.
STARMER: I now pass the baton to Andy Burnham. I wish him every success. He has my full support.
FOSTER (voice-over): After leaving Downing Street, Starmer traveled the short journey to formally offer his resignation to King Charles at Buckingham Palace. Burnham then seamlessly stepped into his place as he was invited to form a government by the monarch.
For Andy Burnham, this is actually a return to Westminster. He was a member of parliament here for 16 years. He was a member of the Cabinet as well before going on to Greater Manchester, where he became mayor and one of the most popular politicians in the country. Now he's urging everyone, his supporters and the general public, to get behind him as he takes on his biggest job yet, the biggest job in the country.
BURNHAM: I will give this my all and I ask you all to pull with me. Let's build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity. Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again. The moment we bring back hope.
FOSTER (voice-over): But as the man dubbed the "king of the north" takes office behind the shiny black door in Westminster, the difficult decisions both at home and abroad begin.
Max Foster, CNN, Downing Street, London.
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MICHAELSON: Wildfires are still burning across Canada, but air quality has improved in Southern Ontario as well as the U.S., northeast and mid-Atlantic.
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But parts of the Midwest still dealing with poor air quality levels, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rated it as unhealthy or unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Here's more now from fire chief in Canada.
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FIRE CHIEF MARK SHRUFF, NEEBING EMERGENCY SERVICES: Northwestern Ontario, we're not strangers to forest fires. We deal with them every year. However, with the scale that we're dealing with this fire season, especially with the relatively slow start, is unprecedented. And I think any -- if you talk to anyone in the northwest and they'll say they've never seen anything like it.
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MICHAELSON: Wildfires have increased tensions between Canada and the U.S.. President Trump is suggesting that America's northern neighbor should pay damages for the wildfire smoke.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Air has been poisoned. I have a good relationship with Mark Carney. But, you know, we got to stop the fires up there. If we can help them, we'll help them. But maybe they should pay us some damages or something? Or we should do some tariffs.
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MICHAELSON: Online influencers Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate appeared in federal court earlier. The U.K. charges at the center of the case after the break. Plus, former presidential candidate Andrew Yang is here live to talk about the growing division in the Democratic Party, ahead of the November's midterms, his thoughts on A.I. and more, his new book. And later.
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UNIDENTIFIED ATHLETES: USA! USA!
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MICHAELSON: Dozens of America's elite female athletes taking in the sights of the Las Vegas strip. Part of hip-hop legend Flava Flav's "She Weekend" event celebrating women in sports. Know all about it from Flav himself. He joins us live later this hour.
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MICHAELSON: The online influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate appeared in handcuffs in federal court on Monday. The brothers were arrested by U.S. Marshals on Saturday following extradition requests from the United Kingdom, where they face multiple charges including rape and sex trafficking. Attorneys for the brothers say that they're innocent and are using -- urging the Trump administration to intervene.
CNN's Randi Kaye has the latest.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the heart of Miami, Andrew and Tristan Tate in federal court after a dramatic weekend arrest. Booked on new charges including rape, sexual assault, human trafficking and possessing indecent images of a child.
The brothers are influencers with dual U.S. and U.K. citizenship. They are known for their misogynistic content online.
ANDREW TATE, SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER: I will state right now that I am absolutely sexist and I'm absolutely a misogynist.
KAYE (voice-over): U.S. Marshals took them into custody Saturday outside a bare knuckle boxing event. The arrest coming after U.K. investigators say four new victims came forward. The U.K. Crown Prosecution Service and Bedfordshire Police say the Tate brothers now face a total of 59 charges between them.
The brothers are well known and in some areas of the internet celebrated for suggesting men own women.
TATE: I believe the woman is given to the man. I believe she's given away by the father. I believe she belongs to the man. I believe she belongs to the man in marriage.
KAYE (voice-over): The brothers had been arrested in Romania in 2022, where they are facing charges of human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group to sexually exploit women. They have denied all charges.
So what were they doing in Miami? Last year after Romanian authorities lifted the travel restriction on the pair, they hopped on a private jet to Florida.
TATE: We live in a Democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty.
KAYE (voice-over): Despite all the controversy, their support online continues to grow. Young men and boys often follow them for their content promoting female submission and male dominance. Andrew Tate once argued women should bear responsibility for being sexually assaulted.
TATE: It's about the fact that she belongs to him, and the intimate parts of her body belong to him.
