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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Fed Lifts Rates And Signals Another To Come, Trump Hits Back; E.U. Opens Door To Canada As "Associate Member"; Trump Talks Iran, Gas Prices And Affordability At Rally; Suspect Wanted In Killing Of Spanish Student In Mexico; Russian Spy Satellites Likely Help Iran Hit U.S. Targets; 12 Trillion Tons of Ice Melted from Polar Regions in 47 Years; Reporter, Pilot Among 3 Dead in L.A. News Helicopter Crash; Court Order Collides with Kennedy Center Closure; Court Awards Kim Kardashian 1 Euro after 2016 Robbery. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 17, 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]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uprising that followed. What has the impact been of this movement?

NARGES MOHAMMEDI, IRANIAN NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE (through translator): This is an opportunity through the pages of this book and through this television screen to pay tribute to Mahsa Jina Amini and to all those killed during the Women Life Freedom movement, the events of January and all the movements that the people of Iran have courageously created over the past 47 years.

If you look at the streets of Tehran and even at cities across the country, you can see how courageously women are standing tall in the streets despite the fact that the government is repressing them by every possible means in order to push them back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Our thanks for that report. The Iranian government and official media have downplayed Mohammedi's allegations of mistreatment despite eyewitnesses' accounts and international public outcry.

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: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles, where it is now 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Ahead this hour, the story is fighting inflation. The Fed raising interest rates for the first time in three years. President Trump already demanding they come back down.

Ahead, go live to Singapore to see how the Asian markets are reacting to the move.

The story is historic alliance. The E.U. is inviting Canada into an unprecedented partnership. President Trump not happy about it. Ahead, the growing transatlantic alliance that's triggering fresh tariff threats from the White House.

And the story is the big melt. More than 12 trillion tons of ice have vanished from Greenland and Antarctica since 1979. Shane Smith of Vice News, who has visited that region often, here to explain how all of this is impacting all of us.

But we begin with President Trump lashing out after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in more than three years. The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to hike the key overnight lending rate by a quarter point. 16 of 18 policymakers expect at least one additional rate hike coming later this year.

The move underscores the Fed's concerns about high inflation, which has worsened in recent months due to the war with Iran. The president defending his hand, picked Fed chairman who you're looking at there, Kevin Warsh. But he accused all the rest of the Fed officials of raising rates for political reasons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I talked to Kevin and I said you might as well vote with the board because it's not going to matter. The board is very hostile. They're very political. They're raising the rates to -- they're raising the rates to make Trump do as bad as they can possibly do.

KEVIN WARSH, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long. We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective clearly and at sufficient speed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: In a social media post, President Trump argued that interest rates should be 1 percent or less because, quote, we are the best credit in the world by far. He urged the Fed in all caps to lower interest rates and fast. President Trump has long pushed for lower rates. It's worth noting that the Fed's interest rate decisions are not made by its board alone, but by a broader policymaking group that includes the board.

Let's see how markets are reacting to the Fed's rate hike. The U.S. Futures right now is up. You see lots of green on the board. Stocks fell, bond yields moved higher and the U.S. dollar surged Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.

Let's check out markets across Asia and how they are digesting the Fed's rate hike. You see a bit of a mixed bag happening right there. So speaking of Asia, for more, let's bring in Ruth Carson. She is the chief correspondent for foreign exchange and rates in the Asia Pacific region for Bloomberg News. She's joining us live from Singapore. Welcome to the story is for the first time.

RUTH CARSON, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT FOR FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND RATES IN APAC, BLOOMBERG NEWS.: Great to be here.

MICHAELSON: Thank you so much. So, what we've seen sort of how America is reacting, how is the rest of the world reacting to, to what's going on right now with America when it comes to inflation and interest rates? How is the Asian markets reacting?

CARSON: Yes, absolutely. Over the past 12 to 24 hours, we know the most important macro event was the Fed's decision. So waking up this morning in Singapore and talking to investors and seeing what the markets are reacting like, look, there is a bit of a, of a pause and taking stock right now on where to from here.

