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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Videos Contradicting DHS Account Of Fatal Minneapolis Shooting; Interview with Author Don Winslow; Browns QB Shedeur Sanders Addedas Pro Bowl Sub; Eva Longoria's "The Fifth Wheel" Begins Production. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 27, 2026 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, it's wild. Our thanks to Bijan Hosseini for in Dubai for that report. That's it for this hour of The Story Is. But the next hour starts right now.
[01:00:21]
The Story Is leadership change. President Trump changes tactics in Minneapolis and is now working with Democratic leadership.
The Story Is unretiring. One of the top authors in the country is back and giving us his first T.V. interview. Don Winslow is here. And The Story Is, Pro bowl? Shocking reports that Shedeur Sanders, who barely made the NFL draft, is a Pro Bowl quarterback in his rookie season.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles, The Story Is with Elex Michelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson.
We start this hour with late breaking news from the White House. A live picture from there where it is now. We're looking at Capitol Hill after 1:00 in the morning. The New York Times is reporting that President Trump met in the Oval Office for two hours tonight with his Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem and her top aide, Corey Lewandowski. According to the Times, it was Noem who requested the meeting on a day that Trump made a big leadership change in Minneapolis, which in effect is a bit of a demotion for Noem and her authority.
Greg Bovino, who has been the top border official in Minneapolis, is expected to leave the city on Tuesday along with some of his agents. According to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, DHS suspended Bovino's access to his own social media accounts effective immediately. Now, all of this comes after President Trump and White House officials were reportedly frustrated by how both Bovino and Noem handled the deadly shootings of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and said things that at least so far were provably untrue in the days and hours after that shooting. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers, committed an act domestic terrorism.
GREGORY BOVINO, U.S. BORDER PATROL COMMANDER-AT-LARGE: This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Of course, there was no evidence of that. The White House is now attempting to distance itself from those remarks. And border czar Tom Homan is now set to take over ICE operations in the city. President Trump claims he had, quote, "very good" phone calls with the mayor of Minneapolis and Minnesota's governor about de-escalating the crisis. The first time he'd spoken with these top Democratic officials in some time.
Mayor Jacob Frey expected to meet with Homan on Tuesday. Some Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, say that the administration could have done better when handling the fallout of the shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): What I think the administration could do better is the tone with which they're describing this, that immediately when an incident like this happens, they come out guns blazing, that we took out a violent terrorist. Hooray.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Lah joins us now with a special CNN investigation analyzing the videos taken by eyewitnesses. Kyung, you put all of this together from all the different angles. What'd you find?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, there's so much citizen video. A lot of us have seen this on social media, but we've also heard from federal authorities, specific quotes from federal authorities about what their interpretation is, and it simply doesn't match what we are finding on citizen video. We have new video that lengthens the timeline and it also shows a little more context to this entire scene that you can judge for yourself. We do want to warn you that what you're about to see can be a bit disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): In new witness video, we are getting our earliest look at the moments before Alex Pretti is shot and killed. We can now piece together six minutes before the shooting.
This new video and multiple others analyzed by CNN do not capture any violent actions by protesters or Pretti and Pretti's handgun, legally owned and carried, was removed by a federal officer just before Pretti was killed. As officers cluster on the sidewalk outside a donut store, Pretti is across the street with two officers. Seconds later, one of those officers pushes Pretti. Pretti's family and friends say he was a VA nurse and someone deeply connected to the community. He joined the citizen effort to protest in the wake of Renee Good's death. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claims Pretti's motivation was this --
[01:05:12]
NOEM: This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.
LAH (voice-over): The multiple videos, interviews, and witness statements so far do not support that claim. Pretti has a cell phone lifted, appearing to be recording.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're legal observers.
LAH (voice-over): A witness says about 15 observers were on the street watching the officers. After that first exchange with the officer, seconds later, someone standing near Pretti is on the ground. Agents appear to restrain that person. Then several officers run across the street. For a couple more minutes Pretti, seen in a separate video, continues moving traffic and helps this witness find a parking spot. But then another confrontation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Woo.
LAH (voice-over): An officer shoves a woman wearing an orange backpack to the ground. Pretti steps in between the woman and the officer and is sprayed in the face. This is the account from a top Border Patrol official.
BOVINO: He brought a semiautomatic weapon to a riot, assaulted federal officers, and at some point, they saw that weapon.
