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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

"Catastrophic" Ice, Snow, Extreme Cold Threatening Millions; Allies Outraged Over Trump's Comments On NATO Troops; Lufthansa Canceling Flights To Tehran Until March 28. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired January 24, 2026 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[01:00:00]

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: -- an explosive Instagram post. Her fans launched a tongue-in-cheek social media campaign that pushed her 2001 track "Not Such an Innocent Girl" to number on iTunes in the U.K. and in Ireland, an unexpected twist in the very public family controversy, bringing the Beckham brand back into the cultural spotlight.

Thanks for watching. Stay with us. The next hour of "The Story Is" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Story Is" is historic storm. It's already impacting parts of the country right now. What makes this so unique?

"The Story Is" FBI takedown, an Olympic snowboarder-turned-drug kingpin in an L.A. jail right now after a decade on the run.

"The Story Is" major Lakers drama. Could the latest controversy result in a trade of LeBron James? Rachel Nichols live on our set.

And "The Story Is" living on a prayer. We're on stage with a Portuguese priest/EDM DJ.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, "The Story Is" with Elex Michaelson.

MICHAELSON: I want to see that D.J. Hi, everybody. Welcome to "The Story Is". I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles.

The top story is a crippling winter storm in the U.S. At least 16 states in Washington D.C. have declared a state of emergency. From Texas to New England, millions of Americans facing heavy snow, ice and extreme cold. Forecasters warning of catastrophic impacts that could lead to days without power in some areas. Imagine being without power in this weather. Parts of the south and Midwest are already seeing snow and ice. Officials are urging people to stay off the roads and stay at home.

Meteorologist Chris Warren joins me now from CNN in Atlanta, one of the regions that's going to be impacted by this. That thing looks like a doozy behind you, Chris.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. It is still just taking shape right now, and it's already impacting, it's already hitting Texas and Oklahoma, and the main part of the low is just now moving onshore here in North America. When you look at this map, half of the states in the U.S. are under a winter storm warning right now, meaning hazardous winter weather is expected anytime, or it's happening. So, it's happening now, or it's coming soon. Any alert here from the ice storm warnings to the advisories, that covers half the U.S. population. So, we've got half the states and half the U.S. population, and several states could see a foot of snow, from Texas up to Maine.

And Elex, when you look at this, these cities, Cincinnati, Oklahoma City, Philly, New York, Boston, all could see a foot of snow. For some it's been a few years. Others, almost 30 years.

MICHAELSON: And what about timing, because that's something so many people are focused on, when is this thing going to hit?

WARREN: All right. So, it's already ongoing for the Southern Plains. You got the Great Plains, that cold air dropping down from Canada all the way down to Texas. The southern part of that is where the snow is right now, and we're seeing it more and more moving into Oklahoma, Arkansas by the morning, during mid-morning on Saturday. Other parts of the south are getting in on it. Northern Mississippi, Alabama, much of Tennessee will be in full swing. And then by Saturday evening, the Mid-Atlantic, and then that low we're looking at just coming onshore, that is going to catch up with this bit right here. So, it's kind of coming in waves during the overnight hours Saturday into Sunday.

And again, it is still going, still Dallas picking up some ice. That freezing rain still ongoing there. And then even on Sunday, you see that red and yellow in there, that's heavy rain. There could be some thunderstorms associated with this. So, this is a beast of a storm for a lot of reasons here. As far as the numbers go, again, for Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, a foot to a foot and a half for some areas. Same story for parts of the Northeast, far-reaching, big-time impacts with this. And then there is the ice. You get into the hot pink and purple colors. That's when there is damage to trees and extensive power outages.

And Elex, this is going to be happening, as there will be brutally cold temperatures settling in some of these overnight lows where people will likely not have power, single digits and teens.

MICHAELSON: And that, of course, can be deadly for people. So, what a forecast, Chris. Thank you so much for keeping us up to date. I hope you and your family are able to stay safe this weekend.

WARREN: Appreciate it.

MICHAELSON: U.S. President Donald Trump says he has been briefed on the potentially historic storm. He says his administration has been coordinating with local and state officials, adding that FEMA is, quote, "fully prepared to respond".

Video out of Texas shows empty store shelves, as people rush to buy enough food and supplies to last through the storm.

