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CNN Live Event/Special
Dodgers Hold Off Blue Jays To Send World Series To Game 7; Judges Order Trump Administration To Fund SNAP Payments; U.S. Offers Humanitarian Aid To Cuba After Hurricane; One-On-One With Comedian, Impressionist Matt Friend. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired November 01, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Or Saturday morning, depending on where you are right here.
LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: I love it. I cannot wait to watch the show. That lineup you have me at hello and Cracker Jacks. So anyway, Elex, thank you. Have a great show.
MICHAELSON: Thank you very much. Happy Halloween to you, Laura. Have a great weekend. And The Story Is starts right now.
The story is food fight. Democrats and Republicans sparring over food assistance. We've got new reaction just in from President Trump.
Plus, the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, exclusively with us on our set live. The story is the World Series. We're live in Toronto and Los Angeles.
Plus, the story is Halloween. Take you to the biggest and most creative celebrations from around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to dress up as myself because I'm the greatest costume anybody could ever imagine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Impressionist Matt Friend is here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles. The Story Is with Elex Michelson.
We begin with breaking news in the world of sports. The World Series headed to a winner take all game seven moments ago. You see it right there. Kiki Hernandez to Miggy Rojas. Dodgers celebrating, holding on to beat the Blue Jays 3 to 1 at the Rogers Center. Thrilling double play there. The game really was a pitcher's duel through all nine innings.
The only runs scored were in the third inning. And from then on, defense really was the name of the game. The Jays almost tied things up in the Bob the 9th. But you see it right there, that clutch play. Dodgers going crazy because tomorrow, the two best words in all of sports, game seven.
We will have live coverage in Canada in a moment, but we start here with breaking news in the world of politics. Two federal judges are now requiring the Trump administration to continue funding food stamp benefits during the government shutdown. U.S. Department of Agriculture will have to tap into billions of dollars in emergency funds, but it will not be enough to cover all of the SNAP payments for tens of millions of Americans.
President Trump says he still needs some clarification from the courts. Writing on social media, quote, our government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available. He blamed Democrats for pretty much everything.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: All they have to do is say the government is open and that's the end of it. And you know, largely, when you talk about SNAP, you're talking about largely Democrats. But I'm president. I want to help everybody. I want to help Democrats and Republicans. But when you're talking about snap, if you look, it's largely Democrats. They're hurting their own people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, are you going to meet with Democratic leadership?
TRUMP: I'm always going to meet. All they have to do is open up the country. Let them open up the country. And we'll meet. We'll meet very quickly. But they have to open up the country. It's their fault. Everything is their fault. It's so easily solved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: President Trump made those comments before heading to a Halloween Party at Mar-a-Lago, his club. The White House says theme was inspired by the Great Gatsby, which was, of course, about rich people partying. The president chose not to wear a costume. Several other people there did.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass just took some action on SNAP benefits. She joins us live here in studio. Mayor welcome to the story is for the first time.
MAYOR KAREN BASS (D) LOS ANGELES: Thank you and congratulations again.
MICHAELSON: Thank you very much. Nice to have an L.A. based show, right?
BASS: Right. Exactly.
MICHAELSON: Let's talk about SNAP and your reaction to what you're seeing in terms of the government shutdown right now.
BASS: Well, first of all, I'm glad that the court said that SNAP needs to continue to be funded. The question is will the president go along with that and actually fund SNAP? But we have to address people's immediate needs and fear and concern right now.
So in Los Angeles, in the mayor's office, we will be distributing resources to individuals and people can go online for laforfamilies.org to get those resources. They'll be distributed at our family resource centers and you can find out where those are.
People need food immediately and, you know, food banks, resources are being sent to food banks. But this is just really a shame.
MICHAELSON: I mean, you were in Congress before you were the mayor.
BASS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Does the president, though, have a point that the Democrats could say, we're going to pass a continuing resolution, we're going to reopen the government and then we're going to negotiate. Isn't it in some ways a Democratic shutdown?
BASS: No. I mean, one of the things that was interesting that he said is that, you know, food stamps are primarily used by Democrats, which is just not the case at all. Republicans represent many, many, many areas where people are in need of food stamps.
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But the real issue that is keeping the government closed is the issue of health care. So not only are people going to experience a reduction in food stamps, but their premiums for health care are going to skyrocket in just a few weeks. And I know that's what my Democratic colleagues are back there fighting for.
MICHAELSON: You are out with a brand new USA Today op-ed today. We want to put it up on the screen. Here's the title and it is, here's how we win against President Trump, essentially making an argument about how L.A. has led in certain effects, pushing back on the president. What is your main argument?
