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Trump Blames Dems As Millions Prepare To Lose SNAP Benefits; Pete Buttigieg Speaks To CNN; Firefighters Told To Leave Site Before Palisades Fire Exploded; Comedian Roy Wood Jr. Discusses New Book; Dodgers Beat Blue Jays 3-1 To Send World Series To Game 7; Egypt Showcases Archeological Treasures In New Museum. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 01, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Who started her career as a reality show star who now has hundreds of millions of followers around the world, who is questioning the moon landing and that's all answered via Elon Musk's platform of X. OK. There we go. Thank you so much for watching this hour of The Story Is. The next hour of The Story Is starts right now.
The Story Is food fight.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When you're talking about SNAP, you're talking about largely Democrats.
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MICHAELSON: New comments from President Trump on the potential pause on federal food assistance. The Story Is the next presidential election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: You're thinking about running for president, right?
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MICHAELSON: An exclusive one-on-one with former and potentially future presidential candidate, Pete Buttigieg. The Story Is the World Series. We're live in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Story Is Halloween, how people are celebrating around the world and what your favorite celebrities are dressing up as.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Los Angeles The Story Is with Elex Michaelson.
MICHAELSON: And welcome to The Story Is. I'm Elex Michaelson live from Los Angeles where it is still Halloween night. Happy Halloween to those that are celebrating. We begin though with a serious story here. Two federal judges are now requiring the Trump administration to continue funding food stamp benefits during the government shutdown. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will have to tap into billions of dollars in emergency funds. But it will not be enough to cover all of the SNAP payments for tens of millions of Americans.
President Trump says he still needs some clarification from the courts writing on social media, quote, our government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available. And despite Republican control of both the White House and Congress, he's blaming Democrats for everything.
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TRUMP: All they have to do is say the government is open and that's the end of it and, you know, largely when you talk about SNAP you're talking about largely Democrats.
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MICHAELSON: Joining us now from the White House is CNN's Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, welcome to The Story Is for the first time and I feel very underdressed compared to you.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Elex, it's great to be on the story and welcome to CNN. We've been in the field for years and it's great to have you here.
MICHAELSON: Yes, it's fun to be on -- be on with you now. So let's talk about sort of where things are going with this. It certainly sounds like President Trump on Truth Social with a different tone than before the -- the court decisions or the judges sort of suggested that they're heading a certain way.
ZELENY: There's no doubt about that I mean President Trump clearly does not want to be seen as the person who's holding up food assistance for some 42 million Americans about one in eight Americans rely on this assistance. And even in the span of a couple hours on Friday as he was flying down to Mar-a-Lago where he's spending the weekend, he was quite combative on Air Force One talking to our colleagues there.
He said, look, Democrats are to blame for this. And he said, look, Democrats rely on food stamps more than Republicans, which is not necessarily true. But then a couple hours later after these judges ruled that the President said it would be his honor to fund these programs as much as they can, he does believe the administration's lawyers have said that they can't use these monies to fund the programs. But he made clear, he said I do not want to stand in the way of feeding Americans.
So this was supposed to be the leverage point. Republicans thought that the food stamp program would be the leverage that might break loose the stalemate of the shutdown. That clearly does not appear to be happening.
MICHAELSON: So another way the President talked about trying to make this shutdown end is getting rid of the filibuster, which is in the Senate. It's a tool to protect minority rights. Right now it's given Democrats the ability to do this shutdown altogether. We had the breaking news during our show last night saying the President wants to get rid of this. How do the Republicans and Congress feel about it?
ZELENY: Well look when Washington woke up on Friday, there was a resounding, no, thanks. We're good here. Senate Republicans had no interest in really adopting this filibuster of reform. John Thune, the Senate majority leader, has talked frequently about how he believes it's so important to hold on to this. His office told me today he still believes that. And even House Speaker Mike Johnson, of course, he has nothing to do with the filibuster because it doesn't exist in the House.
He said look this is not good for the long term when the shoe is on the other foot, if Democrats control the Senate, Republicans would be in the wilderness without having this a protective a 60 vote threshold. So across the board there was no interest in doing this. So we will see if President Trump sort of keeps at this here. But Elex interestingly former President Barack Obama has also talked about eliminating the filibuster.
[01:05:00]
So presidents like to do it because it gets their agenda through, members of the Senate do not.
MICHAELSON: Yes, indeed. Jeff Zeleny, Happy Halloween. Thanks so much for joining us.