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An official in Dallas says people there should be prepared to hunker down for days.

CNN' Ed Lavandera is on the ground in Dallas.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Elex, here in North Texas, the temperatures are plunging toward freezing, and once that happens, we are not going to see temperatures above the freezing point until early next week, and that means we are in the thick of this winter misery. Here in Dallas, we've seen rainfall falling throughout the day. So, the roads are already slick. A lot of this will be converting to ice and making the roadways very treacherous. We've seen crews spraying briny water on the roadways to try to minimize the impact of the ice accumulation, as well as trucks being pre-deployed to try to keep the roads as manageable as possible.

But this is a storm that's going to last some time. In fact, emergency officials here in Dallas urging people to prepare themselves to be indoors or close to home for at least the next 72 hours. Like I said, these temperatures are going to be plunging into the teens, wind chills into the single digits. So, this is going to be a very intense storm that's going to last well into early next week. And so, there is a great deal of concern about the infrastructure, keeping hospitals online, the power online, and that is what emergency officials say that they are the most concerned with.

As I mentioned, the governor and electric grid folks here, officials in Texas, say that the grid is ready to withstand the demand on it. But right now, those temperatures are plunging and the brunt of this Arctic storm is headed our way. Elex.

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MICHAELSON: Ed Lavandera in Dallas, thank you, Ed.

The threats of that massive storm already impacting air travel in a big way Sunday. Now, the worst day for flight cancelations in the past year, more than 5,000 flights have been canceled for Sunday. That number continues to climb. A flight cancelation record was set earlier by Saturday's number, which is now more than 3,300. This is according the flight tracking website FlightAware.

Meantime, the FAA is saying it anticipates that, quote, "airports will have to close because of the impending storm". Here is what one official at the world's busiest airport in Atlanta had to say.

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GUS HUDSON, SENIOR DEPUTY GM, ATLANTA HARTSFIELD-JACKSON INTL. AIRPORT: We continue to monitor your airline information, to ensure that you have the latest on that, and if you are traveling to the airport, be careful coming to the airport and know that flights may be canceled. So, just be aware of the conditions and be aware of instructions from the airlines.

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MICHAELSON: I spoke last hour live with travel expert Peter Greenberg, and I asked him what advice he would give to someone who has a flight booked in the next few days.

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PETER GREENBERG, TRAVEL EXPERT: Chances are you've already been contacted by the airlines, which have been issuing preemptive waivers, offering passengers the opportunity to rebook their flights at a later date without any cancelation or penalties. Of course, that assumes there will be seats available, because remember, once you cancel a flight -- I'm talking about if the airline cancels a flight and you have a system shutdown, which could very well happen during the storm, for every 24 hours you're down, it'll take the airline about 72 hours to get back up because their planes are out of sequence. Their crews are out of schedule, and they have to realign the entire schedule.

So, if you're going to be rebooking, don't think you're going to be rebooking for Monday or Tuesday. If your flight is scheduled for Sunday, it will be more likely Wednesday.

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MICHAELSON: To politics now, and there is growing outrage from U.S. allies over President Trump's comments downplaying NATO's role in Afghanistan. President Trump claimed on Thursday that coalition troops stayed away from the front lines during the 20-year war. Here is how he put it.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We've never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan or this or that, and they did. They stayed a little back, little off the front lines.

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MICHAELSON: While the U.S. had the most casualties of any NATO member, about 1,000 troops from NATO members and other countries also died, including more than 450 from the United Kingdom. The president's comments did not sit well with the British Prime Minister.

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KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I will never forget their courage, their bravery, and the sacrifice that they made for their country. There are many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries. And so, I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling.

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MICHAELSON: Britain's Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan, issued this statement, quote, "Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost. Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect."

The White House shrugging off the criticism, saying the U.S. has done more for NATO than any other country in the alliance.

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Earlier, I spoke with CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger, and I asked him if the U.S. and NATO still need each other.