LAH (voice-over): Video analyzed so far does not support that there was a riot or that Pretti assaulted federal officers. As the officers pull Pretti to the ground, he has one hand in the air and the other holding his cell phone. Pretti did have a legal permit to carry and had a handgun in his waistband. When we freeze the video, you can see the gun visible on his back. This agent, wearing a gray jacket, removes Pretti's gun.
A moment later, the first gunshot. This officer was wearing a black beanie and a green shirt, has his gun aimed at Pretti. Pretti is kneeling, looking down. There are a total of 10 gunshots. A second officer wearing a brown hat also has his gun drawn, but it's unclear if he fired.
A full minute after Pretti was shot, agents search Pretti in confusion, trying to locate the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is the fucking gun? Where's the gun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got the gun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've gut the gun.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (on camera): A witness to the shooting says in a court affidavit that they didn't see Pretti touch any of the agents and didn't know why they shot him. A licensed pediatrician who ran to administer medical aid to Pretti also says in another court affidavit that the officers appear to be counting bullet wounds instead of checking for a pulse and administering CPR. That doctor says Pretti had three bullet holes in his back. One to his upper left chest and possibly, Elex, another wound to his neck.
MICHAELSON: It is hard to watch that video, and you kind of understand why so many law enforcement folks who are fans of President Trump had a problem with this particular shooting.
Kyung Lah, thank you for that reporting.
Joining me now to unpack the legality of this deadly encounter is civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom, who has gone after use of force cases in a civil manner many times involving law enforcement.
Lisa, let's start there. A potential civil case here. How would that go? What -- is there a case there against these officers who shot and killed Alex Pretti?
LISA BLOOM, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY, THE BLOOM FIRM: Hi, Elex. Absolutely. Absolutely. Alex Pretti's heirs and family members have a right to bring a civil case for the excessive force used. All of these videos would be admissible in court.
The jury's going to look at them very carefully. Why was he shot in the back after the gun was removed? In my view, that is clearly excessive force and gives rise to a very strong civil case.
MICHAELSON: What about a potential criminal case? Obviously, the bar there is higher and there's potential immunity involved.
BLOOM: Yes. So a criminal case has to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. And you're right, that's a higher standard than in a civil case. Normally, the Department of Justice would be investigating and prosecuting federal agents accused of wrongdoing, like these ICE agents. But the big boss, Donald Trump, has already weighed in and rushed to judgment.
So I don't expect that to happen. But instead, the state of Minnesota should be investigating, and I believe they are investigating this matter. So despite what some of the Trump administration say, that there is absolute federal immunity for ICE officers, that is just not true. There is some immunity for federal officers, like ICE agents acting in the course of their jobs. But importantly, they must act reasonably.
That is the key word, reasonably. Is it reasonable when there's six officers on top of Alex Pretti, when the gun has been removed, that he shot not just once, but multiple times? He's already down, he's already been shot, and they continue shooting at them. Each shot must be justified, that they are afraid of immediate threat to human life? I just don't think they can prove that.
[01:10:08]
So I think that although state prosecutions of federal officers are rare, I think they could lie in this case.
MICHAELSON: And we found out today that part of the negotiation between President Trump and Governor Walz is that there would be an independent investigation that would go forward. And so we wonder how that could impact something like a prosecution or not. We know that prosecuting law enforcement is very, very difficult to do from a criminal perspective, but not impossible. And it has been done successfully before, as we saw in Minneapolis when it came to the Derek Chauvin case of George Floyd.
Meanwhile, I'm just curious to get your perspective. You're a Democrat. You're no fan of President Trump. Just on this decision to pull Greg Bovino out of Minneapolis, our CNN colleague, Ron Brownstein, posted this on X. I want to read it for you and get your reaction, Lisa.
He said, "Lots more contention and even violence is likely still ahead on the streets of blue cities over the next three years, but I think historians will agree that ordinary people standing up made Minneapolis into Stephen Miller's Stalingrad," which people may remember back in World War II as sort of a reference to an inflection point where the war started going in a different direction. Do you think that that's true?
BLOOM: Well, I think Bovino has done an appallingly bad job in Minnesota. I mean, there are two innocent people who are now dead because of the violent thugs that he has unleashed in Minnesota. Minnesotans are the nicest people in America and tens of thousands of them were out in the street in subzero temperatures last weekend standing up against this violence. He's got to go, not just from Minnesota, where apparently he's going to be reassigned now. He needs to be fired.