ZELENY: Great to see you.
MICHAELSON: It is going to be a busy weekend on the campaign trail across the country ahead of Tuesday's elections. One of the most requested surrogates for all of these governors and mayor race is former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. A poll from the University of New Hampshire shows the 2020 presidential candidate is the leader in the race for the 2028 Democratic nomination in New Hampshire. It's very early.
I recently sat down with him during his trip to Los Angeles. Here's our exclusive conversation.
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MICHAELSON: Mr. Secretary first time I get to say this. Welcome to The Story Is, our new show.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Thank you. Congratulations on the new show.
MICHAELSON: Thank you very much. It's the first time I've seen you in person with the facial hair.
BUTTIGIEG: Oh, right.
MICHAELSON: And I like it. Is this going to stay for the presidential run?
BUTTIGIEG: Yes. We'll see how long it stays.
MICHAELSON: Well, speaking -- speaking of your future, you're in this sort of interesting time in your life after being in elected office or running for elective office for so long. You've got this break now.
BUTTIGIEG: Yes.
MICHAELSON: What are you up to in that break? And how is it sort of maybe changing the way you see things?
BUTTIGIEG: Well, I love public service. I love being involved in public affairs. But honestly, I really love right now not being in office and not being on the ballot. I've been able to spend more time with the -- the twins, our children, our son and daughter turned four this summer. I've been able to just live into our home in Michigan more. But of course also doing everything I can for causes and candidates I believe it.
MICHAELSON: You've also spent time in Virginia and New Jersey campaigning there, what -- what's your main message and those races in the final days?
BUTTIGIEG: Well, it's that we have an opportunity to send a message and get good leadership at the same time. You know, I think a lot of people voters have felt a little bit disempowered, the intensity of the Trump administration's actions are designed to make you feel like there's nothing you can do even if you disagree. But there is something you can do if you live in one of these communities, one of these states.
MICHAELSON: The mayor of New York is also up for election right now. You're not campaigning there. Would you vote for Zohran Mamdani if you were living in New York?
BUTTIGIEG: I mean, I don't live in New York, but I think he has the capacity to be a great mayor. He I think right now has been taking a lot of steps that are not just about winning but about trying to bring people together, which is something that I think a lot of people didn't see in him or expect from him earlier on in the campaign. So he hasn't asked me for an endorsement. I don't think he needs me in order to win. But I think it's a really important and exciting race to watch.
MICHAELSON: So you've been more impressed by him than by Andrew Cuomo?
BUTTIGIEG: I -- I mean Andrew Cuomo has disqualified himself in so many ways including morally and that's just one of many reasons why I think so many New Yorkers are going to vote for Mamdani.
MICHAELSON: Are there lessons that can be learned from the Mamdani campaign about communicating something? You've studied so closely over the years as well as the Democratic Party tries to think differently about talking with voters. BUTTIGIEG: Absolutely. Look, he represents a different part of the coalition, the Democratic coalition, than I do. I think certainly further to the left than -- than where I find myself. But a lot of the things he's talking about the focus on affordability and the discipline of staying focused on that. I think as an example of something that campaigns everywhere from very left-leaning places like a Democratic primary in New York City to places like Michigan or Indiana can pay attention to. Maybe not all of those policies, I don't think most people in most of the country are on board with some of the policies that are -- that are more to the left end of the spectrum but just the idea that the job of anybody in office right now is to try to make it a little easier to afford to live in America.
MICHAELSON: Indiana it just recently decided not to gerrymander. Why do you think they got there? And I know do you think that's a good thing?
BUTTIGIEG: Yes, I think there's two reasons. One, the legislators who were being pressured by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance to do this knew on some level that it was wrong. And the other reason is that a lot of us participated in putting some pressure on those legislators by reminding them that the people of the state did not want this. They openly talked about creating a nine to zero map meaning that nine out of nine congressional races in the state of Indiana would be decided before anybody went to the polls.
And so we saw something that you would be told is impossible which is Republican elected officials saying no to Donald Trump. And he was calling them to twist their arms. J.D. Vance went personally to Indiana to lobby for this and they said no which means that kind of pressure can work. And I think that's a really important lesson because it punctures that fake wall of inevitability that the Trump White House tries to create around everything that they do.
[01:10:04]
MICHAELSON: You're saying that but yet you've endorsed California's version of gerrymandering which would knock out a bunch of Republican seats. Isn't that kind of hypocritical?
