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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Tupac Murder Trial Begins Nearly 30 Years After Rappers Death; Trump Lashes Out At South Korea Over Its Refusal To Join Iran War; Ossoff Ignites Feud With Trump Over Aide Natalie Harp; Median Strategies Admits to Face Political Polling; Trump Administration Seeks to Reshape Homelessness Policy; CEO Jeanie Buss Fights Sale of Lakers to Iger and Kushner. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 18, 2026 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Orioles home games. But nothing could match the love he had for his family, and we're grateful to them for sharing him with us for so many years. Our thoughts are with Alec's wife, Debbie, his kids, Brett, Mark and Blair, and his grandkids, Alexander, Vivian, Ingeborg and Bertrand.
Alec Mirren died unexpectedly last week. He was 69. All of us here who were lucky enough to stand with him documenting some of the biggest stories of our time. We will never forget all that he was and did. The news continues right here on CNN.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. Coming up, the story is Tupac trial opening statements begin in the Tupac Shakur murder trial nearly 30 years after legendary rapper was killed.
The story is Trump lashing out. Why President Trump is now launching verbal attacks on American allies as he juggles multiple foreign policy dilemmas.
And the story is election misinformation. We get into a company that claimed incredible polling data, but now they're admitting their numbers were all made up. We speak to the journalists who uncovered that whole thing live here on The Story Is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles. The STORY is with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson, tuned in last hour, hoping to see us. Unfortunately, we had major problems technically. Thankfully, we are now in a backup, backup control room.
Our team has been working very hard to get us on the air. We'll see what happens in this hour, such as what happens with live TV. But we appreciate your patience. Let's get to the news.
Our top story this hour, day one in the trial of Duane Davis, the first and only person ever charged in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in a drive by shooting 30 years ago. Members of Shakur's family were in the courtroom in Las Vegas on Monday as the jury heard opening statements and testimony from four different witnesses.
Davis is not accused of pulling the trigger. Instead, prosecutors argue he orchestrated the killing in retaliation for an assault on his nephew. But the defense is already trying to poke holes in the prosecution's evidence as CNN Josh Campbell reports from Las Vegas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We now have Mr. Davis. He's present in custody with Mr. Sam.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Almost 30 years after rap icon Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas, the trial for the man who prosecutors say orchestrated the shooting is at long last underway.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's bring in the jury.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Duane "Keffe D" Davis is the only person to ever be charged in the infamous slaying. Prosecutors say he didn't pull the trigger on September 7, 1996, but was the shot caller that fateful night near the Las Vegas Strip. Prosecutors are calling the 1996 killing an act of revenge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he did do was plan the retaliation for the beating of his nephew.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Surveillance video shows Tupac Shakur leaving the MGM Grand Hotel with Suge Knight, Trevon Lane and others after watching a Mike Tyson fight on the night of the shooting. They run into Davis' nephew Orlando Anderson, who is standing alone in the lobby and start attacking him.
Months before, Anderson had pulled a Death Row Records chain off of Trevon Lane's neck at a shopping center near Compton. This escalated tension, the prosecutor said they encountered each other again, this time in Las Vegas.
The fight happened about two and a half hours before the shooting, according to the prosecutor. On Monday, the prosecutor read Excerpts from Davis' 2019 memoir "Compton Street Legend."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something to their --
CAMPBELL (voice-over): While Davis' public interviews were also mentioned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Admits of being the boss. He admits to being in the white Cadillac and he admits to be part of the murder of Tupac Shakur.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Defense attorney Michael Sant warned the jury not to believe his own client's past statements about his role in the incident. MICHAEL SANT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: TTB was known to do this. That's the testimony you're going to hear in this case.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): The defense also argued there's no evidence Davis was in Nevada when Tupac was shot. Telling jurors to determine what is fact and what is fiction.
SANT: Look for evidence that shows that Keffe D was even in Las Vegas on the night of the fight. Receipts, credit cards, a picture of him standing next to somebody else. There's no evidence at all that man was even at the fight.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Davis is now 63 and is the only individual allegedly involved in the murder who is still alive. He's entered a not guilty plea. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
SANT: You have to corroborate everything I say in order for it to be true. What you're going to find is that the state cannot prove to you beyond reason of doubt the claim that keep you had anything to do with a first degree murder with use of there's no facts to that matter.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Josh Campbell, CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:05:05]
MICHAELSON: Joining me now live for more on all this is Neama Rahmani, former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers. Neama, welcome back. What's the biggest thing we learned today?