[01:05:00]

Now, the dollar enjoyed its biggest gain yesterday for in three months. And it kind of shows you a bit of demand now for the greenback as investors go, you know what, the U.S. is raising interest rates. There's reason, you know, to buy yields, to buy the dollar.

And we are seeing that domino effect in Asia as well. So some of the riskier emerging market currencies, for example, like Korean one, definitely took a bit of a tumble today. We saw the yen, very much in focus as well, take a tumble yesterday. But again today, people are positioning now for the next big event, which is the BOJ.

But definitely that's a sense of taking stock and a bit of a relief as well if you're actually looking at the bond space because the Fed did hike, markets wanted to hike and they hiked.

MICHAELSON: So if the U.S. obviously headed towards higher interest rates, what about the rest of the world, especially in a place like Asia?

CARSON: Absolutely. And it's the key question that is on everyone's minds right now. Remember that the Fed sets the agenda for the world. Like it or not. That is the case. And in Asia, definitely. So this is the first rate hike since, you know, in a couple of years. And absolutely the onus is now on countries like Australia, definitely Japan, Korea, you know, places like Singapore to really take stock and go, do we have to match them?

Do we have to actually raise our own interest rates? Otherwise you could risk outflows. That means people going, you know what, why should I own potentially riskier assets if I can just invest in the U.S. where I'm already getting a high interest rate? So definitely there is that soul searching right now among investors. But also you would think that the policymakers will be looking at this incredibly closely.

MICHAELSON: We all are. And of course, interest rates infect all of us in terms of how much we pay for so many things. So Ruth Carson with Bloomberg News, thanks so much for being with us. Good afternoon to you. CARSON: Thank you.

MICHAELSON: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is turning to Europe as the country's trade war with Washington intensifies. Kind of interesting what's going on here. He is expected to address European lawmakers in the coming hours after the European Union asked Canada to become its first ever associate member. President Trump is not welcoming the move. He had his sharp warning for Europe. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Canada has been a terrible trade partner and no, I don't see that. And if they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things. So if they do that. If Europe does that with a bad intention. If it's a good intention, that's fine. If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So it's still not clear what being an associate member would actually entail. The E.U. Ambassador to Canada told the Canadian press that partnership would be unlike anything that currently exists without explaining what that means. Here's how the European Commission president explained in her State of the Union address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We will integrate defense industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project. We will work on energy critical minerals and batteries on AI, quantum, cyber and economic security. This is not a partnership against anyone else but for our common strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: Prime Minister Carney attended that address in Strasbourg, where he received a standing ovation. He said that Canada is pursuing what he calls a unique alliance with the European Union. We'll continue to follow that space.

Meanwhile, President Trump was in North Carolina earlier campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, the president speaking about the war with Iran and blaming Democrats for the affordability crisis.

He again said that high gas prices are a small price to pay to prevent Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon and claimed that the Russia- Ukraine war is driving up diesel prices. President also predicted gas prices would come tumbling down after the midterms. But instead of trying to address the concerns of voters, he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CIP)

TRUMP: But in this election, I'm asking you to pretend I'm on the ballot just one more time. I said that the other night. I said that at the end of the night because when I'm on the ticket, I'm not bragging. But when I'm on the ticket, Republicans have always done really well. They go out, they vote, everybody gets elected. Everybody gets elected when I'm on. But I just want you to go out and pretend I'm on the ticket because essentially I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:10:00]

MICHAELSON: But unlike the president, Republican lawmakers are worried about the rising prices of everyday items and the impact it might have on the November elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): To say there's not an affordability, there's always an affordability problem. Republicans would do well to say whether we created all of it or not is irrelevant. It's a recognition that some people are struggling. We run the government, we own it, we've got to fix it.

