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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Rescue Teams Race to Find Workers Trapped in Nepal Tunnels; Duane Davis Convicted of First-Degree Murder in Tupac's Death; Supreme Court Lets Trump Keep Building White House Ballroom; Vance, El-Sayed Trade Barbs Ahead of November Midterms; El-Sayed, Vance Trade Barbs Ahead of November Midterms; Public Defender to Represent D4VD after Lawyers Withdraw; 13 Men Charged with Sexual Offenses Against a Woman in England; Settler Violence Surging in West Bank; Lionel Messi Retiring from Argentine National Team. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired September 01, 2026 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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EDWARD LEWIS, SPORTS REPORTER, CALIFORNIA POST: Two of them, and now he's in custody for the foreseeable future. So it's not really a laughing matter anymore for this guy.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And it's a lot of money that these women have lost. That photograph of him with the helmet on the beach, the idea that you need to wear the helmet on the beach, nobody's running at you, man.
All right, Edward Lewis, thanks so much.
And thank you for watching. "THE STORY IS" with Elex Michaelson is next.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles.
Coming up on THE STORY IS six days after the deadly flash flooding in Nepal and China, rescuers searched for hundreds of workers still missing in hydropower tunnels. Anderson Cooper is on the ground in Nepal.
Three decades after the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, a guilty verdict in Las Vegas. One of the witnesses who testified at Keffe D's trial is on set with me live.
Plus raining insults. The feud between Vice President J.D. Vance and Michigan's Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed gets personal.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles, THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: Our top story is the mounting death toll in Nepal and China following last week's devastating floods. Authorities now estimate at least 955 people have been killed. Morgues and hospitals in Nepal are running out of space to store bodies, according to local officials, forcing some areas to begin digging mass graves for unclaimed victims. Police are asking relatives of people who are missing to provide DNA samples to help identify recovered remains.
More than 4400 people are still unaccounted for across both countries. Among them, about 900 workers believed to be trapped inside buried hydropower tunnels in Nepal.
CNN's Anderson Cooper is on the ground in Kathmandu.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): We've seen remarkable rescues of workers stuck in sludge filled tunnels but six days after the flood, hundreds may still be trapped. Hope is getting harder to hold on to.
In Syabrubesi today we came across an Indian army colonel leading his specialized troops in rescue operations in two nearby tunnels with Nepali forces.
COL. PARIKSHIT MEHRA, INDIAN ARMY: We hope that we find somebody alive. Otherwise, we should be able to at least recover the remains of those people.
COOPER: And did you have any communication from them?
MEHRA: We tried to communicate, voice communication, so we couldn't because, you know, there were a lot of debris in the tunnel, in the small tube. And so we couldn't make any visual communication. But we try to shout and things like that but nothing. People were stuck tend to panic much more than when they're outside in the open. And, you know, at least they can breathe fresh air.
Getting stuck in a tunnel, you can't see anything. You generally see if you stay in the dark, you get disoriented about 24, 25 hours.
COOPER: That bad?
MEHRA: Yes. So 24, 25 hours in the dark, you tend to believe, normal average, untrained human being would start losing balance, you know, because you lose orientation. So that happens. And then beyond that, say, anything 48 hours, you start hallucinating. And then I think from there on, it's always a fight. So I think the first 48 hours is the most crucial. But there have been miracles and we expecting miracles everywhere.
And the Nepal government is doing a fantastic job wherein they've send in teams to all parts. The Nepalese army is just everywhere.
COOPER (voice-over): Further down river at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant, we find another rescue operation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multi forces here, from APF, Nepal police, Nepali army and special forces, and even the sniffer dogs here. So you can see here, this is a cable tunnel. So 170 meters inside, there's a powerhouse. So I think that there are about 45 to 50 people inside the powerhouse.
COOPER: That many? 45 to 50?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, because they are the working team inside the powerhouse.
COOPER: And they were here when the flood came?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the flood hit this area. They were inside. Right? So we are trying now to excavate all this along the way. And you can see the guys there, they are drilling dirt.
COOPER: Do you have any sign that they're alive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, earlier, earlier we tried, we tried a bunch of drilling there so that there might be some presence of oxygen so that we can send some oxygen there. I hope, I hope they are --
COOPER: But you haven't had signs of life?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have -- no, nothing yet.
COOPER: So this was completely submerged. This tunnel was completely --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, you can see this. It's about 10 to 15 meters. All the debris there just been on top of the tunnel. So you could see the road was there and it's all, so we have to -- it was all the splashes.