NEAMA RAHMANI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, the biggest thing we learned today is the defense is trying to undermine their own client. I've never seen anything like this, Elex. You know, you have the prosecution saying that Keffe D is a criminal mastermind, the shot caller. Then, you know, the defense turn around in opening statements and say that their own client is full of crap and don't believe him.
That's because this case is largely based on his own confessions to LAPD, a federal task force. And in this tell all memoir. And of course, the defense is saying that he's just a fool, boasting, bragging, but none of it's true.
MICHAELSON: I mean, you, like, literally have never seen this before, right? The defense saying, don't believe my guy. And the prosecutors say, this guy's so honest, believe him on everything. Why did he confess so many times?
RAHMANI: Well, the defense is saying that he did it to sell books, to gain street cred, to act, that he was more important than he was. They say he even lied about being ringside at that Mike Tyson fight. He wasn't even in Las Vegas at the time the murders happened. Of course, the prosecution gives a very different story, that he was actually in the front seat of a white Cadillac that pulled up right next to Tupac Shakur. Suge Knight was driving, and he was the one that passed that firearm to someone in the back that pulled the trigger. MICHAELSON: For people that may be of a younger generation, can we explain why this case is so important? How big a deal Tupac Shakur was 30 years ago?
RAHMANI: Elex, I got to tell everyone that's watching, Tupac is the greatest rapper of all time, you know, taken away far too young. A great artist, a great actor, and truly an icon. And, you know, obviously, the following year, Biggie Smalls, another legend, was killed here in Los Angeles at the Peterson Auto Museum. None of those crimes have ever been solved. No one's been held accountable. And this is the first time someone is, albeit 30 years later.
MICHAELSON: Yes, and still such an interesting case, still getting so much attention. Meanwhile, another case getting so much attention is the case of Lindsay Clancy, who is a mother who admitted to killing her three young kids. The question is, why did she kill them? And was she basically not in control of her own mental state when she was today?
First up, let's just talk about this case has captivated the nation in a way that few have, especially on social media.
RAHMANI: Oh, I haven't seen anything like this. Maybe going back to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, there are so many people that are following this case live, gavel to gavel. You have influencers on social media. By far the biggest case on TikTok. Bigger than Mangione, bigger than anything that we've covered on the show. I don't recall anything like it.
There are people who are even watching who are somehow blaming the husband, even though she's admitted --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
RAHMANI: -- responsibility, of course, saying that she was not criminally responsible, but that she did it.
MICHAELSON: So interesting development today. Her mother took the stand. Here's some of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA MUSGROVE, LINDSAY CLANCY'S MOTHER: Lindsay was a very loving mother. She was dedicated to her children. She was a fun mother. She was always doing things for her kids. She always wanted to be a mother, have many children. And I felt it was the best thing that ever happened to her. And she would do anything for her children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Why call the mom? And how did she play?
RAHMANI: Well, Elex, in any case, you want to start strong and end strong if you're any type of trial lawyer. And believe me, the defense started strong today. She was the first defense witness and she was fantastic for two reasons. First, she allowed us to get inside Lindsay Clancy's head. I don't think the defense wants her to testify.
But now you have someone who is telling the jurors the story of how she had these dark thoughts. She told her that she wanted to harm her kids. And this helps build the timeline that this wasn't just something that was fabricated after the fact.
This was something that was -- it was really days and weeks leading up to the murder. And of course, we know that she voluntarily checked herself in. Another important thing, we got in a lot of the text messages between the two where you see that her mental health is really deteriorating very rapidly in January of that year.
So I think it was good we got in her mind and we got her messages without the defendant having to testify.
MICHAELSON: And why would it be a bad idea to have the defendant testify? Or would it be?
RAHMANI: Well, you know, whenever you are thinking about putting your client on the stand, if you're a criminal defense lawyer, the entire case usually will come down to his or her testimony. The cross examination will be rigorous, and in a case like this where you've killed your three kids and admitted to doing so, it'll be brutal.
