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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Man Shot By ICE Agents During Operation In New York City; Senate Debates Play To In Three Key Races Ahead Of Midterms; Hurricane Isaias Intensifies As It Threatens Gulf Coast; At Least 81 U.S. Aircraft Worth Up To $3.3 Billion Lost Or Damaged In Iran War; DHS: Man Shot by ICE agents During Operation in New York; U.S. Latinos' Economic Output Surpasses Japan GDP; New Jersey Residents Protest Data Center Construction. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 09, 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)
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Peace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's perfect.
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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: So well done by all of them. Thank them all for their service. That great reporting there from Pam Brown and team. Thanks for watching the first hour of The Story Is. The next hour starts right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
MICHAELSON: I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles and we are following breaking news tonight from New York. Protesters have gathered there after a shooting involving ICE agents. Department of Homeland Security says agents encountered a 28-year-old man Thursday and fired shots into his vehicle, wounding him. A man identified as Oscar Belgal is from the Dominican Republic. A five-year-old child in the backseat was not hurt. The NYPD says that Belgal has a criminal record, but federal authorities have not said what led up to the shooting.
A short time ago, the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, addressed reporters and demanded an end to ICE operations in the city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZOHRAN MAMDANI, NEW YORK MAYOR: What happened today was an outrage. Tonight, a five-year-old child sits traumatized and terrified. Tonight, millions of our neighbors are wondering whether they will be safe on our streets, in our schools, at their work sites. Tonight, New Yorkers across the five boroughs are asking whether their civil liberties will be respected, whether law and order is supposed to look like a man carrying a long gun, wearing a mask. We know that ICE is rotten to its core. Today's shooting is only further devastating confirmation of what we have long known, which is that ICE operates with impunity, that they sow chaos and terror across our country, that they have killed far more of our neighbors than they could ever have claimed to save.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: This video shows the scene in New York's Marble Hill neighborhood where the shooting took place. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is also demanding answers from federal authorities, saying they must provide them immediately.
Joining me now is CNN senior law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey, who ran police departments in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., welcome to The story Is.
One of the things that Mayor Mamdani said is that these agents were dressed in bright yellow construction vests, masks. Is that alarming to you? Is that surprising to you?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it depends on the circumstances. This could have been something that was already planned out, where they knew where the individual was. They were trying to work undercover. All those kinds of things can periodically happen during a particular case.
I'm more concerned about the reason why the shooting took place to begin with. What was it about the individual's actions that caused the officer to discharge? So the sooner they get information out around that, the better off they will be and the better off that city will be because you already see people protesting. That's only going to get -- only going to get worse over time if there isn't real justification for the shooting that's shown to the public.
MICHAELSON: And one way we would know that definitively, if they released body cam footage, footage where we could see everything that's laid out. So CNN asked DHS whether these officers were wearing body cam and the agency referred us back to the original statement which did not mention any body cameras.
If that's really true, why aren't they wearing body cameras? Especially after Congress spent a whole lot of money so that they would be able to have body cameras?
RAMSEY: Well, that's a very good question. They do have the funding. There is no excuse for them not to have the body worn cameras as far as I'm concerned. Now that I'm retired, I do a lot of consulting work and I review a lot of body worn camera footage as a result of that.
And I'm going to tell you, it clears things up very, very quickly because it gives you a good picture of what took place prior to the actual shooting as well as what took place after the shooting. So you can determine whether or not the use of deadly force in a particular case was justified on the part of the officer or not. I'm very concerned about the number of shootings that ICE has been involved in, particularly those involving vehicles. The circumstances around it needs to be clearly explained.
Most departments have policies where unless it's exigent circumstances and the officer's life is in immediate danger and they cannot get out of the way of the car, then you do not fire at a moving vehicle.
Now that may not be part of their training or not. I mean, it's always something that needs to be explored deeper. I think in terms of the kind of training ICE officers are actually receiving, but I am concerned about that.
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MICHAELSON: There is the possibility. We've seen protests. We've also seen when it comes to ICE, sometimes those protests can expand and sometimes get out of control. And this is happening in the middle of New York City.