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It came down rolling through the downstream, you know. So it just buried all the whole damn thing.
COOPER (voice-over): Anderson Cooper, CNN, Nepal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Thanks to Anderson Cooper.
Two people are dead and at least one person is still unaccounted for after flash flooding ripped through the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona on Saturday. The National Park Service says search and rescue efforts are still going on right now, with one person missing based on park permit records. But officials caution other visitors may have been in the area without their knowledge.
One of those killed has been identified by his family as 53-year-old John Guzzi. The Texas chiropractor was camping and fishing in the canyon with two friends. Nearly all foot bridges and many trails in the affected area were destroyed by flooding and debris flow, significantly limiting access for emergency responders. Heavy rain and the threat of more flash flooding complicated search efforts on Monday, but conditions are expected to improve in the coming hours.
A Las Vegas jury has found Duane Davis guilty of first-degree murder in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur. It took the jury just three hours to come to that decision after weeks of testimony in the 30-year-old case. Davis is the only person ever charged in Tupac's death. The rapper died after a fatal shooting near Las Vegas Strip in 1996, almost exactly 30 years ago.
CNN's Josh Campbell is in Nevada tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nearly 30 years after legendary rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and killed not far from where we are here in the city of Las Vegas, there is now a verdict in the case involving the man who prosecutors alleged had been involved in the murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The verdict reads as follows. "We the jury in the above entitled case find the defendant Duane Keffe Davis as follows. Count one, murder with use of a deadly weapon, guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon dated this 31st day of August 2026."
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is this your verdict as read? So say you one, so say you all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CAMPBELL: Now, in closing arguments on Monday, prosecutors had essentially made their strategy to focus on Duane Davis' own words, the defendant here, pointing to past interviews that he gave with police, with the media. He wrote a book on this topic in which he described his role that night being inside of a vehicle. Whenever people that he was with pulled alongside Tupac Shakur. He described handing a firearm in the backseat to his nephew, who ultimately pulled the trigger, allegedly opening fire on Tupac Shakur.
The strategy again was to focus not on just what other people were saying, who might have been witnesses, but things he said himself.
MARC DIGIACOMO, CLARK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Do we honestly think a guy who was dumb enough to write a book could keep this story straight this many times, this many times over? Mr. Davis is attempting to escape responsibility for a crime everybody knows he committed, even him, and he admits to it for seven, eight times over the course of 30 years. And there's no evidence contradicting that fact.
CAMPBELL: Now, for their part, the defense strategy was obviously quite different. His attorney was asking the jury to believe that, look, despite comments that were made in the past by his client admitting to certain aspects, despite the interviews with police, the media interviews, and the book, he wanted the jury to believe that all of that was nonsense, saying that his client made up those admissions essentially for profit.
MICHAEL SANFT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You're reading a book that is fiction and not fact, but the state wants you to believe that this is somehow a confession, that he was there in prison at the time of the shooting. The questions are always going to be asked. Why would he say these words? Well, obviously it was because he wanted to protect himself. He wanted to protect his family, and he wanted to make money.
CAMPBELL: Now, there was a question all along about how long jury deliberations would take. We've seen trials where it's gone on for days and days. Here this verdict coming very quickly within a matter of just a couple few hours. The jury again rendering a verdict of guilty for Duane Davis. Sentencing in this case is set for October 13th.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Josh Campbell in Las Vegas.
Joining me live now on set in Los Angeles is Mike Dorsey, the filmmaker who directed the documentary "Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders." He also testified as a witness in this trial, testified longer than any other witness up on the stand.
Mike Dorsey, welcome to THE STORY IS. Thanks for being here.
MIKE DORSEY, WITNESS IN TUPAC SHAKUR MURDER TRIAL: Yes. Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: What's the one word that went through your mind when you saw this verdict?
DORSEY: Justice. In all caps.
MICHAELSON: Why is that?
DORSEY: I always believed Keffe D's confessions to begin with. They were always credible. His nephew was always the number one suspect from day one, so he was really just kind of confirming what everyone had already suspected. And -- yes.
MICHAELSON: And in terms of, do you think that this, because there's been so many conspiracies about this case for so many years.
DORSEY: Right.
MICHAELSON: Has this finally been put to rest? Do we now know who killed Tupac Shakur once and for all?