BUTTIGIEG: It's not the same thing for a couple of reasons. First of all, the Indiana proposal cut out the voters completely. Legislators were just going to create this new map. The California proposal is literally going to the voters. That's what -- that's what we're endorsing in the proposition. It's a proposition everybody gets to vote on. But let's back up from this, of course, we would be better off if there was no gerrymandering. I believe in fair districts across the country. And this proposition which is an emergency measure would hand it back to the bipartisan commission when the next turn of the decade happens in the next redistricting happens. But the point is if some other state is going to try to do this then a state like California shouldn't sit on its hands and just unilaterally let that happen.
MICHAELSON: Let's talk for a moment about you. You're thinking about running for president, right? I mean, is that fair to say, you're thinking about it?
BUTTIGIEG: I mean, I'm a long way from any kind of decision, but obviously it's not like it hasn't come up.
MICHAELSON: So what's -- what's the thought process like?
BUTTIGIEG: Anytime I've decided to run for office, I've looked at what the office calls for and in that moment and I've looked at what I bring to the table and compared that to what others might bring to the table. And I've followed that process probably five or ten times in my career. And sometimes I've decided to run after going through that thinking. And other times including this year when I decided against running for Senate and for governor in Michigan, I went through that process and I said no it doesn't quite fit, it doesn't quite match.
So anytime I might run for office in the future, it's going to be the same thing looking at what's needed, looking what I might -- might have to offer. And then obviously also this is a family kind of decision with a whole different weight to it now that I'm a parent which wasn't true until some of the decisions that I was making this year.
MICHAELSON: Obviously there was a lot made of when Kamala Harris didn't pick you for V.P. and wrote about the fact that she didn't think the country was ready for a gay man. How does that impact you emotionally? How does sort of what's happening for gay people in the country right now impact you emotionally when you see what that -- that thought process is even out there?
BUTTIGIEG: Well, what impacts me emotionally is knowing what people are up against risking being fired or worse over who they love or over who they are. For me, I mean worse things can happen to a guy than not winding up as vice president of United States. I wouldn't have run for president if I didn't believe that the American people can look at you for who you are despite some of what you've been told in the past. And I wouldn't have won Iowa if a large number of people weren't ready to do that.
MICHAELSON: What do you say to people especially in the LGBTQ community right now who are scared?
BUTTIGIEG: First of all, you're not alone that there are so many people who including a majority of Americans who don't believe in discrimination, who believe in your safety and your rights and your existence. And I know that people are scared, people come up to me all the time. This is a community that is under attack from time to time in politics here or anywhere else. There is some disfavored community that is singled out for attacks to benefit some politician.
And right now a lot of the people who are being singled out for those attacks are people in the LGBTQ community especially the trans community. But that never wins the day in the long run because Americans know that mistreating people is wrong.
MICHAELSON: Let's end with a couple fun things. It's about to be Halloween. What's Halloween like at your house? BUTTIGIEG: Well, it's going to be pretty chaotic. We've gone through the costume selection.
MICHAELSON: What are we -- what are we going to be?
BUTTIGIEG: We got the firefighter for Gus predictable, but still, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAELSON: Yes.
BUTTIGIEG: Our daughter found this outfit that I think is that doesn't say this on the package, but I think it's the -- the Bette Midler character from "Hocus Pocus."
MICHAELSON: "Hocus Pocus."
BUTTIGIEG: It's got the orange hair and everything like that. She calls it Princess Witch.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
BUTTIGIEG: Haven't decided whether we're going to go in costume.
MICHAELSON: Oh, come on. What would you go? What are you thinking about?
BUTTIGIEG: Oh, I don't know. You can't go wrong with astronaut. I guess that's -- it won't come up with something.
MICHAELSON: And rapid-fire questions to end things. What is your favorite T.V. show you're binging right now?
BUTTIGIEG: Oh, "Slow Horses" is so good. I'm glad that that's back. And trying to decide whether to get into silo, I came out a while ago, but something about the world-building is kind of --
MICHAELSON: What's the best book you've read least lately?
BUTTIGIEG: I am in the middle of this book called "The Other Name" or it's a series of seven short books by an author who won the Nobel Prize recently Jon Fosse is his name, F-O-S-S-E. It's -- I don't know. I can't describe it. It's very simple and complicated at the same time. I don't know.
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MICHAELSON: Kind of like you. It's simple and complicated at the same time. There's the metaphor, right? Favorite kids show that you guys are into.
