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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
U.S. Slaps New Sanctions On Iran, Warns Tehran Trade Partners; Trump Ramps Up Attacks On Canada, Insults Its Leaders; Firefighters Make Progress Against Hawk Fire Near Reno; Indiana Governor Calls For NIPSCO Investigation; Graham, Norman Meet In South Carolina GOP Senate Runoff; Jeffries: No One from "Trump Cartel" is Getting a Pass; Series of ICE Arrests Spotlights Trump's Aggressive Agenda; Judge Denies Mistrial after Controversial Witness Testimony. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 25, 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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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Research training centers and real world testing as so many Chinese universities and companies have raced to build better robot bodies and even smarter robot brains.
So the real competition here isn't just robot versus robot. It's how quickly China can move these machines from spectacle to something a little bit more useful. And judging by what we're seeing here, there are both some amazing achievements and a little bit more training to do. Mike Valerio, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for watching the first hour of The Story Is. The next hour starts right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: And I am Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. Coming up, the story is economic D-Day or is it the U.S. threatening sanctions on anyone willing to work with Iran?
Is it just more warning shots from the White House or real leverage? We'll discuss.
The story is, the hawk wildfire burning in Nevada engulfing entire neighborhoods, pushing residents out of their homes. The mayor of Reno standing by to join us live.
Plus, the story is ICE arrests happening anywhere from the hospitals to the streets. But family members say some of those detained actually have legal status to be here in the US.
But we begin with Iran. Iran's five finance minister says his country is now fully prepared to counter U.S. sanctions targeting countries with ties to Tehran. This after the White House's so called economic D-Day against Iran turned out to be a warning shot for its trading partners.
On Monday, the U.S. Treasury secretary threatened new sanctions on countries refusing to cut economic ties with Tehran. Secretary Scott Bessent did not name any countries specifically, but experts tell CNN that China, India, Turkey, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates could be at risk for U.S. action.
Tehran's top negotiator dismissed the announcement as a bluster and says that Washington is not in a position to limit Iran's economic relations. CNN's Kevin Liptak had this question for Secretary Bessent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: You described this as an economic D-Day, but D-Day wasn't a threat of an invasion and the U.S. didn't give a timeline to Germany. So why not impose the sanctions today?
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, we are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior. Why would I want to blow up the global financial system? We believe that it is important to level set and give people a cure period. But they should know that will move very quickly and that we are serious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Joining me live in Los Angeles, NPR reporter Arezou Rezvani. Arezou, welcome back to The Story Is. So we just heard from the U.S. what's Iran saying? What's their response?
AREZOU REZVANI, NPR REPORTER: Iran is striking a very defiant tone on this. They are framing this as indication that the United States has really lost its way and that President Trump really doesn't know how to get out of a conflict that he's become very much entangled in. And so the tweets, the propaganda, the interviews from high ranking officials are all very dismissive.
Sometimes they're ridiculing him. And they are really looking at this as an indication that this is an act of desperation, that the United States, after so many weeks of war and attempted negotiations, is just kind of flailing and throwing spaghetti at the wall.
MICHAELSON: So that's what the leaders are saying. In Iran, you've also been in touch with this sort of average people. What are they telling you?
REZVANI: You know, the reactions really vary. I mean, I think everyone is really bracing for the economy to grow even worse. And this is already when the economy has been in dire straits for many, many years. Iranians are dealing with hyperinflation. They're dealing with high unemployment. Every day, the price of food and items are just going up. And they are really feeling the pinch of the U.S. naval blockade. I spoke to a woman recently whose mother has cancer. She told me that
it's been very difficult to find medicine, that hospitals and clinics are having a hard time replacing medical equipment. And so they are very much already feeling squeezed and bracing for things to get worse.
MICHAELSON: Right. So there's that blockade going on, obviously. There's also been a whole lot of missile strikes that have destroyed infrastructure, destroyed different things throughout the country. What is the state of the Iranian economy right now?
REZVANI: It's in dire straits. It hasn't been doing well for a really long time. Unemployment is extremely high. People are dealing with the price of goods going up daily. It's in a really rough spot. And I think that sanctions are going to bring in a world of pain, but there are challenges with sanctions.
