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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson
Trump DOJ Sues To Block Results If Alaska GOP Senator Loses; Trump Says He Ordered Alaska Election Lawsuit - I'm The One; El-Sayed Grilled By Fox News On Muslim Brotherhood Claims; Russia, Ukraine Agree To Local Ceasefire In Oleshky; Sources - U.S. Moving Diplomats Out Of Multiple Middle East Nations; Trump Admin Wants Thousands Of California Votes Set Aside; Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 24, 2026 - 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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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Watch on demand anytime with your all access subscription. Just be sure to scan the QR code on your screen or go to cnn.com/watch to learn more. Thanks again for joining us. "The Story Is" with Elex Michaelson is up next.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to the weekend. I'm Elex Michaelson live in Los Angeles.
Coming up, "The Story Is" some say it's DOJ interference, why the Trump justice department is wading into the Alaska senate race before the votes are even counted.
"The Story Is" tension in the Middle East. President Trump teasing potential action against Iran in a campaign speech in Florida.
And "The Story Is" a weekend of protests. We'll take you to the Paris where the city is preparing for thousands to take to the streets in the hours ahead.
That's right. The election music is already playing. That's because the top story is President Trump on the campaign trail again, previewing his strategy for the next two years if Democrats win control of Congress in the midterms. He says he will, "veto everything, forcing Democrats to negotiate with Republicans." In Florida, the President railed against Democratic socialist candidate for the senate, Angie Nixon, and the Republican turned Democratic gubernatorial candidate, David Jolly.
Despite that veto threat, Trump said he believes the GOP will retain control of Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And we're going to win a Republican House and a Republican Senate and do things like you won't believe. I don't think there's ever been a midterm election that I've ever seen with the kind of spirit that this one has. I don't think I've ever seen it. In fact, they're sort of known as boring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: The Department of Justice has preemptively filed a lawsuit to block certification of Alaska's senate election if the Republican incumbent loses. Senator Daniel S. Sullivan is in a tight race with Democrat Mary Peltola. Alaska uses ranked choice voting, so four candidates will appear on the general election ballot, not two. The suit argues that another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan could divert votes away from the incumbent. The President talked about that in Florida.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any thoughts on the Alaska lawsuit? With the ballot?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I'm the one that said do it. They have two guys who are on named Dan Sullivan running. So the Democrats put up a guy never thought of, I don't think he ever voted before. All of a sudden, he decides to run for the senate, and his name is Dan Sullivan. One is Daniel S, one is Daniel J. The Daniel J is the fake.
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MICHAELSON: Joining me live from Santa Monica, California, Jessica Levinson, Professor of Law at Loyola Law School. Jessica, welcome back to "The Story Is."
Thanks for having me in the case of Sullivan and Sullivan.
MICHAELSON: Exactly. So, what is the case here? What's the actual legal case that we're talking about?
JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR OF LAW, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Frankly, there really isn't one. You've known me for a long time. I've said many legal cases. There's a little bit of an argument here, a little bit of an argument there. I don't think there's much of an argument here. The Department of Justice has filed a suit, Elex, as you said, saying we should stop the certification of the election results if Sullivan the incumbent does not win.
Now let's move past the fact that these are really not ripe for review these claims. If we could get before a judge, we still have all of the legal problems. And briefly, the legal problem is there really is just not a statute and a provision of a statute the Department of Justice has pointed to as being violated. Instead, what the Department of Justice is pointing to is basically the preamble of a federal statute, which is kind of like pointing to the Declaration of Independence. It's not a legal mechanism under which you can sue and say, well, there's a violation here because we think that having two solvents will lead to voter confusion and that harms the integrity of the system. That's not a legal theory. That's an argument, and I think this case has a huge uphill battle.
MICHAELSON: Here's what the Attorney General Todd Blanche had to say about all this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you rule out any action from the Justice Department in terms of certification process of states? Is there any scenario in which DOJ would weigh in on that certification process or try to block states from certifying?
TODD BLANCHE, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I mean, is there any scenario? Yes. Of course, there's scenarios that we can all come up with hypothetically, some doomsday scenario, for example, right? It is not DOJ's intention to -- and it's never our intention to improperly interfere with elections or the state confirmation process or certification process.
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But, to say that there's no circumstances that we would ever do that, of course, I'm not going to say that. But am I planning my days around, the election to be somewhere to not certify? Of course not. No. Not at all.
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MICHAELSON: So in terms of sort of what's next legally in Alaska, where does this go from here?