And Kristi Noem also needs to be fired. This is ridiculous. ICE is supposed to be out there protecting public safety and they are the worst threat to public safety in Minnesota, which is why everybody there wants them to go and they should go.
MICHAELSON: Do you give President Trump any credit for potentially going in a -- in a different direction, seeming to cool down the temperature a little bit today, working with the Democratic officials pulling these people out?
BLOOM: Well, it's too little, too late. It's not going to bring Alex Pretti back. It's not going to bring Renee Good back or the third person who has been shot there. I mean, all of this has been going on for weeks and weeks. It happened in my city in Los Angeles. It's happened in Washington, D.C. across the country. So, you know, reshuffling the cards and moving people around, that's not the solution. These ICE agents are simply not trained in law enforcement. They used to go, you know, take people who were here illegally, arrest them, deport them. They're not supposed to be in the streets doing these violent sweeps.
That's the problem and that's what needs to stop.
MICHAELSON: And as we know, Minneapolis a very long ways from the southern border. And so Bovino likely --
BLOOM: It's true.
MICHAELSON: -- will be going back to the southern border where he laid the El Centro division near the border.
Lisa Bloom, thank you so much for sharing your perspectives on such an important story. We appreciate it.
BLOOM: Thank you, Elex.
MICHAELSON: More than 200 million people are under alerts for extreme cold now gripping every state east of the Rockies. That Arctic blast coming in the wake of a monster winter storm that's left behind ice, snow and major power outages. You're looking now at Times Square in New York where you see a lot of snow and not a whole lot of people. The city that never sleeps may be sleeping right now. That city expected to stay below freezing for at least the next 10 days, something that's never happened in New York history before.
Already, the brutal cold has set records daily lows in the plains. More records expected in the south and east as the cold stretches through the week. There's been more than 15 deaths reported across several states, including Texas. Some have been attributed to hypothermia, others from shoveling snow.
Ice has been another significant issue across the southern U.S. Damage caused by ice in Mississippi and Tennessee being described as devastating, with repairs in some areas expected to be prolonged. This only adding to concerns as more than 500,000 customers in several states remain without power.
This winter storm has had impacts on air travel as well, causing the most flight cancellations since the height of the pandemic. Tracking site FlightAware reports that more than 6,000 flights were canceled on Monday. It looks like operations will return to near normal levels on Tuesday. CNN Asia -- CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean filed this report earlier from Reagan National.
[01:14:58]
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Airlines recovery from this massive snowstorm and their scheduled meltdowns not going as smoothly as they hoped. The issue here is that so many planes and crews are out of position and that has led to so many flights being canceled. In fact, this is the line here for the ticket counter at Reagan National Airport for American Airlines because so many people had their flights canceled today, over half of all flights here at Reagan National Airport canceled. Usually we see about 440 flights in total flown. We've only really seen about a handful of that by comparison.
Come look at the departures board here. You can see all the orange and the yellow here on this board signifying cancellations in orange, delays in yellows. Kind of hard pressed to find much of anything really on time here today. This is the story playing out across the country. Some major hubs impacted by this storm, places that typically do not sea snow.
We're talking places like Dallas and Atlanta and Charlotte. But topping the list on Monday of the airports that were the most impacted, New York, JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Boston. So many people left in the lurch here. And the Federal Aviation Administration says one of the biggest problems has been the airports. That's been a really piece by piece kind of thing.
And crews have been working overtime trying to clear the ramps and the tarmacs, the taxiways and the runways to make sure things can move smoothly. But even here at Reagan National Airport on Monday, the delays at one point reached almost four hours for flights coming into here. So we are not totally out of the woods yet. The good news is the cancellations starting off for Tuesday are only in the hundreds. We'll see if airlines can keep it that way.
Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.
MICHAELSON: Thank you, Pete.
Professional snowboarder Shaun White made the most of the snowy conditions in New York City. How cool is that? Crowd gather to watch the Olympic gold medalist jump over actors Shane Gillis and Chris O'Connor in Central Park on Sunday. The park alone got more than 11 inches of snow, about 28 centimeters. Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he expects all city services to be operating fully on Tuesday. And it's already Tuesday in New York City.
