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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Florida, Alaska, Wyoming, California Pick Nominees For Midterms; CNN: Upset Win For Democratic Socialist Nixon In FL Sen. Race; CNN: republican Donald's vs. Democrat Jolly In Florida Gov. Race; Meta's Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial Underway; Security Witnesses Testify in Day 2 of Trial Against Duane Davis; Witnesses questioned on Clancy's Psychosis, Mental Illness; Palestinian-American Finds West Bank Home under Setler Siege. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired August 19, 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]

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: On the scale back just hours before the drills were set to begin, citing, quote, "My very good relationship with Kim Jong Un of North Korea." Opening statements are underway in what could be Meta's toughest legal battle yet over child safety. 29 states are suing, claiming the tech giant intentionally designed its platforms to addict young people in pursuit of profit. Meta has denied all those claims, but if they lose the case, they face up to $1.4 trillion in penalties. That's with a T.

Thanks for watching the first hour of The Story Is. The second hour starts right now.

I'm Elex Michaelson, live in Los Angeles. It is election night in America, and the results from Alaska are just about to come in.

We are following key primaries and special elections in Florida, Alaska, California and Wyoming. First to the race for governor in Florida, which has been reliably red in recent years. CNN projects Congressman Byron Donalds win the Republican nomination.

President Trump endorsed him. Outgoing Governor Ron DeSantis noticed Lee did not. Donald will face Republican -- former Republican Congressman David Jolly in that gubernatorial showdown. Jolly is now a Democrat.

He broke with his party over differences with the president and won his primary by a landslide. In the race for Florida Senate, Democratic socialists pulled off a surprise win. Progressive Angie Nixon defeated Democratic resistance hero Elex Vindman, who testified against President Trump during his first impeachment inquiry. Vindman is urging Democrats to rally behind Nixon to take on Republican Senator Ashley Moody.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGIE NIXON, (D-FL): We have proved that everyday people are more powerful than the corporations and billionaires. Together, we -- we went up against a political establishment, against millions of dollars out of state spending. We were outspent 16 to 1, and we won.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: In California, two Democrats are facing off to fill the seat held by former Congressman Eric Swalwell, who resigned over sexual misconduct allegations. We see numbers just coming in. We just got some new numbers here, which actually make this race slightly closer. Aisha Wahab ahead of Melissa Hernandez by just 1,300 votes.

That race was about 1700 votes the last time we checked. Obviously, this one is too close to call. And as we know, in California, voting doesn't always happen quickly. So, when you look at numbers in Florida, it says 99 percent in. And in California, it could take a little bit.

For more on Florida results, let's go live to the state Capitol where Liv Caputo is the Tallahassee bureau reporter for the Times/Herald. Welcome to The Story Is for the first time.

LIV CAPUTO, TIMES/HERALD TALLAHASSE BUREAU REPORTER: Thanks so much for having me, Elex.

MICHAELSON: Let's start with the Florida governor's race. Byron Donalds versus David Jolly. How do you size that up right now? And what did you make of both of their messages late tonight as they start the general election campaign?

CAPUTO: It's going to be very difficult for a Democrat to win in the state of Florida. Republicans have a crazy strong lead. There's more than 1.5 million more Republican voters in Florida than Democrats. Byron Donald's pulled off a huge win.

It wasn't a surprise he got 49 percent of the vote. But next closest person was Jay Collins, the lieutenant governor of Florida, with around 25 percent. Not a surprise there. He's endorsed by Donald Trump, which is a great endorsement to have if you are a Republican in Florida.

On the Democrat side, Jolly, he's a former Republican, so Democrats are trying to go a little bit more moderate considering the voter makeup. As for Jolly, though, it's going to be quite the uphill climb for him to beat Byron Donalds.

MICHAELSON: Yes, indeed. And the Florida Senate race also is going to be a challenge for the Democrat in that race. Angie Nixon winning as a Democratic socialist, facing off against Ashley Moody. Talk about the concept of socialism and how that plays, especially in a place like South Florida where there is a significant Cuban population that has very strong feelings about that word.

CAPUTO: Yes, it doesn't play well. Socialism does not play well at all in South Florida. It is a -- it's what Republicans have really successfully branded various Democrats, whether they were more socialist aligned or not. They say socialists; South Floridians say we want nothing to do with it. So what Angie Nixon did, though, was really interesting. While she's

joined the DSA, she didn't -- she's not endorsed by them, and she didn't really run on this platform of I'm with the DSA, I'm a socialist. She focused more on top concerns for Floridians, for Florida Democrats, which is affordability.