LEVINSON: I think it goes nowhere, to be honest. I mean, I think that this case, as we said, is not ripe for review. And then even if it was reviewed, I think it would be dismissed. Again, to walk into federal court, you need a whole bunch of things like standing. You need the case to be right. You need to make sure that there's an actual case or controversy. But you also need to make sure that there's a provision of the federal code or a part of the constitution that you can point to and say this was violated or it's about to be violated.
And I fundamentally think that's what's lacking here and that's why I think it's very, very unlikely to see anything happen. Let's also remember, Elex, and I'm sure we need to go, the Alaska Supreme Court has already heard very similar arguments based on state law and essentially dismissed the challenge by the Republicans in that case.
MICHAELSON: This is a look at the candidates that we're talking about in Alaska, including both of the Sullivan's that we're talking about here. Jessica, you and I have been doing this together for, I don't know, 10 years or more and various jobs for both of us. And I can never remember you being so definitive that there is no case. Usually, you give something. So that maybe tells you to the level of the extent of the fact that, at least in your view, there is no case here. Jessica Levinson starting us off here on "The Story Is."
For more, I want to bring in Bryan Curtis and Melanie Mason joining me here in the studio. Melanie is the California Bureau Chief for POLITICO and co-author of California POLITICO Playbook. And Bryan is Editor-At-Large for The Ringer and co-host of the Press Box Podcast, which both Melanie and I have been guests on. Bryan, welcome to "The Story Is" for the first time. BRYAN CURTIS, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, THE RINGER: Thank you very much for having me, Elex.
MICHAELSON: Great to have you part of the family. Of course, Melanie, one of our favorite family members here. And because you're our returning champion, let's start with you. It doesn't sound like there's much of a legal case. Clearly, there's a political case. That's what this is really about. What's the political case that Trump's making here?
MELANIE MASON, CALIFORNIA BUREAU CHIEF, POLITICO: Well, so, I mean, Jessica was so definitive. I don't think that they're looking for a legal win here. So why is the justice department doing this? I think it sounds like part of it is just to placate the president if he himself is asking for this case. But I think the real question is, is what is effect is this going to have on the voters? Is this going to instill fear or a lack of confidence that these -- the midterms are going to go off successfully without any interference, or will this be a mobilizing force? Will this actually motivate voters to say, wow. If they're trying to put their thumb on the scale, then I really have to show up and vote. And I think that that's the calculus that maybe the justice department has miscalculated.
MICHAELSON: Well, and what we've seen with President Trump, unfortunately, recently, is this concept that if I win, I win. And if I lose, they cheated.
CURTIS: Absolutely. And here it is with Donald Trump. He has an instinctual talent for changing the subject. Mary Peltola was trying to win this race in Alaska by talking about high diesel fuel prices, high prices generally. Simon, which has been a huge issue in that race. Even if this goes nowhere and it sounds like it's going absolutely nowhere, this is 24 hours, 48 hours where they're talking about something else. They're not talking about the issues. She thinks she needs to win.
MICHAELSON: Let's talk about what's happening in Michigan, another one of those crucial senate races that we're watching. Bret Baier, the Fox News anchor traveled to Michigan today and had a contentious interview with Abdul El-Sayed, where he brought up the issue of the Muslim brotherhood and any family connection or lack thereof for Abdul El- Sayed. Here's a look at, that exchange.
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ABDUL EL-SAYED, DEMOCRATIC MICHIGAN U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: You are asking this question to raise a question about --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not.
EL-SAYED: Whether or not I have dual loyalty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is specific. His campaign's title take 2012 statements --
EL-SAYED: So let me just specific. My loyalty will be the constitute statement of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
EL-SAYED: And as every senator who's ever served, I will swear an oath to that constitution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said he's campaigned.
EL-SAYED: I'm not interested --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the 2012 statement?
EL-SAYED: In the 2012 statement in a letter. You going to want to -- you going to walk you pull that out of context. You're going to ask questions about my allegiance. Let me just be clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Roger's campaign. I'm just asking you about that.
EL-SAYED: Don't be Roger's campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm you a question.
EL-SAYED: Be a journalist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am.
EL-SAYED: So as a journalist, if you're asking a question about my allegiance to the constitution, I have never been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. I never be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. I am interested in serving the United States.
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MICHAELSON: So, Bryan, you're the media critic here. You study the media. Interesting, first off, that Abdul El-Sayed chose to go on Fox, chose to interview with Brett at this moment in the campaign, and chose to have that strategy in interviewing with Brett. What do you make of that?