KAYE (voice-over): The Tates are outspoken supporters of President Donald Trump and hold plenty of sway in the manosphere. Just two weeks before they were allowed to leave Romania, Andrew Tate posted this. "The Tates will be free. Trump is the president. The good old days are back." The White House said the U.S. government played no direct role in bringing them to Florida. Romania's foreign minister also said he wasn't pressured. The Tates have repeatedly praised Trump and urged voters to support
him. And some members of Trump's family have shown support for the Tates. In 2023, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted about Andrew Tate's house arrest in Romania, calling it absolute insanity. Their defense lawyer reiterating his client's innocence, saying this is a case of free speech.
JOSEPH MCBRIDE, LAWYER FOR ANDREW AND TRISTAN TATE: When you drag somebody's name to the media, when you slander them, when you defame them, when you accuse them of heinous and terrible allegations, the process becomes the punishment until you can clear your name.
KAYE: And that court hearing lasted just seven minutes. There are no cameras allowed in federal court, so we don't have any video from there. But the Tate brothers, we understand, will remain in custody at least until their lawyers meet again on Monday. And there's no telling how long this extradition process can take. It can actually take months, depending on how many challenges the Tate brothers bring.
It's also worth noting that two sources familiar with all of this are telling CNN that President Donald Trump is not expected to get involved in the Tate brothers' extradition case.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
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MICHAELSON: Senator Elizabeth Warren is endorsing Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary. The race, one of the highest profile battles within the party between progressive candidates and establishment Democrats.
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Retiring Senator Gary Peters has endorsed El-Sayed's opponent, Congressmember Haley Stevens. The winner of the August 4th primary will face Republican Mike Rogers in November.
Let's talk more about the battle for the Democratic Party with former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. His new book is called "Hey, Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks?: And Other True Stories of Staggering Depth."
Andrew Yang, welcome to THE STORY IS for the first time.
ANDREW YANG, CEO, NOBLE MOBILE: Thanks, man. It's great to be here with you.
MICHAELSON: So the Democratic Party is having this interesting internal fight right now. On the left, you see a lot of Democratic socialists. On the more center right, you see folks that are pushing back against that. How do you see that fight? And do you think that this push to the left will ultimately hurt the party?
YANG: If you look at the recent New York races that have gotten a ton of attention, those were in closed party primaries. And so it's a more limited voting universe. And so it's easier to have more left-leaning candidates come out. It's one reason why this Michigan Senate primary is so interesting because, you know, it's a broader swath of the electorate.
I know both Abdullah El-Sayed from CNN, actually, and Haley Stevens, who's been a very effective legislator. So I think this is a true litmus test.
MICHAELSON: But -- so your point, which is something you've talked about for years with the Forward Party, is this idea that open primaries, not close primaries, actually lead to more moderate candidates. And in New York, where you ran for mayor, that's not the case right now.
YANG: You're not going to believe this but the more people vote, the more representative the process is. And so you end up with a candidate that appeals to different sorts of people. It's one great frustration of mine that the primaries in New York City are closed. And right now there are people who are trying to open them up, and Zohran Mamdani's team has actually been fighting against those open primaries, even though they say, hey, our stuff is super popular. They actually know that if you have more people vote, their chances of winning go down, not up.
MICHAELSON: So your book talks a lot about your presidential run. And one of the things that you talked about back in 2019 and 2020, when I was first interviewing you was A.I..
YANG: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And the need for universal basic income because you saw what was coming with A.I.. A lot of people sort of mock that at the time, but now it looks like you were right about so much of it.
How do you see A.I. right now in terms of a threat and what it's going to do to our jobs?
YANG: You can ask recent college graduates who are having a really hard time getting jobs. You have a 30 percent job placement rate for seniors, and almost half are underemployed. So A.I. is here right now in organizations. There are tons of companies that are announcing layoffs. I run a company, Noble Mobile. Have we hired fewer people because of A.I.? 100 percent. And so if that's true for us, that's true of thousands and thousands of companies throughout the economy.
MICHAELSON: So what's your advice for people that got laid off because of A.I.? What do they do?
YANG: Well, first, I ran on universal basic income. And I think that here A.I. growth, I mean, you're looking at multiple trillion dollar companies. The value has to get distributed quickly and broadly to the American people if I was in charge. In terms of what individuals should do, you have to know this is real and it's going to do to office cubicles what robots did to factory floors in the '80s and '90s.
MICHAELSON: And part of what you say is that we need to tax the A.I. companies, tax the A.I. agents like they're employees.
YANG: Yes, we make it really difficult and expensive and cumbersome to hire humans. And then if I replace you with bots, I don't pay those bots taxes and the A.I. company doesn't pay taxes. That's going to be devastating for our government and its ability to pay its bills and distribute the gains. So we should be taxing the bots and the agents, and we should be reducing taxes on human beings.