REP. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): I think Congress needs to take whatever action is available to get down the cost of everything, gas, diesel, health care, mortgages. I mean, all of the above. Everything is too expensive. Right now in Missouri with the cost of gas so high. I mean, farmers are having a hard time. That's a killer. It's, you know, it's tough times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: My panel. Back with me, Lynn Vavreck of Hoffenberg, professor of American politics at UCLA, and Ben Sheehan, host of the PBS series Civics Made Easy and the substack author of Politics Made Easy. Welcome back, both of you.

So President Trump sort of framing this a bit as a choice between what he did with Iran and gas prices. Let's listen to some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And that'll end soon. And you watch what happens to your oil, to your gasoline. It's going to come down very quickly. I had it down to the lowest level in years. I had a choice. I could have sat back and enjoyed it, or I could have done what's the right thing for us. I see these young children in the audience, but if they had a nuclear weapon, it would be a very bad thing, a very dangerous thing, and they would have used it absolutely without question.

(END VIDEO CIP)

MICHAELSON: Why is that argument not really breaking through?

BEN SHEEHAN, HOST, PBS SERIES "CIVICS MADE EASY": I think it goes back to the issues that Americans are most focused on, which is cost of living. We talked about housing earlier. I find it perplexing that members of Congress who are running for reelection are not bragging about this incredible bill that they had a huge hand in passing that would lower housing costs. It would lower the cost of building new housing, it would prevent companies from buying up homes and raising the cost. It would pilot low -- lower mortgages.

I mean, this is a huge, huge deal. And if I were running for Congress, which thankfully I'm not, I would have this on my T-shirt and talk about it all the time. But members are not doing that.

MICHAELSON: Well, part of the reason is because President Trump was not proud of the bill and said that it was no big deal. Right?

SHEEHAN: Right. Yes. So I guess they're doing that to play nice with him.

MICHAELSON: I mean, he could have taken a victory lap and said, thanks to me you're getting all this stuff. And then wouldn't they all be saying how great it is?

SHEEHAN: Yeah. And I do think that people who are, you know, in more competitive races in swing district will be talking more about that housing bill over the next few weeks.

MICHAELSON: I mean, but the president does kind of have a point here that there is a choice, you know, that you could make the argument that, look, the nuclear issue is more important, so we're going to pay the price for this for now. Yet that doesn't seem to be transcending for a lot of folks.

LYNN VAVRECK, HOFFENBERG PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN POLITICS, UCLA: One of the problems is, and not to discount the fact that what you're saying is true and there are many hard choices, but when we talk about the politics of it, there's a saying in politics, if you're explaining, you're losing. And that's what this has the flavor of.

Let me tell you why you can't afford things. It's not my fault. I had a tough week. You've already lost people. You got to meet them where they are.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

VAVRECK: Those senators who we just heard from, they understand. We have to say that we hear you.

MICHAELSON: Well, you know who else screwed up with that was Joe Biden, right?

VAVRECK: Absolutely. In 2024.

MICHAELSON: Who kept telling people that inflation wasn't a big deal. He kept telling people that immigration wasn't a big deal.

VAVRECK: Yes.

MICHAELSON: And telling people that I'm young and spry --

VAVRECK: Yes. MICHAELSON: -- and voters didn't buy him on any of those three things.

VAVRECK: I mean, I think this is something people don't appreciate, that Biden in 2024 and then Trump now heading into 2028, they're in kind of the same spot. People don't feel like they can make ends meet. The American dream is not attainable to them anymore. And --

MICHAELSON: And they're telling people it's not as bad as you think. And that's a hard argument to make to people. Here's JD Vance's argument. He was speaking to the All In Summit which has been here in Southern California this week. He did a video message. This has been a lot of more right leaning folks getting together for some high level conversations. Here's Vance's message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: There's a lot of good that's been done, but there's a lot of work left to do. Don't give power to the people who cause the problems that we're fixing. Give us another chance or give us another couple of years to continue to work on the amazing things that we've been doing for the past two years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: We think of that messaging.

