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CNN Live Event/Special
Category 5 Hurricane Melissa Lashing Jamaica, Landfall In Hours; Japanese Prime Minister Welcomes Donald Trump And "New Golden Age" Of Alliance; One-On-One With California Governor Gavin Newsom. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired October 28, 2025 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:01:05]
ANNOUNCER: Live from Los Angeles. THE STORY IS with Elex Michaelson.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: It is 11:00 p.m. here in Los Angeles. I'm Elex Michaelson, and welcome to a bonus third hour of THE STORY IS which is on right now.
The top story is in Jamaica, which is bracing for a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane. The outer bands of Melissa are already hitting the island, but the storm's slow pace, this is the real issue here, increasing the likelihood of life threatening conditions because so much rain is coming down and not moving.
Emergency responders on the island have already received reports of landslides, downed power lines. The National Hurricane Center is warning of a potential total structural failure, particularly in the higher elevation areas. These are some new pictures we're seeing out of Jamaica.
The Health and Wellness minister there says three people died already, just preparing for the storm, and another minister warning that more could die if those official warnings are not heeded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEARNEL CHARLES JR., JAMAICAN MINISTER OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL SECURITY: It is very slow. It is very, very, very intense, and that means the outcome may potentially be extreme devastation and danger.
And I want to tell everyone who is listening, who is watching, the evacuation order is not a suggestion, it is a directive and a directive to save your life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is live. Allison, with a look at the storm, part of the challenge for a lot of these people, in terms of evacuating, you're literally on an island. It's not a lot of places you can go.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, which I think was really kind of the reason behind getting out. Because, you know, if you had said somewhere in the States, you could drive to a neighboring state if you felt like it was a safer option for you, they don't really have that option in Jamaica.
And we take a look at the latest update that just came in just a few moments ago. The 2:00 a.m. update here, and the only thing that's really changed is the pressure of the storm has actually dropped a little bit. That is actually a big indicator that the storm is strengthening even further, which is unfathomable in some regard, because it's already a very high-end Category 5 storm.
Sustained winds of 175 miles per hour, gusting well over 200 miles per hour, and the storm still continuing its very crawling-esque (ph) pace of only two miles per hour. We've talked about this before. The average human walking pace is about three to four miles per hour, so you could walk faster than this storm is actually making any forward progress.
It is still anticipated to remain a very powerful Category 5 storm for many more hours, and then gradually will start to weaken as it makes its way up towards eastern Cuba and eventually into the Bahamas, before finally exiting out over the open Atlantic later Wednesday.
Rain is going to be by far the biggest concern that we have with this storm. That's not to diminish some of the other impacts, but this is definitely going to be the most widespread, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that it is moving so incredibly slow, it allows a lot of water to be dumped over a tremendous amount of time. Some of these areas could be looking at up totals of upwards of 20 inches of rain.
MICHAELSON: How unusual is it for a storm to be moving this slow?
CHINCHAR: You know, it's not. You get some of these storms that crawl. I think the key thing for this one is that it has been moving so slow for days and days, usually you'll get them that will move slow for about a day or two, until a trough or a high pressure or something else kind of moves it along.
But this one has been moving at such an incredibly slow pace for multiple days in a row, which unfortunately, is leading to those significant rainfall totals.
MICHAELSON: And for viewers in the United States, does it seem like not going to impact too much?
CHINCHAR: The biggest impact the United States will face from this is once it gets past the Bahamas and slides up the East Coast, you're likely going to have the potential for an increased risk of, say, rip currents or high surf, but that's really going to be the extent of it.
MICHAELSON: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. We are all staying up late to keep an eye on this.
[02:05:01]
We also are heading to Tokyo where it's the middle of the afternoon and President Trump is about to leave for one of his final engagements in Japan. He's set to visit a naval base where U.S. troops are aboard the U.S. George Washington. President set to leave Japan on Wednesday.
Earlier, he met with the Prime Minister there, the leaders signing an agreement to secure the supply of critical minerals and rare earths and pledging to strengthen their partnership in the future, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to do tremendous trade together, I think, more than ever before. We are an ally at the strongest level, and it's a great honor to be with you, especially so early in what will be, I think, one of the greatest prime ministers.
SANAE TAKAICHI, JAPAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Both Japan and the United States have developed the greatest alliance in the world, and together with you, Japan is ready to contribute towards peace and stability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Hanako Montgomery is following the President's trip from Tokyo. So, clearly, they're getting along really, really well. What does that mean for the people of the United States and for the people of Japan, the fact that this bond is so tight at a time when President Trump's bonds aren't so tight with all their other countries?
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Elex, I think it's hugely significant that Japan and the U.S. are getting along. Clearly this bilateral meeting show that they have a really strong bond, and that they have a lot of chemistry, and we know that that was the primary goal of this bilateral meeting.
