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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Trump Stumps In Ohio With Republican Hold On Congress At Risk; IMF & World Bank Hosting Annual Meetings In Thailand; Death Threats Over Data Centers are Tearing U.S. Towns Apart; Push to Increase Number of Women in U.S. House; Deaths of Five Men Spark Fear of Possible Serial Killer; Kelly Clarkson's Online Feud with a Brooklyn Toy Shop. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 13, 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: Was taken into police custody. Just a few hours ago she appeared in court and was charged with two counts of second degree assault. Blair did not enter a plea.
A law enforcement source tells CNN that she bit a flight attendant and left another with lacerations. They say she also attacked a police officer in an ambulance and a nurse at the hospital. Blair revealed in 2018 that she has multiple sclerosis. Representative says the actress experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct. She's expected to be released on bail and is due back in court on January -- in January.
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. Coming up, The Story Is countdown to the midterms. President Trump back in Ohio try to save his Republican candidates who are struggling in a state he easily won. But will his visit make a difference in the final stretch?
The Story Is roller coaster nightmare. A man falls to his death from a 200 foot roller coaster. Hear from an eyewitness about the terrifying experience.
And The Story Is data center backlash, how the growing outrage over massive AI data centers is reaching a dangerous level in some cases with bomb threats and calls for assassination.
But we begin with politics. We're now just three weeks away from the final day to vote in the midterms when voters have the chance to change the balance of power in Washington and possibly rein in the powers of President Trump. Folks already voting by mail across the country. The president launching a week of campaigning in reliably Republican states with a rambunctious rally in Youngstown, Ohio, where he slammed Somali and Haitian communities. He also painted Muslim Democrats Ilhan Omar and Abdul El-Sayed as bigger threats than Ohio's former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown who was running to unseat incumbent Senator Jon Husted. President Trump will visit Alaska and Montana in the days ahead.
But is the president's presence on the campaign trail helping or hurting Republican candidates? A new Pew Research poll shows that his approval rating has hit a record low of just 30 percent. Many swing voters are holding him accountable for the unpopular war in Iran and sky high gas prices. Look at there, his disapproval now over two thirds of the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So what happens is every time I run, we do great. We have tremendous turnout, 48 percent, 49 percent more than when I don't run. So I'm asking everybody to pretend, just pretend that I'm on the ballot because in a way, I am on the ballot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Our panel is back. Former U.S. Senate candidate Steven Olikara, senior fellow for Political Reform at the USC Schwarzenegger Institute. And Benjamin Sheehan is the host of the PBS series "Civics Made Easy" and author of "What Does the Constitution Say" on Substack?
Gentlemen, welcome back. The president in Ohio tonight doing something he's sort of done a lot recently, which is commenting on the appearance of the candidate that he is supporting. When he's been in Texas, he's made fun of Ken Paxton, the Republican there, like what he wears, how he is on T.V. Apparently, he was more impressed with Jon Husted, the Republican candidate for Senate. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: But I'm standing over here and I don't do this with men very often. I started examining his body because I didn't know he was a great athlete. And I looked and I watched up and down. I looked at his ass and I looked at the whole. And then I looked at his hands.
Look at his hands. He's got these, like, claws.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Is that a winning midterm message?
BENJAMIN SHEEHAN, HOST, PBS SERIES "CIVICS MADE EASY": I don't know which demographic is being targeted with that. But I think -- you know, it is interesting that he always defaults to this sort of traditional idea of masculinity, right? And he looks at people's strength and how they appear on T.V. and these sort of very basic things. And, you know, (inaudible) enough, but you know, for others, it's just not. They're way more concerned about their wallet than the physique of their senator.
MICHAELSON: Well, and speaking, he also brought with him Jake Paul. Paul, of course, who has been involved in reality shows, has been involved in fighting, and he was there. There's the two of them traveling there together. His family is from Ohio. We've interviewed his mother live in Ohio before.