So if you are a good defense lawyer and you can get out that story without putting your client on the standard, that's a win and I think the defense won today.
MICHAELSON: I'll be interesting to continue to follow that tomorrow. CNN streaming coverage of that. CNN also with streaming coverage of the Tupac case. Our colleague Laura Coates is hosting that. So you can check that out on the CNN app tomorrow.
Neama, thank you so much for being with us. Once again.
[01:10:00]
Other news now, President Trump says he and North Korea's leader have recently spoken that they understand each other and that their engagement is making things safer. Earlier, the President posted that his very good relationship with Kim Jong Un is in part one of the reasons that he is scaling back the US's annual joint military exercises with longtime ally South Korea.
He said the drills are expensive and send a totally inappropriate and hostile signal to North Korea, which he claims has been unthreatening and respectful. But the President also made it clear that there are other factors at play.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: When I called recently, the President of South Korea, who I like, I think he's very nice, actually. But I called him, I said, would you like to give us a little hand? We don't need help with Iran, but if you'd like, give us a hand with Iran. He said, no, thanks. And I said, wait a minute. We have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next door neighbor. I say, well, why are we involved in helping you? They get 50 percent of their oil and they don't want to get involved. Why are we doing it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: There are very good reasons why the U.S. and South Korea maintain a mutual defense treaty. And not long ago, South Korea's president called their alliance mutually necessary. CNN's Will Ripley reports from the region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONENT (voice-over): Kim Jong Un and his daughter smiling at the circus. North Korean state media showing them celebrating in Pyongyang this weekend. At the same time, President Trump was posting this picture with Kim, saying, despite the unfriendly look, Kim Jong Un and I get along great. A relationship Trump is now invoking to make a major change on the Korean peninsula, ordering the Pentagon to substantially reduce annual military exercises with South Korea.
Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, Trump says, adding the exercises are costly and send a totally inappropriate and hostile signal to North Korea. The moves are fueling speculation Trump may be laying the groundwork for renewed diplomacy with Kim.
CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR: This is kind of a shocking development by the President. We'll see if he has some reason beyond what he stated, but certainly this is not the way to handle a region of the world that really expects reliability from us.
RIPLEY (voice-over): For decades, North Korea has demanded these drills stop, calling them rehearsals for invasion and war. For the U.S. and South Korea, they serve a very different purpose, training their forces to fight together on the ground and in the air. There's a reason the Allies stay ready.
In 1968, North Korea seized an American spy ship, the USS Pueblo. One American was killed. 82 More were held captive for nearly a year. In 1987, North Korean agents bombed a South Korean passenger jet. All 115 people aboard were killed. Then in 2010, the South Korean warship Cheonan sank near the North Korean border. 46 sailors died. An international investigation blamed a North Korean torpedo. Pyongyang denied it.
Months later, North Korean shells raining down on Yeonpyeong Island. Two South Korean Marines and two civilians killed both nations blaming the other for exchanging fire, all on a peninsula where the Korean War never formally ended. And the North Korean military Trump faces today is far more heavily armed, with Kim's teenage daughter, rumored to be his likely successor as he expands his nuclear and missile arsenal.
Kim's military is also more battle tested, fighting for Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia wants another 30,000 North Korean troops. Warning Moscow is helping Kim learn modern warfare. Kim has even built a memorial for those killed with room for many more graves.
RILEY: President Trump has tried diplomacy with North Korea before after their 2018 Singapore Summit, he suspended major exercises. Kim never gave up his nuclear weapons. Now, Trump is scaling back drills before Kim has even agreed to talk. Could this be a new opening for diplomacy or concession before negotiations even begin? Will Ripley, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Yes, thanks. Well, we'll have to see CNN gearing up for another big night of primaries in the coming hours. The latest on key races in Florida, including when to replace Governor Ron DeSantis. That's just ahead our political panel live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:18:55]
MICHAELSON: The story is a growing feud between President Trump and Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff from Georgia. It started this weekend when Ossoff took aim at the president over his Air Force One controversy and his aide, Natalie Harp.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): And while the sailors on the Lincoln fight his war, while he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings, he golfs and trades stocks. So he doesn't want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: A White House spokesperson called Ossoff a feminine theater kid cosplaying as Barack Obama and President Trump responded today in the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yesterday Jon Ossoff said you'd rather travel with your aide Natalie Harp and build the ballroom than do your job as president. What is your response? Jon Ossoff?