BASS: Well, the main thing is that what happened here, we said when it did that it was an experiment and that experiment was going to spread around the country.
MICHAELSON: You're talking about --
BASS: The military intervention in our city, something that has never happened to before, especially that was completely unwarranted. And so cities absolutely need to resist. It's important to protest, but it is critically important that the protests be peaceful. And it is a call to look back at past social movements.
To me, this is a moral outrage. The fear that spread over our city with people essentially being hunted down in the streets, being afraid to go to their kid's graduations, people afraid to go to work, to go to restaurants. And the way that it has hit our economy, we can't just sit back and take this. We can never allow this to be normalized. And so what the editorial is saying, the op-ed is saying is that we
absolutely have to resist this. It is a moral outrage, but it must be done in an organized manner, in a peaceful manner.
MICHAELSON: You know, the mayor of San Francisco has been much more quiet than you on a lot of this. And he sort of privately negotiated a way apparently for the troops not to come into his city. Is that actually a better, more effective approach to not sort of poke the bear?
BASS: Yes. But let me just tell you, remember what happened here. We had notice, no warning. We woke up one day to an invasion in our city. That is exactly what happened. I was with the mayor, by the way, that day when he was waiting for the troops.
He had been given warning for a long time and, you know, he reached out and we had a conversation about it and I told him, you know, it would be a great idea, reach out to the president. I certainly put in a call. I didn't get mine returned. But again, we had no warning, we had notice.
MICHAELSON: You know, some in the Trump administration will take issue with that word invasion, basically saying that they have a legal right to be here that.
BASS: Well, you know, I don't care if they take issue with it. That's exactly what happened. We had the seizure of the federal government, seized power away from our governor, who is essentially the commander- in-chief of the National Guard. He federalized the troops and brought them to LA. We did not need them, we did not want them. And essentially you had 4,000 young people, young men and women, who were doing virtually nothing here.
MICHAELSON: And that case is now being adjudicated. It'll be interesting to see what happens as it continues through the courts.
Meanwhile, there's an L.A. Times story getting a whole lot of attention that just came out this week.
BASS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: We want to show the headline for that. It says, days before the Palisades firefighters were ordered to leave smoldering burn site. Essentially January 1st, there was a small fire. Firefighters left that site. Days later that became the Palisades fire, which became the deadliest and most dangerous fire in the -- most destructive fire, I should say, in the history of Los Angeles.
BASS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: How did that happen? Why did the firefighters leave even though they said in text messages we should stay?
BASS: Right. Well, I found it extremely troubling and I believe and called for an investigation today. You know, the after action report that was released a couple of weeks ago was an after action report on the January 7th fire. This is the January 1st one.
And so we absolutely have to understand that. I do know in reading the article and speaking to some of the firefighters that many of them thought the fire was out, but clearly not enough was done. Clearly.
MICHAELSON: When did you find out about these text messages?
BASS: I found out about the text messages in the L.A. Times.
MICHAELSON: So you had no warning about that at all?
BAS: Absolutely. No. When did not.
MICHAELSON: When did -- were you informed about the fire on January 1st?
BASS: Yes, I knew about the fire on January 1st. And from what I knew and what I was told, the fire was completely put out. It was a relatively small fire. And so I just think that it is critically important that we have to look at all of these things, which is also why we have changed leadership.
And so I am glad that we -- I appointed a new fire chief. He has to go through the confirmation process in a couple of weeks, but we're going to get to the bottom of this.
MICHAELSON: You got rid of Kristen or demoted Kristen Crowley, who was the chief of the LAFD at the time of the Palisades fire?
BASS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Because of her performance, according to you.
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So essentially, why were no firefighters pre deployed to the Palisades?
BASS: Well, that was a key issue, a key factor that led to the change that took place. Now --
MICHAELSON: Do you bear any responsibility for that, though?
BAS: Well, yes. I mean, at the end of the day, we all know I am the mayor and the buck stops with me. However, if I find something that is deficient in a leader in a department, then it is my responsibility to make that change. And so I made the change.
We had a interim fire chief then, and what I did was I conducted a national search. We took our time, and I believe we came up with a leader who was going to lead the department and transform what needs to be changed within the department.
MICHAELSON: This is Jamie Moore, who you appointed.
BASS: Jamie Moore. Jaime Moore. MICHAELSON: Jaime Moore, who he appointed this week. I'm sorry about
that.
BASS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: But, you know, there's plenty of critics. Spencer Pratt, who's online a lot talking about this, has pointed out the fact that there were no infrared cameras that were used to see potentially this thing smoldering. Was that a mistake?
