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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Teacher Killed And At Least Four Others Injured In Thai School Shooting; July Jobs Report To Be Released In Coming Hours; Meta Ordered To Pay $567 Million Over Harm To Children; Pete Buttigieg To Headline Michigan Democrats' Detroit Election Rally; President Trump Admits Some Weapons In "Tighter" Supply; Senate Panel Votes To Hold Anthony Fauci In Contempt Of Congress; Sen. Kaine: U.S. Boat Strike Casualties are "Murder Victims"; Six Killed in Thailand School Shooting; Miller Fends Off Calls to End Campaign, Denies Abuse Claims; British Woman Breaks World Record at 97 Years Old. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired August 07, 2026 - 01:00   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 ANCHOR: Crowds turned out on Thursday for a Chicago tradition, the Ducky Derby. Thousands of yellow rubber ducks racing down the river and each duck was sold for at least $10 and the winning duck's owner received a new car. Chicago Ducky Derby has raised nearly $5 million for Special Olympic athletes since 2005.

Thanks for watching the first hour of The Story Is. The next hour starts right now with breaking news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

MICHAELSON: Welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson. Thank you for joining us in the United States and around the world.

And we begin with breaking news of a school shooting in Bangkok, Thailand. Reports say at least one teacher was killed. Four other people were injured in that shooting. Authorities say that a student opened fire at a school just north of Bangkok. That student then later killed themselves.

We're looking at live pictures right now. This is from Bangkok. You can see some folks standing around. We've seen lots of law enforcement on the scene investigating as well. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout covering all this for us from Hong Kong. Christy, what do we know about what happened here?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Elex, A horrifying act of violence has broken out targeting students in Thailand. This took place earlier today. On Friday, a student opened fire at a school located just north of Bangkok and there are fatalities. Now, according to initial reports from rescue workers. And I do want to underscore these are initial reports. We have learned two people are dead, 15 have been wounded. We are awaiting a confirmed update from Thai officials.

And according to Thai police, they say this quote, the situation is now under control. There on your screen, you see video of the aftermath of the shooting. We see emergency workers, also members of the community gathering outside the school. This is the Debsirin Nonthaburi School located just outside Bangkok.

And in one of the images that we've gathered today, there was one of an injured teacher who was seen lying inside an ambulance. I do want to share with you additional video footage that we have in and this will be disturbing to see this video of evacuation verified by CNN. We see the students in their uniforms being evacuated, evacuating the school. The video was blurred at the source. Students again in uniform rushing to leave amid this school shooting that took place earlier today just outside Bangkok.

And we are learning more about the school itself. Again, it's called the Debsirin Nonthaburi School. It's located outside the Thai capital on a busy highway. It's made up of junior classes, senior classes. These are both boys and girls. Has a student population of around 3,000. It's part of a wider and famous Debsurin public school network.

Now, mass shootings like this, I do want to say, are rare in Thailand, but gun ownership is high in the country, especially compared to other countries in Southeast Asia. I want to share with you some research that we brought up. According to a survey that came out in 2017, more than 10 million civilians held firearms in Thailand. That's 15 guns for every 100 people.

Earlier this year, in February, there was a shooting at a school in southern Thailand. A teacher died, a student was wounded. And as for the latest outbreak of violence, you're looking at live video on your screen of the scene. Now, looks like this is earlier video from earlier today from just outside Bangkok.

As for this latest outbreak of violence targeting a school outside Bangkok, we'll bring you more details as they come in. You're looking at live video there on your screen of emergency workers of the police force moving in, ascertaining the situation, responding in kind. Elex?

MICHAELSON: Yes. A reminder just how different countries deal with guns in different ways. You brought up the stat about gun ownership there. In the United States, there are about 500 million guns, which is a 1.5 per amount of people here. So it's about 300 million people and about 500 million guns. Kristie Lu Stout with us in Hong Kong. Thank you.

The story in the United States right now is about jobs. The July jobs report will be released in the next few hours. Economists expect that the labor market will remain in what they call low hire, low fire mode. They're predicting more than 97,000 new jobs in July, which would be an uptick from the disappointing 50,000 new jobs in June.