Expanding its mission. Why Japan's military says it is facing the most severe security situation in decades. Our Jim Sciutto traveled there. His exclusive story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:21:44]
MICHAELSON: The U.S. military is fortifying its position in case of a potential strike on Iran, two sources tell CNN the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group is now in the Indian Ocean. President Trump has threatened military action over Tehran's crackdown on anti-government protesters. Rights groups report at least 5,500 have been killed, with an additional 17,000 deaths still being reviewed. Allies are urging the U.S. not to strike.
For the first time since 2014, there are no Israeli hostages dead or alive in Gaza. The Israeli military announced that the remains of the final hostage have been recovered. The police officer's body was taken into Gaza after he was killed in the October 7 attacks. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of first sergeant. Hamas says the return proves its complete commitment to phase one of the ceasefire deal.
Israel had agreed to reopen the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt when all the hostages were returned. Now they've been returned. The prime minister's office now says the crossing will be for pedestrians only, not for goods or humanitarian aid, and it's not clear when even that will happen. President Trump says he is raising tariffs on South Korean goods from 15 percent to 25 percent. In a Truth Social post, he claims South Korea is not living up to a trade deal reached in July. All this will impact imports of lumber, cars and tech and pharmaceuticals from the country.
South Korea's presidential office says it received no formal notice or explanation of the details and that the trade minister will travel to Washington for talks.
Now to Japan, which says it is forcing -- facing a growing threat from regional adversaries and that has the Japanese armed forces ramping up exercises. CNN's Jim Sciutto gets a rare look inside a training facility.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: At Camp Osaka in Tokyo, Japan's Ground Self Defense Force troops are in training to defend their country. This is the SDF's first division, the forces responsible for protecting the capital in the event of an attack. At Nearby Camp Nerima, Colonel Daisuke Shinobe, commanding officer of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division, tells me the potential threats come from multiple directions.
COL. DAISUKE SHINOBE, CAMMANDING OFFICER, JAPAN GROUND SELF-DEFENSE FORCE (through translator): Not only China, but also Russia and North Korea. We are surrounded by threats from three nations. The Japanese government recognizes that the current security environment is the most severe since the Second World War.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Japan's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, made that clear in public comments soon after her election in October, stating that Japan would consider a Chinese attack on Taiwan as an existential crisis, in effect an attack on Japan itself.
SANAE TAKAICHI, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): If China were to deploy battleships and involve the use of force, I believe this could be deemed a situation threatening Japan's survival.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Those words enraged Beijing, which condemned them as crossing a red line for China and soon imposed new sanctions on exports of dual use technologies to Japan and trim Chinese imports. But the standoff did nothing to dent Takaichi's popularity. She just called snap elections betting she can expand her majority in parliament. [01:25:14]
After decades of being largely defined by limitations to its role and its size, the SDF is gaining confidence and support as well.
SHINOBE (through translator): As threats from neighboring countries are increasing, the Japanese public's understanding and awareness of national defense are growing and this is supporting us in the Self Defense Forces.
SCIUTTO: Like in Taiwan, it was Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine that led once distant fears of Chinese aggression in the region into a more believable threat. And that has led many here to call not just for more resources for Japan's military, but also the possibility of an expanded mission.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): One growing concern and potential flashpoint, the Senkaku Islands claimed by both Japan and China where they are known as the Diaoyu. Following a playbook, Beijing is employed in the South China Sea with the Spratly Islands and on islands close to the Philippines, Chinese vessels frequently conduct operations and harass Japanese ships there.
To Japanese military commanders, the danger of escalation now requires training on multiple fronts.
SHINOBE (through translator): Training involves not only countering strong opposing forces, but also responding to complex situations such as satellite surveillance, cyber-attacks, electromagnetic attacks and intelligence gathering by drones.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): An expanding mission for the Japanese military at an increasingly harrowing time.
Jim Sciutto, CNN, at Camp Nerima, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Thanks to Jim.
Former Olympic snowboarder turned FBI's most wanted, Ryan Wedding has pleaded not guilty to charges that he ran a billion dollar drug trafficking ring that also orchestrated multiple killings. Authorities say the Canadian athlete who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics trafficked as much as 60 tons of cocaine across Colombia, Mexico, Canada and Southern California under the protection of one of Mexico's most powerful cartels. Wedding is currently being held without bond. He's due back in court next month.