BUTTIGIEG: Oh, "Bluey," definitely "Bluey." Although as a parent, I mean you just can't live up to the parenting that you see in "Bluey." But it gives us something to aspire to.
MICHAELSON: What's the best Halloween candy?
BUTTIGIEG: Peanut butter cups.
MICHAELSON: Reese's right?
BUTTIGIEG: Clearly.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And lastly, describe a perfect day for you.
BUTTIGIEG: Oh, wow. I guess this day when I get up on time, managed to get a workout in, kids get up at about the right time, managed to brush your teeth and get dressed and we have a fun conversation on the way to -- to drop him off at school. And then I read about things that are really interesting and meet with people working on things that I care about and have lunch with Chasten and I'm there to help get everything ready when he picks the kids up and watch really good T.V. show after they go down, but not before we've, you know, read a few stories and -- and had a fun time. But it's never perfect because it's so chaotic with kids, but it's funny.
I'm such a dad now, but I guess it just happens like you -- you -- I used to think of like travel and adventure which I still love, it was like the ideal day. But a lot of times right now an ideal day for me is just --
MICHAELSON: Just to be at home, be at home with the kids. Secretary Pete Buttigieg great to see you. Thank you so much for the time and great to have you as one of our first guests on The Story Is.
BUTTIGIEG: Yeah. Thanks for having me.
MICHAELSON: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to the secretary. And more now on Halloween wonder what he ended up going as. Halloween isn't normally widely celebrated in Greece but the little coop cafe in downtown Athens decided to get into the spooky spirit. With months of preparation the theme cafe brought in thousands of objects and people have been enjoying their meals an elaborate display of pumpkins, skeletons and witches, quite a lot of work there.
In Mexico City's main square a towering day of the dead installation took over. It commemorates 700 years since the founding of the ancient Aztec Capital. The elaborate display invites visitors to connect with the city's origins.
When we come back I go one-on-one with the mayor of Los Angeles as she calls for an investigation into the devastating Palisades fire. Our exclusive with her coming up.
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[01:21:43] MICHAELSON: The World Series headed to a winner-take-all game seven in Toronto, Saturday. The L.A. Dodgers held on to beat the Blue Jays three to one. Game six at the Rogers Center Friday night, L.A. closed it out with that thrilling double play there. Kike Hernandez to Miggy Rojas, everybody fired up at least if you're a Dodger fan. All the scoring done by both teams in the third. Both teams left players stranded on base throughout the game. And Blue Jays want their first World Series title in 32 years while the Dodgers want to repeat as champions. We'll have more from Toronto live in just a few minutes.
But now to the serious news of the night and the devastation that Hurricane Melissa left on some Caribbean islands will be felt for some time. U.S. search-and-rescue teams have begun arriving in Jamaica to provide immediate humanitarian support. Jamaica's ambassador to the U.S. confirmed that at least 19 people were killed when the unprecedented category 5 storm hit on Tuesday bringing ferocious winds and rain.
In Eastern Cuba, the military is helping victims of Hurricane Melissa who were trapped by rising floodwaters. Cuba's Foreign Ministry is trying to get clarification after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered to provide help for the Cuban people.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is now calling for an investigation into the handling of the Palisades fire. That fire claimed the lives of a dozen people and burned down thousands of houses and businesses. I spoke live with the mayor in our last hour about how this whole thing might have been avoided.
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MICHAELSON: There's an "L.A. Times" story getting a whole lot of attention that just came out this week.
MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: Yes.
MICHAELSON: We want to show the headline for that. It says days before the Palisades fire, firefighters were ordered to leave smoldering burn site. Essentially January 1st --
BASS: Right.
MICHAELSON: -- there was a small fire. Firefighters left that site, days later that became the Palisades fire which became the deadliest and a most dangerous fire in -- the most destructive fire, I should say, in the history of Los Angeles.
BASS: Yes.
MICHAELSON: How did that happen? Why did the firefighters leave even though they said in text messages we should stay?
BASS: Right. Well, I found it extremely troubling. And I believe and called for an investigation today. You know the after-action report that was released a couple of weeks ago was an after-action report on the January 7th fire. This is the January 1st one and so we absolutely have to understand that I do know in reading the article and speaking to some of the firefighters that many of them thought the fire was out. But clearly not enough was done clearly.
MICHAELSON: When did you find out about these text messages?
BASS: I found out about the text messages in the "L.A. Times."
MICHAELSON: So you had no warning about that at all?