The mayor's comments talking about that ICE should be abolished were very dramatic. If you're working in local law enforcement and your goal at this moment is to try to bring down the temperature, try to ensure that the protests are peaceful, what's the strategy like in the hours ahead in New York City and potentially other cities where there may be protests?
RAMSEY: Well, you know, everyone needs to kind of temper their language a bit. That includes the mayor. When you start talking about ICE being abolished, first of all, that's not going to happen. And secondly, we do need immigration enforcement, but we need immigration enforcement that's following the law, that's following the Constitution, that are using a good, sound police tactics whenever they do encounter individuals.
Right now, we don't have that across the board. You have some good ICE agents. You have some people that no doubt should probably have never been hired in the first place. And so there are a lot of problems in that agency. But, you know, it's like everything else in this world now.
It seems like we just go to experience you totally get rid of something, or you just the opposite. And so everyone needs to temper their language. These protests are going to get worse, more than likely before they get better.
MICHAELSON: And lastly, you've worked as a cop in Chicago, in Philadelphia, in Washington, D.C., talk about the sort of complicated relationship between local law enforcement and federal officers, especially on an issue like immigration, especially in some of these blue cities where that issue means maybe not communicating.
RAMSEY: Well, it wasn't a problem until a couple years ago. I mean, I've worked with federal agencies pretty much my entire career. I mean, including immigration. I mean, they did their jobs. Most of the time, you weren't even aware that they were doing any kind of enforcement activity. And if they needed assistance, it went down pretty smoothly. But these last couple of years, it has totally changed. There's always been good, solid relationships between local and federal agencies, but now there is tension that exists. There's no question about that. And it needs to stop. I mean, at some point in time, we have to find a way to resolve this, because right now things are getting more and more aggressive.
My understanding they want to even increase the number of people being arrested from what they're currently doing. You got to treat people decently. You cannot just go out and just, you know, wear masks, which I think is totally uncalled for. You creating an environment where, you know, it's just going to cause problem after problem, not only for their agency but for law enforcement agencies around the country, because we all tend to get painted with the same broad brush. And that's a problem.
MICHAELSON: It is. CNN senior law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey staying up late for us. Thank you so much for the insight. Really appreciate it.
RAMSEY: That's OK. Thank you.
MICHAELSON: Let's talk politics now. We're now 26 days from the final day to vote in the midterm election. People are voting by mail every day. Millions of early votes already cast.
Candidates in three key Senate races hitting the debate stage in the last 24 hours, hoping to garner more support as both sides battle for control of the Senate. One of those debates playing out in Georgia.
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SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Tonight at United Georgia will hear the trial of Mike Collins. Mike Collins has brought dishonor to our state through his personal bigotry and his widely documented ties to white nationalists.
REP. MIKE COLLINS (R-GA): No one has ever asked or held Jon Ossoff accountable for any of his votes or the reasons why. Why did he -- I had to write a bill to fight these synthetic drugs because he left that border open.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and his Republican challenger, Congressman Mike Collins, there facing off in their first debate. While Ossoff tried to link Collins to the president, Collins avoided mentioning President Trump's name and appeared largely on the defensive during the hour long debate. Another heated debate played out in the state of Michigan.
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MIKE ROGERS, MICHIGAN REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATE: What my friend here just wants to do is he's kind of like a glitchy AI Chatbot is say the same thing over and over and over again. ABDUL EL-SAYED, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE: He says I like to say the same thing. He's done the same thing over and over and over again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: There were plenty of personal jabs and insults in Michigan as Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed clashed in their first debate.
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Rogers repeatedly called El-Sayed a con man, while the Democratic candidate mocked Rogers as weak and cowardly. And then there's Maine. Longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins clashing with Democrat Troy Jackson, who has now been endorsed by former President Barack Obama.
Their second debate covering a number of issues, including health care, Social Security, abortion access, and immigration.