BASS: All of that has to be looked at. That is certainly a tool that could have been used. And it's my understanding if that tool had been used. They might have been able to see that. But that's why now there has to be the after action at the Lachman. And you know that it was after the ATF's report and the arrest of the arsonists that a lot of attention focused on the Lachman fire.
MICHAELSON: So Austin Buettner, who is now running for mayor against you, says we need to do an independent investigation, that the LAFD should not be investigating itself.
BASS: That will -- that is happening as well. There is an independent investigation that the governor has ordered. And we don't anticipate that full report to come out for a few months, but there might be parts of it that comes out soon. We have to do both. We have to do all of the above. But the bottom line is that there needs to be significant change and it will happen.
MICHAELSON: Rick Caruso, who ran against you for mayor last time and may run against you for mayor the next time, put out a statement saying the lack of transparency, responsibility and accountability in all of this for the mayor's office is staggering and inexcusable. We need full transparency, not a political cover up. What's your response to that?
BASS: Well, my response to that is that we absolutely need to get to the bottom of everything that went wrong. There is absolutely no political cover up that is happening here. But one thing that I think is so important is people are still suffering. People who lost their homes, who lost relationships, the people that lost their lives, those family members.
And one of the things that I think has been a tragedy in this whole situation are people who take advantage of folks grief and people who use it for political gain and political reasons. And I think that is frankly shameful.
MICHAELSON: Is that what you think Caruso's doing?
BASS: I don't know what he's doing.
MICHAELSON: OK, what do you make -- but you know, there's a lot of people that are angry when they hear about these text messages, when they hear about the fact that there was nobody pre-deployed, when they hear about the infrared. They feel like this fire could have been prevented. And they feel like the city, if the city would have done more, their home wouldn't have burned or 12 people wouldn't have died. What do you say to those people?
BASS: I absolutely understand that people would feel that way. We will get to the bottom of it. Change is underway and this will never happen again in our city.
MICHAELSON: So obviously that's a very serious and important story. We will continue to follow it as it goes on.
BASS: Sure.
MICHAELSON: But also we want to have a little bit of fun here as this is Halloween night.
BASS: To go from that to focus.
MICHAELSON: Yes, we will transition as well to keep things moving. What's your favorite Halloween tradition?
BASS: Well, you know, my favorite Halloween tradition now is what we have at the Getty House, the mayor's residence, where we have over 300 children from L.A. Unified Schools who come over in movie studios, decorate the house. And we have fun activities all day. We did that a week ago.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And what are your grandsons going as for Halloween?
BASS: Ghostbusters. And I'm not sure what the other one's going at.
MICHAELSON: OK. And lastly, we see you're a good politician. You're in Dodger blue tonight.
BASS: Of course I'm in Dodger Blue.
MICHAELSON: It's a big night.
BASS: I predict we will have a parade next week.
MICHAELSON: OK, so you get to lead the parade. You've got a bet with the mayor of Toronto --
BASS: I bet the mayor of Toronto.
MICHAELSON: -- where she would have to ride --
BASS: Right.
MICHAELSON: -- on a bike wearing Dodger gear.
BASS: We're both cyclist.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
BASS: And so when I -- when she, I will send her a Dodger jersey and she will ride that Dodger jersey the number of miles that we win.
MICHAELSON: Yes. BASS: So how many runs? That's what she -- that's what she will wear.
MICHAELSON: And lastly, real concisely, what do the Dodgers mean to Los Angeles?
BASS: Well, the Dodgers are part of our tradition, part of our history. We are Dodger, Blue Dodger all the way.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And at this time of so much division, they bring the city together in a way that no other team.
BASS: Do you remember last year? We had over 200,000 people in front of City Hall. It was just a wonderful celebration. Peaceful, no problems. That's what I predict we will have next week.
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MICHAELSON: Early next week. All right, Mayor, let's hope so. Great to see you. Thanks for coming in.
BASS: Nice to see you.
MICHAELSON: I really appreciate it.
BASS: Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: Let's continue our team coverage of the baseball situation. CNN's Paula Newton, who represents the Canadian side of the border, joins us live now. Although I see you in your Blue Jays blue. So this is where we get to, I guess, talk trash to each other. But, Paula, how are you feeling after tonight's game? I know this was the opportunity to win it all tonight
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are feeling good for the Blue Jays and for Canada in general. I know the mayor is saying that the doctors mean a lot to la. Let me tell you, Elex, this team means a lot to the entire country, and you cannot beat that.
I mean, look, even after the tough loss. Right now, people are positive. They're still happy. And can you get more of a storybook ending than a game seven? As John Snyder, the Blue Jays manager, said just a few moments ago, what more do you want in baseball? Two words. Game seven. They are ready for it and they're ready to go.