CURTIS: I think if this had been any other candidate, we'd be sitting here saying, what a disaster that is.
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What happened to their comms team? How would they let them do an interview like that? With Abdul El-Sayed, I think he wants clips like that. His entire political identity is, I'm a fighter. I'm a fighter. What happened when someone stood up in the audience the other day and asked that same question about the Muslim Brotherhood? They made a video out of it. They got some out of it. That's his identity. That's the stuff he wants in front of voters with 10 days left to go.
MICHAELSON: And speaking of Fox, interesting, Melanie, he also has an ad running showing Fox News hosts praising him. Watch.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a good looking guy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he's better.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a great speaker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Democrats spent a skyrocketing $65 million to defeat him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He shows the muscle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy is a force that Mike Rogers is going to have to deal with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I approve this message because for me, it's Michigan first, and we can agree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: What's the strategy there?
MASON: Well, I'm not sure that the Bret Baier clip is going to make it into the second cut of that ad.
MICHAELSON: Exactly.
MASON: But it's, look, in some ways it is very buzzy to Bryan's point. I mean, this is yet another thing that's going to get attention on social media. And in some ways, this is both, I think, reaching out to crossover voters saying, hey, Fox News viewers, we actually have these things in common. But I also think it's really just to amp up the Democratic base. I think Democrats were so long are being so frustrated that they don't think that their candidates can go into these venues and so stay toe to toe or even get praised. And so I think that this almost really scratches that itch that Democratic base voters have to have a candidate like that who can be in those arenas?
MICHAELSON: So we are in the final days. We've already got the election graphics going, right? We're in that mode. And so this is where the campaigns have to make tough decisions in terms of where to deploy their resources. Some are running out of money. Some need to go to other folks to get money. We want to put up on the screen a CNN.com headline, which reads, Mike Johnson asked Trump for more midterm money as Republicans seek to avert disaster in the house races. And let's pull out a quote from that particular article, about what's happening right now.
And it reads, the party is also shifting resources away from several seats that were weed drawn to favor Republicans in the nationwide mid- decade partisan redistricting push. In the 11th hour, House GOP groups and their allies are pouring millions to defend incumbents in attempt to hold on to a bulwark of traditionally red seats. Melanie, this is where we follow the money. What is the money telling us at this point? CURTIS: The money is telling us that the map is expanding, and that is bad news for Republicans. Look, if we were sitting here a year from now, our kind of savvy political punditry would say, look. Even if Democrats try to take back the house, these seats are so gerrymandered. There's very few battleground seats. There's going to be very few seats in play. And instead, what we're seeing is not only are these gerrymandered seats potentially in play for Democrats, but they're actually going into in Republican incumbent seats that have, Trump plus 10, Trump plus 15, and making Republicans spend money there.
So the fact that the playing field has expanded as the midterms' approaches, I think -- I don't think we would have expected that quite frankly.
MICHAELSON: And we also wouldn't have expected, Bryan, a year ago that the Senate would even have a chance to be in play. I mean, because what's happening right now is you have all of these seats that are in Republican Trump, one states where Democrats have a real good shot of winning, and that's expensive as well.
CURTIS: I woke up this morning and looked at a senate poll from Mississippi. That is not something I thought I'd be saying.
MICHAELSON: Right.
CURTIS: October 2026. Look, if you look at the analysis of this race, it was always the Democrats are going to have lots of advantages. Trump is really unpopular. The voters trust them on lots of different issues. But the Republicans will have a cash advantage because their national committees have lots of money. We're about to find out how much that money is actually worth.
MICHAELSON: And does it matter? And in a place like Texas where we've already seen $500 million spent and almost every poll shows James Talarico ahead, despite, the fact that the Republicans are spending more. Melanie Mason, Bryan Curtis, look at this all-star group we have to start off our weekend. You guys are coming back in the next hour to talk even more about money in politics and the LA mayor's race, a new interview I have with Karen Bass, today. So we'll see you guys in our next hour.
But now we want to get to France. Big story this weekend. Authorities there launching a massive security operation ahead of mass protest plan for Saturday. Tens of thousands of police and troops are already being deployed to prevent a repeat of last week's violence. Hundreds of thousands of people expected to take part in the main demonstrations in Paris in the hours ahead. CNN's Melissa Bell is in the French capital.