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And I think what we saw today from Secretary Besant was that it's very thin on details, and there's the possibility that Iran will continue to evade sanctions.
MICHAELSON: Yes. I mean, you called what the secretary did today anticlimactic. What do you mean by that?
REZVANI: Well, I think everyone was really waiting to see what the details would be. You know, President Trump called this unprecedented. But the fact of the matter is that many administrations in the past have attempted isolating Iran. And Iran has managed to adapt its economy to different sanctions campaigns.
They have developed very sophisticated smuggling networks and schemes. They run shadow fleets in which ships turn off their transponders and are able to continue selling oil to some of their biggest customers, including China. And it just raises huge questions about how the United States is going to serve consequences to a country like China if it continues to engage with Iran. And it's already indicated that it will continue to.
MICHAELSON: And despite all of those different challenges over the years, this same regime --
REZVANI: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- has survived all of it.
REZVANI: Correct. Correct. No. They are very, very savvy in terms of figuring out ways to evade sanctions. And I think the challenge for the Trump administration is to figure out how they can, you know, convince countries that have long had relationships with Iran to stop. And there has already been indication that they're starting to do that.
The United Arab Emirates last week announced that it would halt all relationships transactions with Iran. So they're hoping that in this next phase of quiet diplomacy, as Secretary Bessent said, that they can convince other countries to follow suit.
MICHAELSON: Yes, but China and Russia, potentially different story as well. Arezou Rezvani, appreciate your perspective. Thanks so much for coming in, as always, and check out her reporting on NPR.
The U.S. Secret Service says it is aware of a video aired by Iranian state media appearing to threaten President Trump's youngest son, Barron. That video was broadcast over the weekend by a state media outlet considered to be aligned with regime hardliners. Hardline Iranian media have repeatedly featured content threatening the life of President Trump and his family following the assassination of its former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But this appears to be the first time that Barron Trump has been singled out. A federal law enforcement source tells CNN some of those videos have included movement details and suggestions for killing members of the Trump family.
President Trump is escalating his trade war with Canada with promises of more economic pain. After last week's negotiations fell apart. He imposed 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Now he is warning that if Canadian leaders do not in his words fall in line then and the consequences would be far worse.
Canada, meanwhile, promising to match the Trump tariffs dollar for dollar. The Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, says his country is willing to return to the talks if the Trump administration has, quote, the right attitudes. He blamed the collapse in negotiations on last minute and unfair trade demands from the US.
Meanwhile, President Trump has sharpened his rhetoric in a Truth Social post, saying that Canada is, quote, among the worst nations in the world to deal with and that the U.S. doesn't need Canada, but they need us. CNN's Michael Yoshida has the latest on the growing tensions.
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MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cross border trade war is escalating.
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We cannot accept what they've offered and we will not give what they've asked.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): In a Monday Truth Social post, President Donald Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian cars and car parts to 50 percent come January 1, adding to the 50 percent tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods announced over the weekend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is something where we don't actually expect a huge impact.
YOSHIDA: Now Canada is retaliating with its own dollar for dollar tariffs starting September 8th and those could have an impact.
DAVID EBY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA PREMIER: What it actually means for Americans is a new 50 percent tax. It is a bizarre policy for Americans. It's going to hurt them.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): Things like paper products, dairy, alcoholic beverages and lumber could all get more expensive.
RANA FOOHAR, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, FINANCIAL TIMES: Some of the products that come from Canada, like lumber, for example, very important in the U.S. building trades, energy, these are things that Americans are already feeling a pinch on.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): The Trump administration argues this is necessary due to a trade imbalance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're actually worried about our, you know, our small businesses to make sure they get the kind of access they need.
YOSHIDA (voice-over): But the trade war, adding salt to the wound for businesses already stressed by the war with Iran, that has driven up energy and transportation costs. With less room to absorb another hit, new tariff costs will likely land on consumers. In Washington, I'm Michael Yoshida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Firefighters are finally making some progress against a massive wildfire burning near Reno, Nevada. The hawk Fire, now 27 percent contained. It started on Saturday and has already burned more than 15,000 acres, destroyed at least 32 homes and injured several people.
