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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Supreme Court Rejects Trump's Limits On Mail-In Voting; U.S. Congress Struggles To Regulate AI Amid Growing Concerns; AI CEOs Call For Industry Slowdown; Gaza Documentary By Israeli Filmmaker Sparks Uproar In Israel; 129 People Missing Days after Indonesian Ferry Capsizes; Global Oil Prices Rise as Strait of Hormuz Talks Postponed; ProPublica: Russian Oligarch Bankrolled Trump Jr.'s Wedding; California Woman's Killing Fuels Immigration Policy Fight. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 15, 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 planet heating pollution from fossil fuel plants. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency says the move will save billions of dollars in lower electricity prices. Power plants are the second largest source of plant heating pollution in the US. Trump administration's EPA argued last year that emissions from those planets -- plants have no material impact on global climate change. Environmental groups say they will take the issue to court.

That's it for 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: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles. Coming up, the story is mail-in voting. The Supreme Court rejects President Trump's plan to change how the Postal Service delivers ballots by mail. Washington State's attorney general standing by live.

The story is regulating AI. The CEO of Anthropic has a plan. But will lawmakers agree with it? Our political panel is here.

And the story is rubbing shoulders with Moscow's elite. Donald Trump Jr. And his new wife confirmed that part of their wedding celebration was funded by a businessman with ties to Vladimir Putin.

But we begin with this. It is just after one o' clock in the morning in Washington, D.C. where just hours ago the U.S. Supreme Court handed President Trump a major defeat in his quest to limit mail-in voting. A majority of the justices blocked the procedure that would have allowed the U.S. Postal Service to withhold potentially millions of mail in ballots.

The court offered little explanation in its three sentence order, said the administration is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge. The decision comes just 50 days ahead of the critical midterm elections. Trump has spent years railing against mail-in voting with false claims of fraud, even though he votes by mail himself. Voting rights groups in Democratic states that challenged the president's proposal are now praising that ruling.

One of them joins me live right now in Seattle is the Washington State Attorney General, Nick Brown. Welcome to The Story Is for the first time.

NICK BROWN, WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

MICHAELSON: Your reaction to the ruling?

BROWN: Well, we're obviously thrilled with the ruling because it protects the status quo. It protects the voting system that states across the country have been using for now, decades. And in Washington, where we have 100 percent mail-in voting, we depend on access to the ballot and access to our mail system to exercise our right to vote. So really excited about this ruling, but we've got a lot more fight ahead of us.

MICHAELSON: 100 percent mail-in voting means that everybody is mailed a ballot automatically. President Trump says that creates a situation for fraud. He's OK with the idea of requesting a ballot, but if everybody is mailed a ballot, some ballots are going to go to the wrong addresses. There's the potential for ballot harvesting for the perception of fraud. What do you say to his argument against all this?

BROWN: Well, I would say two things. First and foremost, every official in the country wants our voting system to run properly and wants to ensure that only those who are eligible to vote get to be able to vote in our elections. But the second most important point is the president is a liar. He is not telling truth, the truth about our systems.

He is not telling the truth about where fraud exists and where it does not. He has been lying about mail in voting and all sorts of things with our voting systems for most of his political career.

And so he really doesn't have any credibility in terms of what his claims are, what the evidence shows clearly time and time again, that our systems are audited properly, they're fair and effective, and that only those who are eligible to vote actually do vote in our elections. And Donald Trump's claims to the contrary really have no bearing on that. And I think the court saw through some of the allegations the Department of Justice was making on his behalf.

MICHAELSON: At this point, do you think that this issue is over? You think the elections will be secured? Do you feel good about going forward with this election?

BROWN: Well, we feel really good about this particular issue. I mean, the president's unconstitutional attempt to take control of our mail- in voting system was denied, at least with respect to the November 2026 elections. But the court, I think, sort of left the door open to a future challenge on this same exact issue. But we'll face that head on.