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TROY JACKSON, MAINE DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINEE: Look what's happening because of the Iran war. She voted against it nine times before. She voted for it five times when she had a chance to stop it, before we got into this crisis, she could have stopped it.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): It's under Troy's leadership that electric rates in Maine became the fourth highest in the nation. The nation. What does that have to do with the Iran war?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Our political panel is back. Melanie Mason, California bureau chief for Politico and co-author of the "California Playbook." And Bob Shrum, former Democratic strategist, current director of the USC Center for the Political Future. Welcome back to both of you.
Let's start in Georgia and listen to a little more of Jon Ossoff and Mike Collins on stage.
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OSSOFF: You know, they promised to go after the worst of the worst. Instead, they've rounded up people at job sites with no suspicion of any criminal history. They've ripped breastfeeding infants from their mothers. They've unleashed federal agents to kill Americans on the streets of our cities with impunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: They're talking about the issue of immigration, obviously. Immigration, top of mind with what's happening in New York City. We just heard from the chief on that issue. This was an issue that was very in Donald Trump's favor in 2020 for the issue of immigration. A reason a lot of people voted for him, and this year may be a reason some people vote against him.
MELANIE MASON, CALIFORNIA BUREAU CHIEF, POLITICO: The change has been so staggering, and I think partially it's because of how we've seen these ICE raids, this ICE crackdown play out. I mean, I think that voters had been saying in 2024 that they were concerned about border, they were concerned about too many people coming into this country illegally.
But I think that the way that it is played out, where there is chaos on the streets and far from the border, I mean, you know, in New York City, in Minnesota, in Los Angeles, I mean, I think that people are thinking, well, this is not what I expected when they were voting for this.
What's interesting, though, is that there had been such a backlash over the last six months, year or so, the fact that the Trump administration seems to be returning to this just a couple of weeks before the election, and there were reports today that he wants to do to ramp up enforcement in California again, it prompted Governor Newsom to respond.
I'm not entirely sure why you would put this back front and center when you've already seen the numbers change so terribly in his against him.
MICHAELSON: And he, you know, clearly at the border itself was able to do what he promised, which a lot of folks in his base like. But images like this do not work necessarily.
BOB SHRUM, FORMER DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: They don't work with the general public. Our friend Mike Madrid, who is, I think, the leading expert on Hispanics and Hispanic voters, predicts that you're going to see a huge movement and the polls seem to bear this out of Hispanic voters coming back to Democrats.
I agree with Melanie. This makes no political sense. But of course, it also makes no political sense for Donald Trump to go out there and say, pretend I'm on the ballot. He's got a 30 percent approval rating today in Pew. He's got a 17 percent rating on handing handling the cost of living. He is an anchor around Republican necks.
And I want to say, I don't care how many times he wasn't mentioned by Collins, how many times he wasn't mentioned by Rogers. He was standing there on the stage right next to.
MICHAELSON: But it's remarkable that for Collins, who is running in a state that Donald Trump won. Right? I mean, this is the state of Georgia.
SHRUM: He won it by a little.
MICHAELSON: He won it by -- but he won. But we know by 11,000 votes.
SHRUM: When your numbers collapse as much as his have, then the fact that you won the state by a little is not going to help you. MICHAELSON: Yes, well, it's an interesting time. And this ICE incident is certainly a win for Democrats politically at this time for places like Los Angeles to bring that issue up, because that issue does well for them politically. But it's also an interesting time for the Democrats as they figure out about their soul and sort of where to go from here.
And we had Fareed Zakaria on our show last week who talked about the challenges for Democrats in a state like California and the challenges for leading blue cities. Here's what he said.
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FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: If you can't run a city, it's hard for the country to trust you with running the country.
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MICHAELSON: Fareed pointed to, I said, so who's an example of where it's working? And he mentioned the name Daniel Lurie, who is the mayor of San Francisco, who currently has an approval rating in the 70s, which is pretty crazy.
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He's a business guy, has really focused on the issue of public safety and trying to expand business in San Francisco. Our colleague Dana Bash went up to San Francisco, spent some time with him, walking around the city, and talked to him about his vision. Let's watch that.
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DANIEL LURIE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA MAYOR: But we got to a point where we said, well, it's that person's right to be on the street using drugs. Or is that person. It's OK for some -- someone to just go in and take what they want from a small business.