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The unemployment rate is expected to stay flat at 4.2 percent. But the bulk of the new jobs will likely come from one sector, health care and social assistance.

Ryan Patel is a senior fellow at Claremont Graduate University's Drucker School of Management. He's live in San Francisco.

Ryan, of course we don't know exactly what we're going to get until we get the numbers. But in terms of the expectation that the market is thinking of about what does that tell us and what does it mean?

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Yes, I mean I think that the labor market is cooling but not collapsing. So the economy still creating opportunities, but hiring has clearly become more cautious as companies become more selective. And so I know the headline jobs number will get the attention. But I think the bigger story here is underneath that where companies are hiring, where they're pulling back and what skills are employers looking actually looking at?

And you mentioned we're seeing strengths in areas that are long term needs, that includes health care that continue to be resilient, but the demand is driven by demographics, advanced manufacturing infrastructure, skilled trades, specifically in cyber and cloud infrastructure. So what does that mean?

Investments in technology, productivity, but also the traditional corporate hiring like some of the entry level office roles and recruiting parts of the consumer facing industry are the ones facing some of the headwinds.

MICHAELSON: Yes, you're talking about the entry level jobs. It's not a great time to be a young person looking for work. I want to put up this headline from CNN.com up on the screen. What the lull in teen hiring this summer tells us about the jobs market ahead of Friday's job report.

You're joining us from the Bay Area. You usually join us here on the set. Part of the reason you're there is because you've been at a conference talking to young people who are looking to get work. Talk about the broader trends you are seeing and some of what you are hearing from folks on the ground, especially in that age demographic.

PATEL: Yes, this is the most important workforce story period. Right. Entry level jobs where people are building a foundation of their careers. And for decades that has been the traditional path where you get your first job and learn basics and develop skills. But that's not occurring because companies are putting under pressure and fewer resources.

And I think when you think talk to the younger generation, that career path, that clear path that they are taught to be had is not there. And so for me and for part of telling the next generation is that as the environment continues to change with companies and new employees. They want people who can come in and use technology effectively, communicate well and solve problems from day one.

So I think the experience has to come everywhere. And if few people are getting that first opportunity, it creates a bigger workforce challenge over time. And that makes it harder for individuals coming from out of school to get on the ladder right away. And so I would say the biggest thing is don't just apply for jobs. Understand where companies are investing and focus on skills that make you more valuable, not just your credentials. And I think that's what people can help to try to enter that workforce.

MICHAELSON: And lastly, real quickly, mortgage rates just hit a new record high for the second week in a row, inching closer to 7 percent. Does the American dream no longer come with a home?

PATEL: I think I'm not going to bust your bubble, but I think the timeline has changed. I think young Americans still want to own, but it's not in the preview. That math does not make sense. It's not just the mortgage rates. It's a home prices, insurance costs, property talks. I can keep going down the list.

MICHAELSON: Right.

PATEL: That's what makes this to that degree. And so I believe there's a ripple effect to do this. But I think people are delaying buying homes and I think that makes the impact and I think the upward mobility and home ownership, they're not even thinking about it right now as they're trying to pay rent and keep up with that as well.

MICHAELSON: Yes. The average first time homebuyer now is around 40 years old, which is certainly not the way it was a generation ago. Ryan Patel joining us live from the Bay Area. Ryan, thank you so much. Safe travels to you.

Meta, speaking of the Bay Area based company is vowing to appeal a ruling in which it was ordered to pay $567 million into a fund to remedy its role in the youth mental health crisis.

The New Mexico judge also ordered the social media giant to tighten its controls on children's accounts. This is the second time that Meta has been hit with a hefty penalty. Back in March, it was ordered to pay $375 million in damages after being found guilty of engaging in what was called unfair and deceptive trade practices.

Meta issued a statement saying that it works hard to keep people safe on its platforms and that it will defend itself against claims that misrepresent the facts.

The story is politics. In the coming hours, former U.S. transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will headline a Democrats unity rally in Detroit, Michigan.

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That event meant to highlight the huge stakes in the November midterms and get Michigan Democrats on the same page. That rally comes just days after the state's highly divisive Democratic Senate primary. Progressive former public health official Dr. Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeating moderate Congressmember Haley Stevens. Stevens joined me live last hour for her first cable news interview since the primary. And she said she's fully behind Dr. El-Sayed.