[01:05:17]

She ran on that. It's an interesting comparison to the governor's race where you have a Democrat for governor who is more moderate, more centrist, and then your Democrat candidate for Senate is part of the DSA, but both of them have in common that they're not trying to amplify socialist messages, at least not during the primary. And so maybe that's what Nixon needs to do to keep that vote again to go up against these really, really tough Republicans in Florida.

MICHAELSON: And lastly, the congressional race that you're following most closely, that stood out to you the most tonight.

CAPUTO: Probably Cory Mills in Florida's Congressional district, the seventh Congressional District. Cory Mills has been around for two terms, and he's been plagued by accusations all across the map. There's been accusations of stolen valor, of sexual assault, of domestic violence, and he's denied all wrongdoing. Of course.

There's allegedly a DOJ investigation into his finances, and it finally seemed to catch up with him tonight. And he was beaten By A former Fox 35 anchor, Ryan Elijah, and he was beaten pretty handily. I think it was around seven to eight points. And so to see an incumbent who's kind of dodged these allegations for the past few years to then be taken down by someone who wasn't really very well-known at all and in such a big way was impressive.

Then again, the Republicans didn't turn on him. In the end, President Trump did not issue a re-endorsement for him. He was the only Florida Republican that the president had formally backed that he did not re endorse. And then Governor DeSantis came out and said, I do not support Cory Mills.

So that was really interesting to see.

MICHAELSON: Yes. Yes, indeed. Also very interesting to have you on the show for the first time. Now for keen-eyed CNN viewers, they may have noticed your dad was on a couple of hours earlier. And I think we got the better Caputo.

I think we lucked out. Nothing against him. The king of Florida politics.

CAPUTO: I didn't say it.

MICHAELSON: Yes, you're right. A great job. Thanks for staying up late for us Liv Caputo in Tallahassee, Florida. We appreciate it.

And now CNN can make a projection. For the first time in Alaska's U.S. Senate race, Democrat Mary Peltola will advance to the general election this November. She'll face Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan, who fought off a challenge from another contender also named Dan Sullivan. Let's get right to our panel.

CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, former Democratic congresswoman Katie Porter, and Republican strategist Matt Klink.

Those Alaska numbers are new. We just saw that, just made that projection. So let's start with that breaking news. How do you see that race?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: A giant field. I was just kind of calculating into my head, Mary -- all the Democrats with Peltola obviously getting most of it were a little over 49 percent and all the Republicans were a little over 48 percent. As you go down -- as you go down the list.

What makes Alaska so intriguing, of course, is that they have a top four. They have -- they have a distinctive voting system. Top four in the primary make it to the general election and you have ranked-choice voting.

You know, I believe in 2024, Mary Peltola, who was -- who was a House member who'd beaten Sarah Palin, was ahead at this point in the primary and then ultimately lost on election day when there was a big turnout of Trump-supporting non-college voters, rural voters, that kind of the Trump coalition. This time she's in a very strong position. I mean, you Democrats haven't elected a senator there since 2008.

Dan Sullivan, though, is kind of a low-key incumbent. She is very popular, very local. What is her -- what is it? Faith family -- fish, family, freedom is her. You know, and so this is -- this is a race that is kind of, you know, will measure how much the environment has changed from two years ago in terms of red states that are now in play for Democrats.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And sometimes in these wave elections, this is the kinds of thing where the opposing party end up winning. That may never happen again, but sort of happen in these weird wave elections.

KATIE PORTER, FORMER U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Yes. I mean, look, when Mary Peltola won the House race, that was the first time that a Democrat had won a Republican House race in Alaska for a while. She then lost it. But I think she's a strong candidate. I think she's a pre seasoned campaigner.

She's experienced. She has done a very, very good job of kind of steering her campaign. This is not somebody who is getting sucked into the progressive, moderate national political nonsense. She is staying very, very focused on who she is and what Alaskans want to hear.

MICHAELSON: Fish, family, and freedom is quite a slogan.

[01:10:01]

MATT KLINK, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, I don't think you're going to hear that anywhere else in the United States. I mean, look that, I think the real interesting part here is the ranked-choice voting. There aren't a lot of people who have figured it out. It sounds very simple, but in practice it leads to some very, very strange outcomes.

MICHAELSON: Well, especially when you have two guys named Dan Sullivan on the same ballot.