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While some evacuation orders have been lifted or downgraded, tens of thousands of residents are still being told to be ready to leave their homes. Many have turned to local shelters and are being encouraged to get others to do the same.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAUNA BRINTON, EVACUEE: From what I understand, there's a couple people left at the apartment complex because they had no place to go. And I was telling another person that lives there, well, tell them to come to the convention center. I mean, I would not want to be in the line of fire.
(END VIDEO CLIIP)
MICHAELSON: Joining me live now is Hillary Schieve, the mayor of Reno, Nevada. Thanks so much for being with us. Mayor, what is the latest and what are the most important things to know in the hours ahead and the day ahead?
HILLARY SCHIEVE, RENO, NEVADA MAYOR: Well, it's been a pretty treacherous three days for our residents. Right now we've had some good news. We've been able to get people back into their homes, but that's still at a very high number of 23,000 residents. We did have 40,000 residents that were displaced, and so 23,000 is better, but it's still an astronomical amount of our residents that have been displaced. It is very, very challenging. I don't think people also realize that Reno just came off of the bug fire, and that was a catastrophic fire as well. And so here we are, we're turning right around and experiencing something else.
I, you know, to this magnitude, I was born and raised here in Reno, and I have never seen anything of this magnitude. But I think the biggest message is that when we have evacuation orders in place, that you listen to them for very good reasons. And what happens is if you don't leave, then we also have to go back in and send emergency responders, our firefighters providers, our transport, our police department, they have to go back in and save you. And then that puts additional lives at risk.
So we're really, really stressing that message.
MICHAELSON: How is the fight going? I know you made some progress today. What's sort of the biggest challenge ahead overnight?
SCHIEVE: Well, I also -- I'm not sure people understand how weather can be so unpredictable and fires can produce their own weather patterns. And so we have been so fortunate that we have had actually about two days of sort of calm winds. The winds really pick up here and, you know, it really started to get out of control because we were seeing winds on Saturday go up to 30-50 mph. So that gets very, very hard to get on top of something of this magnitude.
However, I'm very grateful that we have seen much calmer weather. So that has really been a blessing here for my community. So that's really helped put a line around the fire. It's helped our firefighters, you know, they are doing an incredible job. We have all hands on deck.
One thing about Nevada that people might not know, I mean, across the country you typically will see mayors fighting with governors, and so forth, elected officials. We don't do that in Nevada. We put all that aside. Our community comes first. The governor was here tonight. We were getting briefed by our national teams, our local teams. We've had all hands on deck.
We've had over 1,000 firefighters here on the ground. We've had even firefighters as far as Australia come here and do some remarkable work. But I just -- I can't thank all of them enough for keeping our community safe. Number one is protecting human life. And that's really what our job is.
MICHAELSON: And so far, thankfully, no reports of any loss of human life from this. We do know of many structures, more than two dozen structures have burned. What do we know in terms of how this fire started? And is there a possibility that this was arson?
SCHIEVE: Well, I will tell you this. We might be the wild, wild west, but in Nevada we don't play. And right now that is speculative. But if that turns out that is credible, we will hold you to the fullest extent. We will prosecute to every letter of the law that is a terrorist in a community and we will not stand for it.
I think people also need to realize that fires are 90 percent are caused by humans. And I think that really says that we have to change behaviors. So those are additional measures that we're looking at about how we change our behavior.
Certainly in high crisis times like this, when we have red flag warnings all the time, people may not know. We have over 30 wildfires right here in the state of Nevada today.
[01:15:02]
And so they become extremely dangerous. But again, we don't know the cause yet. It's still under investigation, but we will turn over every rock to find whoever is responsible for this.
MICHAELSON: Mayor Hillary Schieve, certainly those of us here in Southern California know a thing or two about what it's like to have a devastating.
SCHIEVE: You sure do.
MICHAELSON: And we are thinking, thinking about and praying for you and sending our love and support and I'm sure some of our firefighters as well.
SCHIEVE: Yes, we probably have many of you.