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DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, & AUTHOR, "NEW COLD WARS" (on camera): The U.S., if it doesn't need NATO, it would be, I think, probably a strange thing to throw away, because it's a huge force multiplier for the U.S. The fact that NATO troops are operating in different places, whether they're rotating through Estonia, or they're operating in Kosovo or whatever, are places where the U.S. does not need to have its own presence, and there are huge intelligence gathered. Here we have -- you have 32 countries, and they hear a lot of things that Americans and the American intelligence agencies don't, so -- and they were invented for a reason, and by and large, it's worked. Have they contributed as much financially as they should? No, and I think it's to the president's credit that he got them to contribute more.

But certainly, they're pretty essential. Do they need the U.S. at the middle? Absolutely. They do not have the capabilities of the U.S. military has.

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MICHAELSON: Denmark's Prime Minister says her government in Greenland will stand together, now that there appears to be political and economic path for the future of the Danish territory. Mette Frederiksen went to the island on Friday to meet the Greenlandic leader, as questions linger about President Trump's so-called framework deal on Greenland's future. Details are vague.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in Greenland with more.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (on camera): They came out of their meeting this morning. They met for maybe half an hour, 45 minutes. Earlier on in the day, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Brussels had met with the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and he had commented after that about Denmark's commitment to reinforcing building security here in the Arctic region, along with NATO. Here they are walking the streets in Nuuk. They're in Greenland. Danish Prime Minister in the tan jacket. The Greenland Prime Minister right next to her. Here they are meeting some families.

Neither of them has been able to indicate so far whether they have got more information about the deal that President Trump is talking about, the agreement. He says is going to get everything at no cost. Denmark's Prime Minister has been clear. She said President Trump's Golden Dome, that's something that can be talked about. She is not taking that off the table. Everything is still on the table.

But with respect of Greenland's sovereignty, its territorial integrity, in many ways, it feels as if the diplomatic position we are in is where we were more than a week ago now, where the Danish foreign minister and Greenland's foreign minister met in Washington with the vice president and Secretary of State.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prime Ministers, there have been good meetings. What can you tell us about the deal, Prime Minister?

ROBERTSON (on camera): Well, the Prime Minister leaving now, peppered with questions and a wave there as they're going, hugs with local people just coming up to greet her as she was leaving, but very few details we're getting now about the new deal President Trump is talking about, but it's all smiles. A message here, one very clearly of unity.

Nic Robinson, CNN, Nuuk, Greenland.

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MICHAELSON: Russia is set to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the U.S. in the coming hours, just as its war machine unleashed a new onslaught on Kyiv Friday night. Ukraine says the city was attacked with drones and missiles, with air defense working to shoot them down. CNN crews on the ground are reporting explosions in the capital. That came after negotiators began the first trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has not sent its top negotiating team, which limits what can actually be discussed and accomplished without them there. Ahead of day two of the meetings, Ukraine's president had this to say.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER (Interpreted): As for the substance of today's discussions, it is still too early to draw conclusions. We will see how the conversation develops tomorrow and what result it produces. It is necessary that not only Ukraine has the desire to end this war and achieve full security, but that a similar desire somehow emerges in Russia as well.

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MICHAELSON: For weeks, we have seen dramatic images coming out of the protests in Iran.

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But with the regime cutting off internet access across the country, how do you know what's actually happening? A look at the battle to verify what's real and what's not. CNN investigation next.

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MICHAELSON: Air France is temporarily suspending flights to Dubai on Friday and Saturday, sending concerns over the, quote, "current situation in the Middle East". Germany's Lufthansa says it is canceling flights to Tehran until March 28th for operational reasons. Lufthansa flights to and from Israel's Tel Aviv and the Jordanian capital of Amman will operate only during the day until February, the airline said. Now, these moves come after President Donald Trump said a flotilla of U.S. military assets was headed to the region amid heightened tensions with Iran.

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Now, the son of Iran's last Shah tells CNN's Jake Tapper, he believes U.S. air strikes are the only hope for removing the current government in Iran.

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REZA PAHLAVI, SON OF THE LAST SHAH OF IRAN: In fact, a lot of people now are hoping that this totally unfair conflict where the regime is massacring them and they have no choice to defend themselves because they are unarmed, something is going to tilt the balance in their favor, and the best way to do that and save lives at the same time is to strike the regime when they are the most vulnerable. There is no other way to help unarmed people when they are facing this level of brutality that the regime has exerted against them. The only chance is to see a cavalry that arrives, and we can hold the fort up to a point. At some point, we need to get that air cover, and that will change the balance in favor of the people.