[01:20:00]
TRUMP: You mean Pee Wee Herman? Pee Wee Herman lookalike? No, I would much rather do other things. It's a -- we're building a great facility here. We're fixing a White House that hasn't been taken care of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Our panel is here. Former California state assemblymember and Democratic congressional candidate Christy Smith here for the first time. And the chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party, Roxanne Beckford Hoge, our returning champion. Welcome, both of you.
Great to have you here.
CHRISTY SMITH, FORMER CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLYMEMBER: Yes, great to be here.
MICHAELSON: For the first time. So let's talk about what is going on with Jon Ossoff. First up, for people that don't know, Natalie Harp is one of the president's closest aides. She's often by his side. She carries a printer with her sometimes to print out articles for him. She's often the person who literally types in the Truth Social posts and is known for her devotion to the Trump team.
What do you make of Ossoff's comments beyond the pale?
ROXANNE BECKFORD HOGE, CHAIR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY: Well, she is also known as the human printer because precisely, she takes dictation. In the old days, we were the secretaries. Ossoff is really, really pushing it here because especially if you're claiming to be the party that cares about women and that women belong in, we have a place in the House and in the Senate and which is our old joke that we used to love, the fact is that is completely scurrilous.
The President travels with hundreds of people, including Natalie Harp, who's, by the way, not just a devoted aide. She got the job because the president's right to try bill helped save her life when she was suffering from cancer. So Google that, kids, and then tell me if Jon Ossoff was. Was right or not.
MICHAELSON: Here's what Ossoff said to Jen Psaki on MS Now tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You specifically mentioned her, and I just wonder why.
OSSOFF: Well, I've heard this particular aide referred to as his security blanket. And I think we could say that about any number of the senior aides in the White House. They're not telling him what he needs to hear. They're telling him what he wants to hear. And the nation is at war, and we cannot afford that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Your thoughts on the comments in the first place and what he's saying tonight?
SMITH: Yes, look, Ossoff, despite what was otherwise a really good speech, missed the mark here. He broke a cardinal rule of being a candidate at that level. He punched down. This young woman is doing her job in the White House.
The backstory on her clearly compelling. There were a lot of other people. There were a lot of other people who aren't doing their job in the Trump administration who he could have tied the president to and made a much stronger point. On our side we need to have learned from past mistakes like what happened to Monica Lewinsky in the wake of the Bill Clinton scandal. Right. We don't do this to women. We don't do this to women. We are the party that should be standing with women. We are the party that has raise the specter of sexual harassment in the workplace.
I do hope I have heard, unfortunately now, as more details about this woman's life have come to fore, that, you know, perhaps her family are concerned. I hope there's someone in the White House, a more senior aide, White House chief of staff that she can go to if the relationship is in any way inappropriate. But those accusations have not been made right now. And I think Ossoff was out of line.
HOGE: Yes. Wait, what have you heard that you're saying she needs her family's help?
MICHAELSON: Those accusations have not been made. But your comment, your thoughts on what she just said. Pretty strong words from the assembly member.
HOGE: Well, and I welcome it. And it's good -- it's really good when you're in the political game to know when someone on your side has stepped in it. In addition, I think the other thing we need to be very careful of when we're running a campaign or running for something is to use an argument that will stick.
No one on the planet, you may not like Donald Trump, but no one on the planet can suggest that the man's not working hard and that's so he made two missteps there. We get that you don't like him, but to suggest that he's just swanning about going to parties is.
MICHAELSON: What do you -- what do you think of Ossoff as a presidential candidate potentially?
SMITH: Very weak sauce, but a very wide and thin bench that the Democrats have to choose from. But he doesn't have the gravitas of a Gavin Newsom.
MICHAELSON: Your thoughts on Ossoff?
SMITH: Well, listen, I mean, clearly, if you are a Democrat who can win a state like Georgia, which has historically been very purple and a real cross section of the American electorate, you could well be on your way to the White House. A lot of young people find him very compelling because he's a younger generation of politician. He's been very successful in the Senate. He's an excellent public speaker. He's not afraid to, you know, campaign in tough places. So I think he's going to be one to watch in the presidential.