MICHAELSON: The whole country is watching you and rooting for you in the days ahead. Glad to hear there's been some progress. Thanks so much for being with us.
SCHIEVE: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: No power, spoiled food and empty grocery shelves. That is the grim reality for thousands of people still in the dark in northern Indiana two weeks after a devastating storm. The situation has become so dire, Indiana's governor is calling for the regional power utility to be investigated, including whether it maintained vegetation and spent state funding for upgrades as promised. The utility says power is expected to be fully restored by Tuesday. Reporter Gabe Ferris from CNN affiliate WLS has details from Hammond, Indiana.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GABE FERRIS, WLS REPORTER (voice-over): Tonight, Hammond, Indiana, spending yet another night in the dark. Power still out for thousands of customers after last week's storms.
LOTTIE BOSS, HAMMOND, INDIANA RESIDENT: Because you can't cook, you don't have anything. You don't have gas, you don't have stove. There's no electricity.
FERRIS (voice-over): Lottie Boss, one of the organizers of this food giveaway. Hundreds lining up outside. BOSS: Everything's not hot, but tonight everything is hot here. Chicken, spaghetti, string beans, cake. Generals, everything is made with love tonight.
FERRIS (voice-over): NIPSCO officials saying their crews are working around the clock with but today a setback. 9,000 more customers losing power in the Schererville area. Witnesses seeing smoke coming from this power pole.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard a pretty big boom and then we started to look out and saw the power line go down and then just saw a lot of smoke after that.
FERRIS (voice-over): Across the street, Wendy Commissar was inside Ross when the electricity went out.
WENDY COMMISSAR, HAMMOND, INDIANA RESIDENT: The lights started flickering in the store. Yes, that was scary. And everybody in the store is going, oh, no, not again.
FERRIS (voice-over): Commissar one of the NIPSCO customers lost power at her home again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This time I'm a little more prepared. I was not prepared last time, you know, with charges for my phone and all that kind of stuff.
FERRIS (voice-over): NIPSCO today saying storm restoration efforts continued as their crews also responded to the Schererville incident. No word tonight about the cause.
BOSS: I just feel like we could wish we could do more. I wish we could do more.
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MICHAELSON: We'll have more on that story tomorrow on The Story Is. Still ahead. Tonight on The Story Is, the U.S. Supreme Court issues a critical ruling on mail-in voting ahead of midterm elections. We'll have the details.
Plus, the showdown in South Carolina. It is now Election Day in South Carolina. Republican voters preparing to pick their Senate candidate. Our panel back to discuss it all, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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MICHAELSON: Welcome back to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The White House is calling the latest Supreme Court ruling on President Trump's mail-in voting order a major win for the security of American elections. But the decision adds new uncertainty to November's midterms. The president's executive order would give the Department of Homeland Security and the Postal Service new powers in deciding who gets to mail-in vote.
Georgia voters are getting ready to cast their ballots in a special election. Democrats Marcy Scott and Everton Blair are vying to replace the late Congressmember David Scott, Marcy's father passed away in April. Filling the seat will reduce Republicans already narrow majority in the House. Neither candidate is running in November's midterms.
Republican voters will be going to the polls in the day ahead. In South Carolina, they are casting ballots in the Republican runoff between incumbent Senator Darline Graham and Congress member Ralph Norman. Graham replaced her brother Lindsey Graham, who died in early July. The winner will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November.
Our panel is back this hour. Professor Lynn Vavreck from UCLA and political commentator Eric Messersmith. Welcome both of you.
So Eric, let's start with you. South Carolina. How do you see this race at this hour and who maybe has the momentum?
ERIC MESSERSMITH, HOST, "EVERYBODY SETTLE DOWN" YOUTUBE CHANNEL: Well, I think Norman definitely has the momentum. If you look at the polling that she was ahead pretty substantially in the light polling we saw a few weeks ago. And now the Trafalgar poll that came out had them basically tied. The betting odds have really narrowed.