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MICHAELSON: Now, shortly after the Iran protests started, the regime shut off internet services in the country, leaving tens of millions of people unable to get updates out to the world. That's created an information vacuum that has allowed disinformation to thrive.

Our Leila Gharagozlou looks at how trying to verify what's really happening inside Iran has become its own kind of battle.

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LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): As millions of Iranians remain offline amidst an unprecedented communications blackout imposed by the government, an information vacuum is emerging.

GHARAGOZLOU (on camera): Layla Mashkoor is the Deputy Director of Research at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensics Lab. They study and track A.I.-generated media and any attempts online to shape public perceptions of certain activities and narratives, both by state actors and non-state actors.

LAYLA MASHKOOR, ATLANTIC COUNCIL DIGITAL FORENSIC RESEARCH LAB (on camera): The activity on the ground is very much taking place under the cover of this internet blackout, and that creates a fertile ground for actors who want to create the dominant narrative, to shape public perception, to then fill this information vacuum with their own narratives, their own claims, their own stories. And so, we've observed a surge in bot activity and A.I.-generated visuals surrounding both the protest and the ensuing crackdown.

GHARAGOZLOU (on camera): Nilo Tabrizy is an open source verification journalist at The Washington Post. She is one of the many journalists combing through the videos we see coming from Iran working to verify them.

NILO TABRIZY, VISUAL FORENSICS REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST (on camera): Internet connectivity is really crucial to how we do our work. It's how we connect with eye witnesses inside the country. It's how we maybe get visuals that aren't necessarily shared on social media, and it's how also we sometimes can verify different videos that we're seeing.

GHARAGOZLOU (on camera): So, how do open source journalists verify videos trickling in from Iran?

TABRIZY (on camera): One will look for any signage in the background of the video. Can I find it on satellite imagery and match up the other visuals that I'm seeing in the video with other available material? We also look for instances where there are several angles of the same incident covered. So, one viral image that started in these protests was of people sitting down, doing a peaceful protest, while there were lines of security forces on motorbikes. At first, some people thought that this was A.I.-enhanced, but once we saw it from multiple different angles, we were able to feel good about the veracity of the video.

GHARAGOZLOU (on camera): Like Mashkoor, Tabrizy also has concerns over A.I. manipulation. She points to two instances of viral images from the current protests.

TABRIZY (on camera): One, there is a low res photo that was verified of a security force with a Kalashnikov, with an automatic-style weapon in Tehran. This image was shared. Also, a version of that was shared that was A.I-enhanced. So, it was still the same truth of, there is a security force with this type of weapon, but the image just made it look more dramatic. And I did see that dramatic image being shared, the manipulated one, as well at the Kahrizak Forensic Center at the morgue, where people are coming to claim the bodies of their loved ones killed by the state.

There was one image of a woman standing amidst a sea of bodies. It's a really shocking image. That image is real. It's been verified. We can see it from -- it was also in a video. There is an A.I.-manipulated version of it, which just adds a couple more rows of bodies onto the image. So, just, again, it dramatizes the image that we're seeing.

GHARAGOZLOU (on camera): Amid the deluge of information, Mashkoor from the DFR Lab says that they're seeing two competing narratives emerge, one from Iran's allies and one from its adversaries. MASHKOOR (on camera): And there is not enough information to say with certainty who was behind this recent activity. But it is interesting that Iran's adversaries, such as the Israeli government, are sharing A.I.-generated images that falsely depict the protests in order to promote these anti-regime narratives. And so, we're seeing state actors very actively engaged in the online conversation, actively sharing A.I. depictions and falsehoods.

On the other side, we're also seeing Iran's allies, such as Russia, using its own state media and its own influence apparatus in order to promote narratives that the U.S. and Israel are behind the unrest.

[01:25:00]

GHARAGOZLOU (on camera): While state actors look to spread disinformation, the target often is the average news consumer. And while open source journalists are working to verify videos, it does take a lot of time.

TABRIZY (on camera): Sometimes it can take three, four days to verify one video. It's a very time-intensive process. And the other part of it, sometimes there is videos or images that we can never verify. There may not be enough features in the background for me to be able to verify it. So, sometimes there is really important pieces of evidence that we just cannot verify to the standards that we need to.