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HALEY STEVENS, FORMER DEMOCRATIC MICHIGAN U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: Everything that needed to be said in that primary was said. OK, let's just be crystal clear. You know, we know where we agree, you know, on most things. To beat Mike Rogers, to beat back corrupt MAGA. You know, Donald Trump already telling his lies, already out there doing, you know, baseless attacks.

And look, I am a Zionist Democrat in Michigan, and I'm still very much in this party. I am joyfully in this party. I know where my values are. Abdul and I, you know, talked all about these matters and look, we need change. And I've been in Congress for eight years trying to make change. I've had some successes. And Abdul's been on the outside doing some great work, I think. I mean, you know, he was health director. I mean, I'm proud of that effort of standing up for science.

Abdul and I both agree that RFK Jr. should go and Mike Rogers would vote to confirm him.

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MICHAELSON: That was our conversation with Haley Stevens last hour. President Trump is complaining behind closed doors about public disclosures that U.S. munitions are dwindling after months of war with Iran. He says it makes the U.S. look weak as he seeks to project strength.

While President Trump has vowed to go after those responsible for leaking the information, he's also publicly admitting that the U.S. is running low on some types of weapons.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We have certain types of munitions that are very powerful, that we have unlimited, virtual, unlimited supply. We have others where it's a little bit tighter, and we're getting them in on a daily basis. As you know, our defense companies are building more plants right now than at any point in history. They're building plants for the patriots, for the Tomahawks, for everything. But we have certain types of munitions which are very -- they may not be as accurate, they may not be. You know, they're not as elite.

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MICHAELSON: CNN reported this week that the military has burned through nearly 4/5 of its Thaad missile inventory compared to pre-war numbers and roughly half of its Patriot interceptor since the start of the war.

Joining me now live is CNN national security analyst and the director of the Counterterrorism Program at the Atlantic Council, Alex Plitsas. Alex, welcome back.

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thanks for having me, Elex.

MICHAELSON: So you're the guy that talks to everybody and kind of knows the real deal, despite what's being reported publicly. So how big of an issue is this munitions issue and is the U.S. really in a bad place?

PLITSAS: We are in a bad place in relation to a couple of different types of munitions. So our interceptor missiles, both the Patriots and the Thaads, are running low. That leaked out, unfortunately. And so that, you know, obviously put the U.S. in a position of appearing weak in terms of the incoming missile attacks, which is why the Iranians are feeling a bit emboldened.

And in general, there's a shortage of black powder, there's shortage of a whole bunch of stuff. The President's correct in terms of the large defense companies building new plants and trying to increase production globally. But the problem is that takes some time to build out. And so in the short term that still leaves a production capacity gap and the need to backfill those munitions.

I mean, we've had several years of continuous warfare that was not expected between Gaza, Ukraine and now Iran. And there was an expectation to have to transfer weapons, let alone expend all of those munitions. And so those projections for future requirements were based upon, you know, the U.S. needs and it wasn't based upon, you know, three separate and distinct conflicts at the same time. The U.S. is going to have to feed one way or the other.

MICHAELSON: But the President's point about this potentially being bad for national security to make us look weak, does he have a point there?

PLITSAS: So it is bad. These leaks are out for a few reasons. They're meant to try to constrain, you know, if the President believes that, you know, people are doing it purposefully, it does appear that's the case. And this is a politically motivated leak. The timing of that and the reason that you would do that is to kind of make it known that we have a shortage of inventory to sort of constrain the President and make it seem as though the strategy here was not working.

But the problem is the adversary picks up on that and so that becomes dangerous for U.S. forces in the region. So his frustration is palpable and understood at the same time, the fact that we're in this position is also why the opposition is so upset.

MICHAELSON: Also in the region, Saudi Arabia says it is bracing for attacks on ports and airports by Iraqi militias working with Iran- backed Houthis.

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What does all that tell us about Iran's regional network and their capabilities?

PLITSAS: So it points to a pattern of expanding aggression and hostility by the Iranians, which is very problematic to start with. So you have the Houthis in Yemen as one of the proxy groups, you have the Iraqi militias. Then you also have other groups operating across the region. But in this particular case there's been a cold proxy war in the background in Yemen for quite some time with the Saudis. There had been sort of a detente for a bit.