MICHAELSON: Yes. It'll be interesting to see. He's first got to win his reelection in Georgia --
SMITH: Right.
MICHAELSON: -- where it looks like he's doing pretty well. Speaking of the midterms, we've got another election night in America in just a few hours from now. My favorite thing to say, election night in America.
We've got elections in Florida. We've got elections in Alaska. There's a special election happening here in California. What are you most looking forward to in the next few hours?
SMITH: Well, look, I'm really excited about the California special election to replace Representative Eric Swalwell.
[01:25:04]
I now run an organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office and both of the women running to replace him are from our team. We train those women and so that's why we do what we do.
MICHAELSON: You win either way.
SMITH: We win either way and that's why it's so important to have a bench of talent ready to go. So definitely watching that one. I mean I think watching Alaska and looking what's happening there where they now have this top four primary system with ranked choice voting which a lot of proponents say really expands our democratic opportunities and our opportunities to find compromise in really big important elections. That's going to be great to watch.
MICHAELSON: What do you most --
HOGE: I think ranked choice is one of the worst. The only way you could make California system worse would be to add ranked choice to it. Wyoming has an election as well tomorrow that should be interesting.
MICHAELSON: Sure.
HOGE: The race to succeed Swalwell, at least we know that neither of those candidates will be drugging young women. So we're very excited about that.
MICHAELSON: Of course is an accusation which has not been proven in court.
HOGE: No, I'm pretty sure they won't be doing that.
MICHAELSON: Exactly. You're going to have a different take towards women. Why do you think ranked choice voting is a good idea?
SMITH: Look in places where it has been deployed it really gives voters an opportunity to not just have one choice. I mean maybe they like a candidate who's on the ballot as a decline to state candidate or if it's a nonpartisan race and there's two folks they really like and like I would take either one of these folks but the other two who are running I really don't care for/
You know, the bipartisan moment that we are having right now which has led to Washington intransigence and even in some states isn't serving the American electorate. The economy is bad. People feel like their needs aren't being met. And so why not have the opportunity to kind of at least have some moment where you could break, you know, the bipartisan stranglehold that we've had in this country for a long time.
MICHAELSON: And of course ranked choice for people that don't follow this that closely means you literally rank your choices.
SMITH: Yes.
MICHAELSON: I like this candidate the best. I like this candidate second. And then they narrow it down based off of your range.
SMITH: I think the conversation especially within the Democratic Party and I know the Republicans went through this not that long ago where you've got more left leaning folks and you've got more establishment folks. It gives voters an opportunity to weigh in on the differences between those kind of candidates.
HOGE: I think it's a great system for who you're going to sleep in the tent with in your junior high sleepover. I think for voting. That's how they do it, that you choose one friend and then you choose another friend.
MICHAELSON: OK.
SMITH: Well, I think Republicans are concerned --
MICHAELSON: No my sleepover work. Okay.
SMITH: I do believe the president has said, or some high ranking Republican. If we go to ranked choice voting, Republicans won't win anymore. So that's why they don't.
HOGE: It's gamesmanship. It's what we did in California. It institutes a system of game theory and most people are not paying attention to that. It happened with top two. It'll happen.
SMITH: And it forces politicians to be more responsive.
MICHAELSON: OK, ladies, thank you so much for being here tonight. Really appreciate it. Great to see both of you.
We have some blockbuster new reporting from the L.A. Times explaining why some recent polling has been so off the mark.
Remember that poll showing Francesca Hong winning by 20 points? Well, it was fake. The reporter who broke the story, Noah Goldberg, is here to discuss what we can all learn from this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:32:39]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson.
Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The trial for the man accused of plotting the murder of rap legend Tupack Shakur, now underway. Prosecutors allege the 1996 killing was an act of revenge after Shakur and several others assaulted Davis' nephew in Las Vegas.
The defense argues the case lacked sufficient evidence. Davis has pleaded not guilty. He could face life in prison if convicted.
The U.S. Supreme Court has once again refused to consider President Trump's push to roll back his payment to E. Jean Carroll. More than three years ago, a jury found that he sexually abused and defamed the former writer and ordered him to pay 5.6 million bucks. The Supreme Court denied the presidents appeal in June, but he asked the justices to reconsider. They declined.