His mother and Jake Paul both came onto the stage tonight. And Jake Paul kind of sounded like a politician.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE PAUL, PROFESSIONAL BOXER: So you guys have a choice. You can watch from the cheap seats, like the left, or you could lace up, get on the field and fight for what's right. God bless you, Ohio. Go vote November 3rd, and we will keep control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:05:14]
MICHAELSON: Afterwards, Trump said, you don't know what you're going to get with Jake Paul. I think he's going to run for something someday. But that -- it kind of goes to that theme of masculinity.
STEVEN OLIKARA, SENIOR FELLOW FOR POLITICAL REFORM, USC SCHWARZENEGGER INSTITUTE: Absolutely. I mean, that is an important theme right now that helped propel Trump to his second term. But I think when you think about Ohio voters, it's not so much about the physical assets of candidates, about their financial assets at home. And you have people who are working in agriculture and manufacturing and they're dealing with tariffs and this trade war that's been happening. Their costs are going up.
And so I get that President Trump, he's trying to make it fun. But there are some real issues facing people in Ohio. And the question is, in this midterm election, is the tide actually going to turn in Ohio? I mean, Trump transformed the politics of the Midwest.
MICHAELSON: Right.
OLIKARA: And, and especially in Ohio. This is a state that Barack Obama won.
MICHAELSON: Right.
OLIKARA: And so that was with a lot of blue collar voters that were historically Democrats. So is that now starting to turn with the president underwater on the economy?
Because for so many years, when we did the presidential MICHAELSON: elections, there were like two swing states that mattered, Ohio and Florida. Both of them are no longer swing states, but now Ohio with its former senator, Sherrod Brown, who has -- who has had a real connection with working class folks in a way that very few Democrats have across the country. And that may be paying off in this election.
SHEEHAN: Well, again, you know, it's -- this is a known quantity. This is not somebody that is going to be easy to brand as some far left socialist or some radical person, somebody that Ohio has voted again and again for multiple times. And so I think it speaks to how worried they are. And you know, the reason they brought out Jake Paul is because they're trying to get this group of men that are younger, less frequent voters, and they turned out in 2024. And I think they're worried because he's not on the ballot, Trump, that they're not going to turn this time.
MICHAELSON: So the last time around in the 2024 election, President Trump was often seen with his son, Donald Trump Jr. and his son's then fiance, Kimberly Guilfoyle. After the two of them split up, she was sent to Greece and she's become the ambassador to Greece. Donald Trump Jr. got married to somebody else.
Now there's been all sorts of controversies about her and potential corruption allegations there. Eric Deters saying that he had to pay $100,000 of her credit card bill and that there was, you know, maybe quid pro quo going on. President Trump was asked about Kimberly Guilfoyle today. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, have you spoken to Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle, and are you considering firing her?
TRUMP: Well, we're looking at it, yes. We're not happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Not exactly a sign of support there.
OLIKARA: No. So first, this story was no surprise to me, talking with different friends and sources in D.C. this kind of corruption had been happening with the ambassador to Greece. And my sense is if she is not removed from her position, there's a lot more to come. And perhaps the president has some visibility into that.
This, of course, is part of a much larger corruption story about the Trump administration. A really interesting survey came out showing vast majorities of Democrats and Republicans believe that not only corruption is a real issue, but it's affecting their pocketbooks. And when you actually tie corruption to an economic issue, it becomes a voting issue because they're tying it to the higher costs that they're facing across the board. So we'll -- my sense is this ambassador is going to be out pretty soon --
MICHAELSON: Yes. I mean, after that.
OLIKARA: Yes. There's no coming back from that.
MICHAELSON: Right. And it kind of also gets to something that we've seen a lot with President Trump is he doesn't like when other people have negative headlines that distract from him. This has been a consistent theme that if you start taking it or it seems like what really makes him frustrated, you're profiting off of his name without him getting a cut of it necessarily. That's a real problem. SHEEHAN: It's a huge problem. And he also has this strange, I guess I'll say, talent for, like, reading the tea leaves and sort of sensing when the media story is going to become a bigger thing. And I think it speaks to your point about how much anti-corruption is becoming a huge part of this. And I look at what's happening with, you know, Senator John Ossoff running in Georgia. He's made this a huge center point of his campaign.
And the clips we were talking about virality earlier, the clips of him talking about anti-corruption --
MICHAELSON: Sure.
SHEEHAN: -- are dominating social media.