BASS: No. No, I did not.
MICHAELSON: When did -- when did -- were you informed about the fire on January 1st?
BASS: Yes, I knew about the fire on January 1st. And from what I knew and what I was told the fire was completely put out. It was a relatively small fire. And so I just think that it is critically important that we have to look at all of these things which is also why we have changed leadership. And so I am glad that we -- I appointed a new fire chief. He has to go through the confirmation process in a couple of weeks, but we're going to get to the bottom of this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:25:01]
MICHAELSON: Our thanks to Mayor Bass for that interview.
Fans turned out in droves on Hollywood Boulevard as a new Walk of Fame star was fittingly honored on Halloween. "Freddy Krueger" actor Robert Englund finally getting his start. It's been a minute. He starred in the cult classic horror franchise that took the 80s by storm and let many teenagers afraid to sleep. The first film "Nightmare on Elm Street" along with many sequels helped propel distributor new line cinema into a Hollywood Powerhouse, oh, look at the hand, it's so scary still.
Heidi Klum said she wanted to go ugly for Halloween. The supermodel pulled it off transforming herself into the mythological Medusa for her 25th annual Halloween party. Medusa had snakes for hair and anyone who looked at her turned into stone. Klum's costume includes a long tail and snakes that actually move. Last year, by the way, she dressed as E.T. So you've got one of the most attractive women in the world going out of her way to make herself look bad. I don't get it.
MICHAELSON: You are watching The Story Is with Elex Michaelson. For our international viewers POV Tokyo is next. For our viewers in North America, I will be back for another half hour including more on the World Series. And Roy Wood Jr. is joining us. The comedian talking about his big show right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:30:51]
ROY WOOD JR., HOST OF "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" ON CNN: MSNBC confirmed the existence of a memo written by one of the career prosecutors who was fired by Lindsey Halligan, and the memo doesn't look great for the prosecution's case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember, the prosecutors alleged that the -- the profit that James made on this mortgage favorable interest rate they alleged that she got on the second home amounted to about $50 a month.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the picture there, it was with a sketch artist, right? Of all the things that we've done to our justice system where it's just not right, it was still hanging on to that, no cameras, no cameras in the courtroom. Feel like coming out naked except for band-aids over your nipples, you know what I mean?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: That is a clip from Have I Got News For You, which airs Saturdays on CNN, hosted by Roy Wood Jr. His new book is called "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." Roy Wood Jr. joins us now here on The Story Is. Congratulations on the book.
WOOD JR.: Congratulations to you.
MICHAELSON: Thank you very much.
WOOD JR.: First week.
MICHAELSON: First week. Great way to -- to cap off our first week with you
WOOD JR.: How's it feel? How does it feel?
MICHAELSON: It feels good.
WOOD JR.: You deserve it, man.
MICHAELSON: Yes, yes.
WOOD JR.: You deserve it. You're a grinder, man.
MICHAELSON: Thank you very much. As are you, as is demonstrated here. Talk to us about this book. I mean, at its core, it's really a story of fatherhood, your dad and your son.
WOOD JR.: Yes, it's a story of the lessons that we get from people that are placed in our lives, whether we realize it or not. My pops passed when I was 16, so subliminally, I gravitated towards other men in my life, co-workers and other comedians that were older than me, just anywhere I could glean advice. And when I had my son, it's like, oh, well, what am I going to teach him? Well, who did I learn it from? Oh, I didn't learn it from my dad. And so I started just kind of making a list of people and stories that connect to those people and connect to those values. And it's a collection of why I am the way I am. And I hope that it helps my son better identify who he is. But it also gives us all a reality to reflect on. Oh, I didn't get everything from my parents. Regardless of if you had a great relationship with them or not or a long one or not, we are who we are because of the village around us.
MICHAELSON: Yes. And talk about some of that village. What's some of the most unusual places you turn to for advice?
WOOD JR.: I had a co-worker that did cocaine. He taught me a lot.
MICHAELSON: What did you learn from them?
WOOD JR.: I really think we all need to work with the one co-worker on drugs. Not like debilitating.
MICHAELSON: Are you saying there's just one?
WOOD JR.: Yes. That I know of.
MICHAELSON: OK.