Just ahead on The Story Is, New York Times best-selling author Don Winslow comes out of retirement to settle the final score. His first T.V. interview about his new book is with us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:57] ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Elex
Michaelson.
Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The Trump administration is changing its immigration enforcement leadership in Minneapolis. Top border patrol official Greg Bovino will be departing the city on Tuesday following the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti over the weekend. White House border czar Tom Homan is expected to manage ICE operations in Minneapolis moving forward.
The remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been finally returned to Israel. That hostage was a police officer killed on October 7th, whose body was taken into the territory.
President Trump celebrated the recovery by crediting his great team of champions. A U.S. official says Qatar and Turkey helped to get Hamas to cooperate.
U.S. Flight operations are expected to return to near normal levels Tuesday, following the worst disruptions in years. The tracking site FlightAware reports more than 6,000 flights were canceled on Monday because of the massive winter storm. Full recovery will take several days as carriers work to reposition aircraft and crews.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look like a person who has secrets. You got the cars, the clothes. You can't seem to look me in the eye.
CHRIS HEMSWORTH, ACTOR: Start by handing me your phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That is the trailer for the upcoming film "Crime 101", starring Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry. It's based on the short story by acclaimed crime author Don Winslow. It's set to hit theaters next month.
Winslow is the author of more than 24 books, including three "New York Times" Critics Choice Best Books of the Year. His latest is "The Final Score". It drops Tuesday, his return to writing after a short retirement.
Don Winslow joins us now. Welcome to THE STORY IS. This is your first TV interview about this new project.
DON WINSLOW, AUTHOR: It is.
MICHAELSON: Congratulations on the book.
WINSLOW: Thank you. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
MICHAELSON: So you're back? A lot of people missed you.
WINSLOW: I'm back. MICHAELSON: And this is a short story. Six different stories in it.
WINSLOW: Yes, it's actually novellas. The two novellas in it. So some longer pieces and then a few short stories. Yes.
MICHAELSON: And a lot of your favorites, right? Surfers, mobsters, drugs. All kind of represented here.
WINSLOW: Yes, absolutely. I mean, one of the most fun parts of writing this volume was the ability to work in different styles, different subjects, but with, I think, an overarching theme about identity, who we are as people, what choices we have to make. You know, who we are as a country.
MICHAELSON: I want to put up on the screen "The Washington Post" review of what you are talking about here. They said, essentially, "Don Winslow is soft spoken. His fiction smashes you in the teeth." Do you do you agree with that?
(CROSSTALKING)
WINSLOW: Yes, I think so.
MICHAELSON: How so? How do you smash people in the teeth?
WINSLOW: You know, I think my job as a crime writer is to take people into a world that they otherwise couldn't enter and show it to them from the eyes of the characters.
[01:34:52]
WINSLOW: Now, I write about some tough subjects. You know, I write about drugs and I write about immigration, and I write about addiction, all kinds of things. Those are tough subjects.
And so I write realistically. I want to present that to a reading audience realistically. And that's what I try to do.
MICHAELSON: So in 2022, you announced that you were retiring from writing in order to pursue activism more. And now you're coming back. Why the decision to come back?
WINSLOW: A couple of things. One, yes. You know, I stopped entirely to pursue political activism, working against Trump and against MAGA. That did not work out the way that I wanted it to -- I think most of us wanted it to.
And then, you know, I'm sitting around, I have these stories and books, this book running around in my head, and it wouldn't stop. It just demanded to be written. And I finally sat down and wrote it.
MICHAELSON: And you write every single day during that process, right?
WINSLOW: I do. I do. I start at 5:30 in the morning and quit about 5:30 in the evening.
MICHAELSON: Really -- 12 hours of writing every day.
WINSLOW: Yes. I take breaks, obviously. Yes, but can't see to can't see.
Yes, yes.
MICHAELSON: And on the political front, you had to cancel your book tour because of death threats over your political activism.
WINSLOW: I did yes, it's maddening. It's sad. You know, I've had threats over the years, but these most recent ones threatening to kidnap and rape me, advocating my assassination, you know? And so while I hate giving into threats like that, it's not fair to ask other people to share that risk in a public space that you really can't defend. And so, yes. Sadly, we had to cancel these events.