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DORSEY: I think any reasonable person, logical person, it's been put to rest. You know, there's a saying you can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into. There's always going to be some folks who are going to keep pushing conspiracy theories. But I think for most of the public, you know, this was the most famous unsolved murder in history or one of the most. And it's unsolved no more. So.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And why was it so important for you to get involved in helping to solve this?
DORSEY: Well, I set out originally just to make a film about it because I read a book called "Murder Rap" about -- by Greg Kading, who was a former detective for the LAPD, and he's the one that got Keffe, his first ever confession in 2008. And it just rang true to me. And I said, I think the public needs to know about this. And that's all it was at first. I was never thinking, oh, this will lead to a conviction. Never in my wildest dreams.
And the number of milestones that we had to reach on this road to, you know, today, there are so many improbable moments where things had to go right and they went right. And yes, it's just --
MICHAELSON: What was it like to testify in this case after doing that work for so long? You're up there and you're up there for basically a day and a half.
DORSEY: Correct. I -- it was a little nerve-wracking. I didn't know what to expect. I've never been in a courtroom, even during a trial, much less testified, much less testified at a high profile trial and up there all day. And I also know that my testimony is very damaging and the evidence that I'm letting him introduce is very damaging. So I know the defense attorney is going to come at me, and he did.
So nerve-wracking but I also know that I probably know more than anybody else about this case than anybody in that courtroom, including possibly even the attorneys. So I also know you're not going to come at me with -- you're not going to stop me.
MICHAELSON: And for people that may not have watched every second of the case, what was the piece of evidence you think that you presented that was so damaging?
DORSEY: Sure. So Keffe D's first public interview that he ever gave was recorded in the summer of 2017. It was for a show on BET that came out in 2018, and I was there for that interview kind of secretly. And I ended up making my own recording of that interview. And then when the time came and the prosecution couldn't get that raw footage from Paramount and all of them, they came to me and I said, well, I have my own recording. And I turned it over.
MICHAELSON: Can you believe that he said as much as he said for so long and then his defense was, don't believe me, I'm a B.S. artist?
DORSEY: Right. The funniest example of that is his book, you know, saying he had nothing to do with writing his book. And that he went on YouTube and held his book up and said, this is the truth. I want everyone -- you're getting it from the horse's mouth. You know, I want you guys to all buy this. And there were so many details in that book from his life that weren't anywhere else, that he had to have given that information to the author that he worked with. So.
MICHAELSON: And you said also the night of the shooting that there were details that he said that wouldn't have made sense if he wasn't there.
DORSEY: Correct. There was a moment after the shooting happened and they were fleeing the scene where they almost collide with this car load of girls in a convertible Sebring that were there. And then they get in almost a second shootout, they shoot back at the girls. I don't believe that that was ever public information until he confessed. And so that was -- it was kind of like we call it Columbo moment. It was like this real life like he gave a detail that only the killer could know.
MICHAELSON: You know, so many of us, of course, are Tupac fans. We're viewing it through that lens. His family, Tupac's family, was in the courtroom watching you testify.
DORSEY: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And then today, his sister and others emotional, hugging the prosecutors after this conviction happened. What went through your mind watching them in the courtroom?
DORSEY: It was very moving. I probably looked at them more than I looked at anybody else. I barely looked at the jury. I barely looked at the defendant. But I know a couple of them. Mopreme, his half- brother, I had met before, and so it was interesting seeing him and his wife. And I was just very moved by the fact that they were there every day. I think that was important.
MICHAELSON: And lastly, you say that that Biggie is next. You're determined to get to solve that one as well.
DORSEY: Yes. My "Murder Rap" documentary was about both murders, and I think the Biggie case is also closable. So that's next.
MICHAELSON: We'll see. But a big day in terms of Tupac and the first conviction in that case 30 years later.
Mike Dorsey, thanks for being with us.
DORSEY: Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: Really appreciate it.
Sources tell CNN that U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has submitted his resignation following months of friction with the Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. We've learned Driscoll submitted that resignation to President Trump after speaking with him about the current state of the Army. White House spokesperson said that Driscoll has been, quote, "highly effective at advancing the president's agenda and providing outstanding leadership during historic military operations."
His departure comes six months into the war with Iran. Military leaders are also issuing a warning to Hegseth over that war. "The Washington Post" reports that sources say the military leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and four-star commanders overseeing operations across the globe warned the Defense secretary that prolonged largescale operations against Iran is unsustainable. They added it risks weakening the U.S. military's ability to confront threats elsewhere, including the U.S. homeland.