But again, Elex, I just want to try and give you just some of the spirit that's gone on here, and not just in the Toronto area, but really coast to coast throughout the entire country.
It is Jay's fever, and it's really, I say, jolted the country with a sense of joy that really hasn't been felt for a while. I don't have to remind you there are a lot of problems in Canada. This was a good distraction for many people, but a reminder of how united people are in the country.
MICHAELSON: Well, and here, as the mayor just pointed out, we got to do this celebration. Last year, it's been a minute since the Blue Jays have gotten to do this celebration.
NEWTON: More than three decades, in fact. And yes, Elex, I was an adult when they won, so I do remember it. And it was euphoric. And everyone is craving that euphoria again. I mean, as I said, the majority of the players on the team are actually American. Canada has embraced them. A lot of them not even born the last time that the Jays won the World Series.
The Jays legends have come through the ballpark. They've thrown out the first pitches. They've gotten everyone ready for this kind of a series. And these are men that are enjoying their time in the field, in the ballpark.
Rogers Center, which is, you know, domed, thank goodness, because the weather's been horrible. It was pandemonium tonight. And it will be exactly the same tomorrow night. I mean, look, they are ready. And as I said again, quote the manager, the jersey man, John Schneider, who says, look, it is pretty cool to have the backing of an entire country. They know they're playing for the country and they're going to take that heart and that spirit into this final game.
And hey, look, we've all enjoyed watching Ohtani. Right. It's been a lot of fun to have him in Canada and in the Rogers Center.
MICHAELSON: Yes, I mean, it's a true World Series because the highest ratings for all this might end up being in Japan, not in America or in Canada. So this is really uniting all parts of the world. Paula Newton, thank you so much. I guess we have to come up with some sort of bet we can pay off on Monday.
NEWTON: I bet you right now you don't -- I don't need to be -- we don't. Yes, we'll talk about it. That's good.
MICHAELSON: OK, Talk about it. There we go. All right. We've got still to come though. We're going to get to the serious news. Chaos at the airport. The government shutdown is impacting flights across the U.S. that's next.
Plus, Cuban officials want to know if the U.S. will follow through on its offer to help victims of Hurricane Melissa. We get to that serious and important story when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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MICHAELSON: Welcome back and Happy Halloween. And the party clearly is on right now, Bourbon Street, where it is still October 31, 11:22 at night. And I think the party is going to be going well into November 1st there.
The FBI says that it has stopped an alleged U.S. terror attack. FBI Director Kash Patel posting on social media that his agency had, quote, arrested multiple suspects in Michigan who are allegedly plotting a violent attack over Halloween weekend. Law enforcement officials telling CNN that two people were arrested,
three others are being questioned. Officials say agents have been tracking online chatter about a potential ISIS inspired attack for months. Then this week, members of this chat allegedly went to a shooting range with AK47s, practiced high speed reloads and made a reference to Pumpkin Day. That's when the FBI moved in.
Both LaGuardia and JFK airports in New York City issued ground stops Friday due to air traffic controller shortages. Staffing issues have been plaguing airports across the U.S. as workers go without pay due to that government shutdown.
Airlines called on Congress Thursday to reopen the government with a clean funding resolution known as a continuing resolution. Ground stops have been spreading, enforcing delays as air traffic controllers and other staff call out sick, basically saying, you're not going to pay me. I'm not showing up for work. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is blaming Democrats as aviation workers just missed their first full paycheck.
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SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It's not just the mortgage and the car payment, which is very real, but they're buying food. They travel 30, 45 minutes into the towers or the centers, so you have to buy gas. They have kids that want to play football or volleyball, tennis, and they can't afford the very life expenses that they need those paychecks for.
A lot of our people can go through the midst of one paycheck and it's hard for them, but a lot of them can get through it. None of them can get through two paychecks.
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And so again, if Democrats don't get their act together very quickly, you're going to see huge problems.
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MICHAELSON: The devastation that Hurricane Melissa left on some Caribbean islands will be felt for some time. Jamaica's Ambassador to the U.S. confirmed that at least 19 people were killed when the unprecedented Category 5 storm made landfall on Tuesday bringing ferocious winds and rain. U.S. search and rescue teams have begun arriving in Jamaica to provide immediate lifesaving and humanitarian support.
The ambassador there says 70 percent of the country is still without power and four hospitals on the hard hit western side experienced extensive damage. Many roads have been destroyed, making it hard to reach parts of the island. Here's what Chef Jose Andres of World Central Kitchen told CNN about humanitarian aid.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHEF JOSE ANDRES, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: And you see the images. They are all desperate equally. So that's why right now in the next 48 hours is when the increase of a juice has to be exponential because again, it's day two, day three, day four is when hey, we need food. Hey we need water. Hey, we need -- now is the moment that then people get really very anxious, logically.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Jose Andres with David Culver of CNN there. Meantime, in eastern Cuba, the military is helping victims of Hurricane Melissa. They worked through torrential rains on Friday to rescue people who were trapped by those rising floodwaters.