In my mind, that's not progressive. There's nothing progressive about small businesses having to shudder because they're a victim of crime over and over again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: What do you make of the success of Mayor Lurie?
MASON: I mean, in some ways, it's just focusing on the bread and butter issues that a mayor has to do. I mean, how is the city running what Fareed Zakaria was saying. I mean, you know, San Francisco really was in the doldrums, particularly coming out of COVID. You saw the downtown area feel almost like a ghost town. And then because of that, when there were, you know, visible encampments, it just led to this almost kind of apocalyptic feel.
I think there was a swing that was already starting before the mayor came into office, but I think it's accelerated. And I think when he's out there and he's showing that he's not necessarily sort of leaning into every national political fight of the day, seems like --
MICHAELSON: Leaning into almost none of them. And by the way, done almost no national interviews. I mean, I've been trying to talk to him for a very long time, and he said, I love you. I love your show, but I'm not doing that for a while.
MASON: But it's deliberate. I think that --
MICHAELSON: I know it's a strategy.
MASON: Absolutely.
MICHAELSON: It seems to be working for him.
MASON: I think that it goes to show that at the end of the day, I think that constituents, particularly in these local races, where partisan politics, particularly place like San Francisco, it's Democrat versus Democrat, don't matter as much as competence as matters making things feel like they work.
On the national level, in these federal races, that's when you get into the red team, blue team stuff. But I think for these city races, really showing that you can be competent, that you can execute what you're promising, that's how you get a 70 percent approval rating.
MICHAELSON: Right. But it is a difference than what we're seeing with some other Democrats. What do you think is the lesson that can be learned?
SHRUM: Melody has rehabilitated Michael Dukakis. The issue is idea is competence, not ideology.
MICHAELSON: Wow. We're going back to 1988. There's a -- a throwback. That didn't work out so well for him.
SHRUM: Right. But he was a governor and that's -- and that's what he thought. I would say that Mamdani and Lurie are very similar. One comes from a business background, very wealthy, the other democratic socialist. And you -- and they've done exactly what Melody said. They focused on local problems.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
SHRUM: Mamdami is filling potholes at a record rate. Lurie is cleaning up streets that people had long since given up on. Now Lurie's gotten some extra help because the AI revolution has really been a rebirth for San Francisco. But he's been the right person to lead it at this point in time.
MICHAELSON: Why do you think so few local leaders do that?
SHRUM: I think these are really tough problems. I think, you know, running New York City is really tough. Mamdani's proved to be 35-year- old guy, 34-year-old guy proved to be quite remarkable at doing it. Whether you agree with him or -- and there are things I disagree with him on, but in terms of basic city services, he seems to deliver and people appreciate that.
Look, there are a lot of other Democrats who are governors, governor of Pennsylvania, the governor of Kentucky, you know, I could go on and on who I think will go into 2028 and they'll meet the Fareed Zakaria criteria.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
SHRUM: They will -- they will look like they know how to run something and run it well.
MICHAELSON: The other person that Fareed Zakaria mentioned that's doing it well is Zohran Mamdani. So the both of you are on the same page there. And in conversations I've had with Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania --
SHRUM: Right.
MICHAELSON: -- and Andy Bashir in Kentucky, both of them have said that local issues, that making government work is the most important thing to building trust for everything. And that public safety, they've all said, is the number one issue to make that happen as well.
Melanie and Bob, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate it.
Coming up, we've got a big story when it comes to the weather. Hurricane Isaias expected to make landfall about 24 hours from now. You're looking at pictures right now from the Gulf Coast. Hurricane is intensifying as it barrels towards the Gulf Coast. And federal agencies are preparing to assist with response effort.
Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency say that they are closely monitoring the storm ahead of its expected landfall early Saturday morning.
Local officials are warning residents to prepare while they still can.
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CHIEF JUSTIN LOVVORN, GREENVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: It will deteriorate closer to midnight. It will get worse and worse.
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So definitely by 10:00 p.m. even in our area, we don't want to see anybody on the roadway unless it is absolutely necessary.