And as you said right now, Trump has caused a lot of riff among some of U.S. allies due to the tariff war that he's been waging. And Japan hasn't actually been totally clear of that, I was actually a victim of those tariffs as well.
But right now, we are seeing that Japan and the United States are getting along. They're moving past those differences and trying to find some common ground, and that common ground does have to do a lot with the Indo Pacific region, the security situation in the Indo Pacific region.
Trump, for example, signed that working agreement with Japan about rare earths. And this is a really significant deal, Elex, because Trump has a very difficult meeting coming up with the Chinese President Xi Jinping, where Trump is likely to bring up the fact that China controls most of the global supply chain for rare earths, and it's been restricting that right now, and that could threaten a lot of the global supply chain. So, Trump, before heading into that difficult meeting, he saw an ally
in Japan, and he was able to deliver that and clearly the two are going to be working together to develop that alliance even further throughout the rest of the day and throughout their terms, Elex.
MICHAELSON: That meeting with Xi Jinping happening on Thursday afternoon, local time. Hanako Montgomery, thank you for your reporting. We will keep an eye on President Trump's movements there.
But now we go to our exclusive conversation from earlier today with the governor of California, Gavin Newsom. Governor of the most populous state in the country, the fifth largest or fourth largest economy in the world, and he is now being open about the fact something he's been thinking about for a long time, the idea of potentially running for president. Here's our conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): People talk about it, and you'd be lying if it hasn't -- you haven't thought about or processed it, but that said, quite literally, I'm making the case. That's why I have this initiative, Prop 50. There may not be a 2028 election that's fee, free and fair.
So, my focus is central to getting over the hump in November 4th of this year, and then working on 2026 in the midterm reelections.
But look, when people, particularly people that have run before, etcetera, everybody knows the politician, the response to kabuki. Well, I'm just focusing on my day job, and we'll see where things go. So, I tried to be a little more honest about it, and people ran with it.
MICHAELSON: But to that point, for many years, you've said to me and several other people that you had subzero interest in running, and that, how many ways can I say no, so has something changed?
NEWSOM: Everything's changed. Everything changed here in L.A., you were part of it you saw with the federalization of the National Guard.
I just think we were on the other side of something radically different, not marginally different. Everything has changed in terms of my mindset, my focus, my energy, my perspective on the world we're living in, Trump and Trumpism, what he represents, and how serious and precious this moment is.
So, no, from that perspective, legitimately, I've changed. This country is changing, and I'm calling it out, and I just feel like we have responsibility to be a little bit more clear and concise and precise in terms of our efforts.
MICHAELSON: So, what is the thought process in terms of thinking about the presidential run, and why would you potentially not run?
NEWSOM: Because it's literally, truly, that's so -- it is now -- now I'm getting into the frame where, sincerely, I haven't thought about it beyond just a few people bringing things up and talking about the future of this country.
Look, my focus is on the essential nature of calling out what Trump is doing in real time, the shock and awe and how it's become more and more normalized and socialized. Things that are complete deviancies from normalcy. They have to be called out with some firmness and much more aggressiveness.
[02:10:10]
And so, look, that's my contribution to the moment, to the extent that contribution adds value to that conversation, that's for another time.
But right now, my focus is on the time I have between now and November 4th in winning Proposition 50.
MICHAELSON: So, past the midterms, before you even --
NEWSOM: Yes, not even -- the whole idea is so absurd to me in so many different respects, because this is not -- it was never on my bingo card. I didn't grow up saying one day, I'll be this person who's got a photo on the wall.
ZMICHAELSON: There are people that think that you were that way back in the day.
NEWSOM: There's -- well, that's a whole deeper conversation of perception versus reality and I have a lot of work to do on that, and I'm going to be doing a little more of that without this book. And now it sounds like, oh, here he's got a book. Of course, he's running.
But truly, I've got a book that I'm putting out next year, early next year, that I've been working on for four or five years, because I can't take the perspective and perception of me versus the reality of what I experienced growing up and in my own -- my own childhood and my own experiences. So, I'm trying to shape shift that from my perspective, not everyone else.
MICHAELSON: What's the biggest misconception about you?
NEWSOM: I just think this notion, this -- I think I don't know where, you know, I know where it comes from, but I think this notion of the silver spoon, I was born into great wealth and privilege, and it's quite the contrary, and I'm not trying. It's not a racial Alger story. I'm not trying to over romanticize the -- you know, a contra narrative, but it's remarkable how that perception has dominated so much of the conversation that even my friends have about me. They don't know much about me.
And so, just for the record, setting it straight for my kids and grandkids, I'm going to be pushing back in that respect.
MICHAELSON: I mean, you spent most your childhood with a single mother who was, you know, struggled economically, had foster family, a different experience than the way a lot of people think.