GHARAGOZLOU (on camera): How do you suggest people combat that disinformation?

MASHKOOR (on camera): It is very difficult to combat. And so, it's really important for people to take a step back and to think critically about what they're seeing online, to try to verify things with multiple sources, and to try and find authentic on-the-ground updates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: Thanks for watching. For our international viewers, Richard Quest's World of Wonder is next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be right back with Rachel Nichols talking a huge weekend for sports.

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MICHAELSON: Welcome back to "The Story Is". I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at some of today's top stories.

A catastrophic winter storm is starting to make its way across the U.S. Some areas could see the heaviest snow in years. Widespread ice could lead to prolonged power outages for hundreds of thousands of people. At least 16 states in Washington D.C. have already declared a state of emergency. Sources tell CNN that the FBI agent who was originally investigating

the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good has resigned. The agent had opened a civil rights investigation but was ordered to reclassify it to an investigation into an assault on an officer. The county attorney, who oversees Minneapolis, says the resignation suggests that the investigation may have been stopped for political reasons.

Officials say alleged drug trafficker Ryan Wedding is now in U.S. custody after he was arrested in Mexico where he had been hiding. The former snowboarder represented Canada in the 2002 Olympics, but eventually made the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. He was indicted on multiple offenses, including murder and cocaine trafficking in a multinational criminal operation.

CNN's Randi Kaye has the latest on this bizarre case against Wedding.

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KASH PATEL, DIRECTOR, FBI (on camera): Today, we are announcing a capture of another FBI's Most Wanted Top 10 fugitive, Ryan Wedding.

RANDI KAYE, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding now in custody after being on the run for several years.

PATEL (on camera): Without getting into operational sensitivities, Ryan Wedding was apprehended last night in Mexico City.

KAYE (voice-over): Mexico's Security Secretary said in a tweet on X that Wedding turned himself into Mexican authorities before being handed over to the FBI. Wedding had a $15 million bounty on his head.

PATEL (on camera): Just to tell you how bad of a guy Ryan Wedding is, he went from an Olympic snowboarder to the largest narco-trafficker in modern times. He is a modern-day El Chapo. He is a modern-day Pablo Escobar, and he thought he could evade justice.

KAYE (voice-over): If Wedding did think that, he was proven wrong. An international manhunt nicknamed "Operation Giant Slalom" stretched across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Colombia. Wedding, who used aliases such as "El Jefe" and "Giant", was believed to have been hiding out with the Sinaloa Cartel and allegedly involved in cocaine trafficking, money laundering, and multiple murders. Those murders, authorities say, included government witnesses.

AKIL DAVIS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI (on camera): We've arrested 36 people for their role in this organization. We've seen mountain of drugs, cash, weapons. We seized the Mercedes Benz estimated over $15 million. We seized dozens of motorcycles worth approximately $40 million, and other valuable artwork and jewelry.

KAYE (voice-over): Officials say Wedding's operation made him a very rich man with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. These are pictures of the drugs authorities say they have seized as part of the investigation. Wedding was born in 1981 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and was raised in a

family of skiers. He made the Canadian national snowboarding team at 15 and went on to compete in events around the world. He gave up competitive snowboarding soon after finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom snowboarding event in 2002. After his sports career ended, Wedding enrolled at Simon Fraser University and moved to Vancouver, according to Rolling Stone. The magazine reported, he took a job as a bouncer at a club, and from there, entered the drug underworld.

Over the last decade or so, authorities believe Wedding has moved an average of 60 tons of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico for distribution in the United States and Canada. Others allegedly involved in his criminal enterprise helped him by laundering money, providing intelligence, assisting in murders and training hitmen.

CHIEF JIM MCDONNELL, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT (on camera): This is a significant blow to a criminal network that has endangered communities across borders.

KAYE (on camera): Wedding is being transferred to U.S. custody. He is due to appear in federal court on Monday. The State Department is still offering a $2 million reward for information leading to additional arrests. And if you're keeping track of the 16 defendants in this case, now at least 13 are in custody, including Wedding. Others were arrested in Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Michigan and Florida. If convicted, Wedding would face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: That is one of the craziest stories we've heard in a long time.