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MICHAELSON: Isaias is currently a Category 2 storm, but it is getting stronger and is expected to become a major hurricane at category three strength before weakening as it approaches the coast on Saturday morning. The storm's current forecast has it on track to make landfall in Alabama. One of the deadly aspects of a hurricane is the deluge of water that
pushes ashore with the storm. It's known as a storm surge. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more on how that works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: When we talk about hurricanes like Isaias, we often focus on wind, rain and tornadoes. But the most dangerous part of these storms is actually storm surge. Simply put, storm surge happens when a hurricane pushes ocean water onto land, creating a wall of water that can rise seamlessly several feet above normal tide levels. Now this isn't like regular flooding though.
This water is fast moving and can devastate homes, knock down power lines and turn debris into projectiles, often before the worst parts of the storm even arrive. So let's break down some of the storm surge levels expected along the Gulf Coast. With Hurricane Isaias at three feet, you're looking at minor surge level. This is enough to flood low lying streets and anything that's not tied down like trash cans can get picked up and swept away as though they weigh nothing more than a feather.
More importantly, the water is moving fast enough to knock a person off their feet instantly. Now once we get to five to seven feet, now we enter the moderate range. This is where things start to get destructive. A six foot storm surge can sweep away small vehicles. It can destroy the first floor of the house. And that's just the water. The debris floating in it like trees, sand signs and trash become a weapon.
Now these are the levels we're expecting right to the east of where Hurricane Isaias is expected to make landfall. And the water will push inland as far as it can, which in some cases can be half a mile or more.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Allison Chinchar that stuff is really scary if you've ever been in that experience. Hopefully that we don't see much of that in the day ahead.
Still ahead on The Story Is, President Trump seems to acknowledge that his war with Iran is not popular with voters. He's announced no new attacks on Iran before the midterms. Latest from the Middle East, next.
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MICHAELSON: President Trump has announced that the U.S. will not attack Iran before the midterm elections. The president revealed the decision on his social media platform on Thursday. He says the U.S. is, quote, having productive discussions with Tehran and he plans to keep up economic pressure. He says the U.S. military blockade of Iranian ports will remain in full force. The Treasury revealed new sanctions will be placed on more than a
dozen vessels. Trump's comments come after multiple media reports detailed the administration's planning for potential new strikes before the elections, now just over three weeks away.
New report from the Congressional Research Service outlines some of the damage and costs for U.S. military equipment during the war with Iran. The report found 81 different aircraft have been destroyed or damaged, which is nearly double the number of aircraft that were reported lost or damaged in May. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy says he tried to visit multiple U.S. military sites in the Middle East but was turned away.
Earlier, he spoke with CNN's Erin Burnett.
(BEGIN VIDEO CIP)
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): The reason was made up. The reason was that it wasn't safe to bring me onto a base, but that's just not true. The fact of the matter is I've been in the Iraq war during the height surge. I was brought to forward operating bases in Afghanistan when the Taliban was actively targeting our troops.
This was not a question of safety. This is a question of cover up. Because in addition to not being able to get on those bases, as you mentioned, I simply asked for the Department of Defense leadership in the region to come brief me at the embassy and they refused to even come talk to me. I did get to see the damage to the U.S. embassy because the State Department did support my trip there and it was extensive.
The attack on the U.S. embassy happened at night. Had it happened during the day, there would have been lots of Americans killed. And it's just a sign of how unprepared Trump was for this war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Their economic output now exceeds Japan's. When we come back, a look at U.S. Latinos contribution to the American economy and what is driving that rapid growth. A brand new study just came out. The folks behind it live on set with me, next.
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[01:33:23]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: You're looking at live pictures from New York City where officials say a man from the Dominican Republic was shot and wounded by federal immigration agents during a targeted enforcement operation.
That incident sparked protests in the city, which is now marking the first shooting involving ICE agents since President Trump's immigration crackdown.
Officials say an ICE agent discharged a weapon, injuring a 28-year-old man who police say has a criminal record. A five-year-old, who was in the back seat at the time, was not hurt.
The mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, speaking about an hour or so ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: For the past two hours, I have been on the phone with President Trump and Secretary Mullin negotiating the release of the man ICE agents shot. Those negotiations were unsuccessful.
Just moments ago, ICE put the man in an unmarked vehicle and whisked him away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Zohran Mamdani there in the 11:00 p.m. hour here on CNN.
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office said that the federal budget deficit rose to nearly $2 trillion in the past fiscal year. That is up 12 percent from the previous year. Rising interest payments and tariff refunds have helped to drive that increase.
One often overlooked component of the U.S. economy is the country's Latino population. Research shows U.S. Latinos represent a $4.4 trillion economy.
[01:34:50]
MICHAELSON: That economic output would rank fourth in the world, now larger than the entire gross product of Japan.
Joining me now is Andrea Trujillo, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Velocity and Sol Trujillo, co-founder at Velocity and chairman of the Latino Donor Collaborative. So, welcome to you both.
SOL TRUJILLO, CO-FOUNDER, VELOCITY: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: Velocity is this big conference that's happening here in southern California this week, where all these business leaders from around the world have come here to learn from you basically how to talk to this market that is such an important market.
And you all put together some numbers in a survey at how big a market it is. Let's put this up on the screen.
We're talking about a $5.1 trillion economy. That's the GDP that you have calculated, which is growing at 5.4 percent. 14.6 percent of all U.S. consumption is Latinos. You estimate that's about 70 million people currently living in the United States.
Some big numbers here. Talk about, you know, what is the most important thing you want people to know from your report?
S. TRUJILLO: Well, the most important thing is the GDP is $5.1 trillion, as you said, which makes it slightly smaller than Germany, passing Japan, passing India, passing all the countries we think of as big.
But this is the highest growth cohort in the world right now of major economies.
MICHAELSON: So these are just U.S.-based Latinos.
S. TRUJILLO: This is just U.S. Latinos.
MICHAELSON: Now the fourth largest economy in the world.
S. TRUJILLO: Yes. And the big thing here is this is not based on immigration or any of the what I would call bull that some people like to throw out. This is real factual. And this cohort is very young, the most populated age is 17, the most populated age of the Anglo-American cohort is 61.
So what more do you know, you know, or want to think about in terms of growth?
But they are entrepreneurial. They're very patriotic. They're everything that we would describe or the founding fathers of our country would have said, gee, these are the things that we want to see.
MICHAELSON: And you come from like a Republican basis, right? This is not a political thing. This is --
(CROSSTALKING)
S. TRUJILLO: Absolutely.
MICHAELSON: -- you say it's all about the business, right?
S. TRUJILLO: Absolutely. I am a real Republican, not one of the current descriptions that are calling themselves Republicans, because I'm a Conservative.
I believe in fiscal responsibility, but I believe in the foundation of our country, which is we're a nation of immigrants. Were all equal under the law. And to me, that's very important.
So we should all value, as I'm a capitalist, so we should all value how the capitalist system has made the U.S. great. And that's what Velocity is about.
MICHAELSON: And Andrea, we're talking about lots of growing markets. I know a couple of spaces that you've seen a special growth in is beauty and music. How so?
ANDREA TRUJILLO, CO-FOUNDER, VELOCITY: Yes. All of these numbers that we're seeing are super astounding. The beauty industry is a multibillion-dollar opportunity. The purchasing power from the Latino cohort alone in beauty is $26 billion, and its growing at a rate of 9 percent.
MICHAELSON: Wow. A. TRUJILLO: So combine that with a super young cohort and a lifelong
consumer.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
A. TRUJILLO: There's huge opportunity there.
And then if we're talking about music, we've seen explosive growth, especially in the past five years in music. Obviously, everybody knows who Bad Bunny is.
MICHAELSON: Right. Super Bowl halftime show in Spanish this year.
A. TRUJILLO: Exactly. It was unforgettable, right?
MICHAELSON: Yes. And so that's a huge business opportunity for people in the English-speaking world as well. And so talk about this conference.
People come and a lot of these business leaders are like, how do we get in on that money?