KLINK: Yes. Judge said that was allowable too, which is crazy.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, there's no real reason to keep him off because he has the same name. I mean, you may believe that he's doing it for nefarious reasons. But the secretary of no explanation.

MICHAELSON: But two ranked Dan Sullivan one, then Dan Sullivan two.

KLINK: Yes, well, it's his chance. Right.

PORTER: There has been some interesting reporting that came out, I think today about, you know, kind of who this other Dan Sullivan is, and he is running, I want to note, as a Republican. But there's a lot of suggestion that neighbors, people who know him, people in the small town that he's living in, that said, he's -- he's pretty, he's pretty progressive. He said he didn't vote for Donald Trump.

And so, I would say, you know, if I were a Democratic voter, Alaska would be Peltola 1. The non-incumbent Senator Daniel J. Sullivan would be my number two.

So getting all the confusion, I still think the president helps Peltola.

BROWNSTEIN: The real question is going to be who are the number twos of the three and four.

MICHAELSON: Correct.

BROWNSTEIN: Right? That is the issue. That is if it's, you know, and there are, as you go down the list, and if you look at the governor's race, there are 17 candidates for governor. This kind of system encourages a lot of people to run.

I don't know exactly how many efforts --

MICHAELSON: Florida top four person, right?

BROWNSTEIN: The top four get into the, get into finals, really.

MICHAELSON: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: And then you have the ranked-choice voting in which, presumably it would seem from these results tonight unlikely that either of them, either Peltola or Sullivan cross 50 percent. And then you'll have another 5, 6, 7 percent of those last two candidates who will -- who will decide.

MICHAELSON: Well, speaking of Alaska, we've got live pictures right now for Mary Peltola's watch party. So, let's take a look at what it looks like there. Can we listen into this at all?

Don't know if we can hear it. Okay, so we're not getting good audio, but she's clearly meeting with voters and other folks there. She's arrived.

This is in Anchorage, Alaska, where it is now 9:11 p.m. And so if we hear from her in terms of a speech or something like that, we will bring that to you live.

Meanwhile, the other big story that we're just following is in Florida. Liv Caputo talked about this race of Cory Mills, who somebody who's joined us often here, has been embroiled in scandal and is not going to be on the ballot in November for the Republicans. Is that a good thing?

KLINK: Very much so. Yes. I think, I mean, the seat will still go to a Republican. It's one of the -- it's one of those districts that it's a R plus 9 or 10, something like that.

But here he just, I mean, scandal plagued him for years, and it's one of those things. I'm glad that he's not on the ticket. Now, we just need the congressman in Ohio to do the same, although it's too late.

BROWNSTEIN: Too late, yes.

MICHAELSON: Right. I mean, that's, that is the difference, right? So in Ohio, Max Miller, who has plenty of scandals of his own, has decided that he isn't going to run.

I mean, obviously this wasn't Cory Mills' choice. He wanted to be --

KLINK: No. He got the people voted him.

MICHAELSON: But the people voted him out. So there's a different situation there. But it's one of those situations like if Graham Plattner would have stayed on the ballot, then you have a race that you have a good chance of winning, then all of a sudden, you have no chance of winning. And so --

KLINK: The Republicans are better for it in this case. And you know, again, it'll still -- I think they really interesting story I haven't talked about yet in Florida is, it was a 20 to 8 Republican Democrat delegation split. Don't forget Florida mid-cycle redistricted. It could go to 24 to 4 if all the cards fall into place.

So that's four seats that the Republicans will pick up. If it is a wave election, it's going to make the wave a little bit less intense.

MICHAELSON: Yes. All right. Well, our election night coverage continues in a moment, more with our panel. We'll also have the latest in that California special election, which continues to get closer.

We'll talk about all this with my next guest. The former U.S. Senator from California, Barbara Boxer joins us. She knows a thing or two about winning elections in California. She's won a few. She's with us next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:18:28]

MICHAELSON: It's election night in America. Live results here in California. This race still too close to call. The special election in the state's 14th district.

Two Democrats facing off to serve the remainder of former Congressman Eric Swalwell's term. Polls closed just a couple of hours ago. Progressive state Senator Aisha Wahab facing off against former Mayor Melissa Hernandez, who now chairs the board of Bay Area Rapid Transit, known as BART. You see the results very close.