And it is clear that the vast majority of the Supreme Court, at least six of the justices, dismissed his claims outright. And that's a good step for now. The bigger challenge, however, is that the president and his administration is really trying to attack our voting system on every single possible front. He does not want people to vote.

He does not want voters to have their voices heard. I think he understands that the more people to vote, the less likely he is to have his policies and his supporters actually get elected into the office. And so we have to be very mindful of all the various ways that the President is attacking our current system.

[01:05:04]

MICHAELSON: Well, he doesn't say that he doesn't want people to vote. He says that he wants people to vote in what he would describe as fair elections and that there's a possibility of fraud, of doing it this way and that he wants to secure the election. He's never said I don't want people to vote.

BROWN: Well, again, I don't put much weight in anything this particular President says when it comes to voting in particular. Of course he's not going to say explicitly he doesn't want people to vote. But he has said time and time again a number of different lies that cast doubt on our system. I mean, keep in mind that he's still claiming he won the election, that he clearly lost to Joe Biden in the previous election.

Every time that an election doesn't go his way, he makes these very broad evidence free allegations of misconduct or fraud and it's all attempt to undermine the foundation of our democracy. And so I was very clear that he is scared of more people vote. And it is part and parcel with a pattern of the administration and his supporters throughout the states doing their best to try to limit opportunity to vote. You know, making it harder, making the voting period shorter, making less voting stations available.

I mean, we saw just a few weeks ago in Texas shutting down dozens and dozens of voting sites across that state. You don't do that if you want more people to vote. And these are sort of the things that have been the background -- a backbone of this party over the last many years. And we have to combat that every chance we get.

MICHAELSON: Nick Brown, the Attorney General from Washington State, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

BROWN: Thank you, Elex. I appreciate it.

MICHAELSON: Now to another huge issue. We're talking about AI and there are new warnings that are coming from the federal government and from different administrations as well. Although when we look at that, the question is there's this doomsday scenario. The CEO of one of the leading AI developers, Anthropic, is calling for an industry wide slowdown, more regulation, global cooperation, all in an effort to stop out of control and dangerous AI models from being developed.

Several major competitors, including Elon Musk and OpenAI, Sam Altman, have also voiced their support for more safety measures. CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with Anthropic's Dario Amodei after his warning about the future of AI over the weekend. Take a listen to one of the solutions Amadei is committed to implementing to help avert potential risks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARIO AMODEI, CEO, ANTHROPIC: I'm very grateful to see, you know, support for this proposal just in the first few hours of having put it out by Sam Altman, by Elon Musk, by, you know, various legislators and government officials. I think it's a positive sign about, you know, our ability to make something that looks like this plan work. But to get to your question, yes, embedded evaluators. So there is precedent for this.

If you look at how banks are regulated, right. There's all kinds of, you know, there's all kinds of rules about, you know, how banks are allowed to do their business, right? Because, you know, we don't want to have financial crises. And one of the things that are done in some cases is, I think they're called supervisors in the financial industry, but they're folks who are independent of a company, who are embedded in the company day to day to check their practices.

And I think we can do the same thing in -- I think we can do the same thing in AI. We already have evaluators who check the finished model, who check the finished product. But, you know, as we know, you know, if you were going to inspect food or something, it's not enough to just check the finished product. You also need to see the process whereby it's made.

And so what we're doing here is we're allowing these, these evaluators in to look at the details of how we train the models.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: President Trump is rejecting the push for more AI regulation. In a string of social media posts on Monday, he called safety concerns a, quote, hoax, insisting that the larger concern is preventing China from outpacing the US. He also argued the only guardrail AI needs is a strong and smart high IQ president.

House Speaker Mike Johnson also emphasized U.S. competition with China. On Monday, he said that Congress must avoid rushing into AI regulation and that there needs to be more communication between lawmakers and the private sector on this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-KY) U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: Congress, I think, has a role, responsibility, but the people who are providing and creating these products obviously have responsibility as well. There is a corporate responsibility and an expectation that they will provide safe products. You've heard a lot of opinions on this over the last couple of days. I've had an opinion as well.