VAVRECK: Give us another chance. You know, typically, if you're going to say, don't change horses midstream, it's because things are moving in the right direction. We're crossing the stream. But this has the tone of, hey, look, we know we've disappointed you, but give us another chance. It's -- I'm a Browns fan, and it's kind of like what I hear all the time.

[01:15:02]

You know, we're going to get there. Give us, you know, another chance.

MICHAELSON: You're used to a losing team is what you're suggesting. Yes. Year, year after year. I mean what -- I mean what is the Republican message?

SHEEHAN: I don't know And I think that's the problem which is, you know, give us another chance to do what? I mean how are they going to lower costs, how are they going to bring down inflation? Like walk people through it, have a simple three step plan that you can sell and you can talk about because just saying give us another chance vaguely is not helping them.

MICHAELSON: So now the question is what's going to happen in November? The New York Times has a big article about that. They asked the smartest people in the country what they think including you. So you're featured in the New York Times and they're sort of poll of the experts of where we're headed and they asked those of you what you think and what's going to happen with the House.

So this is your midterm prediction. You say that the House is going to end up with 225 Democrats. Remember you need 218 for majority and the Senate with 51 Democrats which would give them majority. Remember they need to get to 51. If it's at 50-50 JD Vance is the tiebreaker in Republicans control. Why is that your prediction?

VAVRECK: OK, so just for clarity now that you've put that up for everyone to see, the task was if the election were held today.

MICHAELSON: OK.

VAVRECK: So that's if it were held today.

MICHAELSON: I like the caveats.

VAVRECK: You put it up there on the graphic. So yes. So what do we know? We know that the President's party always loses seats in the midterm. We know that midterms are about the President's approval rating and how the President is doing. Both of those things are bad for Republicans. So, there is going to be some sort if things go the way they usually go, some sort of a Democratic pickup here the question is just how big. And for me as a political scientist, I think about the regularities of these things.

But the parties want to build very different worlds. Voters know that and most voters know which world they prefer. There are very few voters in the middle who are entertaining a vote for either side. And so that's why my number in the House is a seven seat pickup.

MICHAELSON: What's your number?

SHEEHAN: Well I agree with you on the Senate. I think it's going to be 51. And I think that way because you look at the Democratic nominees, these are very familiar faces. We're talking about Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Roy Cooper in North Carolina, Troy Jackson, former president of the Maine Senate in Vain and Mary Peltola, former-at-large member of the House. It's very hard to, yes, it's very hard to paint these people as some sort of radical when voters have already elected them multiple times in the past.

MICHAELSON: Last question, like one or two sentences. The biggest difference between a Republican House and Senate and a Democratic House and Senate for the next two years.

SHEEHAN: I'll give you one word. Appointments. We're talking about judges. We're talking about not just the Supreme Court, but also circuit courts and district courts. There are 874 the Article 3 judgeships. And so we're talking about a huge number of judges. And also this is an administration that has pretty high turnover in the Cabinet. And so there are probably be some openings there. And these are people who would be able to confirm the next members of the Cabinet.

MICHAELSON: Or not confirm them, depending on the thing. Biggest difference.

VAVRECK: Yes, I think there'll just be more news coming out of Congress. There'll be more work for you to do, Elex, because there'll be more pushback. There'll be more position taking and credit claiming because we'll have divided government.

MICHAELSON: Well, you know, I think one thing a lot of people been saying the last couple years is there hasn't been enough news.

VAVRECK: Buckle up.

MICHAELSON: We're all looking for more Washington news in our life. All right, Lynn, Ben, great to have both of you. Thank you so much.

Still ahead this hour, an international manhunt and growing protests in Mexico. The latest on the killing of a young Spanish exchange student.

Plus, a CNN investigation finds that an ally of Iran has eyes in the sky and is helping Tehran target U.S. troops in the Middle East.

