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Single Winning Ticket for $1.88 Powerball Jackpot Sold in Arkansas; Scammers Stealing Millions Using Crypto ATMs. Aired 8-8:30 am ET

Aired December 25, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:38]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate. I'm Audie Cornish.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our electricity went out at 5:30 in the morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen it like that before.

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CORNISH: New this morning, a powerful storm as heavy rain lashes the state. Officials warn that a, quote, "dangerous scenario" is unfolding in and around Los Angeles. Millions of residents across Southern California under a state of emergency. The risk of life-threatening flash floods, along with mudslides and rockslides washing out roads, and it's triggered evacuation orders.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has been tracking all of this for us. Allison, tell us what's happening now.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. Good morning, Audie. We've got not one but two more rounds to get through in terms of rainfall for portions of California. You can see we've had several rounds overnight here, several bands, if you will, overnight. The heaviest rain right now is focused over Northern and Central California, specifically over San Francisco and Sacramento.

Look at some of these rainfall totals coming in. Keep in mind these are even a couple hours old because it takes time for a lot of these numbers to be churned out by the National Weather Service.

You have several here, a couple of them pushing closer to a foot of rain already, and we have more rain on the way. So, here's a look at what we can expect in Northern California. You can see a lot of these little, like, square-shaped and rectangle-shaped boxes across around portions of San Francisco. These are areas where we have flash flood warnings, meaning the rain is coming down at very high amounts per hour, sometimes even an inch an hour in some cases. And, again, that's a lot, especially given how much rain these areas have already had. We've also got a couple of those flash flood warnings as well across portions of Southern California, and that will likely continue through the rest of the day. We have a level three out of four risk for excessive rainfall today across Southern California, and we only have a level two. But, again, it's more residual. I mean, at this point, even just a little bit of rain on top of what they already had can cause significant problems.

Here's a look at the forecast. That first wave is ongoing right now. We'll get a little bit of a lull later on this afternoon, and then overnight tonight, especially, say, starting after 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 p.m., you'll have a surge in moisture across Northern and Central California. And then by tomorrow night, that's when we're going to start to see more of that moisture begin to spread into areas of Southern California.

So, even through Friday, you're still looking at a significant amount of rain to come in across the state. It's not until the weekend that we finally start to see a lot of these areas begin to dry back out. It will dry back out in the northern portion of the state first before finally drying out in the southern half of the state.

You still could be looking at an additional two to four inches of rain across most of these areas, but some spots could still pick up an extra four to six inches. Again, this is on top of what they've already had, and that's why there's such a concern for the flooding, not just in Southern California but pretty much the whole state.

And then in terms of snowpack, you're still looking at an extra several feet of snow across portions of the Sierras. If you have any travel plans, say, from Tahoe, Reno, back over towards San Francisco or Sacramento, be aware. You are likely going to have some delays on the highways there, just especially as that heavy snow continues to come back down. It can make for treacherous conditions. We also have very windy conditions.

Now, this is not just for California but some of the surrounding states where you could be looking at some of those wind gusts up around 40, even 50 miles per hour and slightly even higher in the higher elevations.

CORNISH: OK, Allison, thank you.

Now we want to move to the Justice Department. It says it has found a million more documents potentially connected to the Jeffrey Epstein case. The DOJ posted online that it's, quote, "working around the clock to review and make the legally required redactions to protect victims."

Now, while they're pledging to release the additional documents as soon as possible, it's expected to take several weeks to get through them all, and it's not clear how they were found or what's in them. The department has already faced criticism for not releasing everything as required on December 19th.

A traffic stop outside Baltimore on Christmas Eve turned violent. ICE agents opened fire at a moving vehicle they say tried to run them over. Agents say they shot the man who was driving the van. A male passenger was injured when the vehicle crashed. ICE says both men are undocumented. The Department of Homeland Security said both are expected to recover.