Wahab ahead by just over 1300 votes, but plenty to count. This race could go either way. Joining me now live from Palm Springs is somebody who knows a thing or two about winning elections in California. She's won 11 of them, including multiple terms in the House in the Bay Area and, of course, statewide as the senator from California, Barbara Boxer with us here on The Story is. Welcome back to the show.

BARBARA BOXER, FORMER U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: Thank you so much.

MICHAELSON: How do you read this 14th congressional district, and what's going on there as they try to fill out this term, and then they'll run against each other again in November for that very same seat?

[01:20:10]

BOXER: Well, I'm just very happy we've got two terrific candidates. I don't know either of them personally. I've looked up all their positions. They're solid and they -- each of them has tremendous support.

You know, one worked at the state level, the other at the local, and they all have Congress members support and state senators and local elected support, which says to me they're -- they're ready. So, the last point I'd make is I think it's very fitting to have a woman in that seat after we were so saddened and disappointed and outraged by Swalwell. So, I think I'm a happy person tonight on that one. Whoever wins, I -- I will do whatever I can to help them.

MICHAELSON: Of course, Swalwell not necessarily known for the way he treated women, and that was the point of why their seat is open right now. Let's talk about the Senate, where you obviously have a lot of experience yourself and know a lot of the players. You knew Lindsey Graham well. Served with him for many years. Now his sister is running to replace him after his unexpected death.

She was on the debate stage tonight. Of course, Lindsey Graham, known for his national security gravitas. It was one of the main reasons he loved being in the Senate so often, was just in Ukraine days before he died. Here's what his sister, who is now an incumbent senator, had to say on the debate stage tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARLINE GRAHAM, (I-SC): I'm not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise. But I do support the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: As a former senator, as a former friend of Lindsey Graham, what's your reaction to that?

BOXER: Well, I agree with your panel when they discuss this. I think it's a disqualifier. I mean, she loves the military. That was not the question.

The question is, what do we do about the Taiwan situation? And if you don't know that just from sitting around and talking with your staff who's, you know, you have to bring in the experts here. She's just not ready. It's, it's very unfortunate for her, really.

MICHAELSON: In terms of Alaska's Senate race, we just made that call just a few moments ago. Mary Peltola is going to be moving on until November. Sort of a, an unusual system there where it's a top four system moving forward.

How do you see that race and sort of the broader Democratic effort to try to win in red states where polls show Democrats have a good chance this time around?

BOXER: We do have a good chance. And Elex, you know, I ran those four statewide races for the U.S. Senate, and every time there was a different national backdrop behind me. And right now, the wind is at the back of the Democrats. People are really upset.

Costs are sky-high because of the war, because of the tariffs. Cuts to health care. For what reason? Painful cuts.

Taking away health care to give tax cuts to billionaires who don't need it. Corruption by the First Family. It's bad enough when the economy is bad. And then you see the First Family cashing in, and not to mention the cruelty of the masked police going after not the worst of the worst, but the decent immigrants it's -- and killing people, including American citizens who were standing by their communities. So, it's the wind is at the back of the Democrats.

And I think we have great candidates. They're not all alike. You know, some of them are more left, some are more central. But they -- they have a story to tell.

MICHAELSON: And lastly, it's Bill Clinton's birthday. He's turning 80 years old. Somebody you know well, I know his wife really well, very connected to him. What do you think is his legacy?

BOXER: Well, he created the best economy we ever had. And I was there. I mean, when Diane Feinstein and I won in 1992, we were swept into office in many ways because he and Al Gore were so popular at the time. And I remember saying to my husband, honey, we've balanced the budget.

We have no deficit. There are going to be no more treasury bonds needed. And of course, that was soon to be forgotten when the next president got us into a costly war and gave big tax breaks off the books.

[01:25:03]

So, he'll be remembered as I think, for what he did with the economy was pretty, pretty fantastic. Putting families first. That's what he said at the time.

MICHAELSON: Yes. I mean, obviously a complicated legacy, and we can't have time to get into all of it, but clearly a lot of wins on the economy. Former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer --

BOXER: Complicated legacy. Yes, you're absolutely right. But you know, he made a difference in people's lives, and it was for the best.

MICHAELSON: Thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

BOXER: Of course. Thank you.

MICHAELSON: To Wyoming now, where CNN has projected winners in three primary races. In the Republican governor's primary, CNN projects state Senator Eric Barlow will win the nomination. He'll defeat President Trump's pick in that race. For the Senate races, CNN projects Congresswoman Harriet Hageman will win the Republican nomination. She is a favorite headed into the general election.