S. TRUJILLO: Right.
MICHAELSON: So for folks that that are looking for some advice, what do you give them?
S. TRUJILLO: Well, first of all, if you think about Latinos as mainstream, they're no longer what I call East L.A. or South Miami kind of perceptions. And all-Spanish language. Now, these are mainstream. If you were at the conference, you'd see business entrepreneurs, you'd see technologists, you'd see all that.
So the big message here is, I'll give you an example. Budweiser beer versus -- it used to be the iconic brand and they targeted the Anglo male cohort.
Now there's a beer brand called Modelo Especial from Mexico.
MICHAELSON: Right.
S. TRUJILLO: That is the number one brand or competing with a couple other brands. But the point is, it's about market share.
And as a business person, that's run businesses all over the world for 40 years, the point is, is that I like to win. And in a capitalist system, those who have the best product, serving the customers that are more likely to buy it is a good decision.
And so this is what the event is about. We talk about technology, A.I. We talk about all of that because it's about winning. It's about how capitalists play. And this is a really -- it's capitalism at work.
MICHAELSON: Is the Latino market looking for something different than the white market?
[01:39:46]
A. TRUJILLO: No, I just think we're -- we own our trends, right? We -- that's why we're winning in music, we're winning in beauty.
But the big key here is that we're a very entrepreneurial cohort. So I think we're going after what we want. I think more so than ever.
MICHAELSON: And this demographic is growing at the same time birth rates among whites is declining.
S. TRUJILLO: Yes.
MICHAELSON: So, I mean, this change is coming in a big way.
A. TRUJILLO: 100 percent. And the most populated age in the Latino cohort is 17 years old as compared to 61 in the Anglo cohort. So --
MICHAELSON: Wow.
A. TRUJILLO: -- there you go.
MICHAELSON: That is really dramatic. So, good luck at the conference this week.
Thank you guys so much for coming in. Really appreciate it.
A. TRUJILLO: Thank you.
S. TRUJILLO: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: Andrea Trujillo and Sol Trujillo with us.
That -- there are questions about a series of stock and bond purchases made by President Trump last month. According to ethics filings, two days before signing a memo to cut red tape for space transportation, the president bought up to $5 million of SpaceX bonds. He also bought more than $30 million in shares of Microsoft and Meta weeks before downplaying calls for more regulation of artificial intelligence.
The president, vice president and members of Congress are not subject to conflict-of-interest laws, but a former White House ethics lawyer says the stock buys give the appearance of corruption.
The White House says President Trumps investments are made by independent portfolio managers.
Thanks so much for watching THE STORY IS.
For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is next. For our viewers here in North America, I'll be right back with a look at how A.I. is changing.
Thanks so much for being with us. We'll be right back.
[01:41:30]
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MICHAELSON: Microsoft has been barred from sponsoring workers on H-1B visas for permanent residency in the U.S. The Trump administration suspended the tech giant and several other companies from a Labor Department Green Card program.
The White House accuses them of using the process to replace American workers with cheaper immigrant labor.
Microsoft disputes those allegations, saying most of its H-1B applications last year were extended or changed the status for current workers, rather than to hire new ones.
The maker of ChatGPT is reporting its revenue is about $20 billion less than some media reports suggest. Those reports put OpenAI's annualized revenue at $70 billion. But the company told investors its nearing $50 billion.
Tech stocks fell Thursday after that report. Some investors question whether demand for A.I. will be strong enough to help companies like OpenAI and Anthropic actually turn a profit.
Well, New Jersey residents are protesting the planned construction of a data center in their backyard. But business leaders say their concerns are overblown and being addressed by the state's strict permitting process.
CNN's Michael Yoshida reports.
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MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A standoff is underway in Kenilworth, New Jersey, a small borough of around 8,600 people in the sprawling New York City suburbs.
Some community members are organizing against the construction of a $1.8 billion A.I. data center by CoreWeave, a cloud computing company. The project is already under construction at a former Merck Pharmaceuticals facility in the middle of a long-established suburban neighborhood.