As you all know, we began the AI Task Force, a bipartisan working group, almost immediately after I became speaker. I think it was February of 24. So a few months after I got the gavel.

[01:10:04]

They worked for a long, long time. We had an equal number of Republicans, Democrats on the committee. They came up with a lengthy report and they have some ideas on how to do it. Each of the AI platform providers have ideas. None of them are consistent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So all this comes as some Democratic representatives are pushing for an emergency session to regulate the technology. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says AI concerns are incredibly serious and accuse reluctant GOP leaders of endangering the lives of Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (R-NY) U.S. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Congress should not leave town until something is done decisively to protect the safety and the well-being of the American people. In the face of growing concerns being raised by experts within the artificial intelligence industry itself, Republicans have completely abandoned their responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Let's bring back our political panel. Fabian Nunez is the founder and managing partner of the global consultancy firm Actum. And Suzette Valladares is a Republican state senator here in California. Thank you so much for being with us.

FABIAN NUNEZ, FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER, ACTUM: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: Let's start with you. The politics of this. It feels like the last week, just like AI, the pace of this has just gone crazy. Between the guy coming out saying that we're all going to die in a decade, potentially. Dario Amadei coming out, Elon Musk coming out, Sam Altman coming out, this push on Washington, there's a lot happening here.

NUNEZ: There's a lot happening. And look, typically when you look at it from a partisan standpoint, Republicans always claim that Democrats don't see a company that I want to regulate or an industry that I want to regulate. But this is a very different situation. You have the two CEOs of the most prominent, most important tech companies, AI tech companies in the world, basically saying, you must regulate us because this is a very, very serious threat to humanity, the growth of these large language models.

And so, when they're saying that, they're saying regulate us. We got to take that very seriously. And so time is of the essence because this technology is moving so fast that pretty soon we may lose control over it. So, how to regulate it isn't -- yes, how to regulate it isn't forming some kind of, you know, committee, the congressional committee that can come back after the recess and, you know, sit down, have some coffee and talk about what things you can do.

I think this is a very serious threat to our -- to the world. We have to do something now.

MICHAELSON: The question is also, can Congress, can state legislatures, are they actually capable of doing this? Here's how one Republican congressman talked about the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RICH MCCORMICK (R-GA): Let's face it, when the average congressman or senator is getting up there and they have a hard time turning on their cell phone and your staff has to figure out how to do things for your technical how are we supposed to govern AI from that perspective?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: What's this like for you as somebody who's a younger member of the legislature who sometimes deal with people who may not be in talking about this issue.

SUZETTE VALLADARES, CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN STATE SENATOR: And a mom --

MICHAELSON: Yes.

VALLADARES: -- who is very concerned about the future for the next generation. But Elex, this doesn't have to be a partisan issue. This is so typical. We can have public safety in mind and American leadership when it comes to AI. We can do both. We don't have to choose either or. Here in California, we were able to create a basic framework for independent assessment of AI.

Now, AI policy doesn't stop at California's border. I think the Congress does need to take this on, but we also have to look at the political reality globally because the politics of AI in the United States is very different than the politics of AI in China.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

VALLADARES: China doesn't have state legislatures, governors, Congress, the U.S. Senate to deal with.

MICHAELSON: Unions aren't pushing back on the issues there.

VALLADARES: Unions are not pushing back at all.

MICHAELSON: You want to do that negotiation.

VALLADARES: And we're only slightly ahead of them.

MICHAELSON: Right. VALLADARES: So I think it is -- it's really important that our leadership, that the president take into consideration the global implication and that Americans continue to lead in this industry.

MICHAELSON: Well, that seems to be the conflict because it seems like the White House is saying, look, if we do too much to regulate this, we're going to be behind China. So we'd rather regulate less, have a high IQ president just regulating what's needed and not step up in, in a big way. Does that concern you?

VALLADARES: I think there's a balance to be had. And again, we've seen this at the state level. We are home of Silicon Valley of AI. The birthplace is right here in California.