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MELISSA BELL, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): Businesses in Paris are boarding up and closing down ahead of another round of planned protests. Shopkeepers are hoping to avoid a repeat of last weekend's massive demonstrations when rioters ransacked thousands of stores and businesses across the country.
IVAN WEISS, BUSINESS OWNER (translated): Well, let's just say that we were so frightened last weekend that we decided to get organized this week.
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So we've installed mechanical rolling shutters on both of our store windows.
BELL (voice-over): French officials say that extra security will be deployed this weekend, including some 70,000 law enforcement officers backed by helicopters, armored vehicles, and water cannons. The protest in Paris has been authorized, but President Macron banned all non-trade union protests on Saturday, and some cities have imposed curfews. The interior minister has warned there will be zero tolerance for rioting.
LAURENT NUNEZ, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER (translated): We are ready to be extremely responsive, extremely firm, and we won't tolerate absolutely anything, nothing at all.
BELL (voice-over): Some shop workers say they were appalled by the looting, but hope the economic message driving the protests won't get lost once again.
RAPHAEL SAAD, SHOP WORKER (translated): Violence is frightening. That's for sure. But when you really think about the stakes, the reasons, the why of it, I believe it's more meaningful to point out that a looted store is less significant than the reality of someone living in precarious conditions or a child attending school in miserable conditions.
BELL (voice-over): As a precaution, many of Paris' hotspots like the Louvre de Musee d'Orsay and the Grand Palais will be closed this Saturday. And adding to the security challenges facing French authorities, thousands of demonstrators are expected in the city of Orleans to protest against Marie Le Pen's far-right party, which is holding its political congress. Parts of France once again on edge, but this time, French authorities say they're ready to shut down any renewed unrest. Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
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MICHAELSON: Thanks to Melissa Bell. Help could soon be on the way for people stranded in a Russian occupied town in Southern Ukraine. Kyiv and Moscow say they have agreed to a local ceasefire in Oleshky. First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, helped to secure the deal along with Pope Leo. The Pope raised the crisis with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the pontiff's cancer surgery last week.
About 2,000 people, mostly elderly residents, remain in the town facing severe shortages of food, water, and medicine. A truce expected to begin next week with aid deliveries to follow. Residents will be given the option to evacuate either to Russia or to Ukraine. Still ahead this hour, oil prices once again on the rise on new uncertainty in the Middle East. We look at what's driving investors from fears over the Iran war to elections in Israel. Plus, game one of the World Series just wrapped up moments ago. Look at that guy, Andy Scholes, standing by, looking good on the field. We'll have a live report from him coming up.
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MICHAELSON: Fear of possible escalation in the Middle East again pushing up oil prices. This is how crude is trading right now. We do not like seeing green in this instance. Events are being watched closely in Israel just days before elections there and an attack in the West Bank where two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a military checkpoint. Oren Liebermann filed this report for us.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF AND CORRESPONDENT: Israel is moving very fast here, and a harsh response here to a shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers early Friday morning, and that seems to be the point here. Four days before Israel elections, it appears as if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his hardline right wing government are trying to move fast and trying to have a harsh large scale response. Early Friday morning, two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli military checkpoint, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding three others.
What's shocking about the attack is how long it lasted. We have seen attacks and incidents in the West Bank that last a very short period of time, a moment or a couple of minutes. This according to first responders and the security forces that came to the scene, lasted upwards of 20 minutes in repeated exchanges of gunfire between the gunman and Israeli security forces. The two gunmen were killed by security forces that responded to the scene. That was on Friday morning. And within just a matter of hours here, Netanyahu as well as the far right Finance Minister vowed a harsh response.
They said they would shut down the city of Hebron. That's a major Palestinian city with Israeli settlements, in the heart of it, and that they would consider doing that for more cities. Initially, Netanyahu had said he would shut down the entire West Bank, but it seems that he backed off that plan and kept it more localized, but still to a major city. They then said they would evacuate the neighborhood from which the gunmen came and search it house-by-house looking for anything that they deemed to be terrorist infrastructure, and then they would carry out demolitions.
We are already seeing that take place. In the past, we've seen Israel respond to an attack by destroying an attacker's home and searching the family's home. This the scale of the response, the speed, and how big it is and how quickly it is, that's what's worth noting here, and it certainly seems related to the election that's in just a matter of days here. Netanyahu has for years styled himself as Israel's Mr. Security. He's refused to take any responsibility for the myriad failures that led up to October 7th three years ago, and this appears to be him trying to reinstate himself as Mr. Security by carrying out a harsh, wide scale response to a shooting attack in the West Bank this morning.