Cuba's Foreign Ministry says it has been in touch with the US State Department to get clarification after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was prepared to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people.
Historically, the Trump administration has taken a hard line stance against the communist ruled island. Of course, Rubio himself has Cuban background. Cuba is already getting aid from China, Venezuela and the UN. If you want to help those impacted by Hurricane Melissa and they need a lot of help, go to CNN.com/impact. We'll be back with some fun stuff including more from the World Series.
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MICHAELSON: The World Series is headed to a winner take all game seven Saturday night in Toronto. The L.A. Dodgers held on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3 to 1. Mike Wilner is the Blue Jays correspondent at the Toronto Star and the host of a podcast called Deep Left Field. He joins us live from deep left field in Toronto. By the way, Deep Left Field also the name of a new show on MSNBC. No, just kidding.
Mike, welcome. Thank you so much. Great to have you here on The Story Is. Talk to us about your feelings tonight. I mean this was the big chance to clinch this thing. Now you're heading into game seven.
MIKE WILNER, BLUE JAYS CORRESPONDENT, THE TORONTO STAR: Yes, this was, I mean it was especially spectacular night here at the ballpark. It was full just an hour ago, maybe a little over an hour ago when the Jays had the chance to win the World Series. It was as loud as I've heard it maybe ever when Kevin Gosman for the Jays struck out the side in the top of the first inning.
I don't -- each roar was louder than the one before and it turned out to be a great game. Terrific pitchers' duel. Gosman blinked first. The Jays had a chance late in the game, in the bottom of the ninth, and again we felt it, but they couldn't get it done. But hey, this team won 74 games last year and finished in last place. And now they're going to game seven of the World Series.
MICHAELSON: And of course, the Dodgers last year won the World Series. They did not need to go to seven games to do it. What are you looking to most from the Jays perspective tomorrow? What do you think is the key for them to win?
WILNER: I think they just have to do what they've done all year. And what they've done for a large part in this series is it just sort of be themselves. They've been a relentless offense, opportunistic, taking advantage of mistakes that other teams make. They pitched well, their defense has been airtight, best defense in the game. They led the major leagues in batting average and on base percentage as well. And they run into a few and hit some home runs here in the postseason.
So, you know, keep that up and they'll be just fine. I think that, you know, it's been a pretty even series.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
WILNER: There are a couple of games that really could have gone either way, including this one and the 18 inning one a game three in L A. But the Blue Jays have, Dodgers have gone toe to toe. This has been pretty impressive.
MICHAELSON: And the Jays, obviously with less of a payroll than the Dodgers, maybe not as much cachet around the world. The entire country of Canada seems to behind the Jays right now. Do you feel in a lot of ways like the Jays have outplayed the Dodgers in almost this entire series?
WILNER: It kind of feels like that. I mean, except for the two Yamamoto starts tonight and in game two, where they really couldn't touch him at all, the Blue Jays have been the better team in this series. The payroll, yes, the Dodgers have a huge payroll, but the Jays are top five, too. I mean, they've thrown some money around, so it's not David versus Goliath as far as that's concerned.
But it is, you know, as far as maybe expectations, I think a lot of people thought the Dodgers would just show up, throw their gloves on the field and sweep this World Series 4 straight. And the best the Blue Jays could maybe do was put a scare into them or, you know, put up a good fight in a loss or something.
But hopefully, if you've been paying attention for these six games, you've seen that's not the case at all.
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The Toronto Blue Jays are the number one seed in the American League for a reason. This is a very, very good team and they haven't backed down from anyone. And they certainly haven't done that with the Dodgers either.
MICHAELSON: Mike Wilner, Blue Jays correspondent for the Toronto Star. Have fun at Game seven tomorrow. Thanks for joining us live.
WILNER: Thank you very much.
MICHAELSON: All right now from the Los Angeles perspective, we are joined here in studio by Steve Mason, who is the co-host of the Mason in Ireland Show on ESPN Radio, based here in Los Angeles. But even if you're not in la, you can listen to it on the ESPN app.
STEVE MASON, CO-HOST OF THE MASON IN IRELAND SHOW, ESPN RADIO: Yes, as well. Absolutely.
MICHAELSON: Steve, welcome.
MASON: Thank you. Congratulations on the show. I'm excited to be here.