WOOD JR.: No, of course, it's seen in every great show. Amber Ruffin, Michael Ian Black, they barely drink. But the idea of learning something from people that have made mistakes.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
WOOD JR.: Because, you know, I'm a person that has made mistakes in my life. I got arrested when I was 19 for shoplifting and stealing clothes like -- like any other teenager in the South. But to work with people who they were on probation and they reminded you that you're not the sum of your mistakes. And to be around people who saw me for what I could become and not for who I was, you know, that was absolutely a blessing. Now, that's not to do it on cocaine.
MICHAELSON: And there's a lot of different advice in this book. I'm -- I'm new to the job of being a host on CNN. You've got some experience doing that. What's your advice to me?
WOOD JR.: Do I, though? I'm on -- on Saturday nights. That's -- that's like -- it's -- it's like we -- we cuss, we drop.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
WOOD JR.: We're a little louder.
MICHAELSON: Is that more fun?
WOOD JR.: Yes, it's a lot of fun, man.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
WOOD JR.: I think, man, just above all, when you're on, when you have an opportunity to be on television and invite people on, just ask, ask very valid questions. And as silly as we are on Have I Got News For You, we've had sitting Republicans. We've had sitting Democrats. We had Tim Burchett. We've had Jasmine Crockett. And you want to bring them to task --
MICHAELSON: Right.
WOOD JR.: -- with jokes on why do you feel this way? Why did you vote that way? Mike Lawler came on and completely lied about the whole Medicaid, Medicare and how he was going to vote on that. So I think it -- we have an opportunity and a responsibility as T.V. hosts to at least be asking a couple of decent questions. So just do that. You'll be great.
MICHAELSON: Yes. Who is the funniest politician?
WOOD JR.: On purpose?
MICHAELSON: Yes.
WOOD JR.: Or -- or like?
[01:35:00]
MICHAELSON: Both, who's the funniest one to make fun of and who's the funniest one on purpose?
WOOD JR.: Like Mitch McConnell is probably the funniest politician.
MICHAELSON: Is he?
WOOD JR.: You saw him fall the other day. And like -- it's not that he fell.
MICHAELSON: It was a pratfall, you're saying?
WOOD JR.: It's not -- I'm not laughing at the man falling.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
WOOD JR.: I'm laughing at the fact that he was reaching out for that black dude. Because it was a black dude, he was like, (inaudible). And he just went down.
MICHAELSON: The guy picked him up. He was there for him.
WOOD JR.: Mitch McConnell is a good chuckle for one reason or another.
MICHAELSON: All right. We end with rapid fire questions here on the show.
WOOD JR.: OK. Mitch McConnell just went, ooh.
MICHAELSON: What -- what is -- rapid fire, not his pacing right -- right these days. What is your favorite T.V. show, other than your own?
WOOD JR.: Oh, my gosh. I mean, there's always baseball on in my house. My son and I, we watch a great deal. There's a new -- we used to watch a lot of the David Attenborough, Planet Earth series. There's a new series called "Life" that we watch. I think it's on HBO Max. Matter of fact, I'm positive it is. We watch "Life" right now. Like that's -- that's the one.
MICHAELSON: Corporate synergy, baby. Favorite movie?
WOOD JR.: First, "Bad Boys." "Dark Knight."
MICHAELSON: Wow.
WOOD JR.: Like --
MICHAELSON: Yes, "Dark Knight" is really great.
WOOD JR.: Yes.
MICHAELSON: Favorite comedian?
WOOD JR.: All time --
MICHAELSON: All time.
WOOD JR.: -- George Carlin.
MICHAELSON: Currently?
WOOD JR.: Ali Siddiq. Working today, my favorite comedian is Ali Siddiq. I'd put Katt Williams right there with him. Those are two brothers. Anything new from them, put the remote down.
MICHAELSON: You're right.
WOOD JR.: Kick back and watch that.
MICHAELSON: What's your favorite sports team?
WOOD JR.: Chicago Cubs.
MICHAELSON: Favorite musical artist or band?
WOOD JR.: OutKast.
MICHAELSON: OutKast is so great. Why won't they come back, right? We need more -- we need more OutKast.
WOOD JR.: Yes.
MICHAELSON: And who is your role model?
WOOD JR.: My mom.
MICHAELSON: How has -- how has your mom changed your life? Speaking of advice, what's the most important piece of advice you got from your mom? WOOD JR.: The first chapter of that book is about my mom. My mom taught me resiliency and focus and not letting your current circumstances influence how you carry yourself and what you're focused on to get out of those circumstances. Feel the pain, but bounce back, get yourself up, and keep working towards a solution.