All right. Let's talk sports now to the NFL, where the winners of the Conference Championships this weekend will head to the Super Bowl.

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First up, on Sunday is the AFC matchup between Drake Maye and the New England Patriots against the Denver Broncos. Broncos star quarterback Bo Nix will not be playing after he broke his ankle in last week's thriller in overtime against the Bills. Then later, Matthew Stafford will lead the LA Rams into Seattle for the NFC title game against the Seahawks. Those teams split their regular season games one a piece, and Super Bowl 60, by the way, will be played Sunday, February 8th at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. We'll be doing a special show from there live.

Joining me now is Fox Sports Analyst Rachel Nichols, one of the best people in the country to talk sports with. Welcome back to "The Story Is".

RACHEL NICHOLS, FOX SPORTS ANALYST: Thanks you, sir. MICHAELSON: So, we'll get to the NFL stuff in a moment.

NICHOLS: Yes.

MICHAELSON: But first, we're going to spill some tea. So, let's get to what's going on with the Los Angeles Lakers. There was this story that Baxter Holmes put out on ESPN this week that talked about Jeanie Buss, who has owned the Lakers for years, the Buss family has owned the Lakers for years, and sort of some of the elbowing she has been doing behind the scene. What was sort of the basic takeaway from that story?

NICHOLS: Look, I think Baxter Holmes is a fantastic reporter. He is always really well sourced and solid. So, a reporter can only report what your sources tell you. The sources, to me, all of the material in that piece, or at least a lot of it, had a lot of coded language. If you're a woman in sports, you're just kind of used to hearing stuff like this. Gosh darn it, Jeanie wasn't nice enough. She wasn't nice enough, Elex. And like, you think about the fact that two of her older brothers literally tried to stage a coup against her and get the board to oust her as governor. Her two younger brothers were talking about structuring their own sale of the team, and that their father really wanted to leave the team to them, even though he named Jeanne the governor and lead person in his will.

I mean, this was a sea of sharks all the way around. She navigated it and got each sibling half a billion dollars in this sale. And it just feels, when you read the story, and you hear people talk about her, that if this was a man, she would be no nonsense, or even ruthless, but in the good way, like the titan of industry way, and instead, it's that she wasn't nice.

MICHAELSON: A lot of sexism.

NICHOLS: This wasn't nice.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. And what's your experience with Jeanie been like over the years?

NICHOLS: I think Jeanie is fantastic. I think -- I've been privy to a lot of the stuff she has dealt with, and I think it's been very, very impressive. And look, running the LA Lakers in this town is no easy task. I think she is selling at the right time. And obviously, there is some stuff about LeBron in that story as well.

MICHAELSON: Well -- and let's talk about that. So, there is not direct quotes, but basically saying that Jeanie was kind of annoyed at LeBron James that he was not more grateful to her for signing him, signing his son Bronny, kind of doing the Russell Westbrook deal, and then pretending that he had nothing to do with the Russell Westbrook deal. There were no direct quotes there. LeBron was asked about it. He said that he didn't care. And they asked him, are you going to end the season in L.A. and he said --

NICHOLS: I'm good.

MICHAELSON: -- I'm good. NICHOLS: I'm good.

MICHAELSON: I'm not quite sure what that meant.

NICHOLS: I'm good.

MICHAELSON: How do you read into what's going on with LeBron?

NICHOLS: Look, I don't know if in eight years you've ever grumbled, which is the word that was used in the story to a friend or family member about anyone you've worked with. I mean, I know a lot of people out there who can't say that they've never done that.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

NICHOLS: So, look, LeBron is a strong presence, and he has a strong presence on purpose. He is literally the face of the player empowerment movement. If you are taking power as a player, you are taking it from the team owners. He has been more of an equal partner relationship with the teams that he has been on, as opposed to, oh yeah, I'm going to shut up and dribble. I'm going to just play basketball. And so, that comes with, if you're having a working relationship with two sides having a lot of power, that sometimes comes with people being annoyed at each other. I am pretty sure if LeBron's phone was tapped, we would hear him being annoyed at the Lakers sometimes.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

NICHOLS: It happens.

MICHAELSON: He is annoyed publicly at the Lakers sometimes --

NICHOLS: Right. Exactly.