MICHAELSON: Thank you so much. So your thoughts going into Game seven?
MASON: Well, as a Dodgers fan, I was in the car on the way over and I'm telling you, it got scary at the end when I saw Roki out there and we had to go to Tyler Glass now at the end of the game, somehow force that double play.
But you know, to pick up on something Mike said. There's this idea out there that the Dodgers payroll is far and away the biggest payroll. It is. But Toronto is a top five payroll and they also have the third highest paid player in the game, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is having a really, really explosive postseason. So again, I don't think it is completely David and Goliath. And I think Goliath woke up.
MICHAELSON: So let's talk about Shohei Ohtani --
MASON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- the best player in baseball. He's going to be pitching Game 7 of the World Series.
MASON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And we saw in the last series what he did when he was pitching. You were there for that?
MASON: I was there for that. I was there for the night he hit three home runs and struck out 10. And through six scoreless innings, somebody said to me, wow, it's like Reggie Jackson. I'm like, yes, it's like Reggie Jackson, if he could pitch. I mean, it's like Tom Brady if he also played linebacker, Wayne Gretzky if he also played goalie.
This guy is the most extraordinary athlete I have ever seen or covered.
MICHAELSON: In any sport.
MASON: In any sport ever. There's nobody that can do what Shohei Ohtani can do.
MICHAELSON: It is amazing also to see the way the country of Japan has completely rallied behind not only him, but Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. This really does feel like a World Series. Talk about, though, what it was like being there for the game that went 18 innings.
MASON: I was there till the end. I was going to say bitter end, but it was not bitter.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
MASON: Freddie Freeman hit the walk off home run. It was an unbelievable night. And you know, at some point in that game, every single player was swinging for a home run. And at that point, everybody started striking out.
And so the game went on and on. I was amazed by the number of Dodger fans who hung out for the entire game. It was really an impressive showing for Dodger fans.
MICHAELSON: Well, that reminds me, of course, of the iconic Kirk Gibson home run in 1988.
MASON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And when you watch it, you see the cars that are leaving lot in the shot.
MASON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Then you think, man, what a regret you would have for the rest of your life. And so how do you leave that game?
MASON: Yes. I mean --
MICHAELSON: Even if you go inside? I mean, maybe if it's in the middle of the summer, but a World Series game like that is really something. Talk to us about -- we talked about how Canada brings together the Blue Jays bring together Canada. Talk about how the Dodgers bring together Los Angeles.
MASON: I'm telling you, we live in such divided times. I heard you talking to Mayor Bass about this. And sports is the one place where everybody still pulls together. You go to Dodger Stadium. You go to the Rogers Center in Toronto. Everybody is on the same team, even if it's only for a couple of hours. And I think that's the power of sports. Not just the World Series, but all sports.
MICHAELSON: And lastly, people may not know this about you as well. You're also a pop culture podcast host.
MASON: Yes, I am. That's right. The culture pop podcast.
MICHAELSON: The culture pop podcast. So going into the weekend, other than watching the World Series.
MASON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Can you give us a streaming recommendation?
MASON: Netflix. Black Rabbit. It stars Jude Law and it stars Jason Bateman, a big Dodger fan. It's a great show, great one to stream. You can binge the whole thing.
MICHAELSON: Best movie you've seen this year?
MASON: Best movie is "Sinners," the Michael B. Jordan movie --
MICHAELSON: Which is about to be rereleased in theaters.
MASON: Directed by Ryan Coogler. Going to be a best picture nominee.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
MASON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: That's so a lot of fun. You do it all.
MASON: Yeah, I try to.
MICHAELSON: And you really think -- do you think the Dodgers win tomorrow?
MASON: They do.
MICHAELSON: What's the final score?
MASON: The final score 6 to 1. I think Shoehe Ohtani has a spectacular night on the mound and in the box.
MICHAELSON: Of course, I'm being very biased. Let's hope you're right.
MASON: Yes. Fine.
MICHAELSON: Wouldn't that be fun? Steve Mason, who I've gone to so many games with.
MASON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Thank you so much.
MASON: Thank you so much.
MICHAELSON: We'll be right back with more right.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:44:21]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I see the failing. Jimmy Kimmel. How are you, sir? Great to see you. Low ratings. Really horrible. It's really sad what's happening, but I will tell you that it is sad to be here in liberal Hollywood. Just a bunch of nasty people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's what's interesting about today's world. I don't have to watch television. I could just watch your Instagram.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAELSON: That is comedian and impressionist Matt Friend, who has millions of followers online. He's all over TikTok, all over Instagram. And right now he's here on The Story Is for the very first time. Welcome.
MATT FRIEND, COMEDIAN: Elex, I'm so thrilled to be here with you. An honor. Congrats on the show.