MICHAELSON: And of course, Ossoff comes from a background of being a documentary filmmaker who made films about corruption. So this is a topic that he's very comfortable talking about and has been doing so for like, 20 years.
So that's going on Ilhan Omar, who is a Congress member who President Trump does not like very much, her house was raided today by the authorities, DOJ Department of Homeland Security. They said that they had a judicially authorized search warrant, but it is very unusual for something like this to happen while people are voting in Minnesota. Over 100,000 people have already voted in Minnesota. What do you make of the fact that this is happening and the timing that it's happening?
[01:10:18]
OLIKARA: It's very rare to see these public investigative actions within 60 days of election.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
OLIKARA: Typically, the Justice Department tries to avoid that. It speaks to this larger concern I think Americans have about the state of our democracy. Now, we don't know why exactly this is happening and --
MICHAELSON: Yes.
OLIKARA: -- we want to allow that formal process to move forward. But in a democracy, you really don't want to be having scenes like this take place on your television where political opponents are being investigated, raided so close to an election. So that's the part I think for Americans who are sitting at home looks concerning to them.
MICHAELSON: Well, and you're using the word democracy, you've got a show coming out on PBS in two days which is looking at the question is, are we a democracy? Based off of everything that you're looking at, are we?
SHEEHAN: We are. There are flaws, I have notes. But yes, we are still a democracy. But certainly there are signs like this one. You know, and getting back to the -- to your earlier point, we don't know exactly why she, her house was raided, but there have been sort of droppings put out there that has to do with when she came here as a young woman, well, as a child, to the United States.
OLIKARA: Eight years old. Right.
SHEEHAN: Eight years old. And you know, this is somebody who's won four elections. So if there was something there I would assume would have come out at some point in these previous congressional campaigns.
MICHAELSON: Well, we'll see in terms of that. Meanwhile, that's -- that is an interesting ad potentially for her opponents to run in the final days of the election.
Ben, Steven, great conversation. Great to see both of you. And again, we can check out your show Wednesday on PBS. Good luck with that.
SHEEHAN: Thank you. Appreciate it.
MICHAELSON: Thank you so much.
Saudi authorities say the kingdom's main airport will remain closed until further notice. That decision comes after a series of Houthi attacks that have killed at least 14 people over the weekend and wounded hundreds of others. The Houthis have claimed responsibility for the attacks on airports and other targets within the kingdom. The militant group has warned airlines against operating flights to Saudi airports.
President Trump's so called energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine is being put to the test. Ukraine says new Russian attacks on energy facilities in Kharkiv have already violated the agreement. Now, despite that, Trump sounded optimistic Monday about a path towards peace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think they both support it. I think they want to make a deal, but they don't know how. But we're going to get them to make a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Trump also appeared to acknowledge that neither side had explicitly agreed to the ceasefire before his announcement. He told reporters that Kyiv and Moscow agreed to the deal because he said that they had agreed to the deal. Ukraine has voiced support for a ceasefire and says it is important Russia does the same. Meanwhile, the Kremlin says contacts are, quote, "ongoing."
The International Monetary Fund's annual meeting are getting underway right now in Thailand, where it's Tuesday afternoon. The meetings held in partnership with the World Bank Group finance officials, high level executives and academics come together to discuss the global economy and its current challenges.
Joining me live right now from Bangkok is Josh Lipsky. He is the senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center.
Welcome to The Story Is for the first time. Thanks for being with us.
JOSH LIPSKY, SENIOR DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S GEOECONOMICS CENTER: Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: So what is the talk of the town in Bangkok right now? What is the financial issue that everybody's focused on?
LIPSKY: There's one word on everyone's mind right now in Bangkok and it's debt. We heard this from Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF, this morning when she released the World Economic Outlook. Debt, and not just in emerging markets, which is what the IMF and the World Bank typically worry about, debt in advanced economies, debt in the U.S. and debt in France. This is the issue that is really keeping them up at night.
Are we headed to a trajectory where it is unsustainable? What can policymakers do about it? How bad is it going to get? What does it mean for interest rates? What does it mean for inflation?