[08:05:09]

And the Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center was called off days after President Trump's name was added to the iconic performing arts institution. The concert's longtime host, musician Chuck Redd, says he canceled the annual concert once he saw the name change take place. Now, this marks the latest backlash since the move by the board of trustees to rename the facility.

An historic moment in the Vatican. Pope Leo presided over his first Christmas mass at St. Peter's Basilica, seven months after he was chosen to lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. He called for harmony and peace and denounced the suffering of the people in Gaza.

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POPE LEO: How then can we not think of the tents in Gaza exposed for weeks to rain, wind, and cold? Of those so many others, refugees and displaced persons on every continent, or of the makeshift shelters of thousands of homeless people in our own cities?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: After the mass, Pope Leo waved to a cheering crowd from the Popemobile in packed St. Peter's Square as he made his way to deliver the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing.

And the Christmas Eve Powerball jackpot officially has a winner. The winning ticket was sold to a player in Arkansas. The lucky winner snagged the $1.8 billion prize. This jackpot is the second largest ever in the U.S. CNN's Randi Kaye joins me now.

Randi, so obviously somebody's having a great Christmas in Arkansas.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.

CORNISH: It's $1.8 billion. Can you tell us what you've learned so far?

KAYE: Yeah, absolutely. It's one heck of a stocking stuffer, wouldn't you say, that $1.8 billion. We don't know, actually, Audie, who the winner is yet, or we don't have any information on the store yet, who sold the winning ticket, but we are keeping an eye out for that.

But here are the winning numbers, just in case you want to check your ticket. 4, 25, 31, 52, 59, with that red Powerball there of 19.

Now, the drawing got pushed higher due to these last-minute ticket sales so many people wanted in, making it the second largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history. Now, the odds of winning the jackpot, according to the Powerball,

something like one in 292 million. The jackpot has been won once before on Christmas Eve, some on Christmas Day, but they've never actually reached $1 billion.

Now, the winner of the prize, of course, has some options here. The cash option, that's a lump-sum payment of a mere $834.9 million. Or they can take the 29 annual payments, increasing by five percent.

Now, most -- most winners, of course, take the lump-sum payment. All of that, of course, is before taxes. Now, there was one big winner on Wednesday, but make sure to check your tickets, because eight tickets also won $1 million. And that's a little extra cash, of course, to stuff those stockings with. Those tickets were sold in California, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. And nationwide, Audie, 114 tickets won a $50,000 prize. Thirty-one tickets won $100,000 Power. So, that's pretty good.

CORNISH: Yeah, I was checking the bottom of my purse. No luck, so unfortunately.

KAYE: Me neither. That's why we're here.

CORNISH: Exactly. All right. Have a good holiday, Randi. Thanks so much.

Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, as 2025 comes to a close, no more looking back, guys. All eyes to the future. What is going to shape the political debate come 2026? And what does it all mean for the big prize of the new year, the midterm elections?

Joining me right now, CNN Political Commentator S.E. Cupp, and Maura Gillespie, former Senior Advisor to then House Speaker John Boehner.

Forget 2025. It's just so last year. Breaking out the crystal ball already because I'm forcing you to. What is one story that you think is going to really define 2026?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, because -- maybe because I covered the New York City mayoral election every day, and I was really steeped in it, I'm really looking forward to covering Mamdani's 100 first days.

I just think it's going to be interesting. There's so many storylines in there. There's what can he do, literally what will he be allowed to do, right? But also what can he, by sheer force of will and charm and personality. There's going to be, like, his relationship with Donald Trump and the federal government and then his relationship with the establishment Democrats and what's possible, you know, looking ahead to the midterms.

There's just so much to watch in that. And I think there's going to be a story a day coming -- coming out of the New York City mayoralty. So, that's going to be really fun, I think. BOLDUAN: Yeah, and how the Democratic establishment kind of like reacts to it. I mean --

CUPP: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- the -- the -- will you endorse, have you endorse, why haven't you endorsed leading up to that election was like something to watch.