But not that long ago the airport was attacked by government forces in Yemen to prevent the Iranians from flying munitions and to resupply the Houthi. And that sort of kicked off hostilities again.

And so reports had leaked and we actually broke the news on your program that we had found out that the Saudis had approved, you know, a pretty overwhelming response to the Houthi based on their activities and firing on Saudi ships in the Red Sea trying to close off the Bab al-Mandab.

In response we saw the Iraqi militias fire some drones in there. And that was after the Saudis gave the Iraqis a very clear warning that if they were to go after them, they being the militias, that the Saudis would have to respond in kind. And it's really awkward situation is that the Shia militias in Iraq are halfway quasi state enterprises because they do get some funding from the Iraqi government because they actually served as the ground forces to go after ISIS when they were on the ground there.

So it's this weird quasi state enterprise, yet they're launching missiles or they're launching drones rather at the Saudis. So at the moment the message from the Iranians is clear that the Saudis, if you go after the Houthi in Yemen, we're going to respond not only for Yemen, but you're going to have a two front war and you're going to have to deal with the Iraqi militias. And I believe that embodiment incomes -- comes in part because they believe U.S. stockpiles are low and they'll have a hard time defending against that. So very precarious situation at the moment.

MICHAELSON: Alex Plitsas, always breaking news on this program and always offering unique insights. Always appreciate it. Thank you.

According to a Republican led Senate panel, the man who guided the U.S. through the pandemic should face criminal charges. Ahead, takeaways from that vote and from the new decree on birthright citizenship. Our political panel here to break it down live. Next.

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MICHAELSON: Dr. Anthony Fauci's lawyer is blasting a senate panel's recommendation that he be held in contempt of Congress as a, quote, crude political stunt and abuse of power. Dr. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during a contentious hearing last week on the government's response to the COVID pandemic that set up the contempt vote, which Republicans passed 8 to 7 along party lines.

The vote would have normally gone to the full Senate, but in an unprecedented move, committee chairman Rand Paul said that he is taking the prosecution referral straight to the justice department.

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SEN. RAND PAUL (D-KY): The ordinary bill making process. So it doesn't have to go to the house, doesn't have to be signed by the president and really doesn't have to go before the Senate. There is some precedent for doing it that way and it still may be done that way. But for now, we will hand carry this over to the attorney general. We will hand carry this to the district court here in Columbia, and we will, as a committee, we have voted the majority to refer this. So that will be accomplished today.

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MICHAELSON: Let's bring back our political panel, Democratic strategist political consultant Michael Trujillo and Will O'Neill, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party. Will O'Neill. Why does this matter, and why is this not a political stunt?

WILL O'NEILL, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ORANGE COUNTY: Well, let's go to the Fifth Amendment real quickly, because the attorney for Dr. Fauci owed it to his client to say, hey, you should invoke the Fifth. Fauci probably owed it to himself and his family to invoke the Fifth. But truly, at the end of the day, he owed it to the American public to make sure that he was given an accounting, because we really, as a nation have not reconciled with all of the decisions and the loss of faith and trust in the institutions that came about with 2020.

So Dr. Fauci owed a lot more to the American public than the Fifth Amendment. But of course, for his own personal reasons, I understand why he would do it.

MICHAELSON: So you think it was a smart legal strategy? I mean, do you think that these -- there's going to be any real charges coming here?

O'NEILL: I don't know. I mean, the fact that we have this interplay of the pardon power or the pardon that was given to him on a blanket, but also refusing to talk about it's going to be -- a lot of legal experts think this is going to be an interesting one.

MICHAELSON: I mean, Michael Smerconish on CNN made the argument that we should give him immunity, so then he couldn't be prosecuted. But actually have him come and speak honestly, because there hasn't been an actual accounting of what happened with COVID and we've just gotten more into our camps and not really dealt with this incredibly traumatic incident that is still being felt in American politics.

MICHAEL TRUJILLO, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: No, I agree. I think it's hard when you want to tell the truth and you want to sort of have an accounting of all this, when you have the president and other folks saying, we're going to, you know, throw Fauci in jail or we're going to prosecute him. I mean, how is this man supposed to sort of open up and be the transparent book that we want him to be when people, you know, are having pitchforks and wanting to do, you know, things like throw. Throw the book at him, essentially?