This is one of the most anxiety filled IMF meetings I've been to in my career. And that's because it's a different set of economies that are in the center of focus right now for the policymakers.
MICHAELSON: So what can they do about it? And do the biggest economies in the world, the United States and China, do they care about debt?
LIPSKY: Well, this is the big question. The IMF this morning called on fiscal consolidation. This is IMF speak for you need to get your economic house in order, you need to spend less, you need to reform your tax systems. The policymakers hear that and they say, yes, but at least in the US and France and Germany, we've got elections to deal with.
And in China, they have their own economic model as, you know, export driven. They're not changing their system anytime soon. So the policymakers understand the risk.
[01:15:11]
The problem is that the IMF has warned about risk time and again. There was the risk from COVID, there was the risk from energy shocks, there was the risk from tariffs. And the economy has remained relatively resilient through all of that. In fact, they just upgraded global growth this morning. So the policymakers are internalizing this message.
The finance ministers and the central bank governors are saying, yes, I hear you, but do I really need to act? It's going to be painful for me. And I'm not sure they feel enough pressure yet to do what needs to be done.
MICHAELSON: I mean, you mentioned the World Economic Outlook Report that was just released. What did it say? What's the top line? LIPSKY: So the top line was global growth is upgraded for 2026. It was rounded up by 0.1 percent. So that's not a huge change, but it's not down. But the biggest thing that came out was high inflation, persistently higher for the global economy over the next 12 to 24 months. And if the war in Iran continues, they estimated that global growth could actually go down by close to 1 percent next year.
That is a dramatic cut across the board on global growth. They don't forecast that is the most likely scenario, but they do say it's a rising risk. And that definitely jumped out this morning when they talked about risk to the global outlook.
MICHAELSON: Wow. And of course, right now there is no real plan to end the war with Iran. One of the people that often talk about the war with Iran is the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, who would usually be at something like that meeting. Why isn't he there? And I know Kevin Warsh is there representing the United States.
What is he saying?
LIPSKY: Yes, it was Chair Warsh's first meeting as chair of the Federal Reserve. First time he's at the IMF annual meetings. In that role, he is representing the U.S. as the senior leader. But it is highly unusual, I can never remember a Treasury Secretary not being in an IMF-World Bank annual meetings.
You have to remember the U.S. is the largest shareholder in the IMF, in the World Bank. So when you have your annual meeting, you want your largest shareholder to show up. You want the Treasury Secretary to be there. Obviously, there's domestic reasons Secretary Bessent didn't come, but it's being noticed around the room. Also because the U.S. hosts the G20 this year, that'll be in Miami in December.
They meet a lot over these weeks to talk about that here in Bangkok and plan for it. So the Treasury secretary not being here is something that's well noted by all the delegates. They're happy Chair Warsh is here and wish Secretary Bessent was.
MICHAELSON: Well, we are happy that you're there. Thanks for joining us. Nice job on the setup right in the middle of everything. Well done on that. And we appreciate your perspective.
Josh Lipsky, thank you so much.
LIPSKY: Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: And stay tuned to CNN this week for more from Thailand because all this is happening. CNN has put together a special edition of "Global Perspectives" this Wednesday. Our team will be speaking with political and industry leaders about the big issues shaping international business policy, economic development. You see there our colleagues Sanjay Gupta, also Richard Quest, Kristie Lu Stout, Will Ripley, Hanako Montgomery, they're all there going to be talking with folks. We'll have reporting from them throughout the week here on CNN and CNN International. Meanwhile, police in the U.S. state of Georgia say that a man has died after falling off a roller coaster at Six Flags park outside of Atlanta. Several people were injured in that incident and witnesses say they saw the man fall. Imagine being at a theme park and seeing that. Video shows police evacuating people from the ride, which was stopped for about an hour after the tragedy. Joe Gorchow (ph) from CNN affiliate WANF has the details from Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE GORCHOW, WANF-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Six Flags shut down. Guests were told to leave. Others were left stranded on Goliath's steep incline, watching emergency crews rush past them below and wondering what went wrong.
BEN EDWARDS, TOURIST: We saw mechanics and paramedics running towards down there. So we realized that there was something bad that happened.