We should make it so that if a company hires a person, we're not getting hit with a tax bill. We're actually getting rewarded and the person is able to take home more.
MICHAELSON: So that sounds like a great message if you were running a campaign. I know you've said that you're done with the Democratic Party. Would you consider running as an independent? We know you talked about the Forward Party in terms of a political future for you.
YANG: Well, now being an independent is much more popular than being either Democrat or Republican. 50 percent of Americans say we're independents, and 65 percent think that we have to move on from the two-party system. So if you see me out on the trail, that's the case I'll be making because that's the case more and more Americans can relate to.
We've been let down by both parties at this point, Elex, and everyone knows it.
MICHAELSON: If you see me on the trail, so that means you're thinking about running for president again?
YANG: Hey, I'm here with you, aren't I? I'm --
(LAUGHTER)
YANG: You know? Come on, everyone knows what's going on.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
YANG: No, I'm a true patriot. I'm a parent. And the case I ran on in 2020 is coming true before our eyes. So for me now to go hide in a hole doesn't really make much sense.
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MICHAELSON: And not only you're on with me, you're on FOX, on a new reality show called "The Nation's Dumbest."
YANG: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Where you're --
YANG: True story.
MICHAELSON: -- with other celebrities: Ice-T, Anthony Hall, Carmen Electra, Dr. Drew, Matt Leinart among them. Why did you want to do this? YANG: You know, I thought it would be a good experience. I thought I'd
make some new friends, and I was right on both counts. You'll have to tune in to see how it turns out.
But I also figured, look, I'm a confident guy. I don't think I'm that dumb. I think I'll be able to earn my way off this show.
MICHAELSON: So, are you smarter or dumber than you thought, having -- going through this process.
YANG: I will say that the show was a bigger challenge than I'd anticipated.
MICHAELSON: You check that out on FOX. You get the new book, "Hey, Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks?" And maybe we'll see you on the presidential campaign trail, based off of what you just said.
YANG: Maybe I'd announce right here with you, Elex. We go way back.
MICHAELSON: There we go. OK, I can't wait. Thank you. Great to see you. Good to see you.
Coming up, a Mississippi community honored the life of an 18-year-old whose death is surrounded by unanswered questions. What the family of Nolan Wells shared with mourners in his hometown.
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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.
U.S. Central Command says its forces have completed their latest wave of strikes against Iran. They were launched hours after President Trump warned that Tehran would pay for the recent deaths of three U.S. service members.
The Pentagon says nearly 100 service members have been injured in the conflict since July 7.
Sinaloa drug cartel boss Ismael Zambada, known as El Mayo, has been sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. He pleaded guilty last year to trafficking millions of kilos of cocaine over decades.
His sentencing adds one of the most significant drug prosecutions since the trial of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. He was also sentenced to life in prison back in 2019.
The U.S. will send a cargo plane carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba in the day ahead. It's part of a $100 million commitment announced in May.
The island nation has been rocked by a string of recent blackouts. A U.S.-imposed oil blockade aimed at ousting the communist government has crippled Cuba's aging energy infrastructure. Family and friends came together to remember an 18-year-old, Nolan Wells, more than two weeks after his body was found off the Mississippi coast.
Mourners lined up outside the Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to pay their respects.
Nolan Wells' family shared their memories of him during the services as they wait for answers on how he died.
The sheriff told a local paper the three friends who traveled with Wells on the boat have been interviewed. CNN's Ryan Young has more details.
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RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every now and then, of course, we -- we cover these stories, and we give you all the facts. There will be pieces of this funeral that will stand out for quite some time.
We watched the pallbearers, who were mostly his age, walk outside. The tears they had in the in their eyes. And a lot of them were getting hugs from each other, trying to figure out exactly how they move forward.
Something else that stood out to all of us is just how mixed of a community showed up to pay their respects to Nolan Wells. And in fact, right now, even behind us, Spike Lee is walking around and talking to some of the young people who stayed behind after this funeral.
There was a lot of attention paid to the idea of making sure Nolan Wells' life was talked about in the fullest extent. The fact that he liked helping kids. He was a great teammate.
And even his former coaches were talking about he was the kind of student that they would want for their own son.
The other part that stood out as a parent is just watching both of his parents try to lean on each other and gain strength as they had this difficult conversation of laying their son to rest while his two brothers were in the crowd. And all this pain and all this mystery sort of swirls around exactly what happened to their son.
In fact, take a listen to his parents talk to this packed house for this funeral.
CHRISTINE WELLS-WONSLEY, MOTHER: Nolan, we love you. We'll continue to fight for you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WELLS-WONSLEY: And until we meet again.