Hawaii's governor says a 90-year-old woman died in flooding caused by Hurricane Lala. With the storm now past Hawaii, officials are assessing the damage. Governor Josh Green says more than a hundred homes were damaged or destroyed. Some 100,000 homes and businesses remain without power across the islands.
Well, if it seems like the polling has been wrong in a few key elections this primary season, that's because it was. In fact, it wasn't just wrong. It was entirely made up.
A company called Median Strategies released a poll that showed Francesca Hong up by more than 20 points in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor. She lost that race.
Another poll released the next day by the group showed Karen Bass leading Nithya Raman by 12 points in the race for L.A. mayor.
And today comes reporting from the "L.A. Times". Quote, "Poll showing Bass leading by double digits was bogus, company says."
Again, not just bogus. Completely made up.
The company released a statement saying "Median Strategies was created as a short-term social experiment to examine how purported polling information could enter and spread through political information ecosystem without independent verification."
[01:34:45]
MICHAELSON: Let's bring in Noah Goldberg, City Hall reporter for the "Los Angeles Times", who broke this story.
Noah, great reporting.
Welcome to THE STORY IS. Welcome to CNN for the first time.
NOAH GOLDBERG, CITY HALL REPORTER, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: How did you know something was amiss here? GOLDBERG: Well, first of all, my new thing whenever anything goes
wrong in life is I'm going to say it was a short-term social experiment. And that's how you can get away with anything.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
GOLDBERG: We heard about this poll last week when it first started getting reported on by certain outlets.
The "California Post" wrote about it and suggested that Spencer Pratt voters in the primary were breaking toward Karen Bass, because this poll purported to show that. It said 85 percent of Spencer Pratt voters were deciding to vote for Bass, as opposed to about 6 percent deciding to vote for Councilmember Nithya Raman.
So we started looking at the poll. We looked at the Web site. The Web site looks very professional, and the poll even came out with like three pages of stats from the poll, who they interviewed, where they surveyed people in the city of Los Angeles.
But when you look a little deeper, it was a little sketchy. And we went to the Twitter account of the pollster, Median Strategies, and they only had about 25 followers, and they had only started publishing polls about a week earlier when they published that poll in the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary race.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
GOLDBERG: So we weren't sure that it was something we were going to go with. But yes.
MICHAELSON: And then you -- you reached out to them and then -- and eventually they just admitted it was fake, right?
GOLDBERG: Yes. So I reached out to them first on Friday to see what was going on. I asked who their lead pollster was because they didn't have anyone referenced on their Web site. I asked who their lead pollster was and if I could get on the phone with that person. They didn't respond.
I reached out again on Friday, and then on Monday I said, hey, checking back in. That's when they said that they were discontinuing their polling operation. That's what they told me first.
And I said, ok, that's fine. You can discontinue your polling operation, but I would still love to see the cross tabs of your poll. And I'd still love to know who your pollster is. And that's when they told me it was a social experiment.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And so that statement, which we can put up on the screen, which now if you go to their Instagram page, it leads you to this Web site that basically says this -- we just showed this -- about this, this social experiment where they would see how things happened without independent verification.
So what did the social experiment show us? MICHAELSON: I guess it showed that these sorts of fake polls can
easily penetrate in the political dynamic that we're in. We had the mayor of Los Angeles putting out a post on X saying that --
(CROSSTALKING)
MICHAELSON: Yes. Let's put this -- let's put this up on the screen. We have this. So, so the mayor says, "This is great news for my campaign." So she puts out on her page, "Look at how great this poll is" and makes an infographic citing this. And again, it's a fake poll so she didn't do too much digging.
"California Post", as you mentioned, wrote a whole article about this. Other outlets did as well. There's conversations on talk radio. There was a whole conversation about a poll that wasn't even true.
GOLDBERG: We live in a media environment where things move really quickly, and reporters are asked to put out stories and, you know, 30 minutes or an hour. So a lot of people don't have time to do all that fact checking. But it's really important to do it because then fake stuff can just circulate on the Internet.
MICHAELSON: Well, an interesting thing is also happening now, which is the prediction markets when it comes to politics. And by putting out a fake poll, you could potentially change the prediction markets and make or lose a lot of money too.