MICHAELSON: Sure.

VALLADARES: I think the legislature was able to take meaningful, a bipartisan --

MICHAELSON: Not only NIA but also social media regulation too just passed in a unanimous way. Both parties.

[01:15:00]

VALLADARES: Absolutely. We're, you know, as I mentioned, I'm a parent in every industry, whether it's there are guardrails on alcohol or guardrails on owning, on gun ownership, AI need some guardrails. It just needs to be balanced as the technologies.

NUNEZ: And I agree with the senator. I mean, this doesn't need to be a partisan issue, should be bipartisan. But I also think that normally when you're -- when you're in a competitive environment globally against the U.S. against China, you're competing to get to the front of the line.

Here, we're competing to get to the end. The end of the world, that is. And so there has to be bilateral conversations between the two countries on how we're going to regulate this industry. Because when you have the CEOs again of these industries that please regulate us because this is out of control.

MICHAELSON: Yes. And that doesn't happen. That doesn't happen very often now.

NUNEZ: It sends the right message. I thought it was very interesting to see the member of Congress, they're saying, hey, I don't even know how to use my phone. I'm not capable.

MICHAELSON: You said, others --

NUNEZ: Others knows how to use a phone.

MICHAELSON: To me, the message.

NUNEZ: To me, the message is, there's a young Republican state senator here. She could be in Congress. She knows the issue. She's governed over the issue in California. She could be in Congress.

MICHAELSON: Are you endorsing her? Is that what --

NUNEZ: If she runs -- if she runs against that senator that was on TV. But my point is that it's not good enough to say, well, I don't know enough about technology. This is too important an issue to let technology leave behind.

MICHAELSON: Another issue that continues to be a part of the conversation is the issue of immigration. And there was a post over the weekend from somebody named Bo French, who was a Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner. And here was this picture from the University of Texas. This big win that they had over the weekend posted a picture of the crowd celebrating.

And French writes, I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn't believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined. If you look closely at that picture, there's a lot of brown faces in that picture.

This post has been widely condemned by Republicans and Democrats. John Cornyn, the senator, Republican, came out against this. What goes through your mind when you see this?

VALLADARES: You know, this isn't the first tweets or even video I've seen that has been offensive. Whether it's, you know, a governor talking about SAT scores or memes like this, that, that I think one, are offensive. Two, it brings me back to the broader picture of why we're here. And why we're here is because for decades, both parties have failed on this issue.

They failed to recognize on both sides the need for immigration reform. They failed for years the need to address border security. I think like most Californians, like most Americans, we can do both. We can have it all. We can have immigration enforcement. We can follow the laws. We can have a secure border. And we also can do it in a humane and dignified way, which is what I'd like to see both sides start to do seriously.

NUNEZ: But there's a deeper issue, obviously, and I agree with everything the senator said. There's a deeper issue here. This is an issue of somebody saying, look at it at Texas, University of Texas match. Look at the crowd that's in the students. It's too much diversity. It's not wide enough --

MICHAELSON: Right.

NUNEZ: -- for us to say that this is the real America. And those people need to wake up to what this country really is all about. Diversity is not going to end in America. And it's actually anti American to be against diversity. When you look at us just here on this panel, there's diversity here. You cannot excuse people who think that it's not OK for a crowd of young people to be diverse. You can't excuse that.

And it's wrong to do it. And a lot of people prey upon it because they know that it wins them political points with some. I'm not saying all. With some on the right who are the MAGA Republicans and not all the MAGA Republicans, but within that population of people, this gets them going. And it's wrong for them to do it. It's unAmerican. So those people don't have the right to wave the American flag if they believe that that diversity doesn't speak for this country, because I believe it does.

MICHAELSON: Well said. So that was some news tonight. The other news is that you're endorsing the senator. And let me --

VALLADARE: The state Senate.

MICHAELSON: Let me -- and let me get you to say your name correctly, because I think I screwed it up.

VALLADARES: Suzette Valladares.