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MICHAELSON: Oren Liebermann for us in Israel. Sources say the U.S. is rushing to move diplomats and their families from multiple Middle East nations, including Jordan, Lebanon, and the Gulf.
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An unclassified memo to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday says that U.S. intelligence has found that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel and that plotting efforts have "Reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries." This week, the state department ordered non-emergency staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia following increasing attacks by Houthi militants. All this comes as President Trump has suggested that he could relaunch strikes on Iran after the midterms.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We all around nuclear enrichment capacity with Operation Midnight Hammer. You remember that late at night, one in the morning. And then did the rest with Operation Epic Fury, which it was. We may do another little epic fury or they'll agree.
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MICHAELSON: Joining us now live is CNN National Security Analyst Alex Plitsas. He's also the Director of the Counterterrorism Program at the Atlantic Council. Welcome back to "The Story Is." Hopefully, we'll get that mic working. I want to start with your thoughts on what President Trump just said there. You're so well connected. What are you hearing, in -- from your sources in terms of what we can expect this weekend?
ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: We're expecting a quiet weekend at the moment. I think the President's comments were, quite frankly, he said publicly is what's being said behind closed doors to the Iranians. An opportunity to make a deal is on the table, and so far the Iranians have either rejected or not responded to the last set of offers. That was to have the $6 billion that was in, Kuwaiti or -- excuse me, in Qatari banks that was frozen that they requested to have back and return for nuclear inspections.
The last counteroffer, I believe was for the interest on that account alone. And then so far, mediators have told me they have not heard back from the Iranian government, and they don't expect to at this point. Out of, Iran, I'm hearing that they've dug in their heels. At this point, they're expecting military action unless there is some sort of diplomatic resolution or breakthrough in a negotiating process, we are headed towards a series of strikes after the elections as the President said, and it's up to the Iranians as to whether or not they're going to accept any agreement.
MICHAELSON: What's left to strike?
PLITSAS: Well, let's not forget that this conflict, was halted with a ceasefire before the bombing run was complete. So, there was an air tasking order, an ATO is what we call it, that had thousands of targets that were predesignated that the U.S. military was systematically working its way through at the time of the ceasefires. There were still several thousand targets left. There was a good portion of the drone and missile program that was taken out, but as we've seen, Iran has still been able to fire them.
We didn't get all of them. I don't think we were expected to get all of them. But they've also reconstituted some of those capabilities according to sources in the intelligence community, and they're rebuilding again, maybe not to the same capacity, but that has begun. So at this point, the President also hasn't struck targets as part of the nuclear program. For example, Pickaxe Mountain has constantly been mentioned.
There's really only a couple ways to deal with that, either to take it out permanently with a tactical nuclear weapon, which seems highly unlikely. And then, it's been reported by our colleagues here at CNN perhaps that they may use the mother of all bombs or the largest conventional weapons that we have to maybe seal those entrances. So perhaps continuing through those industrial targets related to nuclear -- excuse me, the missile and drone program, the nuclear targets, perhaps oil and gas, and then anything else that's left because the vast majority of the air force and navy has done.
What that sets up is a scenario for the President to be able to declare victory and walk away afterwards.
MICHAELSON: That would be something. Meanwhile, we have the Iran backed Houthis, continuing attacks in Saudi Arabia. What are you hearing about that situation?
PLITSAS: Reset continues to fester, and there was a time where President Trump was, actively considering intervening militarily to support the Saudis after several phone calls from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He ultimately decided against it, and that's because the U.S. has a ceasefire in place with the Houthis that goes back about a year, where the U.S. had taken significant military action against those targets in Yemen. They came through an agreement, and so far, the Houthis have not shut down the second major waterway on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, the Bab al-Mandeb.
We often hear about the Strait of Hormuz, but there's another strategic waterway on the other side of the Peninsula, which leads into the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, which facilitates shipping into the Mediterranean into Europe. Otherwise, ships would have to go all the way around the Horn of Africa adding 10 plus days to a trip, a lot of money. So far, the Houthis haven't done that. And the President, I think continues to look for actions to avoid oil spikes in oil prices before the midterm elections, which is what the Iranian's goal is.
So long as the Houthis don't go after that waterway, I think there's an expectation that the Saudis will continue to lead the coalition against the Houthis. Post election, we'll see, we'll see what happens. But for right now, not expecting anything prior to the U.S. elections.