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News of Driscoll's resignation comes one day after the U.S. and Iran traded attacks in the first major military escalation in a month. And his departure will not be the first for the Army this year. Months ago, Hegseth fired the Army chief of staff and two other generals.
Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin speaking to CNN about these developments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): I mean, look, I always had a collegial relationship with him and worked well with him. But it does really start to feel like we're on this never-ending purge, whether it's a three or four-star generals, whether it's a colonel who's about to make one star, and then Hegseth takes them off the list, or the civilian leadership. It just -- it feels like Hegseth has an audience of one. That's Donald Trump. And if someone disagrees with him or undercuts him or makes him look somehow weak, then he gets rid of them.
And I think what is the added context, which you mentioned, is just we're in the middle of a war. And I think that I'd have to go back and look at my history books, but I cannot remember a time in my history lessons that we have had this many vacancies for this many key positions in the middle of a hot war that just got hotter yesterday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, the Supreme Court's conservative majority has given Donald Trump the green light to keep building his White House ballroom. The $400 million project, at least, and other pricey beautifications around Washington have sparked outrage, especially with the U.S. national debt now exceeding $40 trillion. That's with a T. Critics, including the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts, insist that President Trump had no business messing with property that does not belong to him. But Roberts did not have the votes.
CNN's Betsy Klein has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This lawsuit over President Trump's sprawling 90,000 square foot ballroom project began last year and made its way all the way to the Supreme Court. The challenge came from a preservation group, the National Trust for Historic Preservation. They wanted construction to halt.
And the crux of this legal issue here isn't the ballroom structure itself, or even the demolition of the East Wing last year. It's the processes that President Trump ignored along the way, namely securing approval from Congress. The Supreme Court ruling on Monday that President Trump can proceed with the construction. This marks a major victory for President Trump and will likely give him the time he needs to largely complete construction on this project, even as the litigation continues.
It was a five-four ruling, and notably, the court's conservative chief justice, John Roberts, penned the dissent along with three of the court's liberal justices. He wrote that the construction is, quote, "likely unlawful." But the court is not opining here on whether the ballroom itself is legal. A majority says that the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely cannot sue over this project. But this is not yet over. The litigation is going to continue to play out over months.
Now for President Trump, he views this as a foundation of his legacy as president. He's a former real estate developer. He's made this a major priority. He has also said that this project is a national security imperative. This site sits atop a six-story deep bunker that he says is going to be state-of-the-art.
Now work we have seen move at a remarkable speed. The superstructure is expected to be completed in the coming months in November, according to court filings. Those filings also say that 250 person crew has been working 20 hour days, seven days a week, and it is now 65 percent of the way done. So we'll have to watch how all of this plays out.
Betsy Klein, CNN, in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Betsy, thank you.
Still ahead this hour, we'll discuss the latest heated rhetoric from the vice president of the United States, calling Michigan's Democratic Senate candidate, quote, "very, very evil." All that and more. Our political panel live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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MICHAELSON: Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee is pushing back against the vice president of the United States, J.D. Vance, who is using statements to paint him as, quote, "very, very evil." Vance made those comments during a rally hosted by a MAGA super PAC in Michigan. Abdul El-Sayed, for his part, says the Trump administration is the one perpetuating evil with its divisive policy, trade wars and physical wars.
But the vice president targeted El-Sayed specifically, mirroring Islamophobic sentiments from other Republicans. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's something about Abdul El-Sayed that is very, very evil. When I see Abdul El- Sayed campaign around the state with somebody who said that America deserved 9/11, what I see is a man who has sympathy and compassion for people who share his religion, but have nothing for people who don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Vice President Vance also demanded Abdul El-Sayed, quote, "keep my wife's name the hell out your mouth." The Democrat mentioned Usha Vance in a social media comment, but Abdul El-Sayed says his family is frequently targeted by the Trump administration.
He spoke to CNN's Kaitlan Collins on "THE SOURCE" earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL EL-SAYED, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE: Look, I'd rather not talk about spouses at all. The truth of the matter is that Donald Trump, almost as soon as I was nominated, tweeted a picture of me and my wife relative to him and his wife, trying to highlight the fact that my wife wears a hijab, as if to make an argument that that's somehow less American.
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And they have this interesting dynamic. Donald Trump says one thing, i.e., data centers, or tweets a picture of my wife, and then J.D. Vance pretends like it would be impossible for anybody ever to do something like that. So I'd like them to actually face down their own hypocrisy. The point that I've been making about his wife is that he believes in a political philosophy that says that some people are somehow more American than others.