So, I agree with you. I just think it's. It's. We need that accounting, and hopefully we get it.

MICHAELSON: I mean, this issue really animates people on the right. How do you think people on the left see all this with Fauci?

TRUJILLO: Well, you know, I think during COVID we had a lot of our folks go down the YouTube rabbit hole and come out the other side a little bit different on how they feel about masks and how they feel about different conspiracy theories out there. I mean, look, I think Fauci is still an American hero.

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I think everything he did in the 80s and the 90s when Reagan was president, he's a true public servant. I think he was making calling balls and strikes in real time and probably made a few mistakes. But were in an unprecedented time. I don't know then where -- there was no playbook that we had in the playbook that we -- that the President Obama wrote for this time was thrown out by President Trump.

MICHAELSON: A lot of Republicans don't say he's not.

O'NEILL: To be fair, though. I mean, when we're now we're seeing his diary coming out where he's saying private things that he was absolutely contradicting publicly. I mean, we have an entire generation of kids that are really screwed up because of the way that states handled this. And to find out that he was in conversations with New York and California at the time they were closing schools when he said, hey, I'm not recommending it really bothers a lot of us.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And there's such a lack of trust in the system anyways for so many different people, which is why we see this rise of extremism and people giving the middle finger to the establishment in both parties, because people do not trust the system. And that's not helped by all this either.

Let's talk about birthright citizenship for a moment. President Trump invoking two executive orders today, more narrowly tailored than the executive orders that were thrown out of the Supreme Court just six weeks ago. How do you see the politics of this?

TRUJILLO: Well, it's clear that he's getting a headline for his base. I think any elected official is always looking to constantly feed the base to show that they're moving the needle forward. I mean, these executive orders are very narrowly tailored. I don't think it's going to have any sort of great, huge impact. I wouldn't be shocked if they're immediately in court with a lawsuit, either.

MICHAELSON: You talk to voters every day, especially on the right. How animating is this issue? And if it's not, what is the issue that's animating people the most?

O'NEILL: It's pretty frustrating to a lot of people. This probably wouldn't be the number one issue people are going to be voting on, though. I mean, we're still talking about affordability all the time. Things are very expensive. And so the left is blaming the right because they control Washington. The right blames the left because they control a lot of the states like California and New York, where things are the absolute most expensive.

But affordability will remain the most pressing issue. On this issue, though, I mean, on birthright citizenship, his original executive order was enormous. This one is pretty narrowly tailored, like Michael said. But I will say you're going to hear a lot more now, I think, about the fraud that is birthrism (ph).

And if you don't know about this, Google it, because even under the Biden administration, they were doing some pretty major prosecutions on people coming over from China and committing fraud in the process.

MICHAELSON: We've seen a lot of that, especially here in Southern California where people are doing that in terms of the issue of immigration in some ways. Because President Trump did such a good job in shutting down the border, has he kind of taken that issue somewhat off the table?

O'NEILL: Well, he hasn't taken it off the table. I mean, it's still certainly animating issue. But to your point, there have been so many self-deportations. There have been so many deportations. This last month saw the most ICE arrests ever. And you really didn't see ICE in the news very much at all during that process. Maybe that was because of a change in leadership at the DHS. But certainly you've seen this continue to be a major issue.

But to your point, yes, I mean, he has been successful closing down the border. It is not the animating issue it was in 2024.

MICHAELSON: The Democrats say the work in the cities has been problematic.

TRUJILLO: Well, look, you know, when President Obama was around, they called him the deporter in chief. I think there was --

MICHAELSON: Nobody called Joe Biden.

TRUJILLO: No one did. But there's a humane way to sort of take dangerous criminals off the street and deport them back to their home countries. And I think what Trump was doing was more flamboyant and more sort of in your face. And that's where he got in some trouble, at least politically.

And so you're not having those same very confrontational battles with folks that aren't really committing crimes. And I think, you know, the mom and pop sort of folks that are just playing by the rules to the extent they are and not being violent criminals, I think everyone agrees we want the violent criminals gone and folks that are just trying to do right, you know, leave those folks alone.