I saw my mom take plenty of proverbial gut punches from life and still continue. We're talking about a woman now with three degrees and more respected in Birmingham than I am.
MICHAELSON: Well, you're clearly very proud of her, and she's got to be so proud of you. Roy Wood Jr., the author of "The Man of Many Fathers," which is out right now. And, of course, you can watch him every Saturday night right here on CNN with Have I Got News for You.
WOOD JR.: Oh, no, I'm falling.
MICHAELSON: We'll be back. More of The Story Is after this.
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[01:41:55]
MICHAELSON: Returning now to the World Series, where the Fall Classic is headed to a Game 7, after that play right there. Double play, end of the ninth inning. Kike Hernandez to Miguel Rojas. Dodgers win three to one against the Blue Jays. Game 7 tomorrow night. Here's how the winning pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, reacted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO, LOS ANGELES DODGERS PITCHER (through translator): Every game I go out and pitch, because I always feel I don't want to lose. You know, we can't -- we can't afford to lose. In terms of tomorrow's game, I think that would be really hard for players out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: Yamamoto 2-0 in the World Series. For more, let's bring in Arash Markazi, the founder and CEO of the Sporting Tribune. He is live in Toronto, after just being in the locker room and talking with all the Dodgers. Arash, thanks so much, and welcome to The Story Is for the first time.
ARASH MARKAZI, FOUNDER & CEO, THE SPORTING TRIBUNE: What a thrill to be on, talking Los Angeles sports, talking about the Dodgers, and one of the craziest finales to a World Series game we have ever seen.
MICHAELSON: Talk about the energy inside that stadium tonight.
MARKAZI: It was incredible. I mean, you know, normally, you know, a year ago, I'm covering the Yankees and the Dodgers, and it's New York and Los Angeles. This is the entire country of Canada is behind this team, and so the national anthem was a big deal. Every strikeout, every play, and they really felt it. In the ninth inning, the bottom of the ninth, again, this is the best team this season in terms of coming from behind. They got to the World Series by coming from behind.
So we all thought that this was going to happen. Like, we already knew the end of this script. So for the Dodgers to win in the manner that they did, I still can't believe it. It is surreal, and we have the two most beautiful words in sports, Game 7.
MICHAELSON: The best words in sports, Game 7. So obviously, there's going to be a lot of attention on this Kike Hernandez, Miguel Rojas play, but the real play that may deserve the most credit is this one. This is Justin Dean is a backup outfielder who was brought in for defensive purposes. So look at this. The ball gets stuck, and Justin Dean puts his hands up, knows the rules, knows essentially that that's unplayable, and because of that, they take a run back. You talked to Justin Dean in the locker room a short time ago. Here's what he told you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN DEAN, DODGERS OUTFIELDER: Back at him. He's still running. I'm like, I don't like that. I grabbed once, had to re grab and then ended up throwing it in. It's an incredible opportunity for me, for the whole team. It just seems fitting to, if you're going to go back to back, it's going to be a crazy stories, you might as well. Game 7, hopefully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAELSON: So talk to us about, first off, what that rule is, which some people didn't even know existed until that moment. Like, why is he putting his hands up, and how important that moment was.
[01:45:05]
MARKAZI: Listen, I mean, the ball was supposed to bounce off the wall. And so the fact that it did, the fact that it got stuck there, that is a double, a ground rule, a double. And Justin knew that, and the thing that I -- I brought up to him was, how did you have the presence of mind in that moment to not go for the ball? Again, Kike Hernandez, at that moment in time, I confirmed this postgame with Kike, is screaming at him, go get the ball, like, get the ball, like, what are you doing? Now, they all know that -- that is a ground rule double. But if the umpire, if the official doesn't rule it that, you're out of luck. So Justin Dean, in that moment, really saved the Dodgers season.
MICHAELSON: Yes, and an incredible split-second decision. That was the difference between the season. So you had a chance to talk to almost all the Dodgers in the locker room. What are they saying?
MARKAZI: Well, the guy that I was most looking forward to talking to was Tyler Glasnow. He was supposed to be the starter in Game 7. He comes out of the bullpen tonight, you know, in a really tough spot. Only three pitches, so he's good to go for tomorrow. He's excited about being able to go tomorrow. Shohei Ohtani will go tomorrow. According to Dave -- Dave Roberts, it is all hands on deck tomorrow. Every pitcher, except for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, will be available to the Dodgers.