He, in a speech about a week ago, said that he wanted to have a conversation about me with his papa, a person that I understand has long since passed, may he rest in peace. But why would you invoke your long since passed grandfather to make an argument about me if you're not trying to take us back to a time when people like me were less than normal? But then it raises the question about who else might not be normal in that kind of an America.
Who else might not be included in the broad spectrum of who can be an American? I believe in an America where any of us, me, his wife, any of us with different color skin or who pray different ways, can be just as American as J.D. and his papa. But he's not making that argument. He likes to dog whistle about these things, but when you actually call him out on it, he acts like he would never bring anything like that into our political conversation despite he and his boss doing that every single day
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Let's bring in our panel, our returning champion is Gustavo Arellano, columnist for the "Los Angeles Times." Apparently a fan of cats.
GUSTAVO ARELLANO, COLUMNIST, LOS ANGELES TIMES: No. Dogs. MICHAELSON: Or dogs.
ARELLANO MALE: Dogs.
MICHAELSON: Dogs. OK. And Ben Austin is the education policy director for the North American Values Institute, former deputy mayor of Los Angeles, and member of the Clinton administration, with us for the first time here on THE STORY IS.
Welcome, Ben. Good to have you. Hopefully you'll be as impressive as Gustavo's dogs.
BEN AUSTIN, EDUCATION POLICY DIRECTOR, NORTH AMERICAN VALUES INSTITUTE: It's a high bar.
ARELLANO: Yes. Rest in peace.
MICHAELSON: High bar. Let's talk about what's going on here. And since you're starting off, we'll give this first crack to you. This fight between J.D. Vance and Abdul El-Sayed, and why El-Sayed is being targeted so much by Republicans and some of our friends on different cable channel as well.
AUSTIN: Yes. Well, I mean, I'm a Democrat and a progressive, and so I very much want to support El-Sayed, but I'm also a Jew and a Zionist. And, you know, when I was a young staffer in Bill Clinton's White House, it was pretty easy to reconcile those identities. I stood in the South Lawn when Bill Clinton brokered the Oslo Accords between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat. I flew with Bill Clinton to Israel for Rabin's funeral.
I went back with Bill Clinton six months later to campaign against Netanyahu for prime minister. And then I watched Bill Clinton try to negotiate a lasting peace agreement in his final months of office that the Palestinians ultimately walked away from. And so it was really easy to be a Jew, a Democrat, a progressive, and a Zionist. But, you know, El-Sayed's campaign is forcing some hard choices here that aren't good for him or aren't good for the Democratic Party.
MICHAELSON: So if you were in Michigan and you were voting, would you vote for Mike Rogers?
AUSTIN: I don't think I can support an election denier. You know, I don't --
MICHAELSON: So who do you vote for?
AUSTIN: It's --
MICHAELSON: You got two choices.
ARELLANO: Alfred E. Neuman.
AUSTIN: Yes, yes.
ARELLANO: After the old school. AUSTIN: You know, I mean, I -- you know, maybe for the first time in
my life I'm an undecided voter and I've been a political nerd since I was a teenager. And, you know, that's really unusual. But El-Sayed's candidacy is a problem for the entire Democratic Party. I mean, he apologized over the weekend or sort of half-apologized over the weekend for not condemning the terrorist attack against Temple Israel, which is also a school.
But he didn't apologize or he -- yes, he didn't apologize for his association with Hasan Piker, who is both antisemitic and anti- American.
MICHAELSON: Well, and Hasan Piker says that he's not antisemitic or anti-American. Hasan Piker has disavowed those comments about America deserving 9/11. And of course El-Sayed does not embrace those comments in particular.
AUSTIN: He's disavowed those comments. But El-Sayed hasn't disavowed his association with Hasan Piker. And whether he's disavowed those comments or not, blaming America for 9/11, it's pretty hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube on that.
MICHAELSON: Your thoughts on this whole thing, J.D. Vance-El-Sayed?
ARELLANO: I focus on J.D. Vance.
MICHAELSON: OK.
ARELLANO: Because J.D. Vance, he proclaims himself to be a Catholic just like I am. But to call El-Sayed evil, he's -- J.D. Vance is forgetting the book of Matthew where Jesus says, you should take out the beam from your eye to notice the mote, to take out the mote from your opponent or the other people. And also when you have an enemy, you're not supposed to hate your enemy, you're supposed to love your enemy.
And J.D. Vance shows nothing but enmity toward people who he disagrees with.