MICHAELSON: CNN National Security Analyst Alex Plitsas joining us. Thank you so much. Always great to see you. Have a good weekend.
Turning now to some other news happening around the world. At least one person is dead and more than 1,000 people evacuated as typhoon Champi nears Taiwan's coast.
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That storm bringing heavy rains winds up to 78 miles an hour. At one point, it was a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year. Now Champi is weakening and moving towards China and Japan.
Voters in Brazil head to the polls this Sunday for the presidential runoff election. Polls show a tight race between current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and senator Flavio Bolsonaro. He is the son of the former President, Jair Bolsonaro, who is now under house arrest for plotting to overturn the 2022 election.
Sports World Series is underway with game one between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays finishing up just moments ago. Both teams vying for their first ever World Series title. Ticket prices reaching new records for this weekend's games. Ticket marketplace SeatGeek says the average price for a game one ticket was roughly $2,900, which would be a new record, not for the $3,000 price tag for Saturday's game two.
CNN's Andy Scholes got in for free. He joins us live from Milwaukee covering the game for us tonight. Andy, great to have you with us. This is a huge deal for folks in Milwaukee, which, of course, has never won a world series before. Talk to us about what it was like inside and give us some of the highlights.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, Alex, I mean, there's nothing quite like the energy in a city when the World Series is in town. Just the excitement, the anticipation. And here in Milwaukee, it was absolutely off the charts. You mentioned it. This is just the second time in more than a 100 years we got a World Series matchup between two teams that have never won at all. And the fans here, they want it so bad, and the ticket price reflected it.
The get in ticket price just to get into this stadium tonight was $2,400. That was for standing room only, Elex. That's how bad these fans want to be a part of this World Series experience. We'll show you how game one went down. This was the first World Series game in the city of Milwaukee in 44 years. The fans were hyped early on, and so was pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, the starter for the Brewers. His very first pitch of the game, he threw the ball a 103.5 miles per hour. It was the fastest pitch ever in the world series.
And then the Brewers Captain Christian Yelich, he also gave the team lots or the fans lots to cheer about. First inning, he ripped an RBI triple into the right center field gap that got the Brewers, on the board. We then did have a lot of high drama in the ninth inning of this ballgame. The Rays were down 3-1. They load the bases. They cut it 3-2. The Brewers thought they had a game ending double play, but on review, Cooper's Pratt's foot came off the second base bag. So they had to wheel off the Fox set back off, and then they had to play another keep resuming the game.
And then the Brewers did end up getting a strikeout to end the game, to end up winning 3-2. That's really good news for the Brewers, Elex, because teams that win game one, 23 out of the last 28 that did so went on to win the world series. So we'll see. The fans here dancing up and down as they were leaving this stadium. They're probably still partying in the streets right now, but they'll have to recover quick because game two is Saturday night.
MICHAELSON: So next week is the one year anniversary of the start of this show. And on the very first night of our show, you were with us live from here in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium as they did an 18- inning World Series game, which is one of the craziest games of all time. How does it, though it compare being in a city like Milwaukee where they haven't had as much experience in the world series and the feeling of a place like Milwaukee versus going to places like Los Angeles and New York and other places in the last few years?
SCHOLES: Well, first of all, Elex, I will say I was having deja vu because I knew I was going to be on with you tonight. And when the rays had the tying run on third base, I was like, it's happening again. I'm going to end up alive on the show, and the game is still going to be going. But the Brewers did end up pulling it out. But I will tell you this. The Dodgers, they were going for back to back titles. They're -- and then they have been their third title in what a 10-year span.
So their fans used to winning. Brewers fans here, you've had a whole generations, Elex, that that that have no idea what a World Series is even like. You go anywhere in the city. Everyone's wearing Brewers gear. Yards all over the city are painted with Brewers, logos. Go Brewers. It's really something special, and you saw it here tonight. And that's why, I think a lot of people thought they were going to be able to get in here, get a ticket to come to the World Series, but the ticket prices just kept going up and up and up and up because everyone wants to be a part of this because it really is a once in a lifetime experience because none of these people have ever experienced it before. They've never done it, and their only trip to the World Series was way back in 1982.
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MICHAELSON: Yeah. And there's a lot of people that weren't even born yet when that happened the last time. Andy Scholes at the World Series in Milwaukee. Andy, thanks so much for staying up late for us. Have fun with the rest of this series. SCHOLES: All right.