GORCHOW (voice-over): Ben Edwards, visiting from Canada, was among nearly 20 people trapped on Goliath's 200 foot incline when the coaster suddenly stopped shortly before 4:00 this afternoon.
EDWARDS: Very tragic. The first thing you think about is the people you're on the ride with.
GORCHOW (voice-over): Edwards tried calming those around him as they waited high above the ground. But the real panic was in the coaster car directly ahead of him, where the deadly fall occurred.
EDWARDS: Obviously where the chaos is that was priority and evacuating everybody else.
GORCHOW (voice-over): One person died and several others were injured on the ride. Six Flags in a statement said in part, quote, "We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the guest's family, friends and loved ones."
But for Edwards, who was stranded for at least an hour, condolences aren't enough. He is calling for immediate changes to park procedures.
[01:20:07]
EDWARDS: Being stuck up there like, some people are really scared of that stuff, so they need to do better.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Gorchow from our CNN affiliate with that reporting.
Still ahead on The Story Is bomb threats, calls for assassination, how the growing outrage over massive AI data centers is tearing apart communities across America. And later, former Senator Barbara Boxer with us with a look at the politics of women in 2026.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MICHAELSON: A new report from the University of Washington warns AI is one of the top catastrophic threats posing a significant risk to global health. Of 17 worldwide threats examined, the report says only two nuclear conflict and the malicious use of AI pose a risk of human extinction. Findings come amid growing backlash over the AI data center boom across the U.S. A CNN investigation shows how some of that anger has escalated into death threats. Our Kyung Lah reports.
[01:25:30]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame on you.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rage against data centers is boiling over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hands off me.
LAH (voice-over): Beyond community protests like this --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Amy (ph).
LAH (voice-over): -- into criminal cases that law enforcement has labeled terrorism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're being placed under arrest for making terroristic threats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not make any terroristic threats.
LAH (voice-over): CNN obtained more than 100 police reports from across the country on data center backlash in the past year. They include more than a dozen bomb threats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says bomb a data center.
LAH (voice-over): Calls for assassinations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to be lined up blindfolded and (BLEEP) shot.
LAH (voice-over): And violent threats on social media, "Unalive them. Luigis unite." Government agencies are warning of a broad range of threat actors and an increased threat environment targeting data centers. And police are cracking down investigating all sorts of comments on social media, even some that lack any imminent threat.
Police in El Paso, Texas, investigated this woman after she told a local official, "I hope you rot in hell and die" over a data center project.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's my First Amendment right. Just because I said I hope? That's insane. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just said a terroristic threat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not a terroristic threat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is not a terroristic threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said it's a borderline. You're kind of borderline.
LAH (voice-over): She didn't face charges.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Afternoon, sir.
LAH (voice-over): But this man, Harley DeLander did. This is him talking to police.
HARLEY DELANDER, DIXON, ILLINOIS RESIDENT: These punks right here came by because I'm trying to organize a community protest against a representative who's trying to push in a data center.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The issue is some of the communication, the Facebook posts, some of the comments --
DELANDER: I never made a threat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Well, we disagree and our state's attorney disagrees.
LAH (voice-over): DeLander was angry about a data center possibly coming to this field near Dixon, Illinois.
DELANDER: Once the data center is built here, this land is gone. Concrete is -- it outlives people.
LAH (voice-over): DeLander called for a protest at the home of the man he believed supported the data center. Writing, "Someone put the fear of God in him and his family. Make him scared to close his eyes at night."
DELANDER: It was surprising when they told me that they were going to arrest me. I was kind of in disbelief.
LAH: You did post his home address.
DELANDER: Yes. Oh, yes.
LAH: Do you regret it?
DELANDER: I regret how strongly I worded it.
LAH (voice-over): DeLander was charged with multiple felonies, but he ended up pleading guilty to a petty charge. That's less than a misdemeanor. He is still stuck with this. DELANDER: So this is a GPS ankle monitor. I still believe that I didn't do anything wrong. I don't think people should be arrested over strong words, strong language.
LAH (voice-over): And that's the dilemma for law enforcement. How far to take these cases.