But there was this sense of relief, obviously joy that they won the game, but the way that that game came to a conclusion, with the double play, that crazy play in the outfield, there was a sense of relief that we get to come back and play tomorrow and again have a Game 7.
MICHAELSON: So will Shohei start the game and then Glasnow is available out of the bullpen? Is that what they're doing?
MARKAZI: That's my belief. I -- I don't know if that's official yet, but I -- I would be surprised at this point if Shohei is not the starter with Glasnow available, Blake Snell even be available. I mean, this is one of those situations that you have plenty of time to rest up and heal up when the season is done. And again, a lot of the guys we're talking postgame, when we're in the backyard, when we were kids, playing baseball, we dreamed about Game 7. It's all about Game 7. Again, so the Dodgers have had this amazing run. They have not yet played in a Game 7. Again, the last time they had a Game 7 in the World Series was back in 2017. So this is the moment that they've all dreamed about.
MICHAELSON: And of course, in that series, they were playing against the cheating Houston Astros, and so they lost.
MARKAZI: Thank you.
MICHAELSON: If only that -- that asterisk for that Astros championship. You think about last year, Walker Buehler came out of the bullpen, was not used to doing that because it was all hands on deck when they tried to win, but this is an even bigger level Game 7. All right, what's your prediction, Arash? What's the score? What happens?
MARKAZI: Listen, it's going to be a tight one. I'm going to go Dodgers three to two. Again, when --when the Dodgers have won during this postseason, they've been low scoring affairs. They're not going to score six runs. I'm sorry, folks. They got all these superstars, but if -- if they are to win, it's going to be five to two, three to two, but I'm going to go three to two. Dodgers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto wins most valuable player just because of the series that he's had.
MICHAELSON: Our pal from ESPN Radio, Steve Mason, was on last hour, and he did say the Dodgers were going to score six runs. So we'll see which of you are right, or if the Blue Jays, who have been so good all season and have been so good this series, are able to pull it off in -- in home in front of that very, very loud crowd. Arash will be there. You can watch his coverage at the sportingtribune.com and also on his social media follow, Arash Markazi. Thanks so much for joining us. Have fun tomorrow.
MARKAZI: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
[01:48:58]
MICHAELSON: All right, well, the puns are coming thick and fast as famous faces get into the Halloween spirit. Here is singer and actor Demi Lovato dressed up as the image of herself that became viral meme Pootvato. This is really something. The Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance, appears wigged out as that meme version of himself, just leaning into it, which is quite a moment. And a look that would be welcome anywhere just goes to show for Halloween, where there's a meme, there's a way. We'll be right back.
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MICHAELSON: It took over 20 years and more than a billion dollars to build and it is designed to impress. On Saturday, Egypt inaugurates its new Grand National Museum. And Salma Abdelaziz is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A building worthy of the pharaohs. That has been the vision for the Grand Egyptian Museum from the start. And two decades and a billion dollars later, the largest archaeological museum in the world is finally opening its doors.
HASSAN ALLAM, CEO, HASSAN ALLAM HOLDING: The world has been waiting for this museum to open up for a few years. Everyone's excited.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Visitors will be welcomed by the more than 3,000-year-old statue of Ramses II. But that's just one of the highlights. There are over 50,000 restored artifacts detailing life in ancient Egypt to explore, with the collection of King Tutankhamun as the main attraction.
I visited as part of a CNN team in 2018 and saw firsthand how conservationists worked around the clock to restore objects thousands of years old, including King Tut's very degraded sandals.
[01:55:04]
MIHAMED YOSRI, CONSERVATOR, GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM: We create a new technique by using some special adhesive. As you saw its condition it was very bad. And here I think it's come to life again.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Construction started in 2005, but was delayed several times over the years. First, because of the Arab Spring. And later, the COVID-19 pandemic. But now the museum is finally opening. The building is part of a wider infrastructure development in the Giza area, with millions being poured into roads, parks, even an airport, in the hope of boosting tourism.
AHMED GHONEIM, CEO, GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM: A museum of this size is expected to increase the number of tourists to Egypt. We're anticipating that this will increase definitely the numbers of tourists coming to Egypt by at least 10 percent or 20 percent.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): In a land where history and culture are counted not in centuries, but in millennia, the hope is that the Grand Egyptian Museum will become a unique part of that heritage.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: It looks amazing. Thanks for watching the first week of The Story Is. I'll be back on Monday with my exclusive sit-down with Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco. Have a great weekend. The news continues right here on CNN.
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