NEWSOM: Completely. And, you know, my mom was in 1920 when she was pregnant with me. A few years later, she was separated with two kids, and she just hustled to make ends meet. She had two, three jobs all her life, and, you know, it's just hard work and grit. And I was proud of that. My dad struggling for those early years, he's sort of broken, he said and broke. He attempted to run for elected office. It's one of the reasons my mom never wanted to see me sitting here with you as governor of California or even as former mayor of San Francisco. She never wanted that path that my father went on to be my path, because it had broken him in many respects.
So, I'm sober about all of this in the context of the humility and grace that I'm sitting here, that we're here, the contribution she made, the sacrifices she made for me. I lost her almost 20 plus years ago to breast cancer. I lost my father as well, and I'm proud of them both.
But again, that story isn't necessarily present. May not be a story anyone gives a damn about, but it's important to me, and as I said, I got four kids, I hope it's important to them.
MICHAELSON: And oftentimes people will release books like that before a presidential run.
NEWSOM: The timing literally, it's been delayed for years. So, I'll never win that argument. No one will believe me but that's the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Coming up, more of our exclusive conversation with the governor of California. As Californians vote on a referendum that could redraw the state's political map, the governor says the time has come to fight fire with fire. What could that mean for the midterm elections, that's next.
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[02:17:15]
MICHAELSON: California voters are already heading to the polls for special election on redistricting that could change the state's congressional makeup.
Now, the Trump administration is sending federal election monitors to supervise the vote. Part of my exclusive interview with the governor, Gavin Newsom, I asked what he thinks is behind that move.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWSOM: I mean, it's a pattern in practice, they're doing it as part of an intimidation strategy. They're trying to suppress the vote. They're trying to chill the freedom of speech. We've seen that with this private police force, these increasing encroachment in terms of our civil liberties, no due process, people with masks jumping out of unmarked cars. We're seeing that in terms of the federalization, the militarization of American cities with troops. It is part of practice from this administration. They have no business being here. They have no basis being here for
exactly the reasons you framed. It's a statewide election for a statewide constitutional amendment.
And so, there's no pattern of practice in the past of violations of the Voting Rights Act. And all of a sudden, now they seem to be champions of the Voting Rights Act, quite curiously, in some of the most diverse districts in this state at a particular curious and important time in American history, not just California history.
MICHAELSON: Obviously 2024 was a federal election, but the Biden administration said DOJ monitors to 87 different jurisdictions in that election, the California GOP put up this on to X saying, governor, there's nothing to hide or nothing wrong. Why the concern in having the DOJ observe, what's wrong with transparency?
NEWSOM: Transparency, let's have the transparency what went in to their request, allegedly, of the Department of Justice, the state GOP, and why they picked these particular five counties, and what allegations or what assertions, and what basis of fact are they asserting that there's been violations in the past? Why these counties? Why now? Why a statewide election very different than other federal elections or elections with candidates on the ballot? This is again a proposition.
Good people can disagree. They will be accommodated as everyone should be accommodated. They'll have determinations at the county level with the registrars, to the extent they want to cooperate. That's up to them.
I'm just arguing for people to keep their eyes wide open at what's going on in the United States of America. I said this months and months ago, what's happening in L.A., what's happened in California is a preview of things to come. Period full stop. It's exactly what we said was going to happen. It's happening in places like D.C. It's obviously happened in Portland and Chicago. It's going to be happening in other cities as it relates to the federalization the guard, I said the same thing when we kicked off the Prop 50 campaign at the democracy center, when masked man and this guy, Bovino, the great Gregory Bovino came out, arrested a poor soul was collateral damage because he tried to chill free speech and expression as it relates to our campaign kickoff, that that's a preview of things to come in polling booths and voting places across this country.
[02:20:10]
And watch this space with the DOJ, this is all teen up, 2026 Donald Trump does not believe in fair and free elections. He's trying to rig the 2026 election in plain and open sight, and that is obvious to anyone that's paying attention, and he's just winding up.
MICHAELSON: So, let's talk about Prop 50, because that is a lot of what you're thinking about here. So, background for Prop 50 that people haven't been paying that close attention to this, President Trump says to the governor of Texas that he would like to have five Republican seats in Texas. They redraw the congressional map there. California Democrats say if you're going to do that, we should redraw our map to have five democratic seats here. There's now a proposition to get rid of independent redistricting commission until 2031 in order to create a new map that will probably help the Democrats.
There are some people that say two wrongs don't make a right. Why are they wrong?
NEWSOM: Well, look, let's go back. What you said was perfectly accurate, but you missed one key distinction. Donald Trump said he, "Was entitled." That should ssend a chill everyone watching, Democrats, Republicans. He said he was entitled to five seats. That's exactly what Greg Abbott and the legislature did in Texas. They didn't stop there. They're in Missouri. They're now moving in Indiana with a special session. They just redistricted in North Carolina, and obviously Ron DeSantis is going to get into this.