While 13 shots were fired into the home of an Indianapolis council member, the majority of cases, CNN found, do not involve violence. Still, records show law enforcement is carefully monitoring the angry backlash, including the groups organizing the protests, like the one aboard this bus.
Amy Kremer's anti-AI group, Humans First, is on a nationwide tour. They call it a data center revolt, hosting protests in more than 30 cities.
AMY KREMER, CHAIR, HUMANS FIRST: Big tech by design is shoving this infrastructure down our throats. People feel like they are not being represented. Decisions are being made without input from the citizens in the community, and it's not right.
LAH (voice-over): Why would police care about Kremer? In 2020, she helped lead the Stop the Steal movement.
KREMER: We're not going to let them steal an election.
LAH (voice-over): Organizing the rally before the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Her target this time, data centers.
LAH: The United States Capitol Police --
LAH (voice-over): We showed Kremer this e-mail. U.S. Capitol Police Intelligence services sent an alert to other law enforcement about data center protests organized by her group.
LAH: So the Capitol Police --
KREMER: Wow. Wow, Wow.
LAH: -- are watching you. What do you think about that?
KREMER: I assume that they're watching me, everything I do. Watch me. I don't care. I'm not violating any laws. I didn't do anything wrong on January 6.
LAH (voice-over): Kremer calls herself a loyal Trumper. But on this issue, she objects.
KREMER: He just posted "Let Data Reign." I disagree with the president on this. You know, when he says let data reign, I say let Americans reign. Big Tech is coming in and totally disrupting their lives and impacting their lives in ways they could have never imagined.
LAH (voice-over): With the clock ticking to the midterms, AI and data centers are scrambling politics. LAH: Is this a Republican issue or a Democrat?
[01:29:43]
KREMER: I think it's an -- it's an issue that affects all Americans. And so they all need to govern on it.
LAH: There are instances of people taking it too far because of this raid.
HARLEY DELANDER, DATA CENTER OPPONENT: Oh, yes.
LAH: Do you excuse that violence?
DELANDER: I don't excuse violence at all. But at a certain point, when voting only gets you so far, you know, you got to start asking yourself what else is there?
LAH: A CNN poll recently found that nearly nine out of ten Americans are more concerned than excited about data centers. And with the midterms now less than a month away, politicians are certainly hearing it. In many cases, distancing themselves from previous support.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Next here on THE STORY IS, more than half the U.S. population is female, but women make up a disproportionately small number of lawmakers in the House and the Senate.
Could their numbers be getting a boost in the midterms?
Former senator and former congressmember, Barbara Boxer, standing by live to talk about what's different this year.
[01:31:06]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: A live look at the U.S. Capitol. Democrats pushing to get at least 100 women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, which would be a record for the chamber, which is still largely controlled by older white men.
U.S. Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez, who represents New Mexico, told "The New York Times", "I'm incredibly confident that we will pass the 100 mark. The real issue is how far above it do we go?"
We go live now to Palm Springs and former U.S. Senator, Barbara Boxer, former congressmember as well. She represented California in Congress for decades.
Senator, welcome back to THE STORY IS.
BARBARA BOXER (D-CA), FORMER SENATOR AND CONGRESSMEMBER: Well, thank you so much. It's a topic I really love to talk about because when I got to the House in 1983, you know, how many women were there? 28 women were there out of 435. And most of them got there because their husbands kicked the bucket, to be honest. They really didn't run after that.
And so I got there in '83. Nancy Pelosi got there in '87. There were a few more. But I can tell you we were novelties and it was bizarre the way they treated us.
And then in 1992, when I got to be part of the year of the woman, when Senator Feinstein and I became the first two women to represent any one state in the Senate, they called it the year of the women, because they tripled our numbers from two to six.
So now, as you point out, you know, we're headed toward 100 Democratic females, and that's going to be huge. That's going to happen. And we're almost at the point where were 50 percent of the Democratic caucus, which is pretty terrific.
MICHAELSON: Why does this issue matter, and how do women lead differently than men?
BOXER: Well, first, I want to say I don't think women are any better than men, not at all. We're equal. We're not better. And I could point out a few examples, I won't bother with that.
But we need to be around the table because the greatness of America is that we have a representative government.