MICHAELSON: It has been remarkable to see the different messaging since Greg Bovino and Kristi Noem left their roles. Michael, Will, thank you so much for coming in. Great to see both of you, as always.

We want to give you an update right now in our breaking news, which is out of Thailand, the Royal Thai Police now say that three teachers and three students are dead. So that is bad news. An update, that number increasing after a gunman opened fire at a school north of Bangkok. Fifteen others were wounded, two of them critically. We're looking now at live pictures in Thailand, where it's almost 12:30 in the afternoon and there is a massive police presence on the scene.

Well, it's been almost one year since the Trump administration began carrying out strikes on alleged drug boats.

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Still to come, CNN's Jake Tapper investigates who the Trump administration is targeting. And why.

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MICHAELSON: We're nearing the one-year mark since the Trump administration began its campaign against alleged drug boats, carrying out military strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

In a new report, CNN's Jake Tapper is shedding more light on who the Trump administration is targeting and why.

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SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: They're murder victims.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD": That's Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine's assessment of the Trump administration's campaign targeting people that the administration calls narco-terrorists.

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TAPPER: In a letter to the White House this week, Kaine accused the Pentagon of going far beyond its original goals in Operation Southern Spear and killing people who are, "Entirely unaware that they are marked for execution."

Operation Southern Spear, which began nearly a year ago, has killed 221 people and destroyed at least 66 vessels. But the results do not seem to have been effective. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data analyzed by the think tank The Washington Office of Latin America does not show a meaningful decrease in cocaine seizures.

During the 10 months before the boat strikes began, CBP reported seizing more than 56,000 pounds of cocaine. During the 10 months following the beginning of the boat strikes, September 2025 through June 2026, CBP's reported seizures actually increased 2 percent.

Fentanyl, which President Trump claims this operation is targeting, is largely produced in Mexico, not Venezuela or Colombia, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

And CNN reporting shows military officials do not always know whom they're targeting, some of whom may even be innocent.

Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo were believed to have been killed in the October 14th strike last year. Their families are suing the Trump administration for wrongful death and extrajudicial killing.

The complaint says, "Mr. Joseph and Mr. Samaroo were not members of or affiliated with drug cartels." And Trinidad's government says, there's no evidence drugs were on board.

Chad and Rishi's families told ACLU attorney Jeffrey Stein they were fishing and doing farm work in Venezuela and boarded a boat to get home to Trinidad.

JEFFREY STEIN, STAFF ATTORNEY, ACLU NATIONAL SECURITY PROJECT: Rishi wanted to come home to help care for his elderly mother who had fallen ill. Chad wanted to come home to see his wife and three young children.

TAPPER: In response to our request for comment on this lawsuit, the White House said, "All of these decisive strikes have been against designated narco-terrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores."

But they have provided absolutely no evidence to back up any of the strikes, which is not to say everyone on these boats had nothing to do with the drug trade. Some were clearly fishermen trying to make extra money.

We sat down with two investigative journalists who have looked into who is being killed. They uncovered the stories of 19 of the dead.

JOSE LUIS PENARREDONDA, EDITOR, EL CLIP: Many of them our reporting shows, are somehow involved in drug trafficking business, in drug transportation business, in very low levels of the chain.

TAPPER: Journalist Lorena Melendez told us one of the stories really stuck with her.

LORENA MELENDEZ, EDITOR, REBEL ALLIANCE INVESTIGATES: In the case of Juan Carlos, he was a bus driver. And he bought his bus damaged and he couldn't repair it. He said, I have to do bad things. So he traveled to Trinidad.

TAPPER: Juan Carlos' wife told the journalist at consortium El Clip, she did not want him to get on the boat, but he insisted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm leaving. I can't take it anymore, what desperation. I'm leaving to live or die, but I'm leaving. That's how he told me.

TAPPER: She also remembered the moment she knew he'd been killed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But since I'm making empanadas here, the phone is ringing too much. When I see an international call, I say, no, something has happened. Something happened to Juan Carlos.

The mistake was seeing the video they sent me where they were blowing up boats.

TAPPER: Juan Carlos was believed to have been killed in the October 3rd strike. He leaves behind three children and a grandchild, according to El Clip.