These guys are not screwing around. They're ruthless. They're trying to rig the election before one vote is cast. What they expected us to do was cast aspersions. Maybe write an op-ed, maybe have a candlelight vigil, walk the streets, talk about the way the world should be maybe try to win the argument as their consolidating power, they did not expect us to come up with a strategy to counterbalance things so that we can rebalance and have a chance have this country have a chance of holding our Republican democracy, so we can actually Celebrate the 250th anniversary, as opposed to tearing down these enduring values of our founding fathers.
So, our approach is, yes, fight fire with fire. It's not one hand tied behind our back. It's not about winning an argument. It's about recognizing the other side is not screwing around no norms. They're an open plain sight, doing everything they can to wreck this republic and our democracy.
It started with January 6th. He tried to light democracy on fire. He tried to wreck this country. He dialed for 11,000-12,000 seats in with the Secretary of State in Georgia, and now he is doing something unprecedented in American history, calling governors to rig the midterm maps. Wake up.
MICHAELSON: So, the leading opponent of Proposition 50 in terms of name recognition, is Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor who was one of the champions of independent redistricting. I talked to him last week about you and about this fight. Here's some of what he had to say.
MICHAELSON: If you're a California Democrat and you want this to be fair, what are you -- what are you supposed to do? Like, what's the alternative to Prop 50?
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, FORMER GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA: If I would be a Democrat, I would say, outperform Trump. Don't out cheat Trump, but outperform Trump.
MICHAELSON: What's your question to Governor Newsom?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Look, as you know, I make sure not to make it personal, right? So, I will never say anything about Governor Newsom. I told him that I totally understand where he's coming from. Because he wants to run for president. He wants to show to the Democratic Party I can be your savior. So, I understand all that, where he's coming from.
He doesn't care about all of this, about keeping the commission and all this stuff, by the way, he says the politicians say -- well, the politicians say this is temporary. Remember, the longest program is a government program that is temporary.
MICHAELSON: So, to that point, the statute says that this ends in 2031. But the sort of de facto, though, is the Democrats get into these seats. They're comfortable in these seats. They like the power. Texas Republicans get into their seats. They like it. So, why would it go back?
NEWSOM: Well, they won't have my support. This is temporary. It's transparent and it's democratic. It's the first maps that have ever been put in front of the voters, and that's important.
But I also want to put this in front of your viewers. What Arnold Schwarzenegger said was not true. He's a friend. This is not personal. What he said was not true.
I absolutely affirm and support redistricting. In fact, this initiative also does just that, national redistricting, not going into these fights that have national implications, state by state, with one arm tied behind back.
And by the way, I have receipts on that. I was mayor of San Francisco, one of the only Democrats that came out in opposition of the repeal of our independent redistricting commission. This keeps the Independent Redistricting Commission for statewide races, Senate, assembly races, the Board of Equalization. It just changes it temporarily in response to this unprecedented assault on the rules of the game.
[02:25:15]
And with due respect to the former governor, he should understand rules of the game. You can't enter into a contest when the other side doesn't play by any set of rules. That's not a fair game. That's rigged. In any fair game, we're going to win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The governor also has some interesting thoughts on Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for New York City Mayor, who's been called a rising star, but who also is a Democratic socialist. And why Newsom says Democrats, including Democrat socialists, need to get together and get tougher.
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MICHAELSON: It is 1:29 a.m. in Kingston, Jamaica, and 11:29 p.m. here in Los Angeles. Welcome back to THE STORY IS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW HOLNESS, JAMAICAN PRIME MINISTER: I don't believe there's any infrastructure within this region that could withstand a Category 5 storm, so there could be significant dislocation. And I urge all Jamaicans and people who are friendly, well-wishers of Jamaica to continue to pray that this hurricane does not hit us directly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:30:00]
MICHAELSON: That was the Jamaican prime minister speaking to CNN with an ominous warning about the devastation still to come from Hurricane Melissa. Here is a look. Check this out. This is the eye of the storm. It is a Category 5 Storm, which is the strongest storm we've seen on Planet Earth this whole year. It is already hitting Jamaica right now. Top winds 175 miles per hour -- 175 miles per hour. Landfall on the island's southwestern coast is expected in a matter of hours, early morning time. The big concern is just how slow Melissa is moving, which makes it a much bigger chance of life-threatening conditions.
Now, we take you live to Japan. This is a picture right now from there where President Trump is set to speak to U.S. troops aboard the USS George Washington. He is at the airbase there and you see they got the music ready. They got the whole crowd in place, just waiting for the president to show up on stage.
Just a short time ago, we saw the president visiting with families of Japanese citizens that were abducted by North Korea in the late-'70s and '80s. Those families are hoping that President Trump would bring up that matter if he meets with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong- Un, before returning to the U.S. The big question is, will that meeting happen So far, there are no scheduled plans. When asked by reporters if a meeting was in the cards, the president responded, "We'll see what's going on."