MICHAELSON: -- if you watch his press conferences.

NICHOLS: We've heard it before.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. Yeah.

NICHOLS: So, again, a little bit of this. And again, the story was reported impeccably. This isn't about the writer. It is about the people who are making such a mountain out of all of this. And it's a shame to me that this has been the headline out of all of it, because, actually, look, I covered LeBron in Cleveland. I covered LeBron in Miami. This partnership with the Lakers has been his most successful owner-player relationship of his entire career.

MICHAELSON: And the longest too --

NICHOLS: And the longest.

MICHAELSON: -- eight years. So, is he being -- he is not going to be traded, right?

NICHOLS: Well, he has a new trade clause.

MICHAELSON: Right.

NICHOLS: So, he is only traded if he wants to be. It's really about the end of the season and what happens to him. There are three options, and everybody in the league knows it. One option is he re- signs with the Lakers at a much lower price, because they give money to other people and they're building around Luka Doncic.

Second option, he just retires. He retires as a Laker. He goes out into the sunset. Everyone applauds him. He gets his jersey up in the rafters, etc.

[01:40:00]

Third option, and this is the least likely, but it's still out there, is that he goes to another team and plays next year. And of course, the Cavaliers are natural sort of talking point. They'd have to rip up a lot of their team to put him on there, and we'll have to see if they're interested or he is interested.

MICHAELSON: Yeah. He makes $50 million right now, and there is not a lot of teams that want to pay a 42-year-old $50 million. So, we'll see.

Let's talk football real quick --

NICHOLS: Yeah, man.

MICHAELSON: -- NFC, AFC Championship. Let's start with the NFC Championship. Rams, Seahawks. What are you looking for?

NICHOLS: Dude, I mean, this is so close. The two games they played this season have been decided at the last seconds. This is going to be a fantastic matchup. The defense in Seattle really evokes the Legion of Boom, right, and Matthew Stafford on the Rams side is probably the MVP. So, you really have a rock meeting the hard place. And I will say that, right now, Seattle is the best home field advantage in the league. So, I expect that to be really noisy game as well, and hard to call.

MICHAELSON: Yeah, the 12th man, as they call it there.

NICHOLS: Yeah, the 12th.

MICHAELSON: Meanwhile, in Denver, they don't have their quarterback --

NICHOLS: No.

MICHAELSON: -- as they face off against Drake Maye and the Patriots.

NICHOLS: And Drake Maye has been phenomenal for a young quarterback. He is already drawing comparisons to Tom Brady, including by Tom Brady.

MICHAELSON: By Tom Brady, and he said it -- NICHOLS: Right?

MICHAELSON: -- himself this week. Yeah.

NICHOLS: Exactly. So, the only nipple you pick with him is he has been a bit turnover-prone in the playoffs, and he said this week that he has practiced ball security and getting the ball out of his hands faster, having a faster clock in his head. The Broncos defense is no joke, and the quarterback replacing Bo Nix, Jarrett is a veteran quarterback. He is one of the first guys that Sean Payton went out and got. I know he hasn't played a regular season game in two years.

MICHAELSON: And not one snap this year.

NICHOLS: But for a guy in that position, he is probably the most experienced you could get. He had two phenomenal games this preseason. The team has complete confidence in him --

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

NICHOLS: -- which is sometimes the most important part.

MICHAELSON: It's going to be really interesting to see. So, who wins the Super Bowl?

NICHOLS: Let's see who gets there first.

MICHAELSON: Yeah.

NICHOLS: I do think the NFC winner will have the advantage in the Super Bowl.

MICHAELSON: All right. Rachel Nichols, you're the best at Fox Sports.

NICHOLS: Nice to see you.

MICHAELSON: Have a great weekend. We're all going to be watching sports --

NICHOLS: We'll be watching.

MICHAELSON: -- and our friends on the East Coast are going --

NICHOLS: In blankets.

MICHAELSON: -- be hunkered down watching sports.

NICHOLS: What do you want to do?

MICHAELSON: Yeah. Yeah.

NICHOLS: Watch football.

MICHAELSON: After the break, we got quite a story. You got to stay tuned for this. We introduce you a Catholic priest who a huge following for his electronic music. We go on stage with him, and look at the crowd there. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: All right. Here is the story of the weekend. A D.J. is taking the Catholic world by storm.