She's still favored, but you can see he has the momentum. And remember, in the primary, she only got about 33 or 34 percent. That's a pretty poor showing considering her last name is Graham. She's the incumbent. She's endorsed by the president. So there's real weakness here. That said, Norman's not exactly an electoral juggernaut either. He didn't do very well in the gubernatorial primary. So I think it will be really close. But if I had to bet right now, I think I'd go with Norman eking it out.
MICHAELSON: When we did the Michigan primary night, Wisconsin primary night, we were on at 2 o'clock in the morning, Eastern Time. We still didn't have a winner. Could this be a repeat of that?
LYNN VAVRECK, HOFFENBERG PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN POLITICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UCLA: It could be very close. I think that's right. It's another one of these elections where we're coming into it not knowing. And we spend so much time in politics talking about how the two sides are stuck where they are.
And these last couple of primaries have really illustrated this idea that there are voters who are undecided. There aren't very many of them, but there are some and they are deciding elections.
[01:25:00]
And you know, we've got some late breaking news in this race. The candidate quality issues have emerged. She's the incumbent, but like for what, 10 minutes?
MICHAELSON: Yes. Right. VAVRECK: So I think this is a great example of will voters do something with candidate quality? We've seen that happen a couple times in this cycle.
MICHAELSON: Well --
MESSERSMITH: This would be the 11th loss of a Trump endorsed candidate if she loses this cycle.
MICHAELSON: Well, and also fascinating to see a two-week campaign.
MESSERSMITH: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Right. I mean, you think about the presidential campaign which has already started for next time around, basically. I mean, just two weeks to get the message for the top two. It's quite something.
MESSERSMITH: Yes. And that's why I think that debate gaffe really matters. It would be big in any environment, but particularly when you have this condensed, shortened time frame and people don't really know that much about her. She's new on the scene and she comes out looking so inept.
I mean, there's no other word for it. It was one of the worst debate gaffes we've seen in recent times and she doesn't have time to really make up for it and show people, oh, you know what, I am rehearsed. I do know the depth of knowledge on these issues.
MICHAELSON: Unless though there's a blowback to the blowback and then people don't like the mainstream media making fun of the nice lady from South Carolina.
VAVRECK: Well, this is why campaigns are important.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
VAVRECK: So, OK, full disclosure, I study campaigns, so I think they're important.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
VAVRECK: But I think this is a great illustration of this. They test a candidate's mettle. You have this bad debate experience. Barack Obama had one. People may remember what happens next. OK, the media want to kind of defend you, so what are you going to do with that? And these kinds of experiences show you how this person is going to be when they're in office.
How will they deal with setbacks? Are they nimble? How quick are they? And campaigns are important.
MICHAELSON: Well, the worst though, gaffes are ones that highlight something that people were already worried about with you. Right. Joe Biden, people going into that. Is he too old to be president? Yes, he is too old to be president. Darline Graham, does she know her stuff? She's only been there for five minutes. Maybe she doesn't know her stuff.
VAVRECK: Sometimes the things that people are worried about, they're actually worried about them for really good reason.
MICHAELSON: Right.
MESSERSMITH: There's the nepotism angle, like yes people, the last name of Graham, Carey's cachet. But also there's the angle of do you have this job only because you are the brother or you're the sister of the late senator. And if you're -- if you're appointed for a short time, that doesn't really matter. But if you're now running for the full six year term, you have to show that you have some level of command of these issues, or at least you should.
MICHAELSON: Right. That's a key point. That if she would have just been appointed to be the caretaker, nobody would have ever questioned her on anything. Everybody would have given her a hug, say, we're sorry about your brother, and essentially left her alone and given her a standing ovation when she walks in.
But then she made the decision, with President Trump's backing, to run for it on your own. Now you're competing against everybody else.
MESSERSMITH: You got to earn.
MICHAELSON: And she said, you've got to -- I've got to earn your vote. But that is a whole different ball game.
Interesting tonight, in other news, Hakeem Jeffries, who would be the speaker of the House if the Democrats take over, went on to social media and posted a video of himself talking about the fact that he took a meeting with Jared Kushner, the President's son in law. Here's that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: I want to give you a little real talk on this Jared Kushner situation. He asked for a meeting, and I took it to discuss the affordability crisis that exists that is not a hoax. At the same period of time, I shouldn't have to say it, but I am. No one is going to get a pass. We're going to hold every single member of the Trump cartel accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: And if you are checking your watch, it is not St. Patrick's Day. But we're all in on the green.