MICHAELSON: What do you make of the big breaking story of this day that Greg Bovino, who's been overseeing a lot of the border operations in Minneapolis is now being sent home?
MICHAELSON: Well, it's a good first step, but that's all it is. It should be followed up by strenuous investigation and indictments, if that's appropriate.
But can we back up a little bit? It's not a matter of this person or that person. A fish rots from the head, famously. And since that man came down the escalator in 2015, he has profoundly changed this country to the extent where things like this can happen.
He has always advocated violence. He openly has advocated police brutality. So what do we expect?
MICHAELSON: He says he doesn't advocate violence.
WINSLOW: But we've seen him on the screen advocating violence. And right now, of course, they're saying that we didn't see what we all saw clearly, again and again and again.
And they try this "1984" tactic of, no, you didn't see what you thought you saw. You saw something different, which is exactly what they've tried to do with January 6th.
MICHAELSON: On a lighter note, let's talk about your movies. So you've got a big movie coming up, "Crime 101", with some real A-listers -- Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry, some of the most attractive people on the planet.
And what's that process like for you? Watching your work come to life?
WINSLOW: Well, it's amazing. You know, you sit one morning and you have this little idea, right? And then a couple of years later, it's 30 feet tall and kinetic. And with the people that you mentioned and looking exciting and it is exciting. So it's fun to see.
MICHAELSON: And also employing a lot of people in the process. WINSLOW: Yes. You know, that is really for me, the greatest
satisfaction. Again, you're sitting one morning, a tiny idea. And then a couple of years later, hundreds of people are paying rents and tuitions and car payments and things. And that's very cool. I love that.
MICHAELSON: Watching that credits of all the people who are working because of your vision, which has got to be an amazing thing.
WINSLOW: Little idea.
MICHAELSON: So not just that movie. Austin Butler is about to star in another one of your movies that are coming forward. Do you have any role in the casting? No, no. Except, you know, he looks like me, of course.
MICHAELSON: This is "City on Fire".
WINSLOW: That's a bigger laugh than I wanted, frankly. No. No, I don't have. I mean, I was delighted with the casting, as I'm delighted with the casting of "Crime 101".
MICHAELSON: And you get to go to the set and talk to them and --
(CROSSTALKING)
WINSLOW: Yes. Yes.
You know, I usually -- the director, the writer or both will come around. We'll sit and talk or sometimes I'll take them on locations. I'll read drafts of the script and things.
MICHAELSON: So more writings coming, right?
WINSLOW: I think so. Listen, I don't know, I'll always write. I know that I'll always write because that's just who I am, you know. Whether I publish or not or what form that will take, that's an open question, right now.
MICHAELSON: Clearly there's an audience for it. "The Final Score" now coming out for people. Get to enjoy it.
Thank you so much, Don Winslow. Appreciate you coming on sharing your views. Congrats on the book.
WINSLOW: Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: We will be back with more of THE STORY IS right after this.
[01:39:43]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: Did you hear about this? Rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns has reportedly been added to the roster for next Tuesdays pro bowl in the NFL. Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, will replace Patriots quarterback Drake Maye -- Drake Maye -- who is headed to the Super Bowl.
Sanders only started seven games for the Browns. He threw more interceptions than touchdowns. Many fans and analysts are wondering, was everybody else busy? Why Shedeur Sanders?
Joining me now to discuss this and more pop culture stories, entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu. Segun, what's up with this and what's up with the pro bowl?
SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: No. What's up with the hate, Elex? Why are we even talking about how many touchdowns and interceptions he threw. He's going to the pro bowl. That's all that matters.
The same system that dropped him to the fifth -- to the fifth round has now elevated him to the pro bowl. And I'm here for it.
Because when you make the pro bowl typically there are incentives.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
ODUOLOWU: A fifth-round quarterback didn't have any incentives in his contract for making the pro bowl. But win or lose, he's walking away with either $46,000 as a loser or $92,000 for winning the pro bowl. So yes.
MICHAELSON: You think Deion Sanders' son is short on money?
ODUOLOWU: I think everyone is --
MICHAELSON: Sold everything at that school. That was the definition of NIL. Come on.
[01:44:49]
ODUOLOWU: I think everyone in America right now is not turning up their nose at a $46,000 check or $92,000.