CNN's David Culver goes on tour with the 51-year-old priest who is using electronic music to spread the word of God.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUILHERME PEIXOTO, DJ PRIEST (on camera): All right. It's show time.

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is, by the way, Guilherme Peixoto on tour, and we're with him.

CULVER (on camera): There is a nun in the front row, which I've never seen at a concert, let alone an electronic music concert. Has it been a good experience?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on camera): Yeah. Very happy.

CULVER (on camera): Yeah?

PEIXOTO (on camera): [FOREIGN LANGUAGE].

CULVER (on camera): Like a superstar. Well, he is a superstar. You see the crowd.

CULVER (voice-over): On to the next stop of the tour.

CULVER (on camera): I'm looking at the clock, because you're, what, two hours to show time.

CULVER (voice-over): We find a quiet place backstage to get to know more about this DJ Priest.

PEIXOTO (on camera): Since I was born, I always wanted to be a priest.

CULVER (on camera): Really?

PEIXOTO (on camera): But since the first moment that I remember, I wanted to be a priest, priest or astronaut.

CULVER (on camera): Priest or astronaut.

CULVER (voice-over): He went with the path that kept him closer to Earth, with a hobby that at 51-years-old still allows him to soar, even if just for a couple of hours.

PEIXOTO (on camera): 19, 20-years-old, I started going to some clubs, listened to music. This is nice, and I like the electronic music. CULVER (voice-over): By the way, Guilherme says he began to use his passion to help lift his parish church out of debt by putting on small community music festivals.

PEIXOTO (on camera): And this was in 2006 that everything started.

CULVER (on camera): YouTube is how you learned how to D.J.

PEIXOTO (on camera): Yes, on the beginning,

CULVER (voice-over): In his 40s, he started taking D.J. classes. The gigs got bigger and bigger, along with his following, even getting the attention of the Vatican. As we're talking, the crowd is already packed for the opener and eager for the headliner.

CULVER (on camera): This is the time that he also says, he starts to feel the crowd. He begins to feel the energy. And this is a moment that then it kicks in, he says.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CULVER (on camera): There is a moment in every few songs where you hear a video message. This one from Pope Francis. And if you watch some of the faces in the crowd, they're just taking it in. And that's exactly the moment that Fasther Guilherme says he looks for throughout his performances.

PEIXOTO (on camera): I never imagined that was possible mix the church with electronic music. No one can look to this like a solution for the problems, but it's important that you can use, I think, our talents to make Jesus be present on the society.

[01:50:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May the blessing of the Almighty God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit come upon you and remain with you always.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELSON: David Culver with the best story of the week. Wow. How about that?

Still to come, a highly anticipated Netflix live event featuring a climber scaring the skyscraper in Taiwan postponed due to weather. We've got the plans on when he is going to try this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELSON: Bad weather is disrupting plans for a daring feat in Taiwan. Climber Alex Honnold was all set to scale one of the tallest buildings in the world without ropes, but rainy weather put a damper on those plans, forcing him to postpone the attempt.

[01:55:00] A video from his test climb show him as he scales part of the Taipei 101 skyscraper amid overcast skies. Netflix had planned to stream it live. It's now been pushed back a day. He'll try again tomorrow. Netflix will broadcast it then.

A public family dispute has done what decades of pop and fashion fame could not. Victoria Beckham now has a number one single. Spice Girls fans have rallied behind Posh after Brooklyn Peltz Beckham accused his famous parents of being controlling an explosive Instagram post. Her fans launched a tongue-in-cheek social media campaign that pushed her 2001 track "I'm Not Such an Innocent Girl" to number one on iTunes in the U.K. and in Ireland. The unexpected twist in the very public family controversy bringing the Beckham brand back into the cultural spotlight.

Thanks so much for joining us on Monday. Lakers legend Derek Fisher will be on our set live for a special conversation to mark the anniversary of Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant's death. Derek and Kobe won five titles together, and his stories are extraordinary and inspiring. We hope you'll join us for that.

Thanks for watching this week. Stay safe, if you have to deal with the cold. Have a great weekend and "Go Rams".

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