More now from my exclusive interview with California Governor, Gavin Newsom. We spoke about another Democrat in the spotlight these days, New York mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, a proud Democratic socialist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I don't think he's bad for the party. I think the way he has campaigned has been extraordinary. I think the way he's energized and communicated successfully, as clues (ph) is something we can look at as it relates to policy positions. Good people can disagree, but I tell you, those that are going to have the punditry, the lazy punditry, that somehow he's the future of the Democratic Party versus these two extraordinary governors in New Jersey and Virginia, you're going to have to square the fact they ran very different campaigns with different policy platforms.
Everyone running to represent their regions, their districts. But bottom line is the way he's campaigned --
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: -- I think has really energized the base of this party, and I think there's a lot that could be learned from that.
MICHAELSON: Do you think Democratic socialism has a home in the Democratic Party?
NEWSOM: It's -- I think we have to have a bigger tent. I think the biggest problem with the Democratic Party is a party when I grew up, we had a big tent party. We could disagree on certain issues without being disagreeable. We need to, we need to start building those coalitions back. And so you can disagree on certain issues, but when we fundamentally believe in the values of growth and inclusion, and we believe in social justice, racial justice, economic justice, the things that bind us together, I think we're all better off if we can sort of reconcile those differences.
MICHAELSON: You think the Democratic Party has been weak. How so?
NEWSOM: In every respect, I think weak and meek, I mean, look that -- you heard this line a million times. It's not even novel to say it. And it really resonated to me years and years ago. Bill Clinton said it, I think he was former president at the time, we got shellacked on other midterms. He said, given the choice, the American people always support strong and wrong versus weak and right. There's something to that. And I think we've appeared weak --
MICHAELSON: on what?
NEWSOM: -- over a number of issues. We've lost the national election. We lost both the House and the Senate. We lost our sense -- I think we lost our mojo. We lost our confidence, and we've been on our heels. We've got a guy who knows how to communicate. It's terrible order (ph). He's dull beyond words, but he's a great communicator, Trump, he's flooding the zone. There's an asymmetry as it relates to the way he's able to communicate, and we haven't been able to respond.
But again, November 4th, I really believe is a moment, a profound and consequential moment that's going to give us momentum into 2026. And look what happens, in November of 2026, Donald Trump's presidency de facto ends. You'll see the President of the United States fire and fury signifying a lot less. But when we take back that House, when Speaker Jeffries is sworn in, we'll finally have a co-equal branch of government, not a supine Congress and a supine Supreme Court. By the way, a Supreme Court that's now encouraging and promoting racial profiling. We'll get to that I hope at some point today.
(LAUGH)
MICHAELSON: So, but based off of what you're saying, was President Biden and Vice President Harris weak?
NEWSOM: No. I think the outcome of the election when you lose, and we lost badly, we lost badly.
MICHAELSON: Yeah. NEWSOM: We lost the -- we lost electoral vote, all seven swing states. We lost the popular vote, and we lost the House and Senate. You can't deny that. Those are fundamental facts, and you come from that. And then we're struggling with message. We've got new leadership at the DNC. We've got transition there, and we're all trying to figure out what happened, what went wrong. And then you've got this fire in fury from Donald Trump, and he's moving aggressively, pushing back norms, doesn't care about rules or regulations -- again, the rule of Don, not the rule of law.
[02:35:00]
And so this -- in that -- all that chaos was this sort of crisis of confidence that I think we're going to find again. We saw it with the people, seven plus million people that came out in the "No Kings" rally.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: We're now supported by that. Jeffries and Schumer, I think, are doing an outstanding job, shape shifting the shutdown. Trump has failed on the shutdown.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: To define it in a way that it's hurting the Democrats more than it's hurting his own party, which is a failure on his part and a strength of the Democratic message, because healthcare is a resonant issue that crosses over and not just Democrats and Republicans. I'm very, very excited about this moment for the Democratic Party. I think the moments to come, we are -- we are in a very good position compared to where we've been.
MICHAELSON: Obviously, we're also in a very divided time as a country. Part of what you've tried to do with your podcast is at least have conversations with people on the other side. The first conversation was with Charlie Kirk.
NEWSOM: Yeah.
MICHAELSON: And this is how you started that podcast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWSOM: Literally last night, trying to put my son to bed, he's like, no, dad, I just -- what time -- what time is Charlie going to be here? What time? And I'm like, dude, you're in school tomorrow. He's 13. He's like, no, no. This morning, wakes up at six something. He's like, I'm coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So that's your son.
NEWSOM: Yeah. MICHAELSON: Obviously, a fan of Charlie Kirk. What was the conversation like between you and your son after Charlie Kirk was assassinated?
NEWSOM: Well, he called me, I don't know how he got a phone, but he called me from school that day, really alarmed and all his friends were around the phone that wanted me to somehow express or understand what was going on. He wanted to know if he was dead. He wasn't a fan of him as much as he was familiar with him.