MICHAELSON: To go for a flag football. They don't even play regular -- why are we doing the pro bowl? Why don't we just acknowledge that they did well? Give them a plaque and move on.
Who wants to watch this? I mean, the ratings are not good. I mean, why even go through this? The games.
ODUOLOWU: Don't hate the player, Elex. Hate the game.
MICHAELSON: I am hating the game.
ODUOLOWU: I'm cool. They hate the game. But not -- don't hate, don't hate on (INAUDIBLE)
MICHAELSON: Yes. Not the players -- I mean, good for them. They've worked hard and good for -- (CROSSTALKING)
ODUOLOWU: Good for Shedeur.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
ODUOLOWU: Good for Shedeur. Listen, for what this says about where he started and what eventually is supposed to happen. Look, Matthew Stafford, we're in L.A., Matthew Stafford, for all of his lauded gifts, made three pro bowls in 17 seasons.
Shedeur is one-third of those in one season. I'm here for it. And Shedeur does, check the time. The brother's coming. Ok. Respect that, Cleveland.
MICHAELSON: All right. There you go.
ODUOLOWU: Respect.
MICHAELSON: Somebody else is playing in the Super Bowl, not Matthew Stafford. It's Sam Darnold.
ODUOLOWU: Yes, your boy. USC's finest.
MICHAELSON: From the University of Southern California, the first USC quarterback to ever start in a Super Bowl.
Quite a redemption story because when he started off with the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets Jets, it did not look good.
ODUOLOWU: No, it didn't. It was like he was seeing ghosts. That's the famous line where he was confused during the game. I'm seeing ghosts. And he bounced around the league from the Jets to the Carolina Panthers to the San Francisco 49ers to the Minnesota Vikings and now with the Seattle Seahawks.
It is a redemption story. It is about sticktoitiveness and belief in yourself. He'd been doubted and counted out a lot of times. USC should be proud. Why are you not wearing USC colors cheering this man?
MICHAELSON: I'm a Rams fan. And it was pretty tough.
ODUOLOWU: Rams fan.
MICHAELSON: And I live in Los Angeles.
ODUOLOWU: Come on.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
ODUOLOWU: Ride with your alma mater. Come on Elex, Ride -- you never miss a chance to tell me how great USC is.
(CROSSTALKING)
MICHAELSON: -- city too. How about how about Mike Vrabel, former Patriot coming back to his
team to coach his team after Bill Belichick coached them to all those championships with Tom Brady? How about that Patriots story.
ODUOLOWU: Yes, I'm not here for the Patriots story. I'm a big fan of Vrabel. But I think that this coaching job that he's done kind of ushers away any Bill Belichick stench that might linger on New England.
Because when Brady left Belichick, right away Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he's doing fine. You get rid of Belichick and all of that he brought. And in the second year -- in the first year of Vrabel, the second year of Drake Maye they're going to the Super Bowl. Come on you got to get -- you got to say that Belichick -- the luster is off Bill completely now.
MICHAELSON: Belichick won six Super Bowls.
ODUOLOWU: He didn't win nothing without Brady.
MICHAELSON: Yes, well neither -- I mean so what.
ODUOLOWU: You were about to say Brady won without him. And now the Patriots are about to win without Belichick. I'd also like to really point out really quick that this is Super Bowl LX. And for all our numerology fans the Seattle Seahawks had a 60 to 1 odds to get and win the Super Bowl at the beginning of the season. And they're going to Super Bowl LX.
Coincidence? I don't think so. Seattle will raise the Lombardi.
MICHAELSON: They probably will. We'll see. I will be there for the game.
But we're going to stick around.
ODUOLOWU: As a guest of --
MICHAELSON: No. We're doing a special show from the field that night.
ODUOLOWU: Ok. Nice.
MICHAELSON: Which we're excited about.
ODUOLOWU: I didn't get that memo but --
MICHAELSON: You're sticking around. We are going to talk entertainment, including a big new Kim Kardashian show that's coming to Netflix.
ODUOLOWU: Ok, cool. But not the Internet.
MICHAELSON: Stay with us. That one might get even more views.
[01:48:18]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAELSON: We're back with more pop culture talk with entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu.
All right. So there is a new movie coming to Netflix -- there you go. And it stars Kim Kardashian and Nikki Glaser. And it's directed by Eva Longoria. They just put out the stills of this today.
Are you excited?