VAVRECK: Good notes.
MICHAELSON: Good for him. So how do you read that? I mean, because we're at a time now where people don't talk to each other or just the idea of talking to each other seems to be not only not celebrated, but, like, reviled by people. How do you read that? And he has to go on camera and defend it.
VAVRECK: I think it's worth. There's so much to unpack about this, but I think the place I would start is why --
MICHAELSON: The outfit? No.
VAVRECK: Why does he make this video?
MICHAELSON: Right.
VAVRECK: And I think we should start by saying that members of the Democratic Party attacked him for taking the meeting.
MICHAELSON: Right.
VAVRECK: And that's why the video. OK, so the two questions, you know, why take this meeting when we're 71 days away from the midterms? Your argument is these guys have not solved your problems. Kick them out.
But and you're, by the way, not the speaker of the House yet. You've got to win these elections, but.
MESSERSMITH: Yes.
[01:30:02]
VAVRECK: So you take this meeting to work out some affordability, you know, moves helping them look like they're solving people's problems in advance of these elections that you haven't won yet. It is a little complicated.
ERIC MESSERSMITH, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There's nothing wrong with taking the meeting, but the optics could look bad. And it does look bad to some people on the left. And Jeffries should have known this was probably going to be leaked. I'm betting it was the Kushner side that probably leaked it.
I think the key for Jeffries, you saw Mamdani come to his defense and continue to voice support for him to be speaker. As long as he has those kind of high-profile people on the far left supporting him, I don't think he's in any danger of being speaker, In the likely event, the Democrats take the House.
However, if the Democrats have a night that's just ok, and they come in with a 4-, 5-, six-seat majority, you have several of these DSA- aligned candidates who have won their primaries who have said they're not 100 percent behind Jeffries yet.
So you could have another kind of Mike McCarthy situation. I don't --
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Kevin McCarthy.
MESSERSMITH: Kevin McCarthy. Yes, I -- sorry.
(CROSSTALKING)
MICHAELSON: Mike McCarthy is our boss at CNN International, shout out to him.
But yes, Kevin McCarthy -- he's been gone so long and came so quickly. You've already forgotten his name.
MESSERSMITH: Well, I'm a Steeler fan too, so I'm thinking about football. But I think Jeffries I don't think will have that problem. But you can't rule it out if the majority is very narrow for the Democrats in January.
MICHAELSON: Yes, I mean, but isn't it ok that we talk to each other? I mean, the guy represents the White House. The whole point of like, what we try to do here is to -- is to do dialog with each other.
VAVRECK: Is he going as a representative of the White House? He doesn't have an official --
MICHAELSON: I mean, come on, isn't he? I mean, some people call him a shadow secretary of state.
VAVRECK: I don't know.
Well, ok. So, you know -- so but I think this is why this is all very complicated.
MICHAELSON: And speaks for President Trump all around the world. He's an envoy in the Middle East and in every problem he sends him to solve it.
VAVRECK: Ok.
MICHAELSON: From Gaza to Ukraine to all of them.
VAVRECK: So you think that Trump said -- sent Kushner to meet with Jeffries to solve the affordability crisis?
MICHAELSON: I don't know.
MESSERSMITH: Or to maybe leak it later that they met?
VAVRECK: Well, see, but that -- but this is why Democrats are, you know, irritated by this. Because if that is the goal like that Trump wants to say, like, I am trying to solve your problems. We're meeting with Democrats. We tried bipartisanship.
MICHAELSON: Do you think Nancy Pelosi would have taken the meeting?
VAVRECK: Oh, I don't know. But I know you can get around here and ask her.
MICHAELSON: She would not answer that honestly at this point. She's all in on Hakeem Jeffries publicly.
Great conversation, both of you. Thank you so much.
It's going to be really fun to see what happens in South Carolina in the hours ahead. Hopefully we'll have some results here on THE STORY IS.