And it was very revelatory for me, because he's also out there. My son is 11, 12 years old. He's sitting there talking to me about not just Charlie Kirk, but folks like Andrew Tate and these sort of -- beyond Joe Rogan. In many ways, sort of Facebook in so many respects of sort of this novelty of the pod manosphere, et cetera. And it was so interesting to me in that context that he knew so much about Kirk, and that was a true story. Didn't know what he was staying or standing for. He didn't even have his strong position himself. But you know what? He felt like Charlie was talking to him and other young men and boys.
And I think the Democratic Party has failed in that respect. We have abandoned our young men and boys in terms of focusing on them, telling them they matter and we care. Young folks are in a crisis in this country, first generation in our lifetime, 30 and younger not doing better than their parents.
Suicide rates, educational attainment, dropouts, deaths of despair, across the spectrum, this is code red. And if that happened to any group, Democrats would be jumping over themselves to identify the needs of those groups. So I appreciated that, and it's one of the reasons I had Charlie on, not to debate him, but to get in under the hood and to understand why he and others have been so successful in that space.
And that was demonstrated by the example by the outcome of the election and how Trump also exploited that, not with policy, but through attention. And I think we need to give it more attention. I'm doing that in terms of our executive order in the state. We're doing it at scale. And I know a number of other governors are focusing on this as well.
MICHAELSON: But just on a human level, was that scary?
NEWSOM: Yeah.
MICHAELSON: The fact that he was, and that that's where our conversation is, and that's what's happening.
NEWSOM: Yeah.
MICHAELSON: Has that made you think differently about your own safety and --
NEWSOM: Well, of course. I mean, look, we -- our teams were talking all the time. I mean, Charlie went -- right after that podcast, he just blasted me for two months. He must have run --
MICHAELSON: He did his first interview with me after that.
NEWSOM: Yeah.
(LAUGH)
MICHAELSON: He just --
NEWSOM: He ripped me apart. Look, that's not what -- we do that -- I go on, I'll do the DeSantis stuff. I'll sit there debating Hannity and go on all the right wing thing. I do that. But this podcast was trying to find the humanity. We all want to be loved, need to be loved. We all want to be protected, connected and respected too. And I think there's some -- there's some humanity here that needs to also be cultivated as we're going back and forth.
I mean, look, I extended that arm to Donald Trump here. The tarmac extended my time and attention to him, 90 minutes in the Oval Office, up until a phone call on a Friday night where we were talking about everything but nationalizing or federalizing the National Guard. And then all of a sudden, I thought, well, this is -- this guy has lied to me. He lied to the American people about that conversation.
And that, for me, as I told you, back to the origin story here of why I feel like I've changed, is for me, everything changed. This guy is not screwing around, and this moment requires a clarity and conviction.
MICHAELSON: And part of that change was the memes that your office has done. We've got some examples of some of those. We've got like Marie Antoinette --
NEWSOM: Yeah.
MICHAELSON: -- from him.
NEWSOM: Well, that seems appropriate --
(CROSSTALK)
NEWSOM: -- with a ballroom. $300 million, by the way, it won't be $300 million. It'll probably be $400 million or $500 million when it's done.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
(LAUGH)
MICHAELSON: We've seen others, like where is the beef? And --
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAELSON: What is the --
NEWSOM: Yeah. I don't know about that one. [02:40:00]
MICHAELSON: -- obviously, Democrats find this funny. A lot of Republicans find it annoying.
NEWSOM: Yeah.
MICHAELSON: It is intended to put a mirror up to what Trump is doing.
NEWSOM: That's good (ph).
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAELSON: Do you ever worry, though, that it actually contributes to more division in this country?
NEWSOM: No, I don't think, I mean, how can -- Donald Trump takes -- floods that zone. He's division and chaos. He's -- that's -- that's what he sells. And he sells it hourly, daily at scale. Humiliating people, vulnerable communities in particular, talking down in past folks (ph). That said, we put a mirror up on the absurdity of the President of the United States at all caps. Thank you for the attention to this matter. As he puts his picture up there on Mount Rushmore, as he puts his picture as in -- as a play -- play (ph) as the Pope.
As he sits there now with an F-14 or 15 or whatever the hell was in the A.I.-generated video, dumping SHIT, poop all over the American people. I remember the good old days of deplorables. And this guy is doing that to people that are out there expressing their patriotic First Amendment rights of free expression on "No Kings" Day, where there were no images of chaos, no images that they asserted would be the dominant memes and images coming out of that parade, out of that day of resistance.
And so, I'm trying to push back, and I think it's important because communication matters, driving the narrative matters. Substance prop 50, substance 53 lawsuits against the administration substance $11 insulin, $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers, $20 minimum wage for fast food workers, a worker-centered career education strategy with over 600,000 new apprenticeships, reforming our civil service system, a brand new grade, pre-K for all, improved test scores in California. I can go through a list, universal healthcare, the whole thing.