MICHAELSON: Now that they're still ahead, two of the candidates for senate in Alaska have very similar names. President Trump believes that could cause the GOP candidate to lose. Find out what he ordered the justice department to do about that, plus controversy in the midterm elections heating up just ahead the Republican candidate for Governor of California is here.
We'll ask him about Trump administration's effort to separate thousands of ballots because they say non-citizens will cast them. Stay with us.
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MICHAELSON: Welcome back. I'm Elex Michaelson. Let's take a look at today's top stories. France is deploying 70,000 police and additional troops as authorities brace for major protests expected on Saturday. The government is trying to prevent a repeat of the riots and violence that erupted last weekend. Hundreds of thousands of people expected to participate in protests Saturday over the rising cost of living, dismal job prospect, and education issue.
President Trump is continuing to drop hints about possible regime change in Cuba. At a rally in Southwest Florida on Friday, the President repeated a claim that the U.S. would "Take care of Cuba on their way back from the war in Iran." Said it could be similar to the January military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Trump's Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to block the results of Alaska's senate election if the Republican incumbent loses. Senator Daniel S. Sullivan in a tight race with Democratic challenger, but the DOJ lawsuit argues that another candidate on the ballot, Daniel J. Sullivan, could confuse voters and divert votes away from the incumbent.
Voter rolls are also being put under a microscope here in California. The Trump administration says it will appeal a case seeking to have thousands of ballots set aside. Justice department had argued that some 20,000 people on the voter rolls may be non-citizens.
Steve Hilton joins me here live in Los Angeles right now. What do you think about this idea of what's happening with the voter rolls here in California? You think the President is making the right move?
STEVE HILTON, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: Well, the voter rolls in California, according to the Democrat Secretary of State, are a complete disaster in terms of millions, not 20,000 millions of names that shouldn't be on there. People who've moved to other states, who've died, who've moved within the California, and haven't changed their address. There's a real problem with our elections in California, not least the fact that it takes so long to get a result.
In terms of non-citizens voting, obviously, that's illegal, and I believe in enforcing the law. But I don't think it's the top priority and certainly not for me. My priority is winning as many votes as possible because we got to have change in California.
MICHAELSON: In terms of what's happening with Alaska, if the President tried to do something like that here in California, what's your response?
HILTON: Well, for -- to me, I want to win because this state desperately needs change. There's a majority of Californians who agree with that. And what we've got to overcome is the fact that for 20 years, it's 20 years since we elected a republican here. As I've said to you many times and everyone else, look, I'm not a partisan kind of person here.
I'm looking to solve problems in a practical way. My plan is very simple, $3 gas, your $150 tax free, no state income tax, ending mass homelessness by the end of my first year in office. I laid out a plan to do that just the other week. So these are practical things that everyone can get behind, and that's really what I'm focused on in the election. And we know that people want change.
The question is, in an election season where you've got a lot of Republicans across the country in states that you would think Republicans having a hard time. In this state, California, that's been so Democrat for so long, 16 years of one party rule, can we overcome that? Every single day, Elex, every day, right here in Los Angeles, we saw it again today. People come up to me and say, I'm a lifelong democrat, but this year I'm voting for you because we got to have some change.
MICHAELSON: All that being said, and I got to give you credit, because you are everywhere. I've never seen somebody work as hard at this. Even today, I mean, you've been on Fox News channel. You're on HBO with Bill Maher. You're doing events. You're doing events tomorrow morning. You're heading to San Diego. I mean, you're everywhere getting your message out. You're all over social media. Xavier Becerra, your opponent, has a far less aggressive media strategy.
HILTON: Yes.
MICHAELSON: To put it mildly. And yet, you look at a recent poll from LA Times, Berkeley. Xavier Becerra, 58 percent. You at 33 percent. That's from a month ago, but we have not seen a single poll where you are ahead to Xavier Becerra. Why do you think all of the work, everything you're doing, that message is not breaking through at least so far in the polls?
HILTON: I think it is in some. When you -- there's basically two types of polls. You've got those traditional polls that use the same model of who they think is going to show up and vote, and there you've got the same kind of Democrat leaders you've had for the last 20 years.
[00:45:00] Big leads like that one. But also, you've got polls that are commissioned now, ours to be clear, but also others, for example, from some of the people running ballot initiative campaigns. They're showing a much smaller lead. 10 points, 9 points, even one with 6 points. It's not that one is right and one is wrong.
MICHAELSON: It's that they have show you in the lead.