[00:30:04]
And this is besides whatever he might be -- we know why he's criticizing El-Sayed; because I disagree with you in saying that the -- that he represents a problem to the Democratic Party, because there's a lot of young Democrats who are motivated by him.
I'm not endorsing him at all. I'm not a Michigan voter. But you have young people really flocking to Democratic socialists or Democratic socialists adjacent, like El-Sayed and other people around the country.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, of course, El-Sayed says he's not a Democratic socialist, but the Democratic socialists certainly seem to embrace him, almost like they're [SIC] one of their own.
And there's been this interesting fight in the Democratic Party between the DSA and sort of more establishment Democrats, including some establishment Jews.
Jared Moskowitz, who is a congressman from Florida, who just won his primary after being targeted by a member of the Democratic socialists of America, spoke to our Manu Raju on Capitol Hill today. Here's some of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): I think they've given Republicans in swing districts something to run against, because the Republicans have no -- nothing to show the American people that they've done.
This is a time where we're trying to -- trying to make Hakeem Jeffires speaker, and instead, they're busy trying to take out Democrats that can win general election seats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Jared Moskowitz there, talking about the DSA.
ARELLANO: The Democratic Party's biggest mistake again and again is dismissing the DSA as unelectable. Tell that to Maharani [SIC] -- Mamdani. Tell that, here in Los Angeles, where you have four Democratic socialists on the L.A. city council.
Yes, these are bigger cities, but the American electorate right now is against incumbency. It's against a lot of capitalism and all these tech bros. And that's what the DSA is talking.
DSA basically is the flip side of MAGA. And we saw what MAGA did in 2016 and how much Republican -- the Republican establishment dismissed it.
MICHAELSON: Well, and also the Tea Party --
ARELLANO: Exactly.
MICHAELSON: -- if we think back to another election, as well, back in 2010.
ARELLANO: And the sewer socialists of the early 20th Century. So, you just be more careful than just dismiss people as unelectable.
MICHAELSON: I'm guessing you're not a big fan.
BEN AUSTIN, EDUCATION POLICY DIRECTOR, NORTH AMERICAN VALUES INSTITUTE: Each -- each of those fact patterns was in heavily blue states and cities. This is the first swing -- this is the first swing election that could literally determine who controls the Senate.
MICHAELSON: You're talking about Michigan Senate?
AUSTIN: Yes. And you know, it's -- Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were not the two most successful Democratic presidents because they were wholly-owned subsidiaries of the extreme elements in their party. They were successful specifically because they stood up to those elements. My old boss, Bill Clinton, famously went into Jesse Jackson's Rainbow
Coalition meeting to -- to condemn Sister Soujah's anti-white rhetoric.
Barack Obama gave a speech to condemn his own pastor, Reverend Wright's, extreme rhetoric. Both of them stood up to extreme elements in the Democratic Party and led our party.
We -- you know, Hasan Piker is a silver platter for the Democratic Party. DSA is a silver platter for the Democratic Party when it comes to speaking to the swing voters, not the extreme elements of either party.
MICHAELSON: Why -- do you think, though, there's --
AUSTIN: But speaking swing voters that stand for America.
MICHAELSON: Why do you think there's so much energy, though, behind the DSA? Why do you think they are winning these elections? Why do you think, to -- to Gustavo's point, there's so many young people that are following the DSA?
AUSTIN: Well, look, I mean, as I said, I'm a -- I'm a progressive, and I'm a Jew and a Zionist. And as a progressive, I understand the energy behind universal health care, the Green New Deal. I -- I agree with a lot of those positions.
But as a Jew, it's really disturbing to see the energy around Israel, around Judaism, to see how difficult it was for El-Sayed to apologize for justifying the bombing of Temple Israel.
You know, I mean, you tell me. I mean, what's underneath all of that? I mean, if -- if -- if the excitement is simply about public policy positions around progressive issues, that's been around for quite some time.
ARELLANO: But I don't think anyone has been able to capture that energy. I mean, you talk about, like, the extremes. Well, here in L.A. Ysabel Jurado wone the East Side, Boyle Heights district. This is a district that went with Rick Caruso, the billionaire, against Karen Bass in 2022.
So, I think they're talking about issues that are -- like, people are upset. They see that the economy is not where it's supposed to be. They're tired of the Democrats being basically -- feebly fighting back against the Trump administration.
They want to see they -- again, they want to see the flip side of MAGA. They want to see these fire breathers.