ELMORE WONSLEY, FATHER: Nolan meant a lot to a lot of people. And today it just shows us how much he meant to the community, to the country, and to the world. YOUNG: Yes, I was talking to Nolan's father afterwards, and I asked
him, how does he feel after he hears all these coaches, all the people in the community talk so positively about his son?
He said it -- it sounds like we did a pretty good job raising our son, and that is something that will stay inside his heart.
Now, when you think about this investigation, Ben Crump was here. Al Sharpton was here. And there was a big focus on the fact of trying to get more information or an established timeline.
They raised $100,000 just today in terms of trying to get someone to call in and give them information. So, Tyler Perry said he'd put up another 50,000. Al Sharpton said he'd put up 50,000.
So, folks can call in. So, if there is a conviction to be had, they want to help that process along.
Let's not forget: Colin Kaepernick helped get the autopsy done, the second autopsy done. We asked about those results. So far, that has not happened.
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But the big push here was to try to answer all the questions that haven't been answered.
But this celebration of life touched a lot of hearts here in this community. Both his football team showed up. And there was a lot of love, a lot of hugging, but also a lot of heartbreak. Because a young man who shouldn't have passed so early is now gone.
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MICHAELSON: Ryan Young in Mississippi. Thank you, Ryan.
One of the biggest mergers in corporate history is now on hold. A U.S. judge has temporarily paused Paramount's buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery, which is the parent company of us here at CNN.
Twelve states requested the delay as part of a legal challenge to the deal. The judge granted them a temporary restraining order, at least until early August.
Paramount says it's confident that the states' antitrust lawsuit is without merit. The states will now seek a preliminary injunction, which could freeze the merger for months.
Just ahead, I'll be joined by hip-hop legend and women's sports superfan Flavor Flav to hear about a huge event he held this weekend in Las Vegas, honoring the women of Team USA. You see him join in live. You see the gear is out: the hat, the glasses, the whole thing. What a look. What a guy. He joins us next.
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MICHAELSON: More than 100 of the United States' elite women athletes gathered in Las Vegas over the weekend, brought together by hip-hop legend and women's sports superfan Flavor Flav for She Weekend, a four-day celebration honoring their athletic accomplishments.
The women, who had competed in this year's Winter Olympics and Paralympics, took part in a parade on the Vegas Strip, private dinners, concerts, leadership panels.
And Flavor Flav's commitment to celebrating these athletes also earned him a surprise honor. Watch this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today is Flavor Flav Day.
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MICHAELSON: July 16, now officially Flavor Flav Day in Las Vegas.
The man himself joins me now. Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Flavor Flav, joining us from Vegas.
Welcome to THE STORY IS.
FLAVOR FLAV, ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAMER: Hey, let me tell you something. It's crazy having your own day in -- in the city of Las Vegas.
I mean, first of all, man, I want to thank everybody that really reached out and wanted to be part of this celebration because it was a very big celebration.
MGM. Oh, my God, you -- y'all were tremendous. I really thank MGM for stepping in --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FLAV: -- and giving us 128 rooms.
I thank Delta Airlines for -- for partnering up with us and flying the athletes. I mean, and I thank everybody else that reached out that had something to do with this --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FLAV: -- that made this possible. Thanks to the Aces. You know what I'm saying?
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FLAV: -- Thanks to the Raiders, to the city.
MICHAELSON: I love it. The ultimate --
FLAV: Thanks to the commissions that approved my parade. We had fun out here. Yes.
MICHAELSON: Yes. So -- so, let's talk about --
FLAV: It was a feel-good --
MICHAELSON: Let's talk about why -- why you did this. You know, you're -- you're a father of -- of girls.
FLAV: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And you saw what you thought was an injustice when it came to women's sports, not getting enough respect.
FLAV: Right.
MICHAELSON: So, what made you step up? What was the vision behind this?
FLAV: Well, the reason why is because, you know, I see that, you know, women's sports was least paid attention to. And I really wanted these women -- you know what I'm saying -- to get their recognition. You know what I'm saying?
So, when I started sponsoring the United States Olympic Women's Water Polo Team, you know, I did that to bring awareness to the sport. So, that way, after their sport is played, I want people to remember it, you know?
And -- and these girls are out here busting their butts to make the United States look good. Why not give them the recognition and the remembrance of what they do for us?
Women are playing their sports just as good as the men are playing their sports. You've got to remember that. So --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FLAV: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And so, you had a welcome ceremony.
FLAV: And that's why I stepped up to --
MICHAELSON: Yes. You had a welcome ceremony at the Park MGM, a parade, concerts, a dinner, behind the scenes at Cirque du Soleil, a Backstreet Boys concert at the Sphere.