And later, trillions of tons of polar ice have melted in the past four decades. Find out what's causing the melting, hotter air or warming waters. Vice News, Shane Smith with us live. Still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:23:27]

MICHAELSON: There's now an arrest warrant for a suspect accused of killing a 21-year-old Spanish exchange student in central Mexico. Her murder has sparked anger in the region with students staging anti protests just as Mexico was celebrating its Independence Day. CNN's Valeria Leon is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This Mexican university students are marching through the streets of Cuernavaca Morelos demanding justice for the killing of 21-year-old Spanish student Claudia Tacoronte. Authorities are investigating her death as a possible femicide. The Spanish student had arrived in Mexico just one month earlier as part of an exchange program.

The protesters demand is clear. They are chanting not one more woman. Not one more woman murdered. Their calls for justice reflect a broader reality in Mexico. Violence against women.

Morelos has one of the highest femicide rates in the country. Official figures show that between January and July it recorded the second highest rate in Mexico, behind only Sinaloa and well above the national average. The grief over Tacoronte's killing can be felt in both Mexico and Spain.

[01:25:03]

Authorities say they are working to find out what happened.

FERNANDO BLUMENKRON ESCOBAR, MORELOS ATTORNEY GENERAL (through translator): We are investigating this case under the femicide protocol. This was the violent death of a woman. Spanish authorities agree with that approach.

LEON: The governments of Mexico and Spain say they are working together and Mexican officials insist they are committed to solve this case. But in a country with high levels of violence against women, this case has once again put the spotlight on gender violence.

LEON (voice-over): And as people take to the streets of Morelos to demand justice for Tacoronte's killing, many are asking whether that justice will ever come. Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: From the Mexican capital to the American Capitol, a live look at Capitol Hill, where it's almost 1:30 a.m. and the House is not in session. Speaker Mike Johnson is sending House members home from Washington early ahead of the midterm elections. They will leave for their seven-week campaigning recess without voting on AI safety regulations or a last ditch move to impeach the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

The House did finish one order of business before their recess, passing a new Russia sanctions bill. It is now headed to President Trump's desk for his signature. It will allow him to slap tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that buy Russian oil and gas. Sources say lawmakers from both parties raise concern that those new tariff providers could lead to more price hikes and further hurt our economy.

That bill is named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who had pushed it for more than a year before he died in July.

But as the U.S. ramps up the pressure on Russia, experts say Moscow is delivering some. The CNN investigation has found that Russian satellites likely helped Iran target U.S. forces in the Middle East. As Tamara Qiblawi reports, those satellites helped Iran go after some high value military assets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the launch of Kosmos 2573, one of Russia's elite spy satellites currently collecting intelligence across the globe. Now, CNN has learned that these satellites have likely given Iran a considerable advantage in its fight against the US. Capturing not just what U.S. military sites look like, but also exposing their inner workings.

Our sources, including two U.S. officials, tell us they have evidence that those satellites are feeding some of that intelligence back to Iran, aiding at least some precision strikes. The apparent synergy between Russian satellites and Iran's rockets is laid bare here, Prince Sultan Air Base.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Then we begin with the breaking news, Iran striking a U.S. base. Iranian state media releasing this image which shows a strike at the Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

QIBLAWI (voice-over): A major Iranian attack on March 27. The U.S. has had a strategic presence here for decades. According to our sources, Russian satellites played a vital role in these strikes which wreaked havoc on the base and injured 12 U.S. personnel. Now we do not have access to Russia's satellite images.

But we looked at the orbital data tracking satellites and assessing their visibility over sites of interest with help from space technology experts Project Aurora and Kahan Space who provided us with the images you see, here's the Kosmos 2573 again. Just two days before the attack. It flies over the base along with 13 other Russian spy satellites.

Our analysis shows that these spacecrafts moved in both a perfect sequence and had a perfect view to collect rich multi-sensory data. Each of these satellites contributes a different part of the intelligence picture. Kosmos 2573 captures deep and detailed military grade satellite imagery. These eight are signal satellites.

They can intercept radio and radar emissions, allowing them to locate air defenses that can shoot down the incoming missiles. These two are infrared satellites. They pick up heat signatures, the kind that comes from rocket launchers.