[00:45:00]
MICHAELSON: Thank you very much. Excited to have you here. We've been friends for a few years now.
FRIEND: Yes. You're one of the first to put me on TV, so thank you.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Exciting to see you blow up, too. So it's kind of crazy and surreal to be here on CNN together.
FRIEND: It's wild.
MICHAELSON: And not only do we get you here, we also get President Trump here.
FRIEND: It's true.
MICHAELSON: On Halloween.
FRIEND: Look at you.
MICHAELSON: We saw you --
FRIEND: It's true.
MICHAELSON -- handing out candy. You had to get back from Asia.
FRIEND: Excuse me. Stop talking. And time to get back.
MICHAELSON: Sorry, Mr. President.
FRIEND: So it's great to be on this tremendously failing network known as CNN, which honestly, nobody's watching it. It's just pathetic. Honestly, it's very lame how they treat your favorite president. But you know what? Honest to God, I'm going to go as myself for Halloween. Why would I want to be anybody else? Right?
I am the greatest costume anybody could ever pick. But a lot of people, you look at a lot of people like people in the past that dress up as ghosts and different bad things. We're going to dress up as Trump. That's what you want to do. And on CNN, they know it. I'm your favorite.
MICHAELSON: So we found this week the Matt Friend of China.
FRIEND: Really?
MICHAELSON: There's a guy named Ryan Chen that our Mike Valerio talked to.
FRIEND: Yes. Heard about this guy.
MICHAELSON: Here's some of his Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN CHEN, "CHINESE TRUMP": We're in Chongqing, China. It's so high. It's so high. Vintage style. I love the facade, right? They're doing a pretty good job. They're doing a pretty good job. It's a harmony. It's a harmony. I love this city. People ask me how do I feel today? I'll tell you, I feel fantastic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRIEND: Is it just me or can we be related?
MICHAELSON: It's twinning, right?
FRIEND: I think we Ebony and Ivory. But Jew and A, same thing. This is fantastic. Congratulations. All the Jews go to his restaurants on Christmas. So I'm thrilled to be. That is making history with that.
MICHAELSON: That is true. Well, let's talk for a moment about you. You have really blown up in a very short amount of time.
FRIEND: Appreciate it.
MICHAELSON: You do lots of different TV work. You've done voiceovers on the Simpsons. You've done Family Guy. You've done all sorts of things. And really also you go to both Republicans and Democrats.
FRIEND: Yes.
MICHAELSON: What do you think that's about at this moment when we're so divided?
FRIEND: Look for me, I love that Johnny Carson era where there was a time in America where the whole country could come together. And laugh and find some similarities and make just have a good laugh at the end of the day.
And that is what my goal is because I really think that in many ways, you know, what am I going to get out of just appealing to one fan base or just you can really grow as a performer and a comedian if you challenge yourself and go into different environments. So I'm performing in Republican states, in liberal states and different challenging environments. And that's my goal, to find a way to make many groups of people laugh.
MICHAELSON: Well, we got lots of people here today on this Halloween.
FRIEND: Yes, we do.
MICHAELSON: So you know politicians, sometimes it's complicated.
FRIEND: Yeah.
MICHAELSON: What they dress up as because there's political implications of that. So we've got a whole.
FRIEND: My honest advice is just don't do blackface.
MICHAELSON: Mr. President, who are you dressing up as for Halloween?
FRIEND: So like I said, I'm going to dress up as myself because I'm the greatest costume anybody could ever imagine. What could possibly better than looking like Trump? It's the beautiful lips. And let me just say while we're on the subject, the greatest feud, the greatest war in our country is between Taylor Swift and Charlie XCX. Opalite's a great song. That's the battle we got to solve.
MICHAELSON: Mr. President, we go from you to Senator Mitch McConnell, former Senate Majority leader. What are you going as for Halloween, sir?
FRIEND: Well, yes, it's really to be with you on CNN. For Halloween this year I'm going to be appearing as a frozen statue.
MICHAELSON: Senator Bernie Sanders. Talk to us about for Halloween. Senators, you campaign for Zohrani.
FRIEND: Well, let me be clear, for Halloween is a holiday that must have lower priced costumes, a celebration. But not just those fools in the top tenth of 1 percent of America.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FRIEND: So I will be going as Bill Ackman, the multibillionaire who is causing harm in our society.
MICHAELSON: What about the Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance?
FRIEND: You know, I'm so glad you asked this question because, you know, as a senator, I took pride in having a truly creative costume. So I'm going as a meme that spins all the way around. But thank you for asking that question.
MICHAELSON: Well, it's amazing that we've been joined twice in one week on this set by the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom.