But you say for you, your favorite moment was getting off the plane with them. Why was that?
FLAV: Well, the reason why my favorite moment was getting off the plane with them was because it brought me into the realization that this was really, really happening.
And I knew for a fact that a piece of history was going to be made by doing this. And I didn't do this to make history. I did this for the love of the
girls, and I wanted them to get their recognition. I wanted them to be celebrated for what they have done and those goals that they have achieved. It's only right, you know what I'm saying? So --
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MICHAELSON: Right.
FLAV: Hey, it's all about women's sports, baby. Yes, G (ph).
MICHAELSON: What's the message to the young girls? Including, you know -- you know, people that may be your daughters' age. What's your message to -- to young women and girls that are watching this?
FLAV: Hey, the message is this. If you see that these athletes are able to achieve these gold medals, you can do it, too. There's nothing in this world that you can't do.
And as long as you try -- somewhere along the line, you're guaranteed to succeed. But if you stop trying, then it's a guaranteed failure.
And the reason why that these girls got these gold medals is because of they kept trying, they kept trying, and they kept trying. And don't be afraid to fail, because failure is part of success.
MICHAELSON: Yes, indeed. And we, you know, you are the ultimate hype man, the ultimate hype man. You were on stage with Chuck D this weekend. And so, that that makes a lot of us wonder what's next for you musically. And could there be more "Flavor of Love" in the future?
FLAV: Well, let me -- let me put it like this. Public Enemy, we just released the album last summer. You know, "Black Sky," you know, "Over the Projects: Apartment 2026."
I got a -- I'm getting ready to do an all R&B album right now. I'm getting ready to release an all R&B album. You know what I'm saying?
And also, tomorrow I leave to go out on tour with Guns N' Roses.
MICHAELSON: Wow.
FLAV: Public Enemy will be opening up for Guns N' Roses. You know what I'm saying? For about three and a half weeks, you know.
We've got -- it's a nice little run, you know what I'm saying?
MICHAELSON: That's cool.
FLAV: And then after that, I'm looking forward to doing some other bigger things.
When it comes down to "The Flavor of Love" right now, a lot of people, they treat me as if I made that show a year or two ago, as old as that show was. And I just think everybody, for right now, to this day, they still binge-watching it. MICHAELSON: Yes, they do.
FLAV: People are still having "Flavor of Love" parties. And -- and, you know, my thing is this. I've been there. I've done that.
When I come back to television, I'm going to come back with something bigger and better, and something that's going to make me last longer on television.
MICHAELSON: Wow.
FLAV; And something that everybody is going to like. I promise you.
MICHAELSON: All right. Well, that clearly has lasted a long time.
Congratulations on the new concerts coming up.
FLAV: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: And -- and thank you for the work that you did to highlight all these women who definitely deserve it. Flavor Flav, joining us live in Las Vegas. Great talking with you.
FLAV: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. God bless, yo.
MICHAELSON: Still to come, how China's amateur soccer league is giving villages across the country a chance to cheer for hometown heroes. Stay with us.
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MICHAELSON: Spain's World Cup champions are celebrating their title in Madrid with the help of nearly 2 million fans. Huge crowds filled the streets to welcome the players home the day after their one-nil victory over Argentina.
The party continued well into the night with music, dancing, and the players showing off their trophy onstage.
This is the second time Spain has won the men's World Cup. They also are the reigning champions of the women's World Cup as [SIC] the same time.
China has its own soccer tournament. It looks very different from the World Cup, but it's no less beloved. CNN's Mike Valerio shows us China's Village Super League.
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MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the pitch in a remote corner of Northern China, the chanting, dancing, and thousands of fans hanging on every shot. This isn't the World Cup. This is Cun Chao, China's amateur village super league. Right back Tong Zehao and his teammates are one win away from Cun Chao glory. But first, he has teeth to fix. Tong the dentist becomes Tong, the defender.
TONG ZEHAO, SOCCER PLAYER (through translator): You could say it's a dream come true. Standing in the spotlight like this, it's not something I normally get the chance to experience.
VALERIO (voice-over): Like Tong, nearly all the players have day jobs. Professionals are barred, giving amateurs a stage of their own. That grassroots model reverses the top-down path Chinese soccer has pursued for years.
Beginning in the 2010s, China's property giants spent billions bringing international stars into the professional league. The spending brought a brief burst of success, before China's property boom unraveled, along with bribery and match-fixing scandals.
All this despite Chinese leader Xi Jinping, himself an avid fan, making soccer a national priority.