And in the Democratic Senate primary, CNN projects former state Congressman James Byrd will take the nomination. Wyoming last elected a Democrat to the Senate in 1970.

Maggie Mullen is a politics and state government reporter with the independent Nonprofit news organization WyoFile.com. She joins us live from Laramie, Wyoming.

Welcome to The Story Is for the first time.

MAGGIE MULLEN, POLITICS AND STATE GOVERNMENT REPORTER, WYOFILE.COM: Well, thanks for having me tonight.

MICHAELSON: You have an unusual thing happening in Wyoming tonight. You have an open governor seat, an open Senate seat, an open House seat, all at the same time. How unusual is that?

MULLEN: Yes. So, 2026 was a huge election year for Wyoming with so many open seats. And I think one thing that will surprise a lot of your viewers is, you know, maybe a reminder to them is that in 2024, Wyoming supported Trump by the largest margin of any state. And tonight you've seen this -- this governor's race for the Republican nominee.

You see a Trump backed candidate lose to, to another Republican. So I think that might be surprising to folks. But you can also see in some of the results that there was, you know, these three top candidates and that the Wyoming Republican Party also endorsed a different candidate than President Trump. And you can sort of see where some of those MAGA Republicans may have split their support between these candidates.

MICHAELSON: Yes. I mean, why do you think that is that President Trump's endorsement isn't doing more in a place like Wyoming? If it's going to go far anywhere, you would think Wyoming would be the place where it would.

MULLEN: Yes, you know, I think that's a good question. I can at least tell you what I heard from voters here in Wyoming for the last few months, especially those who are still, you know, incredibly supportive of the president. I can tell you at, you know, the state's GOP convention earlier this summer that a lot of his supporters were skeptical about the fact that President Trump endorsed Ben Digenfelder, who's Wyoming's superintendent of public instruction, that he endorsed her before she announced her campaign herself.

But also, when she ran for superintendent four years ago, she ran against a Trump-endorsed candidate, right? So she ran as more of a moderate or more of one of these sort of Trump-traditional kind of Wyoming Republicans. And a lot of voters, I think, remember that from just four years ago. But I think part of that answer kind of remains to be seen.

MICHAELSON: Yes. It'll be interesting, as you pointed out, quite the uphill challenge for the Democratic candidates in that state in the months ahead. But we will watch all of it, and we're grateful to have your insights.

Maggie Mullen joining us from Wyoming, really appreciate it.

MULLEN: Thanks.

MICHAELSON: In non election news, Meta back in court this week, this time in a federal trial brought by a coalition of states over online child safety. We'll have the details of that plus more with our panel. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:33:56]

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Meta's most consequential legal fight yet over child safety and addiction is officially underway. 29 states are suing, claiming the tech giant intentionally designed its platforms to addict young people in pursuit of profit.

Colin Jeffery has more on the trial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLIN JEFFERY, CNN NEWSOURCE COORDINATING PRODUCER: Opening statements began Tuesday in a trial that could reshape how social media platforms interact with children. 29 states filed suit three years ago, alleging that Meta designed its platforms to get young people addicted, harming the mental health of children as it boosted its profits.

California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are representing the bipartisan coalition in federal court. And those states are collectively seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in damages.

JACOB WARD, TECHNOLOGY JOURNALIST: What sets this case apart is that this is actually these states asking a federal judge to reach into the company and make changes.

[01:34:49]

WARD: Not just hit them with fines, but make fundamental changes.

JEFFERY: The states claim that Meta designed features such as recommendation algorithms, infinitely scrolling feeds, likes, and notifications to be intentionally addictive according to the complaint.

ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: They knew their product was dangerous, and they lied to the public. They lied to Congress. They told the public -- they told the world that their product was safe, that it wasn't dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't say definitively that something will change, but I think what has changed is the whole world now knows what's Really going on in Meta.

JEFFERY: Meta denies the allegations, and a spokesperson says the AGs offer no proof anyone was misled and are attempting to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification.

The trial is scheduled to last at least six weeks, with testimony expected from top Meta executives, including founder Mark Zuckerberg.

I'm Colin Jeffery, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: As social media and A.I. companies face lawsuits over child safety concerns, OpenAI is launching a new ChatGPT for teens. The chat box will have built-in age-appropriate tools and safeguards for users under the age of 18. It will include nudges to take breaks and options for teens or parents to set quiet or study hours.