[00:50:00]
FRIEND: So I'm glad that you asked the question. I'm going to go as -- I'm going to go as American Psycho. Patrick Bateman has got to be what I'm going as. This foolishness, this recklessness by Donald Trump. Nobody should be dressing up because Elex, when they go low, we got to go even lower.
The hands have gotten better, haven't they?
MICHAELSON: That's quite something to behold. Yes. You made fun of J.D. Vance, but --
FRIEND: Yes.
MICHAELSON: -- that actually is what he went as. Here's a TikTok.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Happy Halloween, kids. And remember, say thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRIEND: Yes, well, there goes my boner. Yes. I mean, OK, you know what? This is Bill Maher. OK, new rule, JT. If you want to feel relatable, don't put a wig on. Just act normal, you psycho. OK.
MICHAELSON: Is there some value though in being self-deprecating and leaning into it?
FRIEND: I think there is.
MICHAELSON: And it's actually smart political doing.
FRIEND: I think there is.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
FRIEND: Andrew Cuomo is going to be dressing up as an Uber driver if he loses the upcoming election on Tuesday, by the way. But yes, there is value in dressing up for Halloween. He's someone else. It's good. George Santos has been in a costume for the past 10 years.
MICHAELSON: And he's free. Feeling free.
FRIEND: Yes, he is.
MICHAELSON: He's free.
FRIEND: Yes, he is.
MICHAELSON: Matt Friend, we can check your workout at mattfriend.com.
FRIEND: Yes.
MICHAELSON: There's also a link there to all the different tours upcoming.
FRIEND: Yes. Yes.
MICHAELSON: Tempe, you got a big show.
FRIEND: Yes, a bunch of shows coming up. Tempe, Arizona, we've got Batavia, Louisville, San Diego. A whole weekend. Mattfriend.com. Come laugh America. That's what it's all about. And Elex, you are the finest in the biz.
I could not be happier for you. Thank you for having me on the show and many, many years of continued success here at CNN.
MICHAELSON: Matt Friend, thanks brother.
FRIEND: Hollywood.
MICHAELSON: Welcome back. More The Story Is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:56:50]
MICHAELSON: That, of course, is the famous Michael Jackson dance thriller. It's being brought back to life in South America in Bolivia's Halloween parade that took place in the capital, La Paz. And next door in Peru, dog stole the show at a costume contest in Lima. Look at that one. Very nice.
We now take you live to Broadway in downtown Nashville, where it is still Halloween for four more minutes. 11:56. But I think the party will go on well past that. You can imagine all the great country music that is playing there right now.
Now we take you to West Hollywood, where the party is on. The biggest party west of the Mississippi. Every year, this party is crazy. And every year, it does not include a lot of actual costumes. There's a whole lot of skin showcased in West Hollywood, including these folks right there. Enjoy. Hope everybody stays safe.
Police were called to deal with mayhem and monkey business at a Spirit Halloween store in Texas. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he is right there.
UNDIENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a monkey right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Officers say a monkey in a diaper escaped from its owner after it became spooked by a mechanical decoration. At one point, the monkey climbed to the ceiling and began swinging from the rafters. Officers say the primate's owner was able to sway the monkey back with a cookie. Kind of like me. That's all it really takes. The monkey was not hurt. No decorations were damaged.
Police advised the owner. Get a leash for your monkey. OK.
NASA setting the record straight. Its acting chief says the US has been to the moon after Kim Kardashian questioned the 1969 moon landing in the latest episode of her show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KIM KARDASHIAN, Media Personality And Socialite: I'm sending you, like so far, a million article interviews with both Buzz Aldrin and the other one.
UNIDENRIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Do it.
KARDASHIAN: This girl says, what was the scariest moment? And he goes, there was no scary moment because it didn't happen. It could have been scary, but it wasn't because it didn't happen. So he's gotten old and now he like slurs on his dude.
UNIDENTFIEID FEMALE: Yes. So I think it didn't happen. I'm going to go on a massive deep dive. OK? I'm going to go on a serious deep dive.
KARDASHIAN: I center conspiracies all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So that's Kardashian with Sarah Paulson there. They work together on American Horror Story. So U.S. transportation Secretary Sean Duffy shared that clip, writing, yes, Kim Kardashian, we've been to the moon before six times. Even better. NASA Artemis is going back. We won the last space race and we will win this one, too.
So if you are keeping track at home, we've got a secretary of transportation who started his career as a reality show star on MTV's the Real World, advising Kim Kardashian, who started her career as a reality show star, who now has hundreds of millions of followers around the world, who is questioning the moon landing. And that's all answered via Elon Musk.