But next on THE STORY IS, several controversial arrests by ICE have put Donald Trump's immigration crackdown back into the spotlight. We'll take a closer look at the latest action.
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MICHAELSON: The Trump administration is trying a new approach to raise the application fee for H-1B visas. Previously, the fee was roughly $3,000, but the newly-proposed price tag sits at just over $103,000. Some 65,000 H-1B visas are available annually, offering foreign specialists with college degrees, a renewable three-year residency. There's also an additional 20,000 visas reserved for those with advanced degrees. But the Trump administration argues that the program is overused and prevents companies from hiring Americans.
ICE arrests are rattling families across the U.S. and casting more scrutiny on the forceful tactics the Trump administration is using in communities nationwide to carry out its immigration agenda, which, of course, is a top priority for the president.
As CNN's Rafael Romo reports, family members say some of those detained actually have legal status in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you treating her like this? For God's sake, what has she done?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sheriff's deputies in Polk County, Florida handcuffed a woman while her daughter lies on a hospital bed crying hysterically while trying to hold on to her mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, please. I beg you please.
ROMO: The mother and her 19-year-old daughter were detained at a hospital where they were both being treated for injuries suffered in a car crash.
DHS says the two women overstayed their visas. But in a GoFundMe post, family members say both mother and daughter had legal status in the United States.
The mother, Grace Calero Cabanilla. Relatives say has a pending asylum case and a work permit, while her 19-year-old daughter, Giulianna Carriel Calero has a visa valid through 2030.
These arrests highlight the aggressive tactics being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the current administration, going to lengths they rarely went to before, detaining immigrants inside courthouses and hospitals, and even taken into custody the father of a U.S. sailor currently deployed in a war zone. Joshua Aviles (ph), who is currently entering his ninth month of active duty with the U.S. Navy on the USS Abraham Lincoln, says his father, Luis Manuel Aviles, was detained by ICE over the weekend, even though his son says his father has a driver's license, Social Security card and work permit.
"This is heartbreaking for me," the sailor said in a post on Facebook.
[01:39:45]
ROMO: "I don't know how I can mentally continue working 12 plus-hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal.
My dad's only crime was coming to this country to give my siblings and me a better life."
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement his father will remain in custody while the government seeks to deport the Nicaraguan native.
Another ICE detention that has gone viral, a father and young son who were detained on the way to a soccer match in Texas on August 16th. The five-year-old boy, identified by his family as Liam Tadeo, appears to be crying as he tried to hold the hand of his handcuffed father, Victor Martinez Nieto, from Mexico, being escorted to an unmarked vehicle.
DHS said parents have a choice if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Liam should be starting kindergarten this week, but instead he's sitting in a trailer prison right now in Dilley, Texas.
ROMO: The Trump administration is looking to increase the speed of its deportations and is casting a wider net about who can be arrested. That includes meeting the administration's goal of around 2,000 arrests every day.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: The NFL says it is reviewing the arrest of San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York. He was taken into custody in Ohio on Sunday, accused of engaging in prostitution. Court documents show that he pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct. York also paid a fine and spent a night in jail.
Court records show he had $160 seized, which was forfeited to a human trafficking task force. York has been with the 49ers for nearly 20 years and became CEO in 2010.
You are watching THE STORY IS. For international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back.
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MICHAELSON: Emotions are running high in the trial of Duane Davis, who's accused of ordering the 1996 killing of rapper, Tupac Shakur. On Monday, the jury heard an interview from 2017 where Davis was asked if he wanted to apologize to Shakur's family. Davis first said yes, but later said no, insisting he didn't do anything to the family.
Shakur's sister could be seen glaring at Davis and tearing up before leaving the courtroom after the recording finished.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have begun presenting their rebuttal case against Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children in 2023. But testimony from one of the prosecution's medical experts brought Mondays proceedings to a dramatic halt.
CNN legal correspondent Jean Casarez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: On Monday afternoon, the defense, who has never asked for a mistrial, did just that on the record.
Keith Reddington said he didn't want to do it. He was debating, Lindsay has been through so much, but he said he had to. Here's the basis for that.