CUPP: That scares me.

MAURA GILLESPIE, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL, BLUESTACK STRATEGIES: He chose not to endorse. I mean, think about it.

[08:10:01]

CUPP: Yes.

GILLESPIE: I mean, think about Kathy Hochul went out for him and he had still decided, I'm not sure yet.

BOLDUAN: What's the story you're looking for in 2026?

GILLESPIE: As a creature of the house, I can't help myself. I'm very curious what happens with the Speaker's gavel because I have heard many rumblings of people who are contemplating leaving their term early out of just complete frustrations with the fact that Speaker Johnson, to them, has given up the gavel to Donald Trump. They're not pleased by it. They're really frustrated. And so, I am very much looking to see who is going to. Yes, we saw the Stefanik step up and say some things. And she's certainly not pleased. But there are more people in the conference who feel as though they can't do anything.

BOLDUAN: But he really -- I mean, but he -- he really does have Donald Trump's back for maybe the reason that people are frustrated with him. Do you really think that the gavel is in question for Mike Johnson in the New Year?

CUPP: Wow. I do.

BOLDUAN: What is that going to look like?

CUPP: She would know better than anyone.

BOLDUAN: But let's go back -- let's go in the way back machine of what the last couple of speakers --

CUPP: Yeah. Yeah.

BOLDUAN: I mean, that's going to go. Well, what does that mean for the Republican Party if they have another fight like that in the House floor?

GILLESPIE: Well, and who could and who would do it?

CUPP: Who is it? BOLDUAN: Who would do it?

CUPP: Who is it?

GILLESPIE: But Speaker Johnson wanted this job.

CUPP: Yeah.

GILLESPIE: He raised his hand. I was like, put me in coach. I'm ready to play. And yet he gave up the gavel. So that's a problem for a lot of Republicans who want to have a team and want to have a leader. And they don't. I understand there's a lot of different opinions within a conference. But a good leader is able to explain, "Here's the plan." And he hasn't been able to. And I think that's been the biggest frustration and the biggest problem.

CUPP: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: If I do not allow you to say it is going to be the economy.

CUPP: OK. OK. OK.

BOLDUAN: What midterms is obviously the big prize, the big everything and everything. And everyone needs to know that from, you know, this point onward, everything that happens in Washington and beyond is with the focus of raising money and running for reelection when it comes to Congress. What -- other than the economy, what will be, do you expect, a defining issue of this midterms?

CUPP: I think it's going to be the economy.

(LAUGH)

BOLDUAN: Let me just say --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Let me just say, every time we do this, I do know that S.E. Cupp doesn't follow rules.

CUPP: No, I don't. Besides the economy, it's going to be the economy. But no, I mean, listen, looking -- looking back at some of the consternation that Democrats kind of went through this past year.

GILLESPIE: Yeah.

CUPP: They had a bruising election. They went through it this year. They've got to figure out the messaging, not just on affordability, but a bunch of other issues, right?

BOLDUAN: They've got health care sitting right in front of them. That's a great one for them. They're always great at talking about women's issues and civil rights and those kinds of and democracy.

But they sometimes fall into this trap of telling people the things that they should care the most about instead of responding to the things that people are telling you. They care the most about.

BOLDUAN: See Joe Biden.

CUPP: See -- see Joe Biden, see affordability, crime and immigration. Those are the top three issues of the 2024 election. Voters were screaming this. And what did Democrats do? They said the economy is great. Crime is down and immigration is not a crisis. Do better. Do better in a midterm election year where you're actually hearing from people who are telling you what's bothering them. And that's going to be the economy. But it's going to be a host of things. Listen, respond.

GILLESPIE: I'm wondering if the Mamdani grassroots effort of how he ran his mayoral race will also be what Democrats look for in the 2026 strategy. Is that the model?

BOLDUAN: Is that a model?