Yes. So I think one of the theories that is circulating online is that maybe this wasn't a social experiment. And really the goal was to affect the prediction market.
So if you put out a poll that says Karen Bass is ahead, that's going to make the prediction market go in Karen Bass' favor. And then if you were to bet on Councilmember Raman, you would get better odds and a better payout. So that's one of the theories that's circulating.
I haven't heard back from Median Strategies since I last spoke with them, but I do want to know more.
MICHAELSON: Yes, they seem kind of hard to get a hold of.
Meanwhile, you know, here at CNN, there's a very, very high standard for us to even put polls up on the screen. I was really surprised coming here because frankly, it's a much higher standard than my previous employer.
And like, we won't even put it up on the screen at all if we haven't seen the cross tabs. There's a whole team that examines the poll.
And today was a day I was like, thank -- thanks for that process. It's good to do that. I'm sure there's similar rigorous process at the "L.A. Times".
But it's incumbent on all of us as consumers now to really dig ourselves because it's hard for people to tell. GOLDBERG: Yes, I mean, we always want to see the cross tabs. And I
think that the most basic thing that you need when looking at a poll is who is the pollster? Are they someone who is legitimate? Is there an actual human behind this operation so that you can attribute it to them?
MICHAELSON: Yes, I mean, because we have been asking on all these election nights as we're now into another election day, how are all these polls so wrong?
[01:39:50]
MICHAELSON: And this is one of the reasons why, but it's definitely something to think about as so much of our world is driven by that.
Great reporting, Noah. You can check out Noahs reporting at the "L.A. Times", latimes.com. And of course, check CNN's Web site for our standard for polling as well.
Great to have you here with us for the first time.
GOLDBERG: Thanks for having us.
MICHAELSON: If you are plugged into Hollywood and can't wait for the next award season to start, this new CNN show is just for you.
CNN entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister is the host of "COMING UP", a new series spotlighting actors and their performances in the run up to the Emmy awards on September 14th.
Our first guest is actress Allison Janney, known for her roles in films, TV's "The West Wing" and more recently, "The Diplomat", where her character becomes the president of the United States.
Here's what Janney she had to say about taking on the U.S. presidency as a woman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLISON JANNEY, ACTRESS: I think when I -- when we filmed that scene, two people were coming up after and saying everyone was crying in that video village, seeing you sworn in as president. And when I saw it after, I got emotional too, it was just beautiful with all the music and the writing and the obviously the -- you know, what's not happening in our country today, and what we haven't been able to do as a country to elect a female president.
It's pretty -- I feel that, that history. And it feels pretty great to play Grace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The first episode of coming up is available to stream right now for CNN subscribers. You can watch it on CNN.com or on the CNN app.
Way to go, Elizabeth. Great series. More episodes coming out every day this week.
You're watching THE STORY IS.
For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back with a major shift in how America tackles homelessness.
Ahead, my conversation with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner. Why he says the country's current approach is failing.
[01:41:50]
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MICHAELSON: THE STORY IS homelessness.
The federal government estimates there are nearly 750,000 Americans experiencing homelessness tonight. The city with the most unsheltered homeless in the entire country is right here in Los Angeles.
I recently got exclusive access to top Trump administration officials as they toured southern California and checked out examples of places they say are actually solving homelessness.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Housing Secretary Scott Turner and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are cheered on by formerly homeless residents at L.A.'s Dream Center.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God has called you to this place. Would you all agree? Yes. Yes. Can I get a big amen?
CROWD: Amen.
MICHAELSON: The Dream Center specializes in a Christian-based, live-in drug rehabilitation program. Kennedy says finding religion decades ago helped him find sobriety.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: I've been in recovery for -- now for 43 years. I was a heroin addict for 14 years. and I made a decision to turn my life over to my higher power.
MICHAELSON: We sit down exclusively with turner, a Christian, longtime pastor, as he pushes to increase funding for faith-based nonprofits serving the homeless.
in 2024, the Biden administration said providers who mandate religious practices could not receive federal aid. One of many rules and directives that quickly shifted under President Trump.
SCOTT TURNER, U.S. HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY: But in this administration under President Trump and us at HUD, we want to bring back those faith-based organizations that are merit-based, that have results. MICHAELSON: Turner claims the Dream Center is getting significantly
better results than the government-run Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, known as LAHSA.