ODUOLOWU: I'm excited for girl power. I'm a girl dad. I love to see women in places of control and power where we haven't seen them before. So I'm happy for that.
Eva Longoria directing, great. The movie itself has absolutely no interest to me.
First of all.
MICHAELSON: It's called "The Fifth Wheel".
ODUOLOWU: Yes. "The Fifth Wheel".
MICHAELSON: The Kim Kardashian is "The Fifth Wheel".
ODUOLOWU: Yes, well -- there are jokes there, by the way about all of that, that we're not going to -- we're not even going to do, you know, fifth wheel, junk in the trunk.
There's so many things that I could say --
MICHAELSON: Yes. Ok.
ODUOLOWU: -- we're not going to do it because it's just -- yes, I did.
But my big thing about this is Kim Kardashian is also a producer on this. And for whatever, like her, don't like her -- she's taking that Skims money and she's putting it into entertainment and television and building an empire. I love it, she's empowering other women.
Nikki Glaser, hot off of the hosting of the Golden Globes. She's incredibly funny. I don't know if she's an actress. I know of her as a stand up. I don't really see her as an actress. Don't really see Kim Kardashian as an actress. But Eva Longoria is talented.
Let's see.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And Kim Kardashian did "All's Fair" on Hulu. It was one of the worst reviewed shows of all time, and yet people love it.
ODUOLOWU: People hate watch.
MICHAELSON: And they hate watch. The numbers were great. It's coming back for another season. So as much as people mock her, she brings in the eyeballs and she brings in the money.
ODUOLOWU: She's laughing all the way to the bank.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
Speaking of laughing all the way to the bank. "Mercy", which is a new movie that just came out with Chris Pratt, the first movie to dethrone "Avatar". And the reviews for this are not great.
ODUOLOWU: No, they're not great. And it's terrible. It was supposed to be "Minority Report 2.0". I'm sorry to report that this is just a minor movie. Skip it. You don't need to see it. The Rotten Tomato ratings are in the 20s.
So if you -- it could have been good. It had a great premise, but it wasn't.
[01:54:49]
ODUOLOWU: Typically Chris Pratt is like, well, Chris Pratt is hit or miss, whatever you think. Either he's Star-Lord and we love him in "Guardians of the Galaxy", or I can't tell you another movie he did that I was like, ooh, I got to go see it. Even the "Jurassic Park" ones. He's just ok.
MICHAELSON: He was great in the first "Jurassic Park".
ODUOLOWU: Was he? Or were the dinosaurs amazing?
MICHAELSON: He's great in "Parks and Rec".
ODUOLOWU: Yes.
MICHAELSON: That was a -- that was a different era of Chris.
ODUOLOWU: That was -- and that was an ensemble. It really wasn't Chris Pratt. A Chris Pratt-led movie is usually a difficult watch. He is great in ensemble pieces.
He's the main lead in this. It is a tough watch.
MICHAELSON: Yes, but some people, again, people went out to see it. Number one -- number one at the box office. Clearly people love him.
ODUOLOWU: Let's watch what it does in the second week. I mean, it absolutely tanks.
It'll be a mercy killing --
MICHAELSON: Ok.
ODUOLOWU: -- at the box office. This is bad.
MICHAELSON: There you go. Yes. And quite a run for "Avatar" as well.
ODUOLOWU: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Congratulations to them. I want to end with a shout out to something that I did this weekend. A
shout out to the folks at the ALS Network. Thank you for having me in Pasadena. It was an honor to emcee their "Champions for a Cure" gala this weekend. It was the biggest fundraising night in the nonprofit's history.
That's Aaron Lazare there, who's an amazing guy, very talented performer. Thanks to everybody who participated. Together, we will find a cure for ALS.
And Eric Dane, who a lot of people know from "Grey's Anatomy" is living with ALS and was one of the folks that was honored there. And he's really an amazing person.
Segun, thank you for coming in.
ODUOLOWU: Always.
MICHAELSON: Great to see you.
ODUOLOWU: Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: We appreciate it. Hopefully we didn't get you in too much trouble or me in too much trouble for having you on.
Thank you all for --
ODUOLOWU: You got to wear your USC colors.
MICHAELSON: Thank you all for watching. As we say at USC, "Fight on".
We'll see you tomorrow for more of THE STORY IS.
[01:56:32]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