Substance, at the same time, we've got to drive the narrative. Donald Trump, again, master communicator. We need to learn from that. And I'm trying to put a mirror up. I'm iterating. I'm not trying to say everybody else should follow, but I do think we are not as effective as we need to be on the communication side.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Next up, Governor Newsom's feud with Joe Rogan. Plus, we'll look back on some Halloween fun with the Newsom family through the year. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:45:18]
MICHAELSON: Now to more of our exclusive interview with Governor Gavin Newsom, here in our studio. We spoke about his online feud with podcaster, Joe Rogan, among other critics, as many look to blame the governor's policies for the ongoing issues facing California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWSOM: For years and years, he's been attacking me, and it's one way, and he won't have me on. He is consistently not on me (ph). By the way, I'm moving on. I have no interest. I --
MICHAELSON: You're done with him?
NEWSOM: Joe Rogan is the Facebook of podcasting. He was sitting across one of the -- the brightest minds in podcasting right now. The guy was in the mic and there are a lot of people at the mic doing extraordinary things.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: -- in podcasting.
MICHAELSON: I mean, Joe Rogan's got a pretty big audience still though.
NEWSOM: He does. You know what? But with all due respect, if he's -- if he has a big audience and he -- but he doesn't have big enough confidence, I didn't go there, to have me on.
MICHAELSON: Well, you've called him a chicken, yeah.
NEWSOM: But he's been attacking for -- but here's the thing, these guys, they all have something in common. It's one way they attack. They belittle, they demean, they take things out of context. But this is a serious thing.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: And so often, we just sit back and go, oh God, I really would love to go on. Oh, if Kamala Harris just went on Joe Rogan, she would've won. It's not -- it's so much deeper than that. And the unwillingness for a guy like that to even have the common courtesy to attack someone and not have the decency to say, you know what? Why don't you have a chance to come on, let's have a civil dialog. I've watched you on podcasts with like Shawn Ryan.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: He's a close buddy of his. He had the courage to have me on for four hours.
MICHAELSON: Four hours. Right. NEWSOM: Sean Hannity, folks like that. And so if I can go on Shawn Ryan and Sean Hannity, what are you worried about? What are you, Joe? You're going to cook me or I'm going to cook myself.
(LAUGH)
NEWSOM: But again, I -- this is an opportunity. Thank you. I have zero interest to going on Joe Rogan. I've moved on.
MICHAELSON: Joe Rogan's point though, which is -- which is what your critics would say, and obviously he's one of them, is that they feel like you haven't done that great a job in California.
NEWSOM: Yeah (ph).
MICHAELSON: That the housing affordability is a huge issue. We're highest gas prices. We've got -- it's more expensive to live here than anywhere else. And they blame your policies for that.
NEWSOM: OK. We've gone from the six largest economy since I got here to the fourth largest economy.
MICHAELSON: You still have huge problems with income inequality. And we --
NEWSOM: We were number three in the number of Fortune 500 companies. Here, we are now number one with 58 Fortune 500 companies. We dominate in A.I., number one in factory jobs, number one in two-way trade, direct foreign investment. We are $4.1 trillion (inaudible) done.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: The most significant housing reforms in U.S. history. We've just passed some of the most consequential housing reforms. You saw we had lowered our unsheltered homeless rate. You just listed off the grievances.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: I'm going to list off the particulars in response.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: We're finally seeing real progress on homelessness. These are decades going (ph). You saw Arnold Schwarzenegger. We had peak homelessness under Arnold.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: -- in 2004. So you're absolutely right, decades and decades, we have failed on the issue of housing affordability, explains more things in more ways on more days about what's wrong with this state.
MICHAELSON: Biggest problem in the state. Right?
NEWSOM: And we have made major progress on fundamental reforms, moving from a NIMBY mindset to INBI mindset, housing accountability units. We're suing cities that are not producing enough housing. We are flooding the zones in terms of new zoning reforms, land use reforms. And we've empowered now local communities in a way that we haven't in the past.
So those are legit critiques. Those are my own critiques of my own state.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: But again, my state of mind is let's dialog with these things. He doesn't want to have those dialog. He wants to have a one way conversation.
(LAUGH)
NEWSOM: And I totally understand it, and we've moved on.
MICHAELSON: But you -- OK. But you understand how, for some people, a lot of those issues, what you talked about are great for people at the top. But a lot of folks at the bottom are struggling.
NEWSOM: Well, $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: When you have 20 Republican states with $7.25 minimum wage, are you kidding?
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: Deaths of despair, productivity, wages lower in those states. Higher tax rates in Texas and Florida than California for working people.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: Our progressive tax rate, we just did a $60 billion tax rebate, a new bill to address the issue of utility costs and burdens. We have the most aggressive statewide rent control reforms in the nation.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: I'd go down a hundred things. I mean, the work we did --
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: Seriously, on pre-K for all, after school for all, summer school for all, community schools models, work we're doing on childcare. Almost 200,000 new subsidized childcare slots. The work we're doing on the environment.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: Low carbon, green growth. I'm prideful of all of those things, and I can go down a list.