The company also says it improved protections to prevent ChatGPT from expressing personal feelings towards other users, and warns teens against uploading private or sensitive images.

Let's bring back our panel -- Ron Brownstein, Katie Porter, Matt Klink.

Matt, let's start with you. Some of this regulation of social media companies is not necessarily a partisan issue.

MATT KLINK, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No. No, no.

MICHAELSON: How do you see it?

KLINK: Look, a couple problems I have with it are government is not equipped to regulate things like tech because the government regulations can't keep pace with the pace of tech.

MICHAELSON: But who else is supposed to do it if not government?

KLINK: That's the challenge though. But when you have members of Congress talking like this on their cell phone.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

KLINK: Yes. Talking about TikTok and posts that maybe a young staffer will do it, it doesn't inspire a lot of faith. And $1.5 trillion -- that's just a ridiculous amount of money that, frankly, the states want because they desperately want money and the problem won't get solved.

(CROSSTALKING)

KLINK: So I'm a skeptic. I'm a skeptic that government can fix it.

MICHAELSON: Maybe we should elect some younger members. Katie Porter.

KATIE PORTER, FORMER HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Yes. I mean, I disagree on this one. And I think that you don't need to be able to code or even use a cell phone to understand the consequences that things have.

Republicans are always saying that we should spend more money on the military, and their members don't necessarily -- Republican, Democrat members of Congress -- don't know how to even load a gun or fire a nuclear weapon or anything else that we're charged with funding.

KLINK: You have a loaded gun and fire it.

PORTER: Some do. But my point is we are in charge of all kinds of things in Congress that we do not know a lot about. We're in charge of educational policy in some ways were not -- mostly are not educators.

KLINK: I wouldn't boast about that.

PORTER: But my point is -- my point is here that this argument that we always hear tech companies roll this out. It's just their talking point that you're parroting, which is if you can't code it, you can't regulate it.

And I would say, nonsense. The government, Republicans and Democrats, in a bipartisan way, regulated things like nuclear weapons, thought about what to do about other kinds of dangerous products.

Pharmaceutical companies, most members of Congress couldn't manufacture a pharmaceutical or run a pharmaceutical clinical trial. And yet.

(CROSSTALKING)

KLINK: Fit into this stuff.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The number that really jumps out at me in this is 29 -- 29 states, because what we have seen really over the last 25 years is Red State and Blue State attorneys -- attorneys-general routinely lining up on the opposite side of every major legal fight.

And this is something that has brought together a substantial number on both sides. And that just -- that I think demonstrates --

(CROSSTALKING)

MICHAELSON: -- that there's a big reason why, because these phones are impacting kids in such a big way, is that great book, "The Anxious Generation", points out.

Another interesting that's interesting related to tech, our inboxes could soon be flooded with political emails. The "New York Times" reports that Google just made it easier for campaigns to send you fundraising emails. Yay.

Republicans previously sued Google, claiming its spam filter was biased, but the case was dismissed. The company will now allow verified campaigns to more easily bypass the spam filter.

Here's how Google explained it to the "New York Times". Quote. "This program is designed to connect people with emails they want to receive, while keeping them fully in control of their inboxes. To participate, bulk senders must meet strict security and compliance requirements, ensuring that messages people receive are relevant, useful, and verified."

Katie, this is an issue you worked on in Congress. I've gotten plenty of emails that had your name on it, where somebody involved was asking me for money.

[01:39:50]

MICHAELSON: Of course, I'm not allowed to ever do that as a journalist, but I get them from both sides. What's happening here?

PORTER: Well, I think that what we're seeing here is Google trying, for the sake of having a level playing field, which they should absolutely have, Democratic or Republican messages should be equally likely to get through the spam filter.

The reality here is Google is going to sort of stop throttling messages in the same way. So we're going to see a lot more messages hit your inbox.

Now, one thing Google does require as part of this Is Google does require you to have one click unsubscribe. So if you're going to be part of this verified program, you have to hit that one click and be unsubscribed as part of this.

But I think the real risk here is their verification process is a little sketchy. I did a lot of work on Congress to crack down on scam PACs, PACs that send you fundraising. They say they're going to help elect veterans, but when you look at where the money goes, 99.99 percent of the money goes back into the pockets of political consultants. This doesn't do anything to tackle that.

I'll also just say Google is really blowing smoke in Americans trying to say that these emails are going to be relevant and useful.

I mean, they might be you might want to receive some of them. You might want to donate to Republicans or Democrats. But to say that this policy is going to guarantee or ensure that you get relevant, useful email, come on. It's going to ensure you get a lot more.