The expert witness psychologist on the stand, Kirk Heilbrun, testified that -- and it's part of the evidence that as she was killing her children, she said, "Go to God, baby. Go to God."
And so when he was talking with her and assessing her at the hospital, he asked her, you were raised Catholic. And this was a serious suicide attempt.
Do you realize that in the Catholic religion that is a mortal sin? Objection, that was in front of the jury. And so the judge denied the mistrial.
But when the jury came back in after this argument, he instructed them, you disregard it.
But this witness on the stand gave a different perspective. Now he's a prosecution witness, but he testified that when Patrick came home that night, that Patrick said, what happened?
She's on the ground but she was in and out of consciousness the evidence has shown. But she said, I tried to commit suicide. He said that that's very odd because since she had a hallucination, evidence is showing 18 minutes, she would have said a voice was telling me to kill the children. I was being commanded to kill the children.
And he thinks the other perspective here is that she wanted to commit suicide, but she didn't want to leave her children alone. It was a kind thing that she actually did even though she knew right from wrong.
And he cited another example.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The holocaust was coming tomorrow, and we thought that was going to be awful, and I can't -- I can't live through that. And so I'm going to take my own life.
If I had children, the question might come up, do I take them with me? Do I take their lives as well? Now, I'm not saying that I would definitely do that, but what I'm saying is that it would come up as a possibility.
CASAREZ: This prosecution witness will continue testifying on Tuesday and as was said in open court, it is believed closing arguments in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts versus Lindsay Clancy will take place on Wednesday.
In Plymouth, Massachusetts -- I'm Jean Casarez for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Videos have gone viral of manhole problems in New York. Who are the people coming out of these manholes? Shimon Prokupecz reports, next.
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MICHAELSON: Well, this is certainly something you don't hear about every day. Police are investigating a video of men crawling out of a manhole in New York. It happened right near Penn Station, the country's busiest transit hub.
CNN's Shimon Prokupecz takes us there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This bizarre video posted to TikTok showing three men wearing what appears to be headlamps and protective clothing crawling out of a manhole in New York City is sparking a frenzy of questions.
Who are these people? What are they doing, and why?
The NYPD says they are aware of the incident and are actively investigating. There are no arrests.
Police say this video was taken around 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 18th, just outside Manhattan's Penn Station. It's the busiest passenger transportation facility in America, handling more daily riders than any individual airport or major tunnel in the area.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think the fact that it was so close to Penn Station means that the NYPD is going to take probably an extra focus to try to stop this from happening.
PROKUPECZ: This incident comes after eerily similar videos around New York City appeared just a few months ago. In this one outside an auto body shop in Queens, you can see the three individuals pry open a manhole cover. Enter into the sewer and pull the cover close before traffic started moving again.
[01:54:51]
PROKUPECZ: Investigators believe people may have been hunting for anything of value that found its way into the sewer system, especially after a storm. Authorities investigated but did not find that anything was damaged or interfered with.
KAYYEM: These are highly-orchestrated events. You have people on the outside knowing exactly when to lift the manhole and let these -- and let the others out. Earlier when these were first found in May, these videos, the NYPD said that they thought it was some sort of scavenger hunt.
PROKUPECZ: After this video surfaced in May, New York City's Department of Environmental Protection issued a statement saying in part, "Entering the sewer system is both illegal and extremely dangerous."
These videos of humans emerging from sewers looks like something out of a Hollywood movie.
BILL MURRAY, ACTOR: The guys are going down to the sewer to check for slime stuff, and Egon thinks there may even be a huge surge in cockroach breeding.
PROKUPECZ: The question remains. is it more minions or something more nefarious?
KAYYEM: Whatever it is, its highly dangerous. Not simply for them. It's disgusting down there. There's chemicals, there's smells, there's noxious materials and liquids.
But obviously they could leave something behind that would be dangerous to pedestrians or streets.
PROKUPECZ: Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Duh. Thanks so much for watching THE STORY IS.
I'm Elex Michaelson.
Tomorrow it is election night in South Carolina. Ron Brownstein will be with us, as will Adam Moakler (ph) and Katie Zachariah. Hope to see you then.
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