MICHAELSON: There we go. Thank you so much for coming in. Thank you so much. The former speaker of the Assembly. We're finding bipartisan agreement here. Thank you, guys.

This just in. The Gates foundation is pledging to spend at least $1 billion to expand access to artificial intelligence over the next two years. Investments will focus on training AI models across different cultural contexts and languages. That move aims to reach communities and professions that have not previously benefited from the latest technological advancements. So that's quite the announcement just made by the Gates Foundation.

[01:20:00]

Coming up, television's biggest stars took to the stage tonight at the 78th Emmy Awards where Apple TV's "Widow's Bay" was the night's biggest winner, taking home outstanding comedy series and more awards than any other show. Other notable winners include Noah Wyle, who we see there, who won his second Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drumming for "The Pitt." Also winning, we see Jean Smart, who won her fifth Emmy for "Hacks." She's the only actress ever to win an Emmy for every single season of the show.

Congratulations to her. Both "The Pitt" and "Hacks" are help produced in part by our parent company. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW RHYS, EMMY WINNER, "WIDOW's BAY" AND "THE BEAST IN ME": I was never very good at history. I'm just glad to make it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can fail history when you're making it. OK.

RHYS: That's very good. We're very well put. Yes, that element hasn't really quite. It seems very abstract to me and I don't know if it ever was thinking, to be perfectly honest, because your kids will never let you. But it's incredible. It really is.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: So that's Matthew Rhys, who made some history tonight by winning for both "Beast in Me" and for "Widow's Bay." And for people that are used to hearing his American accent in all the shows, he's actually Welsh. So it is quite something to hear him away from the screen. Our thanks to Elizabeth Wagmeister for that interview. You can check out all of Elizabeth's interviews@cnn.com.

Still ahead on The Story Is from a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival to an accusation of treason. I had a look at what's in the Gaza documentary that is sparking backlash in Israel. Jeremy Diamond with that report.

Plus, more than 100 people still missing after a ferry capsized in Indonesia's Java Sea. Details on that surge just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:26:09]

MICHAELSON: Fears of a renewed Israeli military campaign are mounting in Lebanon after a new wave of attacks. Lebanese officials say Israeli strikes killed at least 13 people, including six children and a medic in southern Lebanon. The strikes on that town came without an online evacuation warning from the Israeli military. Monday's attack marked one of the deadliest days of Israeli bombardment in recent weeks, despite both countries signing a U.S. brokered ceasefire agreement.

A documentary examining Israel's alleged targeting of Palestinian civilians in Gaza is sparking political uproar in Israel. The country's culture minister is threatening to revoke the citizenship of the makers of the film "NAZA." CNN's Jeremy Diamond breaks down what's in that documentary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly not been well received here in Israel where they have faced a backlash of epic proportions from the general public, from a number of Israeli ministers. You referenced Israel's culture minister who called this action treasonous and called for their citizenship to be revoked.

It's important to look at why there is such a backlash here in Israel. Obviously, first of all, it doesn't make Israel look good because the central premise of this documentary is the notion that Israel tolerates accepted, allowed for whatever term you want to use for the killing of large numbers of Palestinian civilians in Gaza in order to kill a much smaller number of Palestinian militants.

It goes after this notion of NAZA, which is an Israeli military term used to talk about collateral damage. Basically the number of civilians that would be killed in a given Israeli strike.

I do have a short clip from the documentary to show you. This is one of the Israeli soldiers who testified, gave an interview anonymously to this film describing the targeting system that they used and how they would determine the number of civilians that might be killed. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the screen. This is a map of the neighborhood. I get a full map of every building in Gaza. I can click on a house and see how many people will be hurt when I bomb it.

DIAMOND: You have this for all of Gaza, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You see it like this. Apartment 6, floor 5. Ahmed and his family will die. It shows how many kids he has, his wife. Some strikes killed 20, 30, over 300 people.