KLINK: I will tell you, though, from a campaign consultant perspective, getting blocked or banned by Google, it's a big deal that can literally shut down a campaign, you know, the email part of a campaign until you figure out how to get it resolved.

So I'm glad --

PORTER: It can cost millions of dollars if they block you.

KLINK: Absolutely. It's a -- it's huge.

MICHAELSON: And Ron, I think one thing most voters are saying, we want more money in politics.

BROWNSTEIN: Oh, yes. Right. Exactly. You know.

MICHAELSON: If only we could give more money to candidates and have them ask us for money more often.

BROWNSTEIN: The complicated thing here is we obviously have this kind of oligarchy of fundraising. I mean, the --

MICHAELSON: Oligarchy, period.

BROWNSTEIN: Period.

MICHAELSON: Not just fundraising.

BROWNSTEIN: I mean the influence of people at the top, their ability to affect political outcomes is probably the greatest it's been since the late 19th century, the gilded age, because of all the rulings by the Roberts court loosening that.

But the small -- the small donor fundraising base, while it has enabled outsider candidates to enter the system, it also tends to reward the extremes of both parties. I mean, that's what really clicks, I guess, online.

And so it's not really clear that is an answer either. I mean, you know, we are just kind of awash in this money in a way that is distorting the system, I think from either end, from the top or from the bottom.

MICHAELSON: Right. And there really is no really good way to publicly finance campaigns based off of the rules right now --

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

MICHAELSON: -- as well. An important issue. We'll talk more about that and what's happening in the elections tonight, Ron, Katie and Matt, when we come back with you.

Also want to get in some news. Las Vegas jurors show never-before-seen photos of rapper Tupac Shakurs autopsy. The latest on day two of that trial against Duane Davis. That's after the break.

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MICHAELSON: Duane Davis, the man accused of orchestrating the fatal drive by shooting of Tupac Shakur back in court for day two of his trial. Davis has denied the allegations and pled not guilty.

The jury heard testimony from two men who had previously worked security for Marion Suge Knight, the former CEO of Shakur's record label. Knight was driving Shakur the evening he was shot. The former head of security at Knight's Club 662, pointing to gang warfare but admitted he did not initially realize how badly Shakur had been hurt after leaving the nightclub.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES MCDONALD, WITNESS, FORMER HEAD OF SECURITY AT CLUB 662: The majority of the people was coming, was leaving and then coming back because that night they said Tupac was going to be all right and even Suge came back with a little bandage on his head and we thought everything was good. People kept partying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Prosecutors showed jurors graphic, never before seen photographs from Shakur's 1996 autopsy, including a bullet fragment removed from his body.

Some members of his family left the courtroom before the images were shown. Davis had no visible reaction.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Lisa Gavin at Clark County Medical Examiner shared the assessment of the evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. LISA GAVIN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: He died of gunshot wounds of chest and abdomen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And do you have an opinion as to the manner of death?

DR. GAVIN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what is that?

DR. GAVIN: Homicide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When a medical examiner uses the term "homicide", what does that mean?

DR. GAVIN: The simplest form is death at the hands of another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, jurors are getting a deeper look inside the mind of Lindsay Clancy. She does not deny that she fatally-strangled her three children in January 2023.

But the defense argues that Clancy cannot be held criminally- responsible, claiming she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and extreme mental illness.

A psychologist visited Clancy while she was detained in a hospital after the killings. He says Clancy revealed she had heard a voice instructing her to kill her children, then herself, which she categorized as an auditory hallucination.

[01:49:49]

MICHAELSON: Her former psychiatrist also testified that Clancy may have minimized her symptoms because she was afraid that her kids would be taken away. The defense pointed out that Clancy was denied critical help on several occasions while questioning Clancy's mother-in-law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN REDDINGTON, ATTORNEY FOR LINDSAY CLANCY: The Women and Infants Program in Rhode Island that specializes in perinatal and postpartum --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

REDDINGTON: You know that she went there, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.

REDDINGTON: You know, she was turned away because she was overmedicated, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

REDDINGTON: You also know that they gave her numbers to call, suicide hotlines, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

REDDINGTON: She called twice, not once, but twice and again was turned away. Isn't that right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Global oil and U.S. gas prices are climbing as hopes of a resolution on the U.S. war with Iran fades. Oil futures up Tuesday as traders anticipate the war and the closure of the strait will keep energy prices high.