TURNER: The LAHSA has received over a billion dollars in the last five years, with no results and no accountability.
Funding doubled, the amount of homelessness tripled. We got to run a new play.
MICHAELSON: LAHSA is set to receive $241 million in federal funds already earmarked by Congress. Money LAHSA says will serve 11,000 people in the L.A. area.
TURNER: They will not receive another set of American taxpayer money until they can account for every single dollar.
The Trump administration tried to freeze federal funding to LAHSA, which has faced accusations of waste and inefficiency managing contracts for local programs.
The new head of LAHSA says by freezing this funding, you're actually hurting the people. They said, quote, "The people who will be harmed by this decision are not the bureaucrats. They're families, veterans, seniors, formerly homeless Angelenos who rely on these resources to remain housed."
What do you say to that?
TURNER: Well, what I say to that is that the proof is in the pudding. These people are already harmed.
MICHAELSON: LAHSA sued to keep the funding. And two days after our interview with Turner, a federal judge sided with LAHSA, writing, quote, "HUD's rash suspension of LAHSA will significantly harm the public interest. Inevitably, this suspension will result in deaths among the homeless."
He went on to say, quote, "LAHSA may be dysfunctional, but thousands of unhoused individuals rely on these services."
LAHSA, reacting in a statement that the judge's ruling, quote, "protects our community's ability to secure funding for housing and services that save lives."
Turner, responding on X, writing in part, quote, "The Trump administration will not back down from doing what is right. And I will be working with the Justice Department to fight this legally."
TURNER: We have people dying in homeless industrial complex here.
MICHAELSON: Earlier this month, a federal judge in Rhode Island appointed by President Trump also ruled against certain HUD reforms, writing that they are being enacted in a procedurally invalid manner.
TURNER: These are a lot of activist judges. MICHAELSON: Trump appointed this activist judge?
TURNER: Well, not just, but a lot of activist judges because we've gone through litigation for this before.
MICHAELSON: In Los Angeles, where the affordability and housing crises are severe, LAHSA says unsheltered street homelessness rose by nearly 8 percent over the last year.
Do you bear any responsibility on the increase in homelessness that's happened here during your time as secretary?
[01:49:49]
TURNER: No, we don't bear responsibility. The reforms that we have put forth, we haven't been able to do them because of litigation.
Once we're able to actually implement these reforms, you will see a decrease in homelessness.
MICHAELSON: Turner says he wants to get away from the so-called "housing first" approach, where homeless individuals are given housing with few conditions to get them off the streets, and adopt what he calls a "treatment first" approach, requiring treatment for drug addiction and mental illness in order to stay in housing long-term.
TURNER: The difference? "Housing first" is just housing. "Treatment first" is understanding there's a root cause here. Get them housed, get them treated, get them transformed. It's the right thing to do.
Let me ask you this. If you have a business, your family budget, personal budget, if what you're doing is failing and I know you, you're not going to continue to do the same thing.
What we've been doing in "housing first" is failing the American people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Secretary Turner and all the folks at the Dream Center. It is not clear whether the Trump administration will formally appeal those latest court rulings.
We're right back with more of THE STORY IS.
[01:50:58]
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MICHAELSON: A family feud is marring the much-hyped, record-breaking sale of the Los Angeles Lakers and raising questions about whether it's actually going to happen.
Controlling owner and CEO Jeanie Buss is loudly opposing the purchase of her family's remaining 18 percent stake in her team.
Her lawyer says ESPN falsely reported the sale and accused two of her siblings of leaking defamatory and pernicious information.
Buss has been the governor of the Lakers since 2013, but would lose her position if the minority sale goes through. Her lawyer is threatening to issue injunctions against her siblings and is calling any vote to sell the team void.
Last week, it was announced former Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner bought a majority stake for $12.5 billion.
That's going to be something to watch in the days ahead.
Tomorrow, we've got another special edition of THE STORY IS as it is election night in America. Back with us, our political panel -- Ron Brownstein, Katie Porter and Matt Klink.
Plus, we'll have live reports from the states with primaries including Florida, Wyoming, California and Alaska.
Thanks for being with us. I'm Elex Michaelson. We'll see you tomorrow.
[01:56:29]
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