DIAMOND: And that soldier is one of 24 Israeli soldiers who were interviewed as part of this film, all of them actively involved in the war in Gaza, many of them intelligence officers who were involved in these targeting decisions. That same soldier describes another incident when he's asked, you know, what the maximum number of civilians was that was allowed to be killed in one of these strikes? He said that number was 500 civilians approved to be killed in a single strike that was targeting one Palestinian militant in the Gaza Strip.

Now, the Israeli military, for its part, has said that it categorically rejects these allegations, reiterating that it takes steps in Gaza to minimize harm to civilians. We've also just learned that the Israeli military's chief of staff held a meeting about it today calling all of this deliberate distortions of reality. And he called for investigations into the film and any of the soldiers who may have spoken to the filmmakers as his course of action going forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Jeremy Diamond, thank you for that reporting. Now to Indonesia, where rescuers are racing to find 129 people who went missing after a ferry capsize in the Java Sea, killing at least six people.

[01:30:06]

Officials plan to deploy divers if weather conditions improve.

Mike Valerio has more details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Upside down in the middle of the Java Sea. This is what rescuers found after an Indonesian ferry carrying more than 240 people overturned in rough seas.

Search boats nearby looking for more than 100 people missing.

FAISAL, SURVIVOR (through translator): After the ship listed, people panicked and ran to the upper deck. Eventually, the ship capsized, turning upside down, and there were 14 of us at that time.

VALERIO: The ferry named the Virgo Transport 8, carried passengers and crew on an overnight trip from Surabaya to Banjarmasin when it hit bad weather, officials said. The captain reported waves reaching three meters or nearly ten feet high, before sending a distress signal, saying that the ferry had started to tilt. Then all contact was lost.

AHMAD SAUDI, SURVIVOR (through translator): The women staying in the economy class cabins likely did not survive as the ship tilted rapidly and there were no alarms or announcements.

VALERIO: On shore, hundreds of families waiting for word.

PUTRI HERMAN, FAMILY OF MISSING PASSENGER: Our last contact was 5:00 p.m. in the afternoon yesterday. He was already at sea by then. He said the signal wasn't very good. It kept going down.

Then after that there was no more contact. We couldn't reach him. He said the weather was bad.

VALERIO: More than 100 people have survived. Now rescuers are racing against time with navy ships, helicopters and other boats searching the waters around the ferry.

Mike Valerio, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Next on THE STORY IS, how the war with Iran and the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz could mean not just higher gas prices, but higher heating costs as well this winter.

Also coming up, a new report details how a Russian oligarch bankrolled Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding in the Bahamas. And the president's son and his wife now responding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP JR., SON OF DONALD TRUMP: It was a really small like -- just really close friends. Just tried to keep it really tight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:32:03]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: President Trump says Russia and Ukraine have reached an agreement. According to him, both countries will stop targeting each other's energy infrastructure.

Ukraine has targeted Russia's oil refining capacity for months, which has triggered widespread supply shortages. Russian forces have also taken aim at Ukraine's energy production.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the deal isn't done just yet. He called it a strong proposal and said an agreement would only come if the U.S. and other allies are, quote, "ready to ensure that Russia genuinely refrains from striking Ukrainian infrastructure". Oil futures are up as the conflict in Iran grows more uncertain.

Americans have seen energy prices soar over the last week, and there could be more economic consequences to follow.

CNN's Karin Caifa has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARIN CAIFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A scheduled meeting between Iran and other Gulf States Monday in Oman was indefinitely postponed, adding to the uncertainty in the region as the U.S.-Iran conflict drags on.

HASAN ALHASAN, SENIOR FELLOW, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: Most of the Gulf States feel as though they need an independent channel of communication and negotiations with Iran because they don't -- they may not trust Iran, but they don't trust the U.S. to have their best interest at heart either.

CAIFA: The meeting was supposed to focus on the Strait of Hormuz as Iran's hold on the strait chokes supply of Middle East oil exports, and Gulf countries seek ways to bypass it. That's all sent global oil prices surging past $100 per barrel to start the week.