HILTON: No. None of that -- no. To be clear, none of them show me in the lead. But none of those polls, as it were, are correct because they are just based on assumptions about who shows up to vote. Now if everybody who wants change shows up to vote, then we'll win this election. I still feel that based on what we're seeing out there, the events that we're doing have incredible energy and enthusiasm.
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
HILTON: People are coming up to me, as I said, all the time, and I'm hearing people, especially here in Los Angeles, who are -- friends are saying, I never would have believed that person is going to vote Republican, but they're voting for you. But they're not telling anyone because it's California.
MICHAELSON: So I went to some of your events, and that is true. I met people like that. I've also been out on the streets and talked to people who said, because you are endorsed by President Trump, we won't even think about what you have to say. This is what Ron Brownstein of CNN said about your performance at the debate right here in this studio a short time ago when you were up against Xavier Becerra. Take a listen.
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RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I thought he was unwilling to offer almost anything, that would appeal to voters who were beyond those who are already attracted to Republican messaging and ideas. If your goal was to get elected Governor of California, I can't see how he advanced that very much. If your goal -- if you were really auditioning for some other role, political in a -- political or media in kind of the conservative infrastructure, I thought it was maybe more effective at that.
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MICHAELSON: So Bill Maher sort of made a similar argument. This idea that you haven't broken with Trump enough, that's part of the reason you're not winning, and are you really maybe trying to do this to get attention or get some other job? What do you say to that?
HILTON: Yeah, that's a sort of classic kind of cliche remark for someone I don't think has been really in touch with what's going on in California. Because if that guy, hadn't come --
MICHAELSON: Who lives in California and is a senior to panel this year. HILTON: I think he doesn't live in the parts of California that I've been going to. Every one of our 58 counties where working class people California are at breaking point. Absolute breaking point. They pay the highest taxes in the country for the worst results, the highest gas prices, the highest housing costs, highest electric bills everywhere except for Hawaii. He's not worrying about his electric bills. He doesn't worry about paying his housing costs. He doesn't worry about running a small business. You've got small business owners here in Los Angeles who've got homelessness right on their doorstep.
The police won't do anything. The useless Mayor of LA won't do anything. This whole city is a complete disaster. We are the richest state in the richest country on earth, and we've got this dystopian scenes all around. And I think that that is what people are actually -- there's not a single person at any one of our events who's ever asked me about President Trump. It's only people like that.
MICHAELSON: Two really quick things to wrap up. Bass, Raman, who do you got?
HILTON: Neither. The only hope for Los Angeles is to elect me as Governor.
MICHAELSON: OK. And finally, best part in a sentence or two, best part of this campaign experience for you?
HILTON: You mean apart from spending time with you?
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
HILTON: It's too early. I honestly, meeting people. I mean, it's just the incredible energy. And we've got our first rally. I mean, the events that you've been to, Elex, we got -- we're stepping it up tomorrow. And there's something happening in California. I don't know if going to push us all the way over the line, but that -- we've built a movement here. I'm very proud of that. Most of our campaign is funded by small donors. Becerra, funded by the unions and big business, outspending us 20:1 right now. But we're still there fighting. I think we can do it.
MICHAELSON: Steve Hilton, thank you for all the interviews along the way, including day one of your campaign. We'll be back with more of "The Story Is," including our top stories when we come back.
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MICHAELSON: Megan, the duchess of Sussex, is responding to a report that her estranged father allegedly possessed child sex abuse images. Megan said in a statement that she is deeply distressed by the allegations and first learned about them in 2018. According to the some newspaper, Thomas Markle's son uncovered the indecent images at his father's house in the Philippines. Thomas Markle denies it. Philippines Justice Department says that it is investigating.
The father who shot and killed a gunman at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon is speaking out for the first time. He says he followed the 16-year-old shooter into his daughter's school after seeing him carrying a gun. The gunman killed three children and a teacher before Kaylub Giamanco was able to stop him. In an emotional interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, Caleb recalled breaking down in the aftermath on a call with his mother.
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KAYLUB GIAMANCO, SHOT GUNMAN AT SILVER RAIL ELEMENTARY: I called my mom, and I told her, I called her and I was like, mom, I just had to take the life of what I think might be a child because he went in to my daughter's school with a gun.
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And, she was just like, OK, baby. Calm down. You did the right thing. You're a hero. You saved lives. And then I just kind of broke down at that point, I was just like, I didn't save everybody. I didn't get them all, and I kind of just broke at that point.
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MICHAELSON: Wow. Up next, the next hour of "The Story Is" including more than a $1 billion being spent on betting on the election. Stay with us.
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