GILLESPIE: And how much of that will they adapt without really giving him the credit because they don't want to necessarily align with him directly. And so, I'm looking at that as a -- as a -- you know, how are they going to approach the midterms to try and reach people where they are as Mamdani did. And so --

CUPP: Is that -- that's our model. They have to also look to New Jersey and Virginia. We're too moderate. And that's like moms. One, two, talking about the same stuff, affordability, lowering energy costs --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

CUPP: -- like there are several models.

GILLESPIE: Yes.

CUPP: There's not one blueprint. And Democrats have to be a little agile when they're looking at --

BOLDUAN: -- who is kind of being able to actually articulate a message. Who's more on the back foot? Is it a Republican struggling going into '26 with?

CUPP: Yes.

BOLDUAN: I mean, the fact that you -- they're saying we need to tell the president to refocus on affordability.

CUPP: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's like --

CUPP: Yes, yes.

BOLDUAN: That was such a deja vu moment.

CUPP: Yeah. GILLESPIE: They don't have a messaging strategy and a structure. And I

will just speak from being in the House and being with the speaker's office. There was a coordinated messaging tactic we sent out. Here is the top line messaging. We had meetings about it. We had conferences about it to get everyone on the same page. And that's part of the frustrations that you're seeing play out with Republicans. They don't know what the president is doing one minute to the next.

And then how can they possibly respond to it in a unified way? They can't because it's also conflicting with what they believe to be their principles and what their policy objectives are. You know, think of the Henry Cuellar pardon.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

GILLESPIE: That threw everyone off. But, again, you can't really defend that or --

(CROSSTALK)

GILLESPIE: But how do you defend that if you don't know what's happening? So, from Republicans --

BOLDUAN: OK, so one of the things that I think helped define 2025 were just some very public and somewhat very, even for today's day and age, nasty --

[08:15:04]

CUPP: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- surprising political feuds.

CUPP: Interesting.

BOLDUAN: So, let's look at the 2025 political feuds. And then, again, I'm going to break out the crystal ball.

What was the most surprising political feud of the last year for you guys?

CUPP: So many. I mean, so many -- so many.

BOLDUAN: I mean, it went after Greenland. I just want to point that out.

(CROSSTALK)

CUPP: U.S. versus Greenland.

BOLDUAN: Just want to say, U.S. versus Greenland.

(CROSSTALK)

GILLESPIE: I know it doesn't, but I have U.S. versus Canada. Just two -- CUPP: MTG versus Donald Trump.

GILLESPIE: MTG versus Trump. Elon versus Trump. The breakup of the year.

CUPP: Ben Shapiro versus -- versus Tucker Carlson.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CUPP: I mean, this internecine battle inside the Republican Party over neo-Nazis and what is pedophilia. Can't believe I'm saying that, but that's where they're at right now. Those are weird fights.

Dems versus Dems. Like I said, there was a lot of Dem on Dem.

(CROSSTALK)

GILLESPIE: -- Democratic Party at some point.

CUPP: There was a lot of Dem on Dem this year.

GILLESPIE: Yes.

CUPP: You know, it was Dems versus Biden. Then Dems versus Kamala. Then Dems versus Jeffries. Then Dems versus Schumer.

GILLESPIE: Schumer.

CUPP: Then Establishment Dems versus Mamdani.

BOLDUAN: Oh, yeah. Then there was the Senate Fight Club -- the Senate Fight Club just appeared.

CUPP: Exactly. And that can be healthy, you know, to sort of duke that out after a bruising loss.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

CUPP: But you've got to hope that also Dems figure out, OK, now it's time to coalesce. Now we've got to figure our way forward. Republicans are in a pretty weakened spot. Donald Trump's approval is abysmal. Let's take advantage of this and stop fighting.

GILLESPIE: Then you've got Stefanik versus Speaker Johnson. That's what's recent.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, it's like -- OK, so then --

CUPP: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: I mean, we have so many options for the biggest political feud of 2025. What could possibly -- I mean, I would not have been able to guess half of this. You would ask me in 2024 what was going on in 2025 in terms of political feuds. What one could happen in 2026?