RICHARD MEADE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, LLOYD'S LIST: The long detours that we're seeing all is adding up to a massive disruption, which is why you're seeing the oil prices spiking at the moment.

CAIFA: The spike has played out for U.S. consumers at the gas pumps. According to AAA, the nationwide average for a gallon of regular gas was $4.32 on Monday, up 17 cents from just one week ago. And diesel fuel hit a record of $6.23, pinching already squeezed farmers at harvest time.

JOHN BOYD JR., FOUNDER, NATIONAL BLACK FARMERS ASSOCIATION: As nearly $1,000 to fill up, one time to fill my combine up to pick corn that I'm barely breaking even on in the first place.

CAIFA: The higher fuel costs could boost prices at the supermarket, and as the calendar moves toward Fall and Winter, a new forecast from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association finds Americans who heat their homes with oil will pay a whopping 31.3 percent more this year than last.

In Washington -- I'm Karin Caifa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Donald Trump Jr. and his new wife are defending their lavish May wedding after a ProPublica report revealed it was partially funded by a secret benefactor, a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin.

The couple tied the knot in the Bahamas in what the senior Trump said was an intimate event attended only by family. ProPublica reports that oligarch Umar Kremlev was among the 50 people who attended the wedding, along with a group of other Russian guests. In a statement on Instagram, Bettina Trump described Kremlev as a dear

friend. She went on to say, quote, "Friendship doesn't require a political motive. Generosity doesn't automatically come with an agenda."

In its report, ProPublica says it appears that Trump Jr. had just recently met Kremlev, who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on expenses for the wedding.

The reporting cites alarm among national security experts who question what motivated a member of Putin's circle to spend so much on the wedding of Trump Jr.?

[01:39:46]

CNN's Erin Burnett spoke with Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE EISINGER, PROPUBLICA: People at the wedding itself were puzzled at the presence not only of Kremlev, but of his entire entourage, which was multiple Russians.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, "OUTFRONT": Which is incredible because again, we're talking about this really exclusive, small event that the president of the United States, Don Jr.'s father, didn't even --

EISINGER: And this is an adversary of the United States, of course.

BURNETT: Yes. I mean, Vladimir -- ok, so a couple of things here. First of all, Jared Kushner was at the wedding.

EISINGER: Yes.

BURNETT: Jared Kushner has not been confirmed by any -- in any official role by Congress. Yet he is going back and forth to Moscow, negotiating face-to-face with Vladimir Putin about peace in the Ukraine deal.

And he's attending this event with this guy who's close to Putin and getting these awards from Putin. And we -- and we don't know anything about it.

EISINGER; Well, this is what intelligence experts would be worried about and said that they were worried about when we told them about the story, which is that this provides an entree to the Trump family in a very intimate setting away from cameras, away from the public eye.

And who knows, over the course of multiple days, you know, there's, you know, liquor flowing at a wedding. And so this is the kind of thing that intelligence officials and experts say is absolutely a red flag.

And in addition, on top of the money changing hands, receiving this gift. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: You're watching THE STORY IS. For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is next. For our viewers in North America, we'll be right back with more news.

[01:41:19]

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MICHAELSON: The killing of a California woman allegedly by her longtime stalker is fueling a political fight over immigration. Department of Homeland Security says the suspect was in the U.S. illegally and is blaming Biden era policies. But California Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing back.

CNN's Nick Watt has our story

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NICK WATT, CNN U.S NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We'll get to the politics in a second. But the facts are these. Shalini Thakur was 38 years old, shot dead in broad daylight, 3:00 in the afternoon at a mall in California.

Now, the Sacramento County sheriff released a grainy surveillance camera video of the incident. They say that Thakur was accosted by this man who had been stalking her, they say, for months.

Accosted, she tried to run. He drew a firearm and shot her. She hit the ground. He shot her again.

Rohit Rohit, the suspect here, allegedly fled the scene. He was tracked by police using license plate recognition, and he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Now the stalking allegedly began back in January. Apparently, Rohit had put an air tag in Thakur's car to track her. At one point, he showed up, had a key to her apartment, and got in.