And Elex, that means when you're when you're sitting around a table and discussing what are the issues of the day, you need diversity there. You know, if it was all women, it wouldn't be right either.
So we need, it seems to me, as you point out, we're 50 percent of the population. We should be 50 percent of the Congress.
But I think something that's getting overlooked, or maybe I'm wrong about that, you tell me if I am. There is going to be history made because there's a real possibility we could see the first two female Native Americans come to the Senate -- from Alaska, from Minnesota. We'll see if that happens.
First two females. We had, we've had, we've had male members, but we've never had female members who were Native American.
And in the Senate also, we could make history. We could go from two African American female senators to up to four. And that's pretty amazing in itself.
So I think rightly so, we should be focused on checking and balancing, you know, Trump. That's what a midterm is.
But behind it, I just thought it would be wonderful to talk about the fact that history could be made here in this election and in a different kind of way. MICHAELSON: I know you've talked about during the early days, there
was like barely a women's bathroom there. There was really, you know, these men did not know what to do with you when you were there and did not know how to treat you and certainly did not always treat you with respect.
In terms of now in 2027, when these folks would take over, how does that change? How does their voices sort of change the national dialog
BOXER: Well, I don't think there's any question that women now are treated equally in the government, in the Senate, in the House, because it's an -- it's an interesting thing.
[01:39:48]
BOXER: You're equal to your colleague. You know, you get the same pay, you get the same benefits, you get the same opportunity to join committees.
I see Amy Klobuchar there. She's on her way to becoming governor from the Senate.
It's an exciting thing. We have our voices and we have the power now, and we're getting the numbers now.
And again, it's really about the issues that come to the fore. It's hard for people to believe it. But when I got to the House, we found out that all the clinical trials that were happening were only done on very strong, healthy men, 150-pound and over men, clinical trials on new pharmaceuticals.
And we fought hard to say, well, women need -- we need to have to get into those clinical trials. And we need people with disabilities and who are not that strong to get into the clinical trials. So that makes a huge difference.
Women couldn't even have their own credit cards when I got to the House.
MICHAELSON: Wow.
BOXER: It's hard to believe. I know it's a long time. It's taken us a long time, but I'm so happy that I might well be around when we get toward the 50 percent number.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And then of course, the path towards a female president. We've already had the first female Speaker of the House as well.
Barbara Boxer joining us live from the desert. Thanks so much. Great to see you as always.
BOXER: Elex, thanks for taking the subject up. I'm really, really, really pleased. Thank you.
MICHAELSON: You're watching THE STORY IS. For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is next. For our viewers
in North America, I'll be back with these stories.
A series of deaths along a river trail in Michigan sparking fears that a serial killer could be responsible. What investigators are saying about that case.
Plus, Kelly Clarkson, a Brooklyn store and a fake dancing bird. The feud that the Internet is obsessed over.
[01:41:47]
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MICHAELSON: Police in Michigan are investigating if a serial killer is responsible for the deaths of five unhoused men on a popular river trail in the states capital.
The first victim died in October 2025 of head wounds and other injuries. Since then, four other men suffered similar fatal injuries.
CNN's Randi Kaye has the details of the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Five men found dead, as you said, and this is all happening along this really popular trail in Lansing, Michigan where a lot of people go to bike and hike and take a walk.
And the victims all have one thing in common. They were all unhoused. So they didn't have anywhere else to live, and they were spending the night overnight on this trail.
Investigators believe that they are seeing a pattern of somebody targeting white unhoused men.
They are not ruling out the possibility that this could be a serial killer. They are looking at that possibility. They were all found along this river trail. It's about a 20-mile stretch of paved trail, and it connects a lot of the city's parks together.
One victim, just to give you an idea of the injuries that were caused, one victim was found unconscious with head trauma and a collapsed skull. Others had broken bones, broken ribs, facial lacerations.
And the authorities are saying that three out of five of these cases were homicides. The police chief says that he believes the attacks occurred overnight, when the victims were either lying down or possibly even asleep.
Here's a little bit more of what he had to say about the idea that this could be a serial killer.
CHIEF ROBERT BACKUS, LANSING MICHIGAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Outside of these five events, we have no other assaultive-related deaths on the river trail. One question that we are being asked is do we have a serial killer in Lansing?