GILLESPIE: I think I'm going to be looking for the internal ones between the White House and as they pit against each other. House Republicans versus White House, how they pit against each other. But I do think there's a lot in Trump's world that's going to really deteriorate, especially amongst Cabinet members, but also House versus -- or not House, just Congress versus the Cabinet members. Because, again, people don't want to go after Trump directly.

CUPP: Right, right.

BOLDUAN: They'll find somebody else.

GILLESPIE: They'll find other people.

CUPP: That's exactly right. I think House Republicans are going to start -- and we've already seen it starting -- to openly question what the administration's doing and what leadership is doing. They've already, you know, started pushing back. They said no to, you know, ending the filibuster for Trump. They're pushing back. They're asking, what are we doing on health care, Speaker Johnson and Trump? What about the Epstein file? They're starting to openly question and openly say they want to leave.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CUPP: I just think you're going to see more of that as, like I said, lawmakers go home, face constituents, look at their re-election, think, God, I'm tied to all of this garbage. Help me out.

BOLDUAN: And they look ahead like, am I going to do this again?

CUPP: Yeah, exactly.

BOLDUAN: Like there is this like end of the year.

CUPP: And what's the point? Do I do this again and again?

BOLDUAN: Right.

CUPP: So, I think that fight especially is going to be important this -- this next year.

BOLDUAN: Buckle up.

CUPP: Oh, yeah.

BOLDUAN: I think that's what we have concluded. It's great to see you guys.

CUPP: You too, yeah.

BOLDUAN: I think that was uplifting. I think we ended on an uplifting note, or not at all.

S.E. Cupp, Maura Gillespie, thank you.

GILLESPIE: Sure. BOLDUAN: Ahead, a warning about a new kind of scam out there. How

criminals are convincing people to put their own cash into a crypto ATM, and now Americans are losing millions.

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[08:20:14]

BOLDUAN: Now, a CNN investigation into a new kind of financial scam. Criminals convincing people to feed their cash, usually thousands of dollars, into crypto ATMs. CNN's Senior Investigative Correspondent Kyung Lah has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, no, no.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You are watching a victim get scammed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're scamming you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they're not.

LAH: One of thousands of Americans caught in a growing global crime spree that's no secret to police.

OFFICER: This is the Police Department.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't care.

LAH (voice over): Or even store clerks.

STORE CLERK: A lot of people have been scammed recently.

LAH (voice over): From Georgia --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody on the internet, some scam caller told him to do this.

LAH (voice over): -- to Massachusetts --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did they tell you to do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take $31,000.00 out and then put it into a Bitcoin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh no.

LAH (voice over): -- Texas --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know there's an elderly lady feeding thousands of dollars into the cryptocurrency machine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, I have the bank on the phone and I'm in danger. This is Chase Bank. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. No you're not, ma'am.

LAH (voice over): -- and Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much money have you already sent to them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's $10,700.00

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesus Christ, oh man.

LAH (voice over): I even talked to one of these scammers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to withdraw $9,500.00 from your account.

LAH (voice over): And you'll see how he tried to steal ten grand. This is a scam. You know it and I know it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why does it seem like? Am I talking to the reporter?

[20:25:50]

LAH (voice over): In all of these cases, these machines called crypto ATMs become the getaway car for the scammers who prey on victims like Gus Cason.

GUS CASON, SCAM VICTIM: After I stepped in $100.00 bills, it would prompt you for everything that come up and I had him on the phone, too.

LAH (on camera): Had you ever seen this before?

CASON: Never been here before. Never been here after.

LAH (voice over): Just outside Cedar Rapids, Iowa is where Gus Cason calls home. Aged 71, a retired union worker and super fan of the band Nickelback. Two years ago, as he was recovering from a stroke.