A day after claiming that administration officials were backchanneling with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, President Trump wrote on social media that, quote, "There are no talks or conversations going on or scheduled with the Islamic Republic of Iran."

But the president's son-in-law had a different take talking on Fox News with Trey Yingst.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED KUSHNER, DONALD TRUMP'S SON-IN-LAW: I will say that the conversations between the U.S. government and different areas of the Iranian government at all areas is probably more robust than it's maybe ever been. And so there's been a lot of good dialogs, which I think is very, very helpful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: President Trumps approval rating is at the lowest level of his presidency. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds just 33 percent of Americans approve of his job performance. That ties with his lowest rating during his first term, that was after January 6th. The drop comes as Americans express concern about the war with Iran.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel is doubling down on his criticism of a group of Israeli settlers who have besieged a Palestinian American family in the Occupied West Bank. Mike Huckabee is calling it an act of quote, "terror".

CNN's Jeremy Diamond accompanied that Palestinian American to visit his family home in a town to see firsthand the situation on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: With a military escort leading the way and armed Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint, the journey to Loui Ridi's home in the Occupied West Bank feels more like entering a restricted military area. That's because it is.

The Israeli military declared it a closed zone to non-residents last week after radical Israeli settlers made Ridi's home their latest target of conquest, establishing an illegal outpost outside his gates and preventing anyone from coming in or out.

And yet, despite all the extra security, this is what Ridi found within an hour of arriving. Four Israeli settlers squatting right outside his home. LOUI RIDI, WEST BANK HOMEOWNER: That's terrifying. That's truly

terrifying that they're able to sit there, not fearing anyone will be arresting them.

They are trespassing. They are illegal here under the international law, under the Israeli law. And the Israeli military are here to remove them. But they are still there.

DIAMOND: For over a week Ridi, a Palestinian American, has watched from Ohio via security cameras as Israeli settlers besieged his West Bank home.

You made it.

RIDI: I made it.

DIAMOND: Now he's finally joined his brother, who's been trapped here under siege.

RIDI: It's a lot of emotion because I've been talking with him 24/7, watching him on the cameras that -- fearing for his life.

DIAMOND: Ridi is now in the same boat with an American flag draped over his shoulder, he's hoping that his presence and this flag will protect him.

RIDI: This flag is the most powerful flag in the world. My fear, the settlers taking this house. The first thing they do, they raise their own flag. So they have to take this flag down so they can raise the settler's flag.

That's why I'm asking the U.S. officials and the embassy to protect me and protect that flag.

DIAMOND: So the Israeli military now has a regular presence outside of Loui's house. You can see one of those Israeli military vehicles right down there. And in fact, two Israeli soldiers are currently patrolling right outside the gate to this home.

But that presence alone isn't enough to stop these settlers from trying to take this hilltop. They are clearly undeterred.

Do you feel like if the military wanted to, they could get rid of --

RIDI: Absolutely. Absolutely. If they really want it and they give the ok from top ahead, they could have done it probably within the first hour.

DIAMOND: The next morning Ridi comes face to face with this new reality. An Israeli settler trespassing in the restricted area.

[01:54:47]

RIDI: He's a terrorist. He needs to be removed from here. That's my house.

DIAMOND: Rather than detaining him, Israeli soldiers prefer to negotiate until the settler walks away.

YASMIN, LOUI RIDI'S DAUGHTER: Did you bring food and water, Baba?

DIAMOND: Ridi's 10-year-old daughter Yasmin is keeping tabs from Ohio.

YASMIN: Why couldn't you just say I live -- this is basically my house, so I don't need to know this stuff.

RIDI: Exactly. That's exactly what I've been telling everybody.

DIAMOND: But there's only so much he can promise his daughter.

Were you able to tell your daughter that you're going to be safe?

RIDI: Maybe if I tell them that just to ease their mind. But truly, I'm not feeling safe.

DIAMOND; Jeremy Diamond, CNN -- Qusra, the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Jeremy Diamond for that.

Thanks for watching. This is usually the time when I say thanks for watching THE STORY IS.

But because it is election night in America, we're coming back for a bonus third hour of coverage, including my panel -- Ron Brownstein, Katie Porter, and Matt Klink. They're all here.

We hope you will be here as well for a special hour, including new numbers from Alaska, new numbers from California as well. That special election.

We're keeping an eye on both of those, plus a historic night in Florida.

ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA live, next.

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