Opposition to the project picked up steam after approval was granted and news spread.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want an A.I. data center in our backyard. We don't want the pollution it's going to create. We don't want the noise it's going to create.
YOSHIDA: Neighbors are worried about noise, the center's water and electricity usage, and its impact on the environment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm worried about property values. There are tons of houses for sale now and people are having a hard time trying to sell them.
YOSHIDA: CoreWeave declined an interview for this story, but pointed to publicly available information addressing residents' concerns, including $150 million investment in a new electric substation, a closed loop cooling system designed to minimize water use, and an independent acoustic study that they say found that Kenilworth facility would operate below state noise limits.
Some local business leaders are supportive of the project and say that concerns over the data center are being addressed by New Jersey's strict permitting process.
MICHELE SIEKERKA, NEW JERSEY BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: Like any large project, you need to go through a rigorous permitting cycle, and when you meet the requirements, you should be able to conduct business. Data centers should be treated absolutely no differently.
I take people seriously, but I do believe that there's a lot of alarmism going on right now that I don't think is fair.
YOSHIDA: Strict permitting or not, some residents of Kenilworth and neighboring communities say they don't trust the information provided by CoreWeave.
JOSEPH CRYAN, NEW JERSEY STATE SENATOR: People have just literally become angry over the process and frightened over the results.
YOSHIDA: New Jersey State Senator Joseph Cryan, who represents Kenilworth in the state capital, says approval of new data centers should be decided at the state level.
CRYAN: We need to make this what it should be -- a statewide issue, a statewide plan, and with statewide approvals.
YOSHIDA: Residents point to a recent moratorium on new hyperscale data centers in neighboring New York as an example of what they'd like to see their state leaders do.
Experts say communities now have more information and more leverage to demand projects that work for them.
ERIC MASANET, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA: A lot of the pushback we've seen has really created a force for change with the industry. And now communities both have the knowledge but also the power to ask for the technologies and the data center characteristics that they can live with.
YOSHIDA: I'm Michael Yoshida, reporting.
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MICHAELSON: Coming up on THE STORY IS, unrest lingers in France as students continue to take to the streets across the country. Hear what the demonstrators are demanding from the government, next.
[01:49:34]
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MICHAELSON: Here's a look at stories making news around the world.
THE STORY IS in Ukraine, where officials say Russia's latest attack makes it clear that Moscow continues to target civilians. Authorities say a Russian strike in eastern Ukraine caused two public busses to explode and catch fire, killing at least 33 people. Ukrainians described it as Russia's deadliest attack this year.
THE STORY IS in Russia, U.S. leaders say they are in active communication with Russia over the death of a lab worker at a plague research facility in Siberia. U.S. State Department sent a formal request for more information earlier this week after receiving limited answers from Moscow. It's not clear if the active communication has yielded more information about the incident.
THE STORY IS in the Atlantic Ocean, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season is barreling towards the U.S. Gulf Coast this hour.
[01:54:44]
MICHAELSON: It is currently a Category 2 hurricane, but it's expected to strengthen as it passes over warm Gulf water.
The storm's current forecast is on track to make landfall in Alabama on Saturday. States of emergency have been issued for parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Georgia.
The scenes in Paris on Thursday as student protests continue to fill the streets. Demonstrators have accused police of heavy-handed tactics after a student's hand was blown off by a stun grenade.
France's interior minister has banned police from using stun grenades in response to that incident. Police have opened 18 investigations into the conduct of officers, policing the protests.
During the protest, France's education minister spoke with demonstrators in Paris. They are calling for more investment in schooling, including some teachers, smaller class sizes and better buildings adapted to the climate.
In neighboring Spain, hundreds of people marched through downtown Madrid on Thursday. They were paying tribute to Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old who died after she was evicted from her home. Following that eviction, Abascal became a symbol of Spain's housing crisis.
Thanks so much for watching THE STORY IS.
Stay with CNN for live coverage in the day ahead of Isaias, which is expected to make landfall in the U.S. right around this time tomorrow night, which will be the first hurricane to do so in the Atlantic region this year.
I'm Elex Michaelson, thanks for watching.
The news continues on CNN right after this.
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