On another occasion, he apparently let air out of her car tires, then followed her to work to act the knight in shining armor and help -- to help her. She did have a restraining order against him since May.

Now the politics of the case are these. Rohit Rohit, this young man, allegedly came from India in 2023 and was an undocumented migrant in this country.

The DHS gave a statement to CNN that reads, in part, this tragedy would have been completely avoided if it weren't for the Biden administration releasing this killer into our country.

Governor Gavin Newsom, his office clapped back with this, telling us, "Trying to turn a horrific act of stalking and domestic violence into an indictment of California's sanctuary policies is not supported by the evidence and distracts from the real issues this case raised." Now, it's worth noting that undocumented migrants are arrested at a rate of less than half that of Native-born Americans for violent and drug-related crimes.

Now, Thakur's family on a GoFundMe described her as a caring, loving, selfless and generous young woman, dead at 38, killed allegedly by a man who had been stalking her for months.

Nick Watt, CNN -- Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Nick, thank you.

Coming up on THE STORY IS, a third death is now linked to the measles in Pennsylvania. How the outbreak has sparked a political clash between state and federal officials.

[01:48:22]

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MICHAELSON: Authorities in Pennsylvania have confirmed that a 40-year- old woman died from measles complications. It's the third death linked to that illness in that state. And the fast-growing outbreak has now sparked a political clash between state and federal officials.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard reports.

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JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Here's what we know about the third person who sadly died as part of this measles outbreak. She was a 40-year-old woman, who was not vaccinated against measles, and she had COPD and asthma. And she was on supplemental oxygen before getting measles.

In a post on Facebook over the weekend, the Jefferson County coroner, Greg Furlong, said, quote, "This is a heartbreaking loss for the family and an unfortunate reminder that measles can be a serious and potentially life-threatening disease," end quote.

This now means three deaths have occurred as part of this outbreak. The other two deaths were in infants. And people typically think of measles as a childhood illness but this third death is now a reminder that adults, especially those with underlying health conditions, can be severely impacted.

So far, in total, at least 676 people have gotten sick with measles in this outbreak, and 124 people have been hospitalized with the epicenter of the outbreak based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

And there have been ongoing tensions between state and federal health officials around case numbers and whether certain deaths should be counted. Specifically, disputes between Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro who is a Democrat, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

And the CDC now says that it has not yet been notified by state health officials about this third death.

[01:54:46]

HOWARD: Newly-confirmed CDC director Dr. Erica Schwartz says in a statement, quote, "CDC was not notified by Pennsylvania officials of this death. Despite repeated offers of assistance, Pennsylvania has not requested a CDC Epi-Aid, which would deploy epidemiologists and provide on the ground measles outbreak support.

So we see as this outbreak continues, so does this tension between state and federal health officials.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Jacqueline Howard, thank you.

Let's take a look at the top stories we're monitoring in the day ahead.

Senator Bernie Sanders and conservative podcaster Steve Bannon -- two polar opposites on the political spectrum -- will be appearing together on Tuesday at an event focused on regulating A.I.

They are among hundreds of prominent figures and organizations who have signed on to the pro human A.I. declaration, which advocates for A.I. that serves humanity rather than replacing people.

The Trump-appointed board of trustees at the Kennedy Center is warning that the institution could face, quote, "certain financial collapse within weeks" unless President Trump's name is restored to the building. The board is expected to vote Tuesday on proposals to re-add his name and immediately close the center for renovations despite court orders that suggest doing the opposite.

Delaware voters will head to the polls on Tuesday for the nation's final state primary before the November midterms. Isn't much drama expected in deep blue Delaware? Democratic Congresswoman Sarah McBride is running unopposed, and Senator Chris Coons is seeking his third full term.

The race to watch is for state attorney general, where two-term incumbent Kathy Jennings faces two Democratic challengers.

Thanks for watching THE STORY IS. We'll see you tomorrow.

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