What we need the public to know is that we are investigating all of these cases. They are all active investigations. and we are looking at the idea or the possibility that these may be related cases.
KAYE: Now, the mayor is telling the general public that the area is safe, that they can go there and walk their dogs or do whatever that these men were specifically targeted. The deaths, though, I should note, date back to October of last year, so a year ago. And the men range in age from 22 years old which was the fourth victim to 70 years old. Most of them, though, were in their 50s.
And it's also worth noting that there weren't any witnesses or cameras in the area that captured anything that might be useful to police. So now, they are stepping up their patrols in that area. They're adding more cameras as well.
They do have one suspect in custody that they believe could be connected to the fourth killing in this case, but they're not sure if he's connected to any of the others. They're looking into that possibility. But that is -- that investigation is still underway.
But again, one man in custody being evaluated for possibly being connected to just one of these.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Randi Kaye, thank you.
Coming up on THE STORY IS, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills come to L.A. for a Monday night football thriller.
[01:48:54]
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MICHAELSON: Monday night football ended in an overtime thriller as the Buffalo Bills kicked a 45-yard field goal with less than two minutes left to beat the L.A. Rams here in L.A. The lead in this game changed six times.
Believe it or not, it's the first time that Bills quarterback Josh Allen has won an overtime close game in his entire NFL career.
The Milwaukee Brewers moved one step closer to the World Series with a seven-four win over the L.A. Dodgers in the NLCS. The Brewers rallied from three separate deficits at home Monday before defeating the two- time defending World Series champion, Dodgers. The best of seven series resumes Wednesday night here in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium.
Meanwhile, in the American League, the Cleveland Guardians had come from behind win against the Tampa Bay Rays in game one of that series. A few key home runs gave them the win, seven-three. Series continues tomorrow.
Kelly Clarkson at the center of a social media dispute after a shopping trip in Brooklyn.
CNN producer Giana Asterito breaks down what both sides are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GIANA ASTERITO, CNN PRODUCER: A mechanical singing bird named Molly is causing absolute chaos online after sparking a feud between Kelly Clarkson and a Brooklyn novelty toy shop.
The Grammy winner claims she was given the, quote, "pretty woman treatment" at Art of Play. Looked at as if she couldn't afford the item and offered something comparable instead.
Clarkson took to X, writing in a now viral post quote, "Wow, dude, you're an idiot and just lost a huge sale".
[01:54:47]
ASTERITO: But the store had a response, Art of Play said on Instagram, quote. "Molly is permanently attached to the wall and isn't for sale."
Except Clarkson had a photo. She posted a picture showing what appears to be a $15,000 price tag next to Molly, writing, quote, "Ok, cool. So you're not only rude, you're also a liar."
Now, the store wasn't done either. It doubled down that Molly is permanently attached to the wall, and that they offered to sell Clarkson, Molly's twin, directly from the artist for $15,000.
They said they also offered to show her a different singing bird available for sale that day for about $2,000.
And people are picking sides on social media. Comments on video posts saying things like, quote, "I believe Kelly Clarkson."
While others have come to the store's defense, posting videos like this one. In Art of Play's first post, they said widespread outrage they've faced has been a, quote, "surreal experience". The shop says it has since reached out to Clarkson directly, hoping to clear up the quote, "misunderstanding".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
A NASA rover may have discovered proof of life on Mars, but there is a catch. The Perseverance rover collected a leopard spotted rock from a valley shaped by rivers more than 3 billion years ago.
The rock has numerous spots that could indicate biological life once existed on Mars, but that rock might not make it back to our planet any time soon.
The Mars sample return program was canceled by NASA to cut costs. The agency says the samples are safe on the rover, while the agency considers other options for bringing them back to earth.
Thanks for watching THE STORY IS. On the day ahead, our longtime panelist, Katie Zacharia, has her first
White House press briefing as press secretary.
With us tomorrow, our currents panelists, Fabian Nunez and Elisha Krauss. Who knows what will happen to them?
The news continues right here on CNN after the break.
I'll see you tomorrow.
[01:56:28]
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