And finally, three synthetic aperture radar satellites known as SAR. They're able to see through clouds and darkness and flag physical changes, showing for example, where a movable high value asset might be repositioned. Like this plane, the Airborne Warning and Control System. AWACS for short. America's eyes on the skies in the Middle East.

Crucially, the AWACS was not parked in its pre-war location. On March 27, Iran destroyed it. An aircraft worth hundreds of millions of dollars and very, very difficult to replace. The scale of the damage to the base and the accuracy of the strikes would have been nearly impossible without Russian geospatial intelligence, according to our sources.

[01:30:00]

And this isn't an isolated incident. Now, there is some debate among U.S. officials over just how consequential Russian support has been. But our sources broadly suspect that Russian satellites gave Iran targeting information several more times over the course of the war, including at a CIA facility in the Saudi capital.

DR. NAWAF OBAID, SENIOR FELLOW, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: We wouldn't be in this situation today. The war wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for this unique capabilities that the Russians gave to the Iranians.

According to experts like Dr. Nawaf Obaid (ph), one of the reasons Russia has been helping Iran, Moscow calls this fake news, is because the U.S. is working with Ukraine in a similar way through intelligence sharing to support strikes similar to these. DR. OBAID: You have to see it in this way. This is Russian payback

with interest. It's monumental in terms of the consequences of what this has done to not just to the U.S. standing in the region, but to the security architecture of the region going forward.

Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up next on THE STORY IS the earth's polar regions have lost trillions of tons of ice, and the melting is increasing.

Shane Smith here with details on a new major scientific report after the break.

[01:31:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Satellites show more than 12 trillion tons of ice from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica have melted in the past 47 years, 12 trillion. A study in the journal "Scientific Data" says most of that melt is not coming from hotter air, but from warmer waters that are eating away at the ice sheets from below and the sides.

The study's authors say that the melted glaciers are flowing into the oceans, and that is bad news for sea level rising.

Shane Smith is Vice News editor-in-chief, and he joins us live here in the studio.

Welcome back to THE STORY IS. This is a story that you've covered extensively over the years. You've traveled around the world. We want to first look at your trip to Greenland. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANE SMITH, VICE NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Dr. Boggs (ph) method to track ice melt here is actually really simple. After drilling down into the ice, he places a long, 30-foot pole into the ice shelf and leaves it there. When he comes back in a year, he measures how much of the pole has been revealed.

Now the ice on this glacier is melting so fast that the flag you see here will be 27 feet higher in the air in just 12 months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: 27 feet in one year.

SMITH: One year. It's melting as fast as it possibly can. Every year it exceeds the worst-case scenario predictions.

And what's really bad is fires that are happening in North America send soot to Greenland, and the soot turns black and it lands, and the black ice attracts more heat instead of white ice. And therefore it gets worse. So it's melting as fast as it can possibly melt.

MICHAELSON: Why do people in the rest of the world, why should they care about that? How does that impact me?

SMITH: Sea level rise very simply. Um, you know, 40 percent of the world lives within 100 miles of coastline. You're going to see climate migrants, climate migration.

You're already seeing it in places that are sort of barometers or thermometers like Bangladesh. You're seeing massive amounts of people moving into cities that can't take them.

You know, you're looking at economic disruption. You're looking at, you know, migration of people like, we can't even handle it now.

What are we going to do when a billion people, a billion people by 2050 are on the move because of climate change and sea level rise? It's the biggest story in the world today that nobody cares about.

MICHAELSON: And that's part of the reason we have you here.

(CROSSTALKING)

SMITH: Thanks for doing this.

MICHAELSON: -- to care. We were just looking, I think, at some video from Bangladesh. Talk to us about what we're seeing.

SMITH: We look at Bangladesh because when I talk about sea level rise, Bangladesh is, you know, at or below sea level on the coast. Millions of people are moving, you know, inland and causing chaos. This is just the beginning.

MICHAELSON: Yes. Just the beginning of what we could be seeing in other places.

Another place that you visited as well was Antarctica. Why did you choose to go there?