Does that sound to you like a narco- terrorist?

Another victim was a fixture of his community. Here's investigative journalist Jose Luis Penarredonda.

PENARREDONDA: I think about a Venezuelan guy called, I mean, his name was Pichirilo (ph), managed to speak to people who knew him very well. One of them told me, just tell everyone he was a super nice guy.

TAPPER: Eduardo Jaime, or Pichirilo, was a beloved local athlete. A family member tells El Clip he was also on the boat that was blown up on October 14th.

None of these individuals seem to have even been mid-level drug traffickers. At worst, they seem like couriers.

Remember when the U.S. struck what Trump called a drug submarine? There were two survivors. The U.S. military held them, then released them to their home countries. Again, raising questions about whether the Trump administration knew who they were targeting.

Andres Tufino Chila was one of those two men. His sister told CNN he was not a criminal.

Last month, "The Los Angeles Times" followed the stories of eight fishermen from Mexico who vanished after the February 16th U.S. strikes. Quote, "The men sometimes earned extra cash by transporting gasoline to the high seas, where they would refill speedboats ferrying cocaine from South America."

They were all killed.

A mass was held for the men at sea a few days later. This video provided by the "L.A. Times" shows mourners drinking beer and singing songs.

[01:39:47]

TAPPER: There are many more of these stories from Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago. Maybe couriers caught in the crosshairs of the Trump administration's so-far fruitless quest to end drug trafficking, often going after the lowest on the chain. Men who felt they had no other choice and were executed by the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: We asked the Pentagon if they knew precisely who they were killing. They maintained, quote, "Targeting decisions are deliberate, based on comprehensive assessments and reviewed through established processes. Every narco terrorist killed in Department of War operations was an affiliated member of a designated terrorist organization, actively transporting illicit material," unquote.

We asked for any evidence to prove that, and they did not provide any. U.S. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine has seen the classified information, and he says that the Trump administration is, quote, "lying".

The ending of Southern Spear will make way for an 18-country collaboration to go after drug traffickers, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Jake Tapper in Washington. Jake, thank you.

Now back to our breaking news out of Thailand. A live picture from there. The Royal Thai Police say three teachers, three students are dead after a gunman opened fire at a school. This is north of Bangkok. More than a dozen others wounded.

We're getting some more details from inside that school, including reports that students were sobbing under their desks. Then we saw some video of them fleeing the scene in fear after this shooting.

We also learned that a single handgun was found by authorities there, and multiple rounds of ammo scattered around the scene. That investigation is going to be happening for some time in Thailand.

Stay with CNN for the latest on that.

Thanks for watching THE STORY IS.

For international viewers, WORLD SPORT is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back with the latest on the future of Max Miller's reelection bid in Ohio.

[01:41:46]

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MICHAELSON: A growing number of Republicans are calling on GOP Congressman Max Miller to end his reelection bid in Ohio. It comes amid allegations which Miller denies, that he abused his ex-wife, Emily Moreno and their daughter. GOP officials are intensifying pressure on Miller to step aside, but he's vowing to stay in the race.

CNN's Randi Kaye has more on the allegations and the growing political fallout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): I have never done these things. These things have already been investigated.

RANDI KAYE, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A defiant Congressman Max Miller, pushing back on allegations of domestic abuse in the midst of a bitter custody battle.

His ex-wife, Emily Moreno, alleged in court that in June 2024, Miller threw hot water from a pan on her after she told him she wanted to separate. MILLER: The hot boiling water incident never happened. That is a

complete fabrication.

KAYE: In a police interview from February this year, Moreno also accused Miller of putting a gun to her head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So when does the gun come into play?

EMILY MORENO, FORMER WIFE OF REP. MAX MILLER: When I'm changing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what does he do?

MORENO: Holds it on me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Holds it on you?

MILLER: I don't have a weapon that's even easily accessible in my home like that. What we're dealing with, unfortunately, is something that many families go through, Lauren, which is a very nasty divorce.

And in the process, allegations get made that are completely fabricated and are not true.

KAYE: That February police interview was part of a police investigation into how Miller and Moreno's daughter had suffered a broken collarbone.