CASON: I got a phone call. Well, he told me he was President of the bank. I said, now you tell me. I want you to swear that you're not a scam. I swear I'm not a scam and all that. He convinced me he was good. He was good. I just had a stroke. I wasn't thinking right at all.

LAH (voice over): The scammer told Gus that he would be arrested unless he withdrew $15,000.00 in cash and deposited it in that crypto ATM. It looks like a normal ATM, but a crypto ATM is different, put in cash and it converts it into cryptocurrency in an instant. Victims like Gus have lost about $240 million so far this year, says the FBI. Double the pace of last year.

CASON: I should have known better. I should have known better. I was stupid enough, I fell for it.

LAH (voice over): The scammer took off with Gus' cash in the form of cryptocurrency. But the crypto ATM company also made money from the transaction.

[08:25:00]

Our investigation found the companies that operate crypto ATMs profit off the fees and markups, often at 20 to 30 percent that they charge on transactions, scam or legit. And when police have seized the scammed cash out of the ATMs, the crypto ATM companies hit back hard in court to get that cash back, which is what happened to Gus Cason.

CHAD COLSTON, LINN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE, IOWA: This is our evidence processing room.

LAH (voice over): Major Chad Coltson and his deputies at the Linn County Sheriff's Office managed to recover the $15,000.00 in cash that Gus had put into that crypto ATM as evidence in a crime.

LAH (on camera): How confident were you that the victim would get that money back after you took it out of the machine?

COLSTON: So, we were very confident.

LAH (voice over): His confidence was short lived. Bitcoin Depot, the company with the most crypto ATMs in the U.S. fought in court to get the $15,000.00 back. The company points out its machines, like many crypto ATMs have multiple on screen warnings, alerts of scams and requires that customers agree that they're only sending money to their own accounts. So in court, Bitcoin Depot won.

COLSTON: We ended up getting a communication from Bitcoin Depot. They said it was a glorious day, gentlemen, when can we come get our money? Which was our victim's money? A multi-million-dollar company is overjoyed that they get $15,000.00 and our victim is, you know, hurting. I mean, that's their life savings.

LAH (voice over): Bitcoin Depot has used tough tactics to stop police from seizing money for evidence like threats to immediately litigate or suspending fee refunds in entire states of a single officer tries to seize cash.

Bitcoin Depot even sent an Amazon gift to mock one police department, a copy of the U.S. Constitution, with a note calling the seizure of a scam victim's money a Fourth Amendment violation.

After we reached out to Bitcoin Depot about these messages to police, the company told us the messages were unacceptable and the employee responsible is no longer with Bitcoin Depot.

LAH (on camera): What do you think, Gus, that everybody seemed to get money, but you who saved that money?

CASON: You know, Bitcoin had no business getting that money at all. I mean, really, when especially when it's a scam.

LAH (on camera): Do you think that's fair?

CASON: Well, hell no. LAH (voice over): Lawsuits from attorneys general accuse the top three crypto ATM firms of profiting from scams and not protecting customers. Iowa's A.G. -- more than half of all money taken in by Bitcoin Depot in Iowa over three years came from scams. Washington, D.C.'s A.G. -- at least 93 percent of deposits over several months from Athena Bitcoin machines came from scams.

Athena Bitcoin tells CNN it strongly disputes the allegations in the complaint and says it has strong safeguards against fraud. Bitcoin Depot tells us we do not profit from scams, and the vast majority of our customers use our kiosks for lawful purposes. The company adds, if it can't stop the transaction, it reviews every potential scam case individually for possible fee relief or refunds.

But we spoke to nearly a dozen victims who were tricked by scammers while using Bitcoin Depot machines, and only one said she got a fee refund.

LAH (on camera): These scammers are so convincing that a lot of the victims actually say it's almost as if they're hypnotized. They are fully convinced that they're going to get in trouble if they don't insert all of this money into a crypto ATM.

We actually spoke to a scammer on the phone. He tried to steal $10,000 from me and it wasn't until I told him that I was a news reporter that he hung up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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