SMITH: So we went to Greenland and we said, hey, it's melting as fast as possible and we got a lot of backlash. We got a lot of people, bots, but also people, you know, saying, hey, this is there's more ice than ever in Antarctica, sea ice -- there's lots of sea ice.

So we went down to Antarctica with NASA. And we flew over the poles and we measured everything.

And we went with them and they said, no, no, it's melting as fast as it possibly can. And we said, hold on a second. That's not what everybody else is saying. And they're saying, well, there's flat earthers everywhere.

MICHAELSON: Well, let's watch some of that

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Traditionally, where we are right now, we shouldn't be sailing a boat. We should be walking on solid ice right now. We'll look at some of these glaciers around us, and we'll see bands of rock underneath the face of the glacier. Ten years ago, it was very rare to see that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So you really understand media and you understand communicating in a way that very few people do, which is why you've been one of the most successful people in that space.

Why do you think it is that this is the most important story in the world, that nobody cares about, that nobody's talking about?

[01:39:46]

SMITH: Well, I think it's the most important story for one simple reason. You know, I'm a father, this is going to affect my children in a very, very bad way. I can't -- I can't come up with a more political word.

You know, when I was down in Antarctica, I went to the Thwaites Glacier, which is the size of Great Britain and is breaking off. It represents two feet of sea level rise.

If we have two feet of sea level rise, it's disaster. It's called the Doomsday Glacier. I have kids, you know, this affects everybody. A, that's why it's the biggest story.

Why doesn't anyone care about it? I don't think we do things until -- humans don't do things until we have a gun to our head.

MICHAELSON: Yes.

SMITH: This is the gun pointing to our head now. Actually, I was walking in, and I saw a quote by Ted Turner which says, do something, either lead or follow, but --

MICHAELSON: Or get the hell out of the way.

SMITH: -- or get the hell out of the way. And I've got to say to people, either lead or follow or get the hell out of the way on this issue because it affects everyone on earth. It affects Democrats, it affects Republicans, it affects us. It affects every country, young and old. We have to do something about it.

MICHAELSON: Yes. The founder of CNN, Ted Turner's face, and that quote is something that we see every day when we walk in and when we walk out, and something important to think about.

And by the way, that idea of not doing something until a gun is pointed in your head is exactly how Congress operates --

SMITH: Right.

MICHAELSON: -- which is why our country is so screwed up.

SMITH: Well, we need leaders. We need leaders right now to work on this.

MICHAELSON: Shane Smith leading in this space. Thank you so much. You can check out all your reporting on the Vice News YouTube page to watch some of those trips as well.

Thank you for watching THE STORY IS. For international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is next. For our viewers here in North America, I'll be right back with more news.

[01:41:32]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Investigators spent the day on the scene of a deadly news helicopter crash here in Los Angeles that killed three people, including a reporter and veteran pilot. The chopper, which worked for stations NBC4 and Telemundo52, had been covering a fatal bus collision when the aircraft went down.

CNN's Pete Muntean has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIANA MORENO, REPORTER: Can we plan our spot, George?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CHIEF AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: In the moments before the crash, helicopter reporter and photographer Eliana Moreno was in her office of monitors in the back of KNBCs helicopter. At the controls up front, veteran pilot George Marciniw.

Tuesday evening, the pair was above a fatal Los Angeles city bus crash when they became the news. The video from on board the helicopter is hard to watch.

As the aircraft drops, a horn sound -- warning of low main rotor speed and the sound of the engine dramatically changes.

MORENO: Please -- you can't pull up.

FABIAN SALAZAR, NTSB INVESTIGATOR-IN-CHARGE: That video is probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far.

The Eurocopter A-Star helicopter, so badly damaged that firefighters could not initially make out the craft's tail number. Another news chopper confirmed the crash to air traffic controllers at nearby Van Nuys Airport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We go by the smoke and just to verify what that is exactly?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tower, TV 9.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: TV 9 tower. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it's a helicopter. And right now we're thinking

it's TV4.