Sadly, they're not always going to be aligned. Sometimes they do go to the extremes. But when it talks to, like, talking against capitalism, talking against tech bros, that's what they're hearing. I think most Americans don't know who Hasan Piker is.
AUSTIN: I'm against tech bros, too. I'm against billionaires, too. We should tax them. I believe in all of that.
But at the end of the day, I -- our government needs to fix things. Our government needs to solve problems on planet Earth, not in some imagined ideological playground on the left and the right.
[00:35:05]
MICHAELSON: Do you feel like -- and this is just to wrap things up, because I'm over time, but that, if the Democratic establishment put out a more clear policy positions, unlike -- DSA is putting out a lot of ideas. They may not be possible, but there -- you could tell you what the DSA wants to do.
In terms of a list of the Democratic establishment, what they actually would want to do if they take over Congress, like their version of a Contract for America.
AUSTIN: I think it's a false choice between the Democratic establishment and the DSA. You can run a populist, moderate campaign about solving real problems on planet Earth.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
AUSTIN: Like, that's what voters care about. They don't care about these ideological extreme positions.
ARELLANO: Yes. Talk to Mamdani. He ran it perfectly in the middle.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Ben, Gustavo, what a great conversation. I appreciate having that here.
We're going to be back in our next hour to talk about another interesting topic, A.I. data centers, which is making a lot of news, as well.
Still ahead this hour, though, celebrity attorneys have withdrawn from singer D4VD's high-profile murder case. Details on his new counsel, which is going to cost him a lot less money. Just ahead.
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[00:40:47]
MICHAELSON: New York Police shot and killed a woman after they say she stabbed two people in Times Square, one of them fatally.
Police say it started Monday afternoon when a woman threatened people with two knives and stabbed a man and a woman. Officers say they first used tasers after she refused to drop the knives, but eventually opened fire.
The man who was stabbed is in critical condition. Authorities say the suspect has a documented mental health history with the NYPD.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JESSICA TISCH, NYPD COMMISSIONER: The whole incident unfolded -- from
the first stabbing until the conclusion, unfolded in approximately five minutes. Four of those minutes were the police engaging the subject in dialog, trying to get her to drop the -- the knives. But the two stabbings happened within approximately 20 seconds of each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Here in Los Angeles, a public defender is now stepping in to represent singer D4VD after his high-profile lawyers abruptly withdrew from his murder case at today's arraignment.
The 21-year-old, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez after she threatened to expose their secret relationship.
Her dismembered body was found in the trunk of D4VD's Tesla last September, parked near his L.A. home.
D4VD pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilation of human remains.
A trial date has not yet been set. L.A. prosecutors say they have not ruled out seeking the death penalty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHAN HOCHMAN, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Whenever that counsel announces that they are ready to proceed, the district attorney's office is ready to proceed to prove all three charges beyond a reasonable doubt, leading eventually to a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Or, if we so choose, the death penalty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Now, to a disturbing case in England. Jury selection begins Tuesday for a man accused of drugging his wife and allowing other men to sexually abuse her.
CNN's Saskya Vandoorne reports from Manchester.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Twelve men from across Britain helped a husband drug and sexually abuse his own wife, according to prosecutors.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Today, all of them are due to go on trial alongside the woman's husband in a case expected to last until December.
VANDOORNE: Authorities say the husband, in his 60s, cannot be named to protect his wife's identity. He was charged with 48 counts, spanning a 20-year period, initially denying them all. But he has since admitted to drugging and sexually assaulting her, according to court documents.
He's pleaded guilty to five counts of rape, six counts of assault by penetration, and three counts of sexual assault, as well as sharing intimate images of his wife without her consent.
But he still denies dozens of the other charges, including allegations that he conspired with 13 other men to drug and rape her.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Those men are aged between 28 and 73. Most are accused of directly taking part in the sexual abuse --
VANDOORNE: -- while others are accused of helping to supply substances intended to render her unconscious.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Among them is a paramedic, Jonathan Kirk, who was photographed shaking hands with Prince Harry. Another is a former football club chief executive called Karl Lindsay.
The men now going on trial deny the charges against them. A 13th man, Keith Fotheringham of Scotland, was also charged and has already pleaded guilty to all the charges he faced, including conspiracy to rape and conspiracy to administer a substance with intent.
VANDOORNE: Today, a jury in Manchester will begin hearing the case against them.
Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Manchester.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Ahead, football legend Lionel Messi announces a decision that he says still hurts, deep down.