MILLER: When I was reported for child abuse, for my daughter, for a broken collarbone, my daughter was in my ex-wife's care nine out of the last 11 days. The police are not investigating it.

KAYE: No charges were filed in the case. Miller's ex-wife is the daughter of another Ohio Republican, Senator Bernie Moreno.

SEN. BERNIE MORENO (R-OH): My daughter lives in constant fear of this man.

KAYE: Just this week, Senator Moreno suggested his former son-in-law emotionally abused his granddaughter by withholding her favorite stuffed animal.

B. MORENO: Max would not hand over the little blue bunny, literally held it hostage for 48 hours. This girl was crying at night because she can't sleep without her little blue bunny.

TAPPER: Did you hold this doll hostage because --

MILLER: No, Mr. Tapper. Mr. Tapper, no.

KAYE: Miller has filed a defamation lawsuit against Emily Moreno, and the case is still ongoing.

In 2021, he filed for defamation against an ex-girlfriend, too -- former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. The suit was in response to an op-ed Grisham wrote in "The Washington Post" about a relationship with an unnamed man who she described as abusive. Grisham later named Miller, alleging he'd been physically abusive

during their relationship, which he denies.

The suit was later dropped, but in July this year, Grisham's lawyer filed suit against Miller, and just this week, Grisham's team filed for a temporary restraining order against him.

And in 2021, Politico reported, citing unnamed sources that while he was in high school, Miller pushed a girl out of his room and she fell down some stairs after resisting his attempts to touch her. Miller denies it happened.

TAPPER: Are all three of these women who don't know each other -- are all three of them lying?

MILLER: Yes.

KAYE: Miller worked in the Trump White House during Trumps first administration before launching his campaign for Congress in 2021. Miller told CNN Trump called him to express doubts about the future of his campaign, but Miller is staying put for now.

MILLER: I am never going to give up.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has voted to remove limits on TV station ownership. The current rule prohibits a single company from reaching more than 39 percent of American TV households over the public airwaves.

The FCC's rule change means that big station group owners can bypass the limit and buy up more TV stations. FCC chair Brendan Carr said the rule will be replaced by a case-by-case review process.

Supporters of the cap say only Congress has the authority to make this change and plan to challenge the FCC's action in court.

[01:49:46]

MICHAELSON: When we come back, how one 97-year-old became a Guinness World Record holder for a second time.

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MICHAELSON: Amazing video out of the United Kingdom shows a 97-year- old woman wing walking on a plane. Betty Bromage broke her own Guinness World Record Wednesday -- Tuesday for being the oldest female wing walker ever. She first set the astonishing record four years ago.

Bromage's record-breaking wing walking on Tuesday raised funds for a stroke unit that she spent time recovering back in 2025. She says life for the elderly can be a bore, but wing walking eases the frustration.

[01:54:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETTY BROMAGE, 97-YEAR-OLD GUINNESS WORLD RECORD HOLDER: So I want to do the things that I can do. And above my bed it said, "We through this world but, once any good we can do, any kindness we can show do it now. Do not defer or neglect it. You'll not pass this way again." And it's so true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Let's take -- let's take a look at the top stories in the day ahead.

Democrats are getting ready to hold a unity rally in Detroit, Michigan on Friday. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg headlining that event. Democratic Senate nominee Abdul el-Sayed, will also be there after his narrow victory earlier this week.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta. That rare visit comes one year after a gunman opened fire in the CDC complex, killing a police officer.

Kennedy plans to take part in a commemoration ceremony before taking questions from staff.

And Colombia will inaugurate its very -- its new president. The country has tightened security ahead of Friday's ceremony that will be held in the southwestern city of Cali, rather than the capital of Bogota. The far-right leader was endorsed by President Trump.

Tomorrow on THE STORY IS a U.S. pro basketball star remembering his roots.

Russell Westbrook built his legacy on the basketball court, but the impact he's most proud of is happening far beyond the game. From free youth camps to affordable housing and mental health programs, I sit down with him multiple times over multiple weeks to hear how the former NBA MVP is giving back to the community that raised him.

It's a really special, inspiring story tomorrow on The Issue Is (SIC).

I'm Elex Michaelson. I'll see you then.

[01:56:24]

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