MICHAELSON: Sure.
NEWSOM: -- that's even deeper, but a hundred percent right. California, for decades, has struggled with the issue of affordability. California for decades has had challenge in this space, but never first time in decades have we flooded the zone on fundamental reforms in this space. And I'm very proud of the legislature and their hard work in this space as well.
[02:50:00]
MICHAELSON: Let's end with a few fun things. It's Halloween this week, and I know your family loves Halloween.
NEWSOM: You know what we don't love?
MICHAELSON: What?
NEWSOM: That the cost of candy is up 10.8 percent.
MICHAELSON: OK.
NEWSOM: -- because of this administration. The cost of my coffee up 20.9 percent since Trump was elected to office.
MICHAELSON: I was trying to do something. That's --
(CROSSTALK)
NEWSOM: (Inaudible) those issues.
(LAUGH)
MICHAELSON: OK. But it's -- it's Halloween, right?
NEWSOM: I know.
MICHAELSON: And you guys have posted your family pictures on Halloween before. You've had some great outfits in the past. This was more of a --
(CROSSTALK)
NEWSOM: I'm a (ph) Batman.
MICHAELSON: -- the superhero thing.
NEWSOM: I miss --
MICHAELSON: Some of them have been --
NEWSOM: I miss those guys more.
MICHAELSON: -- more political of nature.
(LAUGH)
MICHAELSON: This is when you were Supreme Court justices, I think, one year you were also candidates for president. This was a Star Wars year.
NEWSOM: Oh my gosh.
MICHAELSON: Are you -- are you going to be doing a group Halloween? And if so, what is it? And who decides that?
NEWSOM: A few years ago, we dressed up as the candidates for president.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: And little Dutchie, who was seven or eight, was dressed up as Bernie Sanders.
MICHAELSON: Right.
NEWSOM: And he still goes, in millionaires and billionaires --
(LAUGH)
NEWSOM: He still can't get it out of his head.
MICHAELSON: Your kids are like --
NEWSOM: My wife was Elizabeth Warren. I was Joe Biden.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: -- which I was proud to be now. I'll still have his back. That was a lot of fun. Now, my wife is going to come up with these costumes.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
NEWSOM: The kids, this is bigger than Christmas for my children.
MICHAELSON: Do they?
NEWSOM: There's something about Halloween. I don't know what it is.
MICHAELSON: Did they like it if you do the political costumes, or would they rather be the superheroes?
NEWSOM: No, they were -- they were over that. They're like, why? You know, it is like, what if I want to be Buttigieg? No, I want to be --
(LAUGH)
NEWSOM: So it was great. And, but I don't know what it is. Was it my gray hair that I think is the reason I was Biden.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MICHAELSON: Up next, Breaking News in the world of sports. You want to stay here for this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:55:30]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Freddie Freeman just hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th inning for the Dodgers to win Game 3 of the World Series at home, the second straight World Series that he has hit a walk-off home run at home for a Dodgers win. Andy Scholes is in the middle of the biggest party in all of Southern California right now. What's happening at Dodgers Stadium?
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Elex, these -- these fans made it -- these fans made it. He's very excited. It was more than six hours of baseball, the longest, tied the brew (ph), the longest World Series game in the history. And in the end, they all get to go home happy because Freddie Freeman as you saw, hit that walk-off home run over the center field wall. And now, the Dodgers have a 2-1 lead in this series.
It was a battle out here, Elex. I mean, all of these fans, they (inaudible) fans, reopened them. They had two seventh inning stretches in this game. Another one of the 14th inning. And in the end, as you can see, all these Dodgers fans getting to go home happy. The Freddie chants going into the parking lot right now. What an atmosphere this was. It's definitely going to be a World Series game that none of these fans here in L.A. ever forget.
MICHAELSON: Yeah. Shohei Ohtani reached base nine times in the game, which is a record. But Freddie Freeman, I mean Reggie Jackson was known as Mr. October. Is Freddie Freeman now forever Mr. October? Perhaps the greatest clutch (ph) performer ever.
CROWD: Freddie. Freddie. Freddie. Freddie. Freddie.
SCHOLES: (Inaudible) The fans can't get enough of it. (inaudible). Like I said, 2018, Dodgers won (inaudible).
CROWD: Freddie. Freddie. Freddie. Freddie. Freddie.
MICHAELSON: Yeah, it's pandemonium.
CROWD: Freddie. Freddie. Freddie. Freddie. Freddie.
SCHOLES: (Inaudible) .
MICHAELSON: OK. Thank you, Andy. Have fun out there. It's almost midnight here in California and the party is on. Thanks for joining us for the first-ever edition of "The Story Is," which ends with the Dodger win. I'm Elex Michaelson. The news continues with Rosemary Church who probably won't have quite as much of a party, after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00]