MUNTEAN: Anchor Colleen Williams broke the news on KNBC.

COLLEEN WILLIAMS, KNBC ANCHOR: We knew it was a news chopper. We knew we'd lost contact with our people out there. And we've just received the confirmation that, in fact, news chopper 4 went down just before 7:00 tonight in Chatsworth. And we are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, to process and to regroup.

MUNTEAN: Moreno and Marciniw had been working together since 2023. Marciniw had 30 years of flying experience and had reportedly told friends he was considering retirement.

Moreno was planning to get married.

Los Angeles news helicopters are synonymous with everything from car chases to wildfires, but do not come without their risks.

In 1977, Francis Gary Powers, who survived being shot down in a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union, died when he was piloting a news helicopter also for KNBC.

More recently, the crew of a news helicopter in Charlotte was killed during a 2022 training flight. And in 2023, a Philadelphia news chopper went down in New Jersey, killing two.

DESMOND SHAW, KCAL REPORTER: We're always saying out of safety, you know, cover the news, don't be the news.

MUNTEAN: Desmond Shaw is the aerial reporter for competing station KCAL and covered the crash.

SHAW: I was looking at the rotor blades and the fireball and then like, ok, well, this is your job now you've got to talk about this.

MUNTEAN: Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Sending our love to everybody impacted by that story.

Fences are going up at the Kennedy Center. Why President Trump says the landmark's future may depend on whether his name ends up on the building.

[01:48:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: CNN cameras captured workers putting up fencing outside the Kennedy Center just a day after the center's board voted to close it. A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to explain by 10:00 a.m. Thursday whether the closure violates an earlier court order. The order came after lawyers for U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty said

that they were turned away from the building and told it was closed to the public.

Beatty's lawyers say the closure violates a court order requiring the center to remain open while the legal fight plays out.

President Trump is defending his push to put his name back on the building.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For the Trump administration, for me to get involved and to take that on long term, and to carry it, or to raise money to carry it. I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition, because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: That's not the only Kennedy Center development raising eyebrows. A photographer with the French News Agency AFP captured these images of President Trump aboard Air Force One reviewing a poster.

Look at this closely. It appears to say Kennedy Center demolished. CNN has reached out to the White House for clarification. The president is warning that planned renovations could be scrapped if he cannot keep his name on that building.

A Paris court has awarded Kim Kardashian one single euro, that's about $1.15, in compensation following an armed robbery in the French capital that happened ten years ago.

CNN's Melissa Bell is there.

[01:54:48]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just 1 euro is what billionaire Kim Kardashian will receive in the wake of the 2016 armed-robbery here in Paris. That's according to Associated Press reporting from the courts looking into the damages awarded as part of the case.

It was last year that at this court here in Paris, eight men were found guilty of the 2016 robbery that had seen several of them enter the exclusive hotel in which Kim Kardashian was staying for Fashion Week.

She was then tied up and threatened in what she later described on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" as one of the most terrifying experiences that anyone can go through.

KIM KARDASHIAN, REALITY STAR: My door was open like this, and then I saw two guys holding another guy down in police uniforms but right outside of my bedroom, five feet away.

So I slid off my bed and picked up my phone. And I'm like, I don't know how to call 911 in a different country. And so I like called Pascal and then the guy came and grabbed the phone from me, threw me on the bed.

And I was like, this is it.

BELL: In all the robbers made off with $6 million worth of her jewelry, including a diamond ring that was reportedly given to her by Kanye West. Most of that jewelry has yet to be recovered, but those eight men have now been found guilty.

The 1-euro worth of symbolic damages was exactly what Kim Kardashian had asked for, because she explained what she was after was acknowledgment of the crime rather than compensation.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: And thank you for watching THE STORY IS and sticking through it with the tan suit experiment.

Michael Trujillo, Jon Fleischman -- both with us tomorrow. I'll see you then.

The news continues on CNN right after a quick break.

[01:56:31]

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