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[00:49:16]
MICHAELSON: Welcome back. Thanks for watching the issue [SIC] -- THE STORY IS. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The first person to be charged in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur has been found guilty of first-degree murder. Duane Davis has been convicted of orchestrating Tupac's killing 30 years ago in Las Vegas. His sentencing is set for October 13.
Davis says he will appeal the verdict.
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down from his post. Sources say Driscoll submitted his resignation to President Trump after months of friction with the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.
A White House spokesperson said Driscoll has provided, quote, "long -- outstanding leadership during historic military operations."
His departure comes six months into the Iran War. International search efforts are expanding after flood waters
devastated parts of the Nepal-China border last week. Nepal's prime minister says more than 11,000 people have been rescued so far, but both countries estimate roughly 4,400 people are still missing. At least 955 people have been reported dead.
We'll go live to China at the top of the hour.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is condemning new settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, even while insisting that only a handful of rioters are violating the law.
This weekend saw more attacks targeting Palestinians, including the storming of the village where dozens of settlers seized a home with people inside.
The homeowner says soldiers, quote, "watched and did nothing" before firing tear gas. No arrests were made.
In a separate incident, settlers attacked a TV news crew and injured a Palestinian woman they were interviewing.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was only a couple of weeks ago that we brought you the story of a home in the village of Qusra that was besieged by Israeli settlers trying to take it over. We reached that home and found the situation that is underway.
DIAMOND (voice-over): But now, in that same village of Qusra, dozens of Israeli settlers mounted yet another attack on a Palestinian home, pelting the owner and several other people who were inside that home with rocks, storming the house itself, and attempting to seize it.
The owner of the home told us that it was -- this attack went on for about an hour until the Israeli military showed up.
DIAMOND: But when the military showed up, this man and several others say that it was the Palestinians who were ultimately detained, blindfolded, and even beaten by Israeli security forces before ultimately being released.
The Israeli military, in a statement, spoke about the dozens of Israeli rioters who they said had attacked this home. And yet, neither the Israeli military nor the Israeli police at this point have arrested any of those rioters, even though some of them are identifiable on camera while they were inside that house.
And this wasn't the only incident of settler violence this weekend. Israeli settlers in the neighboring town of Jalud also attacked an NBC News crew in a Palestinian woman they were interviewing, beating them with sticks and rocks. The Palestinian woman was even rendered unconscious by that attack. Now, we have heard from a number of senior Israeli officials, with
varying degrees of severity in terms of the statements they're putting out.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu --
DIAMOND (voice-over): -- who has repeatedly downplayed the phenomenon of settler violence, said in a statement this weekend that he condemned the violence but once again attributed it to a, quote, "handful of rioters" who he said are violating the law.
He said that he expects Israeli authorities to arrest the rioters and bring them to justice.
DIAMOND: The Israeli military, meanwhile, said last week that it was preparing to potentially send additional battalions of troops to the area to reinforce the security there.
No -- notable statement, given that the Israeli military quietly is recognizing more and more the danger that these Israeli settlers are posing, not only to Palestinians but to security in the area.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv. Jeremy. Thank you.
Coming up in our next hour of THE STORY IS, a stunning stadium flyby in South Africa. Now, some are questioning if the stunt was unnecessarily dangerous.
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[00:58:26]
MICHAELSON: The legendary Lionel Messi, often considered the GOAT of world football, is retiring from Argentina's national team, meaning that this past World Cup will be his last. And there probably won't be many more opportunities to see him in action.
This decision follows back-to-back heartbreaks for the soccer superstar, which include the recent death of his father.
Here's CNN WORLD SPORT's Don Riddell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: I don't think this was a big surprise, but that doesn't mean it wasn't easy for his fans to take.
Lionel Messi marked the end of an era on Monday as he announced that he was retiring from international football. He says he will no longer play for his beloved Argentina.
What he achieved, though, for his country, is just phenomenal. Let's talk about it. He won the World Cup in 2022. Twice, he finished as a runner-up. He
won two Copa America titles, and he was named as the best player twice in each of those two competitions.
It was a career that spanned 21 years. He played 207 games for Argentina and scored 125 goals.
But what's really fascinating is that his best days with his country came after he retired from the international game in 2016, after years and years of frustration and unfulfilled dreams. And he was criticized by a lot of Argentina fans at the time, who thought that he was putting more into his club team, Barcelona, than he was to his country.
But when he returned, and by the time he was in his mid-30s, that's when everything started to click. He -- he appeared to address his critics when he wrote that he had always given it his all, saying, quote, "I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football."
